my labradour dog and having a baby...

[abbysbaby]

hey ladies, okies i want to explain the situation here... but the last thing i want is people telling me negative things like get rid of the dog,

i recently moved back home to mum and dads and they have to very loving labradour dogs who one of which isnt as brainy as the other.

the black lab is a sleepy head and hasnt noticed any change.. but the golden lab has, hes a mummys boy, but ever since i moved back home a cuple months back hes been stuck to me like glue. hes always wanting to sleep with me and be by my side all the time. he defo nos im prego or somethign is goin on. we go out walkin with mum and when another dog comes near me he growls but mum puts him on the lead to be safe...

now the tricky part is that hes scared of lil children, he growls at them. hes never been brought up with them or interacted with them so he gets freaked out. mum and dad have took him to trainin courses etc.

all i can find advice from is its me or the dog book where it talks about introducin a baby to the family, which is very helpful and has tips included get a life size doll that crys and carry it about and let the dog get used to seeing mewith it, which i have started, and as soon as we started it, he changed, it was like, he was scared, he looks at the doll like hes frightened and he was ignoring me while i was holden it.

the point is have any of u had trouble with ur dogs in this situation..

weve been told that this sort of situation turns out to be good most of the time becus wat happens is the dog relises that its my baby and he will try to protect her but may start of as jelousy first.

so any good advice much loved

 

[bethy1512]

i think you just have to be firm from the beginning hunni. dogs are pack animals and you shud be the leader of the pack!

we have a rescue staffie boy (i guarantee you a few people reading that will do the whole "omg vicious dog" thing) but he is not vicious in anyway.... infact he was put in a black bin bag by hus previous owner and kicked repeatedly to try and make him vicous!

he is however very energetic and inquisitive. i asked my MW what was best to do and she told me to get OH to bring some blankets/baby gros home from the hospital for him to smell first. and then when we go home, for me to go in house first while OH is outside with baby and make a big fuss f him, then oh go in, then all together.

We bought baby gates aswell now so we can control where the dog goes and since i was about 20weeks he is only allowed in the lounge in the evening and not allowed upstairs. so he is used to this now rather than him thinking its because of the baby.


hope that made sense.

xxx

 

[dani_tinks]

Just gonna have to have patience hun i'm sure it'll all work out but yeah you're going to have to introduce the LO slowly and still give the dog plenty of attention, just use common sense. There's of course no need to get rid of or shut the dog out of ya lifes just be sensitive to the dogs feelings too! Good luck xxx

 

[abbysbaby]

oh so ppl will think that about ur type of dog, but i have no problem with them, my family is very much animal lovers, the dogs are spoilt rotten, with my mum who is a runner she takes them out all the time and they get to sleep on the beds becus they treat them like kids lol some ppl would defo not agree witht that but tbh they are like kids being part of the family. so of course the dogs have always been allowed to do what they want, but they are vey very well behaved and my mum is the leader of the pack and if she says no , then they no it means no, with me not being the leader, golden lab has took to me and ignored my mum, he still listens to her and shes still the boss, but what i mean is he would rather sleep with me, and im a soft touch, however we have started weening him out of my bedroom and trainin him with the doll, also the advice u gave was good, weve also been told to do this, it works a treat apprently!

 

[abbysbaby]

oh yea we wil need to give them the attenton we have always given them, i wasnt sure whether to write on here bout the situ becus some ppl can be nasty bout it and often respond like they would have to get rid of dog etcetc

 

[Lil C]

You probably know this already but remember to let him a blanket or something with the baby's scent on it while you're in hospital so he recognises the smell when you come home. Also try pheromone diffusers to help keep him calm. I use Feliway for my cat but i think you can get DAP ones too. Try ebay although i've found recently that Viovet.co.uk have more reasonable prices. (Although just spent £80 on a 6 month supply!!!) Hope this helps x

 

[abbysbaby]

ohh thanx lil c , ill look into that for sure , ill check that website.

 

[faun]

What we did was when the baby is born they rub all the gunk off with a towel so we stole the towel and hubby took it home and rubbed it in the dog bed and let her sniff it loads. Then he came back and picked me and baby up. When we got home we let her have a good sniff of baby outside then we all went in together when she had lost interest. We also let her sleep with the towel for a couple of days and we have had no problems. We didn't give the towel back but admitted what we had done to the midwife and gave her a donation for the maternity unit.

 

[abbysbaby]

oh faun that sounds like a good idea, how did u manage to nab the towel, see we were gonna just get a blanket and put her scent on it so it would be the dogs baby blanket as a comforter. but the towel sounds really good also..

 

[vicky84]

Its easy for people 2 say get rid but if its your dog and you know its not nasty then you just wouldnt. My mum and dad are coming back from canada with 2 dogs in time for babys arrival and will be staying with us. One is german shepherd/rotweiler cross, and the other is full breed Jack Russell, and i swear they are 2 of the softest dogs EVER. I think there may be some jealousy when they get here, but i wouldnt leave baby alone with the dogs at any point or leave her in danger, so i think its all about how you handle it. I'm sure you'll be fine

 

[_Vicky_]

awww just dito the above - we have three labs and one of them is exactly the same really clingy etc etc to me and loves to sleep snuggled up to bump. We have been getting her used to strange stuff like noisy bouncers and have been involving them in all the new smells when we are putting up the nursery. We made changes months ago that we wanted to instill like them sleeping out of our room (more for falling over risks than anything else lol) so it wouldnt be all at once. We are planning the whole scent thing too when I am in hospital - I know full well Ruby will sulk a bit as she has in every situation that involves change but she will come round eventually they will adjust xxxxxx

 

[bethy1512]

thats all wonderful advice, i'm glad i read thi... the one about putting the towel in the dogs bed is a good idea, i was gonna let him sniff baby gros and stuff but that might work better!

i think any dog COULD potentially be an issue... but the iss ue is only ever their if people are irresponsible and leave there baby alone with doggy no matter how soft they are... which is a big no no.... and i'm pretty sure no one on this thread is that stupid.

just ignore people who say "get rid of the dog"

my grandparents keep saying stuff like "you wanna be bloody careful with harvey when that baby arrives" and it reallllllllllllly does my head in!!! as if i would be that stupid!


all the best, i'm sure it will be fine. xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[abbysbaby]

awww just dito the above - we have three labs and one of them is exactly the same really clingy etc etc to me and loves to sleep snuggled up to bump. We have been getting her used to strange stuff like noisy bouncers and have been involving them in all the new smells when we are putting up the nursery. We made changes months ago that we wanted to instill like them sleeping out of our room (more for falling over risks than anything else lol) so it wouldnt be all at once. We are planning the whole scent thing too when I am in hospital - I know full well Ruby will sulk a bit as she has in every situation that involves change but she will come round eventually they will adjust xxxxxx

oh yea rico loves sleepin on my bump, he puts his head on my bump and puts his arm (leg) haha round it too! hehe

 

[faun]

oh faun that sounds like a good idea, how did u manage to nab the towel, see we were gonna just get a blanket and put her scent on it so it would be the dogs baby blanket as a comforter. but the towel sounds really good also..

After the baby is born they leave you alone for a bit to get you a cup of tea and some toast, so we took a couple of our own blankets to wrap baby in and switched the dirty towel and blanket for ours when they left the room and we just put the towel in a carrier bag with my dirty clothes for hubby to take home. Naughty i know but it worked a treat.

 

[Lil C]

thats all wonderful advice, i'm glad i read thi... the one about putting the towel in the dogs bed is a good idea, i was gonna let him sniff baby gros and stuff but that might work better!

i think any dog COULD potentially be an issue... but the iss ue is only ever their if people are irresponsible and leave there baby alone with doggy no matter how soft they are... which is a big no no.... and i'm pretty sure no one on this thread is that stupid.

just ignore people who say "get rid of the dog"

my grandparents keep saying stuff like "you wanna be bloody careful with harvey when that baby arrives" and it reallllllllllllly does my head in!!! as if i would be that stupid!


all the best, i'm sure it will be fine. xxxxxxxxxxx

My family keep making comments about our guinea pigs about 'getting rid of them'. It REALLY annoys me that people think you can just do that to animals. Hubby and i both think its important to bring kids up being surrounded by animals so that's exactly what we're gonna do! I can see for hygene reasons why people wouldn't exactly approve but it's not like we're letting the baby sleep in their cage! They'll be in a totally separate room until its warm enough for them to be outside. All our animals are rescues and there's no way we would 'get rid'. Sorry to rant on this thread, that just came from nowhere lol!!!

 

[abbysbaby]

if i had guninea pigs id want to keep them in the house to all snuggled up lol

ppl think oh god why du let the dogs on the beds for hygenie reasons, but there always clean and i change my covers all the time and the house os always spotless, and when baby comes i sure aint gonna let the dogs in my room cause thats wen ill start getn all OCD lol

 

[Lil C]

Lol, me too although i'll be walking around with one of those lint rollers picking up all the hair my cat leaves! x

 

[vicky89]

i have a dog also and everythink i've looked up and watched on it says not to let dog sniff baby things for 2 weeks! so really not sure wether i will do the blanket sniffing thing. x

 

[abbysbaby]

i have a dog also and everythink i've looked up and watched on it says not to let dog sniff baby things for 2 weeks! so really not sure wether i will do the blanket sniffing thing. x

hmmm intersted, i will look up and see what i can find....

althought thats whats in the ITS ME OR THE DOG book..

 

[BunMum]

We have a staffie collie cross who is a complete mummys boy! If I sit down he thinks he can get on my knee and he follows me everywhere. We went to the vet and asked his advice and they gave us a CD of baby sounds to get him used to the sound. When we come into the house, we have a doll that we fuss first before greeting him, also I don't let him on my knee anymore - theres no room anyway now - lol! I think you just need to get the dog used to not being the centre of attention and to wait to be fussed. Labradors are usually great with kids anyway so I doubt you'll have any major problems. Just don't leave your baby on your own with the dogs at any time though, no matter how much you trust them.

Gem x