Dogs and kids look right together. In fact, they can be hard to mix, but the rewards are overwhelming. Dogs teach and model empathy and provide companionship. There may be health benefits as well; new studies show that dogs’ presence could protect children from eczema and asthma. That’s all to say that dogs have a ton to offer. Still, there’s a lot of work involved in raising a family dog. It all starts with deciding on a dog’s breed then there’s preparing the dog to play with kids and house training the dog (ideally not while potty training a child). Yep, there’s poop involved. Also joy.

That’s why Fatherly built this guide to dogs. We talked to certified trainers, canine experts, and other parents about picking dogs, adopting dogs, training dogs, helping kids through a dog’s death, having dogs and cats in the same home, and more.