to dog or not to dog?

my long time love, Max

I love dogs. I have always grown up with dogs, and I feel like my childhood was so enriched for it. There was always somebody to come home to, always somebody to play with. As I got older, I started to plan my little canine family. I always dreamt of having a pug. I love their squashed little faces and alien eyes. I love labradors, and wanted to rescue a couple too. If I had my way I would have about 5 dogs. Austin is a cat person, so when we got together we would bicker about what pets to get. I would Google different dogs and leave the laptop open and see if he could resist the puppy dog eyes, peering out from behind caged bars. He could.

While I was pregnant, my mum found a cat, crying in the halls of her apartment block, and after some investigation, found its owner had moved, and left the kitty behind. Although also a dog person, (and a cat hater I might add) my mum took in the homeless cat, and asked me if I wanted her, as my mum worked full time and couldn't care for her properly, and I had just finished university and had about 12 weeks before Freddie arrived. I said yes. We went to Pets at Home and got everything the cat would need. I brought her home, and had her sat on the windowsill when Austin came home from work. 'Is that a cat! OUR cat? Oh my god you got me a cat?!' He was pretty thrilled. Molly was named and settled in quickly with us. She would lie over my bump, and snuggle up to us. Creep into our bedroom first thing in the morning and fall asleep between us.

she wasn't really one for personal space...

She was a very calm, placid cat, and I wasn't worried about how she would be with Freddie at all. The night we brought him home, Molly sat on the arm of the chair, staring at him in his moses basket. Not making a move, not trying to paw him, or jump in, just staring. It made me very nervous. I never left them alone in a room together, and tried not to pull the cat away from looking at Fred, even though it meant never being able to take my eyes off her. I didn't want her to be afraid of him, or jealous. But, perhaps inevitably, having a newborn baby and taking care of a increasingly high maintenance cat was getting stressful, no matter how much attention we gave to Molly and tried to keep things as they were, she would poo everywhere, (her favourite places were Austin's socks and shoes...) and would leave puddles of wee in secret places that we would only find when we stood in it. She began to scratch us, something she had never done before, and pulled all the wallpaper off the staircase walls.The final straw came when she jumped at Fred's moses basket, while he was in it, clawed at the wicker and jumped in, I almost had a heart attack. Holding a screaming three week old baby in my arms with a crazed cat running around the house at 300 miles an hour, I began to think we might have to find Molly a new home. It wasn't her fault - she was only a kitten herself and couldn't understand why this tiny human intruder was suddenly taking over. That day, my auntie and my cousins, who are 8 and 13 came to visit me and Freddie, and they fell in love with Moll, and were playing with her and chasing her for about an hour, my younger cousin asked if she could take her home. It was such a relief to find Moll a home where we could visit her whenever we wanted, and knowing she had full roam of a bigger house with a very big garden, and attention on demand.

That whole experience put me off pets while Fred was little, it wasn't fair to take on the responsibility of any pet - we had obviously underestimated how difficult it would be to care for a kitten and a baby simultaneously.

Since we moved house though, and got a bigger garden and lots of grass space, Austin has been dropping hints. Dog hints. More specifically, greyhound dog hints. Who would have thought! Austin the cat lover now wants a dog. Although we had both agreed to think about a pet again when Freddie is old enough to understand how to respect a pet, and not to treat their tails like Sophie the Giraffe, we have both been thinking how we grew up with pets, and perhaps wanting Freddie to have that same experience. Greyhounds are known for their gentle nature, and we have been told repeatedly what brilliant pets they are to have around children.

on our recent stay in Coventry, Freddie meet my lovely friend Jane's dog, Fred.

But, after so many terrible tragedies in the news recently involving dogs and children, I am so hesitant of making that leap, and getting a dog. Before Freddie was born, it was me hounding (pun kind of intended) Austin for a dog, and him the sensible one, but being a parent changes everything, Freddie is now our ultimate priority, and we have to decide what is best for him. We would like to get a rescue dog - so many dog homes are full of pets that are unwanted when they are no longer an advantage to their owners, namely ex-racing greyhounds and Staffordshire bull terriers, older dogs and perhaps the less pretty ones. I would love to give a dog ( or two...) a new home and life with people who will love and care for them.

My heart is telling me that having a dog around would be brilliant, Freddie would always have a little friend around, we would go on long Sunday afternoon walks, the four of us. We would snuggle up on the sofa as a family of four. But my head is telling me to wait. That it is better to be safe than sorry.

What do you think? What have your experiences of dogs and children been?