Tips for getting dog ready for baby

Thscary

Hi everyone. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips for how they are planning to get their dog ready for a new baby. My pup is a sweetheart but she is huge and can sometimes be jealous when she doesn't have my or DH's undivided attention. I want to start preparing her now so we have no issues when September rolls around.

kosmo86

We are in the same boat. We have 2 dogs. In april/may I am going to be blocking off one area of the house with a baby gate. It's will have our office, babyroom and bathroom and for the foreseeable future it will be a "no dog zone". Currently they both sleep in out room and 1 month before baby is due I am going to transition them into their own room (it's a hallwall area they stay in during the day) at night since and they will stay their until we transition the baby from a bassinet into their crib.

Thats my gameplan so far.  

PSUBecky23

Bring a blanket home from the hospital that baby was swaddled in prior to bringing baby home. Let dog sniff and snuggle blanket. And be prepared initially to never leave the dog alone with baby and to give dog extra one-on-one time.

I'm lucky that I have an easy going dog. He could've cared less about my daughter when we brought her home.

0SeaMonkey0

When we were preparing for my son, we were more worried about the dog around the baby's toys than anything else.  He was used to pretty much anything on the floor being his to chew and destroy.  We went to a couple of garage sales over the summer and picked up a variety of toys; plush animals, wooden toys, plastic toys etc to use for training and we set up toy bins.  The dog already had a basket that is where his toys were kept.  We practiced leaving toys on the floor and teaching him that they weren't his, and we took him to his basket to show him where his toys were.  We also stored the practice toys in the baby's bins so the dog would learn which bins were off limits (he goes and gets his own toys from his basket)  It worked really well, we've only had a couple of toy fatalities and those were both this winter when I think the dog isn't getting out as much and feeling a bit cooped up

As for preparing for the actual baby, it depends on the dog.  We had no issues in the first months.  The dog was actually pretty uninterested in the baby.  When our son cried, the dog would go peek into the bassinet but that was it.  Some friends on the other hand had to send their mini poodle to live with their parents for the first week because he would bark every time the baby cried.  If you think that might be a problem, maybe you could buy a toy doll that cries and start training a few months early?  

Crawling was a different story, it caused the dog a huge amount of anxiety and now we use gates to give him places in the house where he can go and be alone.  My son is awesome with him, the dog just doesn't like being pestered all the time. 

backoffunicorn

I did the receiving blanket too. My DH took her blanket from the hospital and let our shepherd sniff it before we got home. I'd have a dog trainers phone number on hand just in case.

If you're planning on walking your dog and baby at the same time, practice with the empty stroller a few times. I was super concerned and while my toddler drives my dog crazy at times (which we try to stop her), he's also a huge fan of hers when she feeds him treats and her dinner.

AnnaS930

We have a small dog, but she can be a bit needy for attention. She never caused any trouble with the baby, we allowed some licks/kisses then would tell her it was enough and to back off, but she did eat the nipples off of plenty of pacifiers (Something too tempting about baby drool). It got really frustrating but I knew she was doing it for attention, whether it be good or bad.  Things aren't perfect but our son LOVES our dog, "Da-dog" was his first word and he chases her everywhere, it's really sweet to see them growing up together.

Tennis11785

@0SeaMonkey0 - i love the idea about teaching the dog which bin is good toys and which are bad.  We have the same problem - our dogs have TONS of toys and they are used to anything on the floor being theirs.  We are going to need to help teach them what toys are theirs.  

I'm a bit worried about one of my dogs, she loves attention and has no problems lifting her paw and tapping us when we don't give it to her.  We're trying to break her of the habit, and have come a long way, but we aren't 100% there yet.  Certainly, we hope she's broken that habit before the baby arrives.  

mamajen10414

I'm not sure if both my pictures loaded. But we were worried about our dog and how he'd be with our son. But the farther my pregnancy went, the more our dog picked up on it. Now my son and our dog are best friends.

I know every dog is different but they can pick up that babies are small and they need to be gentle. It is very scary because you never really know until they are here.

DressageDarling

*lurking from August*

We actually talked to our dog trainer as soon as we found out. She told us the sooner you can make any chances that need to happen, the better so that the dog doesn't associate the change with the baby.

Our dog is not allowed in the bedrooms, so she had suggested playing sounds from the nursery. She also suggested carrying something around in your arms. My DH or parents will bring a blanket home for him from the hospital.

We are actually having her train him for a week while we are on our babymoon. He's only 9 months, so he is very much still a puppy. She'll be practicing heeling next to a stroller along with his normal basics.

KarenBeth714

Yup, yup.. me too! I've got two little spoiled dogs. Once a random person on the street stopped us while walked them and said "Wow, these two are gonna be jealous if any babies come along!" ... and they were probably right.  One of the dogs is easy going, the other is a handful ( a rescue) We have a lot of work to do. I know my cousin got a baby doll to walk around the house with, slowly teaching the dogs to keep their space, etc. and not jump up when holding the baby. Then they put the doll in a stroller and practiced walking around with the dogs before the baby way born. Just some ideas... 

camichael84

We have a Jack Russell who was our first baby. When I was pregnant with DD, DH and I took a Bow wow and baby class at our hospital that gave us ideas on helping him adjust. Most was mentioned on here already: helping them distinguish between baby toys and dog toys, getting them used to being out of the bedroom/off furniture, teaching them not to jump, ect. One of the things we found helpful was to teach him different names for his toys vs the baby's toys. All his toys are "ball" and all DD's toys are "mine". It was still an adjustment at first, obviously, but they love each other now, and he's a good big brother.

vampirina

My dog LOVES babies. Like LOVES them. I'm certain he wants one just as much as my husband and I do.

He's pretty gentle and exceptionally well behaved and it's been easy for us to make him give any visiting babies space when they are over at our house. Like if a baby wants to pet him, he's all about it, but if I tell him to go lay down over there, he'll do that without much issue. I think I'm most worried about balancing the attention he currently gets (which is a lot) with how much he'll likely get once our baby is around. So if anyone has tips on that, please do share!

Thscary

Great tips, ladies! Thank you all, I will be trying these.

lalalorelai

*Lurking from August16*

I have three incredibly spoiled dogs and I just spoke with my vet this morning. One thing she actually said is that dogs usually do better if you don't set up "baby only" zones. So dogs often get more jealous/panicky if they are never allowed in the nursery (unless, of course, you never let dogs in the bedroom in the first place--but my babies go wherever they want). She did establish smaller "bubble" zones like on her baby's playmat, for example. The dogs knew they couldn't touch the playmat or anything on it, but they could lay next to it and were able to see whatever is going on. 

She also suggested establishing the baby as part of your "pack" as early as possible. As soon as it's feasible, do some short pack walks with your dog and the baby, so the dog knows the baby is one of you and here to stay. She said some people practice playing crying noises or bringing home baby blankets, but she never did with her two dogs. Baby is going to smell like you when it comes home from the hospital, and the dogs already know what you smell like. But I definitely don't think it would hurt! 

She assured me that the vast majority of dogs do just fine with a baby, even high strung ones like one of my pups. We just need to make sure they're getting plenty of attention and exercise when the baby first comes home, and they'll adjust just fine. 

mom2adoodle

@lalalorelai My trainer completely agrees with your vet