German shepherd with 1 year old baby!?

As a mom myself, I say yes. But, in terms, get you a GSD, and let your son play with him.

Its good for kids to grow up with dogs, I did, my sister did, my mom did, my daughter is now, and from your post, I think you did. Yes hes too young to expect him to take care of the puppy, but I'm sure you are completely aware of this!

You will just have to monitor your sons playing and the puppys mood toward them. If your son starts to get to rough, teach him a the good and bad ways to play with the puppy, and the puppy too. If puppy gets too rough, help him learn the right and wrong ways to play with your son. Eventually, they will become inseparable, and your son will be forever safe!

Getting a puppy with a child that young is a bad idea, puppies bite, nip, scratch and they grow FAST, we're not talking about a little 3lb yorkie nibbling, by the time he's a few months old he will be half his full grown size with very strong jaws and high energy, he could easily hurt and knock over the baby, even if it's just an accident.. if there's a baby pulling on his ears he WILL snap at him, the kid and dog could grow up hating each other..if something doesn't go wrong sooner. Some birthday present..

Will the baby and puppy get along, probably not, maybe yes- the puppy won't be a puppy for ever.. will the 90lb dog and toddler get along? I'd rather not try and find out. Wait till the child is older and knows how to treat animals, that way it can be an actual present that he's excited about.

You're just setting up a bad situation getting a puppy right now ESPECIALLY a dog like a GSD.

Yes we see how dogs play, if a dog gets annoyed because another pestering dog wants to play and it doesn't it will throw it to the ground and show it that it's NOT playing. Or when dogs are playing it's usually rough, lots of biting and jumping, teeth showing, snarling etc. Do you really want your INFANT/TODDLER being the other dog playing?

5 Year Old German Shepherd

Not a good idea. I understand you wanting to get a dog for your son but he is far too young to understand how to be gentle. I have never owned a German Shepherd though I think that they're an exceptional and highly intelligent breed. However, all dogs are different and have different personalities regardless of breed demeaner. GSDs are known to be wonderful family pets and play well with children but not all will tolerate ear pulling and pinching. I know that you see it as people "Attacking" you but it's common sense to teach your son to be gentle around dogs. He's old enough to understand "No" and in time, he'll learn to be soft with animals. A puppy is used to wrestling with it's litter mates and will no doubt nip or bite back if your son is rough. Then, you'll probably come in and punish the puppy, not your kid since you already don't see anything wrong with him playing rough with your neighbors dog. Sorry, but wait until your son is at least 4-5 years old please. For the dogs sake, and his

Are you KIDDING me? Of course it isn't OK. Babies and toddlers aren't intelligent enough to know when they're hurting an animal and it will easily injure the puppy. The puppy will also react back by biting the child RIGHT ON THE FACE. So WTF are you thinking?

Also no breeder OR shelter would EVER allow you to adopt with a 1 year old in your home. Wait till your child is at least 5 or 6, knows to RESPECT animals and THEN consider getting one.

You're also picking a HORRIBLE breed. German Shepherds can be aggressive and one of the worst dogs to have around small children!

I love this comment " it plays with my son as well, it never snapped my son"

You wanna know why? Because that is pretty well exactly what preceeds the "OMG this vicious monster bit my baby and it came literally out of nowhere!"

Quite frankly I'm surprised your neighbour allows that crap to happen. As I'm sure when the dog finally reaches it's breaking point, you'll be going after the owner to have the dog killed.

Ear pulling, pinching, and jumping on a dog's back is NOT appropriate, and can certainly hurt the dog (yes even adult dogs).

Now with that out of the way, with a 1 year old are you really going to have the time to devote to a high energy breed such as a German Shepherd? Are you able to dedicate a few hours per week to attending training classes, exercising, and interacting with the dog? These dogs aren't couch potatoes by any means.

If you do proceed with this foolish idea, I would 100% recommend you take a course on reading dog body language so that you are able to better interpret situations.

I have two Shepherds and one golden retriever I rescued all of them and would never of done this if I had a one year old at home. Shepherds are great dogs and very loyal and protectors. They are also very high energy and very strong. Liike any puppy they will require constant attention like a baby until they are two years old then you are still going to have to walk them at least three times a day and when they are young they want to play play play. You are totally out of your mind if you think it is ok to have your one year old treat the dog like a toy. A dog can turn on you in a nano second if you do not treat it with respect and tugging on his ears and riding him like a pony is going to lead to an aggressive agitated dog. Dogs want someone to be their leader and teach them right from wrong someone to look up to not someone to treat the like a toy. Would you like the one year old to do these things to you? You should not get a dog period. Try a cat to start and see if you can handle that.

NO NO NO. Shepherds are not great family dogs and to bring in a puppy for a 1 yr old is insane. Puppies need to be taken outside to pee/poop every 2-3 hours round the clock. They need constant training in the first year. I doubt you have the time and energy to deal with a puppy of any kind with a baby in the house.

You would do better to adopt a young adult dog that is used to being with babies - breeds like Labs or Golden Retrievers make much better family pets.

A toddler is not a good mix for a puppy, especially one from an energetic breed like that. Being on a dog's back is also a good way to get bitten. You need to tone your son down with how he interacts with dogs. Even a gentle one can be hurt or goaded into snapping and the size of the kid would mean the snap would be at face level.

As a parent you should know this.

Puppies are NOT toys for young babies to pull about and a pup experiencing being rough housed can mature into dog that hates young children for all its life.

DO NOT get a German Shepherd pup for your baby as its not fair on it to be subject to rough treatment.

Babies have no concept that a pup has feelings and will treat it as soft toy.

Also Puppies mouth and bite and could injure your baby.

Your attitude to getting a pup and rearing it with your baby is all wrong.

Human babies and children under 5 years of age should never be given live animals as birthday presents. Even a child over 5 and up to 8 years old should only be allowed a small caged pet (hamster) and should not be unsupervised around a puppy, ever.

Any "child" whatever its age should never be left alone with an adult dog.

You are being most foolish allowing your baby to rough house with your neighbours dog. Dogs are unpredictable and can just snap out of the blue if they get pizzed off with rough handling, especially by someone who is not their leader/owner, and a lower ranking human like a child, who is not even one of their pack members.

By all means get a pup for "yourself" but do not allow physical playing or rough housing between a pup and a baby, ever.

The pup will grow up respecting the baby as part of its pack if its trained properly and taken out for walks with the baby in the stroller.

However....... your best course of action is to wait until your baby is older before having a demanding puppy to deal with as well as a demanding toddler, and all the thorough training and loads of exercise that a German Shepherd will need.

Your baby will be just as happy with a mechanical robot dog or a large stuffed toy dog.

I must add that "Most responsible" dog breeders will not sell a puppy to a household with children under 5 years old.

Think about it all seriously.

Its your choice....make it the right one?

Bad idea, and also, how is your 1 year old son able to play rough with a dog, and you only see from a distance? You allow your 1 year old son to walk around the neighborhood alone?

Your son is too young for a dog, so don't get him one, especially a GSD. This is no easy breed to own.