Pets?

Sweetpea7830

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
234
Reaction score
0
So here's the debate...

We have two dogs, and they have always been like my kids. Got them before I got the DH, and he jokes that if he hadn't liked them or vice versa, we would have never gotten married. He's right! :) They're a good judge of character. ;)

Now that I am pregnant, he's very concerned. They've always been indoor/outdoor doggies and they are bigger - 70 and 90 lbs. They like to play and tripped me early in pregnancy so I fell down about 3 stairs. I was ok, and baby is fine...but DH was not happy!

The next day, he moved them to the garage and that was that! No more dogs in the house - they sleep in the garage and they play outside during the day.

We've been able to make it work through the hot weather by putting a little air conditioner out there for them (it gets upward of 100 degrees here) and such...but now I worry about the cold. One of the doggies has arthritis and she just hates the cold. :cold: I also miss them inside. :sad1:

I understand his point of view - he's worried about baby, and he thinks it's an easier transition for them now to go to being out there than when baby comes and they "blame" baby and such...he also points out it's going to be hard enough for us to sleep and baby to sleep without two more interferences (one of the dogs is rather hyper and is up half the night anyways, and the other dog likes to bark).

Does anyone else have this issue?? :help:
 
Awww hun, Im not in the same situation as you But Id always say, Never push your pets out for baby. There going to have to get used to having a baby around all the time, but perhaps gradually introduce them so its not such of a huge shock cos you dont want your dogs sulking. I know what my dogs like, any time my nans dog comes over he sulks sooo much because he feels pushed out and not getting all the attention But they'll have to get used to it as you'll probably be spending less time with your dogs when bubba arrives. So putting them outside now may be a good idea
Xxxx
 
Hmm... I'm not sure...
I know everyone is protective about their first, but, learning to sleep through noise is a good thing I think.. I have three dogs at my mom's that all bark if someone on the street closes a car door.
It's really hard to say.. pets are family, and it's maybe worth looking into some sort of training to get them less hyper? if he wants them outside all the time, what happens when your little boy gets big and starts playing outside, if they aren't trained, he's gonna get knocked over.. then what is DH gonna do?
I think maybe calling a dog trainer in the area, and see what they suggest! There has to be some way to train the doggies!
 
Awww hun, Im not in the same situation as you But Id always say, Never push your pets out for baby. There going to have to get used to having a baby around all the time, but perhaps gradually introduce them so its not such of a huge shock cos you dont want your dogs sulking. I know what my dogs like, any time my nans dog comes over he sulks sooo much because he feels pushed out and not getting all the attention But they'll have to get used to it as you'll probably be spending less time with your dogs when bubba arrives. So putting them outside now may be a good idea
Xxxx

Thank you! That's pretty much what he was saying ... not to ignore or push them out for baby but to go ahead and get them used to the idea of not being with us 100% of the time and not being #1/the focus of our attention. Then when baby comes and is a little bigger (ie not at 2 weeks old) to start letting them smell of baby and smell baby's clothes, etc, and such to begin to introduce them.
 
Hmm... I'm not sure...
I know everyone is protective about their first, but, learning to sleep through noise is a good thing I think.. I have three dogs at my mom's that all bark if someone on the street closes a car door.
It's really hard to say.. pets are family, and it's maybe worth looking into some sort of training to get them less hyper? if he wants them outside all the time, what happens when your little boy gets big and starts playing outside, if they aren't trained, he's gonna get knocked over.. then what is DH gonna do?
I think maybe calling a dog trainer in the area, and see what they suggest! There has to be some way to train the doggies!

I was wondering that as well (noise and sleeping)! The bark-y one is super laid back but the quieter one is very hyper. We've had her through training before, and she just is so excited about life. It's what I love about her but it's also what is so hard with her...she is the energizer bunny and no amount of walks or play time can calm her down when she's excited. :)

I know, I want baby boy to be able to play with them! They are both actually pretty good with kids. The hyper one seems to respect the size of little ones and we had a friend whose baby quickly learned to put out her little two-year-old hand and say "NO!" and our hyper doggie would just stop in her tracks! :) It was really cute, and I was surprised but thrilled.

I think you're right...dog trainer is a good way to go to at least start to see what's up!
 
My MIL has 4 choc labs 2 indoors and 2 outdoors. When it snows or is really cold out she puts a baby gate up in the kitchen and has then sleep in the kitchen with sum blankets on the floor It holds them in there just to hyper and to big to be running around there small house lol Maybe if you have a door way to the kitchen try a baby gate! :)
 
We have 2 German shephards (one cross collie and other white German Shephard) that have always been house dogs and we love them to bits. Both are very soppy but the one becomes extremly upset (crys) at the slightest thing and hides under the table whenever she hears a baby on TV or a simualr sound. We are going to keep the dogs as house pets and they will very much be part of our family, but always on the understanding that they are DOGS and however much I love them I could never trust them 100% as they are animals- I would never be leaving baby in the same room.

I have done some reading around the whole introducing dogs to new baby and found this site helped;

https://www.dogclub.co.uk/advice/babyanddog.php

Some good info.


They have their moments of being mad but we have trained them to stop when asked and we are making sure that when baby arrives they have all basic training in place, and I have done alot of reading about how to introduce a newborn to dogs so that i feel a bit more prepapred and comfortable with the situation when it comes.
 
Umm considering they were youre babies this may cause the dogs to become jealous. I would just keep them in the house. I know so many families with dogs who are perfectly fine around babies. Just use baby gates to keep the dogs from a room where the baby is playing on the floor or in the swing or something. It's either that or say good bye. Because keeping them in the garage isnt fair and they will notice that. Just my opinion
 
Yikes. I have two dogs...who wrestle and play like crazy people in our house ALL the time. They are also pretty much use to being the center of our worlds...they sleep with us...sit on the couch with us...

And their breed worries a lot of people, because they are American Pit Bull Terriers..But one is a trained therapy dog and the other one is a love bug marshmallow...well they both are.

But we are modifying their daily lives slowly before the baby comes so it's not such a huge shock to their systems when our attention gets shifted else where.

Anyways...I agree to some what with your husbands idea that the dogs should get use to having their time with you cut down a lot before the baby comes. But locking them in the garage is too much. This is a breeding ground for resentment and your dogs becoming very antisocial and possibly worse than they are now. In fact it almost ensures that will happen. And you will end up with two dogs that have no idea how to behave properly around a baby.

They need to be around the baby in order to learn what is expected of them and what is not. I think if your DH is worried, then you should consider getting a trainer in to help you. If you do not want to do that, then start doing things yourself to help the move into babyhood for the dogs more smooth..

Start walking them with the stroller if you plan to when the baby comes. Let them into the nursery now before the baby comes to check out all the new gear and stuff in there, that way they wont be so excited when the baby comes. Even maybe start carrying a doll around.

Instead of locking them in a garage, crate train them. They can sleep in their crates at night or when you need them to be more calm, but never use it to punish them or the point of it will be ruined.

How to crate train

Invest in some kongs, they are great toys and because they are interactive they also help to dampen energy.

Remember a tired dog is a happy dog...so the more tired you can make your two the better.

Try some games..Scent games are WONDERFUL and easy for burning up energy with hyper dogs..

Scent game ideas

Good luck!

PS I have worked with dog rescues and trained dogs for over ten years now...if you need more advice pm me.

Something else I strongly think you should try...

NILF training program (simple and soooo affective!)
 
I have been thinking about this, too--it's very difficult for me to imagine that, just short of something awful happening, that I would choose between my pets and our child. Don't mean to sound weird...I worked at a shelter for many years, and it just absolutely destroyed me when these poor souls were abandoned because there was a new infant in the house--no other reason than that.

We have four dogs (a 115 lb. German Shep, an amstaff/english spaniel mix, a lab mix and a field beagle) and 3 cats. I'm actually a bit more worried about the cats--they don't accept change very well!!! Our dogs have been our kids the last 6 years, and it's not likely to change--my husband and I have gone through extensive obedience with them, and he is the pack leader :) Our Amstaff mix is my boy-o, and is very protective of me, and I think, in turn, he will be just as loving and protective of little Violet, when she arrives. We've been playing baby crying sounds periodically and they mostly just stop still and then try to investigate the sound.

We live in a small cottage, but they are used to baby gates and each have their own "space" that they go to when we say, "time to get to work". This is simply my opinion, but I would allow them in your home--after all, they are social creatures, and when left to their own devices (i.e., the garage) they have a tendency TO become undisciplined, and act out because they don't understand.
 
I have been thinking about this, too--it's very difficult for me to imagine that, just short of something awful happening, that I would choose between my pets and our child. Don't mean to sound weird...I worked at a shelter for many years, and it just absolutely destroyed me when these poor souls were abandoned because there was a new infant in the house--no other reason than that.

I hear that 110%! I worked at a humane society here in Ontario, and it was something that occured way too frequently. It's heart breaking really because there is usually nothing wrong at all with the doggies!


SweetPea - Another option is to let the dogs inside during the winter, but have them only allowed in specific rooms... have 'dog free' rooms. You're gonna learn to live with baby gates soon enough, and then there are dog free zones!!
 
we've put a baby gate up already as we don't want Arni upstairs any more. We were lucky in that we have just moved house so we wanted Arni to associated the new rules with the new house rather than with the baby. Gone are his days of sleeping in our bed, the first night he cried downstairs on his own, now, we don't even have to shut the baby gate he just knows not to come up.

They adjust amazingly quickly and I would defo start getting them used to any big changes now before baby comes.
 
Well we compromised and decided that our dog could stay in the house, but agreed that he was banned from upstairs and the living room, and put stairgates up to stoop him from getting into these areas, as these were the places that the baby would be most of the time. We got him used to it as soon as we decided, that was 4 years ago now and he adapted really well (apart from a couple of nights of crying). xx
 
I totally agree with putting up baby gates and restricting their access.

We have two dogs that we've had forever - a 115 lb Rottie/Doberman and a 20 lb Pug. Before we had our son they had free roam of the house and still pretty much had it after we brought our son home. We just let the dogs sniff his clothes and him and they figured out pretty quickly their status had changed, but as long as they were allowed to be in the same room with us, they were fine. It got to the point however that we got tired of dog hair everywhere so now they're not allowed upstairs but they got used to that very quickly, despite years of being free to roam the whole house.

My Rottie barks whenever a truck rolls by and my son is the BEST sleeper. He must have gotten used to their barking in the womb and can still sleep through it, even during his naps!
 
We were lucky in that we have just moved house so we wanted Arni to associated the new rules with the new house rather than with the baby. Gone are his days of sleeping in our bed, the first night he cried downstairs on his own, now, we don't even have to shut the baby gate he just knows not to come up.

They adjust amazingly quickly and I would defo start getting them used to any big changes now before baby comes.

We did more or less the same thing when we moved as we knew this is were we would start a family. Worked wonderfully and I couldn't believe how quickly they knew the new rules- went from going into every room, sleeping on bed, going were ever they wanted in garden. They now know they are not allowed certain rooms, sleep on landing etc and are wonderful.

If anything their behaviour has improved because of the new rules.
 
We have got a springer spaniel and he is crazy, we are slowly training him to sleep out of the bedroom and will let him carry on around the house, if he gets too much a gate will be put up, i couldnt lock him anywhere tho, he is a mummys boy. He learns very quickly too so we are going to train him to protect baby but certainly couldnt shut him out or demote him, its just like having an additional child lol

just use gates if you can,the baby wont be phased by the barking at all if it has grown with it in your tummy, most babys dont mind the hoover etc and its the same with dogs barking etc, whatever they are used to xxx
 
I have been thinking about this as well. We have 2x big dogs (1x fully grown rodesian ridgeback (girl) and a 16 week old rodesian ridgeback cross Rottwieller pup (boy). They are awesome dogs, well trained, well behaved, both inside and outside dogs as well.. spend most of their time outside but they do come inside of a night time and spend a few hours inside most nights and then back outside when it is sleep time. Missy - the bitch - is terrified of kids.. she has had a very bad up bringing (from previous owners) and the was beaten and starved so she runs at anything loud or moving to fast (aka kids) we have been having my freinds kids over alot more since finding out we are pg so that the puppies get used to children.
We are starting to set up the nursery and we always have the puppies in the room to make sure that they know what is happening and for them to smell the new things in the room.
I will not be removing my puppies from the house when bubby comes. i will introduce them straight away so that they know that bubs is the new member of the "pack" so to speak and that this is what they are to protect as well as mummy and dadddy :) But the puppies are now starting to not come inside as much as we are spending more time with them outside.
We also have a Rainbow Lorikeet bird and she is also a worry as she is very protective of me as she sees me as her partner so yeah.. we are not sure what we are going to do with her and bubs yet... we will figure that one out soon as well i hope... :)
Hope your getting helpful information and ideas from everyone.. But i am like you.. my puppies and animals are my babies and they always will be family members :) but they will all get along well otherwise their will have to be chances.. cause my baby (actual baby) comes first!!! we will figure it out :)
 
Hi all...it looks like I didn't explain myself well in that I am a little surprised at the idea/suggestion that I am abandoning them or giving them away now that we are having a baby. I spend a lot of time with them - we just now spend it playing in the yard instead of the house, and they don't get to sleep inside with us in the bedroom anymore. Them sleeping in the garage is not much different from them being babygated or closed into another room (due to the set up of our house, they would have to be babygated/closed into another room entirely).

I too spent a lot of time working in rescue, and have spent countless hours fostering and caring for animals that had no homes until we could find them a place to be. I am just trying to find a happy medium between the two as the pups can no longer be #1 for us. It's not me abandoning them or giving them away to a shelter, it's me trying to find a good compromise - especially considering that for the first 1-6 months the newborn will be so demanding and we will be so exhausted.

Thanks to those who posted about some great compromises - we actually did just move to this house when the whole incident happened, so we were able to coincide this change with the move. I have been concerned about the cold, but I monitored it last night/early morning - it got below freezing outside...and the garage was a comfortable 60 degrees or so. It's well insulated and the house faces the sun during the day, so I think it soaks up so much heat that it stays warm through the night. That makes me feel much better.

There are some great points about ways to flex things here, and I appreciate the advice! We don't have many dog trainers in my area, and both dogs have been through training already when they were younger, but I did contact one that I know of to find out if they could do a "reminder" course of manners and such - not the full enchilada, as they know how to sit, stay, lay down, etc. They are both crate trained, but I personally don't like crating my dogs more than to sleep. I figure if they are going to be crated during the day, they might as well be in the garage where they have "their room" and can be together as well as apart as much as they want.

The one dog is just truly so energetic - it is her personality, and it's what we love about her but it's also frustrating at times. :)

We do plan to introduce them slowly to baby and so forth - I don't think we're going to end up with dogs that don't behave well with kids...but mostly I was looking for ideas on how others have reached a compromise between the two extremes of doggie sleeping under the crib in the baby's room :) and doggie becoming a 100% outside dog.

It sounds like contacting this trainer for some "refreshers" and also making a space that is their very own is just what the doctor ordered in terms of compromise! Thanks ladies!

Sorry for the long reply...I just didn't want it to be interpreted as that we are "giving up" or "giving away" our animals. If you knew us in person, you would know that it is not an option for us. :)
 
I dont think anyone (esp me) had any impression you planned to give them up! Also if you thought I was infering you should crate them all day, I was not.

Anyways, hope it works out. Sorry you felt like people thought that you were giving your animals up. I think it was just brought up because it happens ALL the time..and usually it starts with the animals being forced into the backyard or something. But I dont think anyone assumed you were going to do that.
 
Not exactly the same, but I have 7 cats :)dohh: my sister moved home) and it can be a real pain, and will be especially when LO is born. If you want your doggies back inside maybe you could get some baby gates or something? Just to stop them getting under your feet or so you can lock them out of they get a bit boisterous. Im sure they'll be fine around your LO, I've been brought up with 2+ cats my whole life and my cousins were brought up with 2+ dogs and they're fine. :D x
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
1,650,189
Messages
27,141,091
Members
255,672
Latest member
mummynugs
Back
Top
monitoring_string = "c48fb0faa520c8dfff8c4deab485d3d2"