Having a kid is great practice for having a dog.

Kids and dogs:

• are messy eaters
• are loud at inconvenient times
• spread dirt on your clean floor
• run and play like hell
• sleep like rocks
• complain about being thrown into the bathtub
• complain about being taken off the bathtub
• silently wreck your things once left unmonitored
• are too cute to scold properly
• annoy the hell out of your neighbours
• and you still can't stop loving them. ♥

So yup, having one is perfect practice for the other! Although people typically do the opposite (use dogs to train for kids).