Dogs and Babies

[daisy9]

Hi,

I was just wondering how everyone was preparing their dog for the new arrival. We have three spoilt dogs and I am a little concerned how they will cope! Whereas I think we should start being stricter now my OH my be harder to convince!!

Does anyone know of any good books?

Thanks

 

[InVivoVeritas]

I also have three dogs, and this is something I'm worrying about already too.

For me I'm bringing in small changes now, like no dogs on my bed, no jumping on my belly, and I'm planning on being super vigilant when the baby's a newborn. Two of mine are terriers and one is very grumpy with a high prey drive, so supervision at all times is a must no matter what.

When my elder DD was born we had one 5-year-old dog, and he adjusted with no problems, so I'm sure we can do it if we're careful and think ahead.

Keep me posted on what you do!

 

[rtracey80]

we were really worried about this when i was pregnant. We have a german shepherd who has never been around children and to be honest he doesnt really like strangers. we did plan on buying a doll and treating it like a baby, eg carrying it around etc but we never got round to this. We brought the moses basket down stairs and put it in the front room so that he could get used to it being there. ANy behaviour changes you want in the dog should be done before baby arrives just incase they start to associate it with the baby being there.

Once Alex arrived we brought his blanket into the room before him just so KAaiser could smell it first. When we brought ALex into the room we let Kaiser smell him, if your uncertain about that then guess you could put a lead on them. We have never had any problems with Kaiser towards Alex. We never leave them in a room alone but thats general common sense. Make sure you or somebody else still give them walks, and attention so they dont feel left out.

Sure things will be fine

 

[_LauraK1982_]

We tried to keep everything as normal as possible. Make sure someone is around to make a fuss of the dogs and that that they are still walked daily (TBH we uppped their exercise to make sure that they were more relaxed when at home) Our dogs were not allowed in the living room as a rule anyway which did make things alot easier.

We unfortunately had to rehome one of our dogs as she was absolutely petrified of our daughter and despite working with a behaviourist her fear got worse as my daughter got more vocal and more mobile I am still devestated by it but know we made the best decision for her and for us. She's gone to friends and we get to see her and walk her during the week which has been a bonus though.

Good Luck. x

 

[InVivoVeritas]

To update, we bought a stairgate about a month before my due date and made my bedroom absolutely off limits to the dogs.

When we brought the little man home we introduced the dogs gradually over about a week. One was friendly from the start, one was nervous of him and one (not the one I expected) went straight into prey mode.

We're four months in now and everything's fine. Naturally the baby is never left alone anywhere the dogs have access to, but under supervision all three are friendly and laid-back.

My advice would be to take it slowly and to take nothing for granted.

 

[DusknDawn84]

Had a friend with a newborn come over and also my niece has moved in with her one year old and both times my boy has reacted well, he absolutely loves children so I don't think there will be much trouble as he is such a cruisy dog, the cat on the other hand is gentle enough but will need to keep an eye on him as he likes to jump in bed with them and has a less tolerable nature, not that he's aggressive just wouldn't trust him 100%.