Introducing dog to new baby

hannah1obrien

Any suggestions on how to introduce your dog to newborn? My pup just turned one and while we have a four year old daughter who gets along great with him; I’m not sure how to go about him meeting our newest addition when we bring home baby. 

When my four year old was first born we pretty much kept my in laws dogs away from her completely which felt like a mistake because now they avoid her at all cost four years later and don’t think they are allowed to play with her. 

kboydbowman

*lurking from elsewhere*

So we have 2 large dogs (75 pound range) who take a while to warm up to people (like we lock them in the garage if our cleaners our over so they don't try to eat them kind of dogs).  However, your baby smells like you and thus will smell like pack.  We introduced both dogs to the baby the first day we had him home.  They were definitely interested, but mostly just sniffing.  Our child is almost 2 now and he loves the dogs.  One dog adores him and the other is largely indifferent.  Early introduction is definitely good.

hspg

A tip I’ve heard and that we used with our first is to have someone else bring over something that smells like baby before you bring baby home. Get them used to the new scent. If your husband will be home with the 4yo then that would be best. We had my in laws bring a baby hat from the hospital to our dog and let her sniff it. From the sound of your dogs, I’d be cautious to let them have it alone, they might tear it up and then think they can do that to baby. I’d just have someone they trust hold it and let them sniff and be all smiles and happy vibes, but you know your dogs. I guess you could even do it for the first few weeks baby is home. We did that with our dog too (she doesn’t live in the main house with us though) but we’d let her sniff the baby blanket and see us holding the baby. Then eventually we’d let the dog sniff his little butt lol. Now they’re best buds.

polichik

@dogmeetsbaby on Instagram has fantastic, free tips and guides. It’s so easy to make mistakes with introducing a dog and baby, and her guides make the process so much smoother and safer!