Children being dogmatic!

I don’t see you as mentally ill anyway luckygirl
Thank goodness for that, I'm sure she will be relieved to hear that.
Neither do the rest of us btw.

Are you a reincarnation Friday? It is so confusing these days with posters being allowed to have more than one persona or to change their names mid-stream.

I often muse that dogs are far more civilised than adults and kiddies combined......better table manners for sure!

luluaugust - your are right about DD's baby!!

Friday don't worry about the vowels, that just takes practice; getting your knickers in a twist on the other hand can be downright painful...

Or perhaps ask someone to put the tiger in a cage!

Perhaps your DD has a friend who will mind the puppy whilst she is away
It really is only one small dog so I really can't see a problem with enough adults to supervise but my grandchildren are very used to dogs and how to behave around them

Jalima ‘twas luckygirl herself who alluded to mental illness - I merely reassured her on that count. I’m sure however you’re jumping to her defence will be a great comfort to her.

Oh dear predictive texts are mucking up my spelling.

An occasion of this sort is not the right thing to take a puppy to, however well-trained it is. Too many people will scare it and probably cause it to forget it is house-trained!

One little boy is known to be scared of dogs, and he is not going to become less so meeting a puppy at a large family gathering.

He might well lose his fear of dogs if he visits his auntie in her home with his parents and can get to know the dog in his own time, but if you force him to be with dogs you are running the risk of making a natural childhood fear into something he never gets over.

The puppy must take second place here; frankly, unless your DD is treating it as a surrogate child she should be able to work that out for herself. If she can't then let her and her puppy stay at home!

This may sound harsh, so I hasten to add that I love both puppies, dogs, kittens, cats and children, but the children should always come first.

My granddaughter loved my puppy so much that she carried it around, despite being told often not to. Inevitably the puppy was dropped and ended up with a broken leg.

My friend did that with her baby brother, when she was four..

Ranworth - this is not your problem. Let the others sort it out. Personally, I'm with luckygirl as I don't like dogs either, well, only sheep dogs and dogs for the blind and deaf. Oh, and a soppy golden retriever that belongs to a friend of mine. All the others are just hair dropping, crotch-sniffing, slobbering, jumping-up-at-you nuisances. There, I've said it. Am I damned for all eternity?

I'm not sure that there are any dogs in Heaven NotTooOld, you'll be fine.

The dog sounds very sweet but it's not the best time to introduce him to the children.

How about putting the child in kennels and enjoy the puppy!?

Perhaps it would be too much to have a puppy and several excitable children at the house, although I don't think either of my children would have objected

Anyway, as someone does object I suppose it will be necessary to make other arrangements for the puppy. I don't think a kennel would be a good idea for a puppy - it might be frightened. Maybe your daughter has a friend who would help out, or I think there are some people who look after other people's dogs in their (the dogsitter's) home.

I actually think it's quite a good thing for children to have pets or to have regular contact with animals. I believe it helps them to develop empathy and I think recent research has also shown that it has health benefits. That's not to imply that animals are just around for our own amusement and wellbeing - animals should be treated kindly and with respect.

Thanks, Jalima! That's one thing I can stop worrying about then!

Not you forgot to mention genitalia/anus lickers ( their own) just before they lick a child’s face or hands. Yuk yuk

Yuk indeed - and when they sniff your genitalia..........! Groan!

Getting vulgar.

Not vulgar at all ( you should see what I would have posted if I had wanted to be vulgar as opposed to using the correct anatomical terms). I was telling it as it is = dogs lick their anuses and genitalia and then lick children ( and adults) hands and faces - yuk yuk yukkity yuk. They sniff other dogs urine, faeces and bottoms and then put their noses against your hands - yukkity yukkity yuk

Oh, lots of yucky things there. And people let dogs sleep on their beds! I absolutely hate seeing people kiss animals on the 'lips', especially children. What can they be thinking?

A recent study showed people with pets were healthier due to getting used to germs / bacteria introduced by their pets. Simple hygiene rules of course should be applied, no dogs licking faces, dogs have their own dishes not licking our plates, clean up immediately after any accidents with wipes and disinfectant not a mop.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

My daughter and grandsons never minded any of that about the dog licking elsewhere before giving them a kiss. Love really is blind, I think.

It may surprise some of you that those of us who have dogs in our lives do not live in filthy houses, small children are not encouraged to let dogs lick their faces, we have things called sinks with soap, flannels and towels, dogs do not lick plates and their food bowls are regularly washed.

A dog curling up on or in your bed can be a comfort in times of stress, a boy and his dog is a force to be reckoned with (that also applies to girls) and how could Christmas be Christmas without a present under the tree for a being that gives you unconditional love?

I believe that for all small children who are nervous around dogs from the very beginning there's an adult!