“The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother”

When a child asks parents for a puppy, the parents often say no. Perhaps the child is asking the wrong way? This is from the book How to Win Your Audience With Humor (1969) by Winston K. Pendleton:
 
“The other evening I overheard my little boy talking to the kid next door. They were playing in the recreation room and didn’t know that the door was open. We had just given my little boy a puppy and the kid next door was complaining to him because his folks wouldn’t allow him to have a dog. ‘They won’t let me have a pupppy,’ he said. ‘I’ve begged and begged and they always say no.’ And my boy said to him, ‘You just didn’t go about it the right way. You keep asking for a puppy. The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother—and they’ll settle for a puppy every time.’”
 
“The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother—and they’ll settle for a puppy every time” has been printed on many images.
   
 
Google Books
How to Win Your Audience With Humor
By Winston K. Pendleton
New York, NY: Essandess Special Editions
1969
Pg. 33:
The direct approach. When you want to use the direct approach to the topic of your speech you might begin this way: “The other evening I overheard my little boy talking to the kid next door. They were playing in the recreation room and didn’t know that the door was open. We had just given my little boy a puppy and the kid next door was complaining to him because his folks wouldn’t allow him to have a dog. ‘They won’t let me have a pupppy,’ he said. ‘I’ve begged and begged and they always say no.’ And my boy said to him, ‘You just didn’t go about it the right way. You keep asking for a puppy. The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother—and they’ll settle for a puppy every time.’”
 
Newspapers.com
17 January 1978, Tooele (UT) Bulletin, pg. 5, col. 1:
Kid: “The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a little brother—they’ll settle for a puppy eery time!”— Humor on Parade by Shelby Friedman
 
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Nala Kelly
@NalaKelly
The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother - and they’ll settle for a puppy every time. ~Winston Pendelton
9:20 AM · Mar 13, 2009
 
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Stan Stinson 🇺🇸
@Stan_Stinson
The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother—and they’ll settle for a puppy every time.
Winston Pendleton
4:12 AM · Dec 21, 2025
 
Facebook
MY CRAZY WORLD
January 6, 2026 at 4:58 PM ·
(The following text is shown on an image.—ed.)
KIDS
THE BEST WAY TO
GET A PUPPY IS
TO BEG FOR A
BROTHER