Pets and LO

kendy20

How are your pets doing with LO's at this point? I was nervous about our dog but he's taken to our DD very well. He's very protective of her which I love. Here's a pic of them :-)

ns1

Our cat licks her hair off her body if she doesn't take a pill and she has gained 25% of her body weight since I wss pregnant. She's a mess herself...but, she is always in one of the kids' rooms. We have to kick her out at night. Other than that she steers clear of them.

haylo33

Our dog is great with the baby. She really doesn't pay too much attention to him but if I come home without the baby or if DH isn't in the house yet, she runs to look for him in his swing or room. She won't stop running around until she finds him. She is a pretty good dog but for some reason, she is so much more annoying to DH now. He has no patience for her and complains about her constantly. I feel bad but it can get annoying when I am BFing and she is crying to go out. Totally not her fault but we just don't have the patience for her now.

lavendergiraffes

He loves and licks her and wants to be all up in her face. He's very nosy but that hasn't changed. We got this picture last night.

Edit-stupid autocorrect

Lbarron915

I love watching them together! The dogs sleep by his crib and constantly want to be near him. So sweet! 

waldothewiener1

They are best pals!

jsaffer01

Both my pups are so good with him. Jordyn is more protective, she sits next to the person holding him. Chance on the other hand didn't know we had a baby in the house until day 3 of being home. He's so dopey. They both give him kisses, and LO opens his mouth letting them kiss him there. It's so gross, I end up pushing them away. Jordyn is the one he is laying on and Chance is creeping on him while he is playing.

momo214

My cat comes running from anywhere in the house if the baby starts to cry. My dog likes to sneak lots of licks in any chance she gets. Our dog was our baby before LO and I can tell the adjustment to the lack of attention has been hard. She still gets cuddle time in bed every night though.

gutsysneakers

Best buds. I had no doubts since he's a golden retriever. He's super protective and will lick her feet when she's fussy.

QOTR

Our dog is 13 years old and can be grumpy. I didn't expect much out of him. If LO cries during a diaper change, the dog will run into the nursery to check on us. Otherwise he pretty much ignores him.

Sam0905

We have two cats. Mittens is pretty much oblivious (which he is most of the time anyways) but Vinny has become a real pain in the ass. He follows me around constantly and I'm always tripping over him. He comes into the nursery and meows super loud whenever I'm doing anything with the baby and he's always running into the kitchen meowing for food, even when his dishes are full. I try to give him more attention, he used to love snuggles and pets. But now when I try to pet him he bites me. He's kind of a weird/needy cat and I hope he mellows out with time.

LunaBug924

Our dogs love her! They get very concerned when she cries and always want to know where she is. One morning I brought DD into bed with me in hopes I could catch a few more Zzzzs. I laid her next to me and at the time the dogs were passed out at the foot of the bed. I dozed off and woke up to what you see in the picture. It was so cute. 

laurblum

My 2 puggies love her. They sit with me pretty much all day. I sit in the glider in her room and they sit on my legs in the ottoman. Sometimes they try to sit with her in the boppy. It's so cute.

letal316

Our cocker spaniel seemed very concerned about our LO at first and would come with me on all the MOTN feedings. But that was short lived and she was more interested in sleep after a few weeks. She has started licking DD a lot more in the last few weeks when she's in her bouncer or on her playmat.

Bootsie327

My dog is pretty "meh" toward him. She gets very concerned if he's crying a lot, but most of the time she couldn't care less whether he's here or not. I guess I'd prefer that over her being hostile toward the baby, but it would be cute if they were buddies! Maybe when LO is a little older and more mobile/vocal.

babyaotw

It's going A LOT better than I thought it would. Our papillon, Bam!, loves stealing kisses and guards the baby when we put him down for naps! He also gets pretty concerned when the baby cries.

springbeduk2

One cat is scared of DD and we'd like to keep it that way for quite a while as he is rather unpredictable and pesky and might scratch. Our sweet elderly cat mostly ignores her and is disappointed to be getting less attention now (though we try) but will com in my lap with DD sometimes and sometimes rubs up against her a little. The person who will be her daycare provider had a very sweet and baby-loving dog and I'm happy that DD will have the chance to get used to dogs and have a furry fan/friend even though I am not willing to take on the responsibility of us having a dog.

dogsombrero

Our 15 yo rottie mix is very ambivalent but our 9 yo Shepard mix thinks J is his baby. When he's cried he's all over him which can be frustrating. Tummy-time includes Mongo, he steals licks whenever he can. When we get home he has to sniff J in the car seat I guess to checkout his flavor haha.

crystalmir91385

Our 2 cats are fine with DD. One ignores her, and the other will lay next to her on occasion. MIL just got a puppy, which is interesting. She loves to lick DD, but is also in the stage where she is mouthing/gnawing on stuff, which worries me when DD is over there. 

ho11yday

The cats hide until the kiss are asleep mostly due to ds1 being rather loud and rambunctious. The dog loves both kids, sniffs ds2 but tires of ds1 antics.

kendy20

Bumping this because:

Turns out we need to find a new home for my dog. :-( ever since DD became mobile, the dog growls at her and has snapped at her. We tried giving him more attention and letting him know that DD won't hurt him, but he just doesn't like her. He looks annoyed with her and its to the point where my mommy gut won't leave them alone in the same room.

It breaks my heart because he's part of the family and I've had him since he was a puppy, almost five years now. We had to put our other dog down last year and that's been hard on the dog we still have, then we had DD and the attention shifted to her. But I know it's what's safest for DD and honestly better for my dog. He deserves way more attention than we can give him right now.

Anyone else have to go through this since having your LO?

kendy20

@sstwinklinglites‌ , I'm so sorry for your loss (didn't mean to bring up sad emotions). He's also my first dog, gift from DH too. It's just crazy how he's acting because he's never been a mean or vicious dog. DD is at his level, which probably makes him feel more territorial.

But thank you for sharing your story and for the support! I've had a close friend make me feel horrible for this and I just can't risk him biting her or anything.

LunaBug924

Something we were told to do from before DD was even born was to start conditioning our dogs to whatever "abuse" a baby could bring. Pulling ears and tails, crawling on their dog bed, taking toys, playing in the food dish, etc.

We've been doing these things for a while and they seem to be unphased by any of it. DH will actually crouch down on the floor next to them (in a crawling position) while they eat and steal kibbles right from under their noses. Nothing. And they're usually in DD's face while she's poking them in the eye or grabbing their face. We are always right there to watch for signs of aggression, but they just sit there and keep coming back for more. Then we'll pet them and tell them "good girls". And of course we're trying to teach DD to be gentle, but it's too soon for her to really understand.

All this to say @kendy20‌ that maybe you could try some conditioning with your dog in a similar way. You or your DH should try doing whatever LO does to annoy him. Correct if he becomes aggressive, praise if he tolerates. And keep LO close by so he can see her. Could you maybe have a trainer come to the house?

hbird0723

Edit because I just realized this post was being bumped and didn't pay attention to dates! So sorry you're having to do that. I know what it feels like to feel like they are part of the family! No one should make anyone feel bad for taking their LOs safety into consideration. I would do the same as @sstwinklinglites‌ I would probably send him to my moms if there ever becomes an issue. sorry again!!

kendy20

@sstwinklinglites‌ , my brother would gladly take our dog but he lives in Colorado...we don't have any family near by :-( @LunaBug924‌ & @bunannie‌ , we've done some training with him and would always welcome him to snif her, while we were right there of course. And anytime he would try to get between us and dd we would tell him to go to bed so he would know it wasn't ok. We also let him on the couch with us for cuddles and more attention. DH roughhouses with him, so I know the little pulling DD does, shouldn't hurt him. The few times our dog went up to dd on his own, he's lunged at her or growled. He's fine as long as he is next to me. But even when he's laying on his bed and DD starts crawling around, he looks aggravated and annoyed. 9 times out of 10, he runs away from her :-/. DH is set on finding him a new home, it's just breaking my heart because he was my "baby" but obviously DD comes first. But thank you ladies so much for the advice, we are going to the vet in a few hours and will talk to them about it and see what they think.

kendy20

@buannie, that's great to hear! I'll have to share that with DH!

QOTR

Our dog has given us the elvis lip warning sign twice when LO was in his saucer.  I think he was too close, too loud & at eye level with the dog.   The dog will tolerate LO touching him, but I still don't trust them to be too close to each other, even when I'm right there.   Based on past experiences with the dog and our cats (who have both passed away in recent years), I know how quickly something can happen.    The dog is 13 1/2 now, so I'm going to continue to ride it out and be diligent for whatever time he has left.  

gutsysneakers

athn64 said:

BTW if you do end up needing to rehome, don't let anyone let you feel bad about it. You love your dog, but your LO should and must take priority. 

This. And I'm so sorry@kendy20. We've had our dog since he weeks old (he's 2 now). I can't imagine giving my "first baby" up, but you would be doing the right thing. I hope there is a 180 change in behavior. 

yvanehtnioj

I was concerned about Bing's behavior at first. She would bark like crazy when he cried but we were quickly able to stop that. Instead of yelling at/telling her to stop, I would speak softly and reassure her that I had everything under control and she didn't need to worry. Now she is slowly adjusting to the dropoff in attention (she got massive, massive amounts of attention before) and becoming like a little nanny. She always lays down just out of his reach, because he's not gentle enough but she still wants to be nearby. Here's a pic of the two of them together from the summer:

kendy20

Just had to share this pic of dd and Marley ;-) hate that she loves him so much and that he's so afraid and annoyed of her.

After our visit at the vet yesterday, they suggested some trainers and said that it does seem like he should be used to her by now. So we are still conflicted but DH is set on finding him a new home.

kendy20

@bunannie‌ , good news! For whatever reason DH finally considered training him and said that we can give that a go before looking for a new home! I'm so happy now :-) And I plan on buying some small treats and every time dd is near him and pulling or poking him and he doesn't react, we will praise with a treat. Gotta do some more research but I'm just glad DH is okay keeping him and trying to train him with new behaviors.

SurprisePartySue

My two fur babies Sophie (left) and Max (right). And then some of them with DD.