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2nd Trimester
Preparing your pet(s)
Well I have two wonderful dogs who are my babies. I am wondering how any of you, or how you plan to prepare your dogs for the new bundles of joy you will be bringing home.
I know my dog Daisy (3) is good with toddlers, but I worry about my baby Jannelle (1) who has never even been around a kid under the age of 9. She is not snippy, and has never bitten anyone, but how can I better prepare them for the change?
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Re: Preparing your pet(s)
Try and bring them around kids between now and when you are due.
DH brought home blankets that DS used in the hospital for the dog to sniff while we were still there. When you come home go in the house first and say hello to the dogs and give them some attention before your DH and the baby come in.
Defintely get them around babies and other kids as much as possible, especially with you holding these kids. Your baby will be a new member of the pack and the dog may be threatened in a way it has never experienced before.
I read up on this a few days ago. Definitely bring home blankets from the hospital that smell like baby, and PRAISE the dog with lots of treats when it responds in the way you want. Make sure the dog is obedient and can listen to your commands. I also read to have someone neutral literally bring the baby into the house the first time while you and DH greet the dog as you always do.
Before baby comes, use a baby doll and carry it around to help teach the dog what is acceptable around baby. Put it in the PnP, swing, etc. and even walk with it in the stroller so the dog can learn what it can and cant do.
I think the key is making sure the dog is obedient to your commands and will listen to you when you say no, lay down, etc. It needs to know its boundaries. And just as you did when housebreaking it, praise it when it acts in a way that is appropriate. A local hospital has a New Baby and Pet class about this that DH and I plan on going to. HTH!
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In addition to DH bringing a baby blanket home from the hospital for Grendel's (our dog's) bed, we are planning to let Grendel play a lot in the nursery as we put it together. He can smell all of the new furniture and blankets, etc.
Otherwise, we are planning on very gradually introducing them, working up to letting Gren smell the baby when we are holding him or her. We'll also be using a lot of treats and toys and extra walks for Grendel so that he doesn't feel neglected.
I'm also really happy to be having a warm weather baby. Gren loves being outside, and he can spend a lot of time in our fenced-in backyard during the first few weeks, so he won't be a ball of energy bugging us when we are trying to get used to being new parents.
My MIL is a dog trainer and she told us to start prepping Remmie (our pit/bulldog mix furbaby) about 2 months before the baby comes. She said to let the swing rock back and forth from time to time with the sounds playing so she gets phased by it and doesn't try to play with it. We also have her toys by her food dishes so she understands that only those toys are hers to play with. She likes the stuffed animals that are for LO so when we see her trying to sneak one we'll immediatly take it away tell her no then give her one of her toys.
A big one is to bring home hats or blankets that smell like the baby so she gets accustomed to the smell. She said if you are worried about how she'll react, buy a doll that makes sounds then put a hat or blanket on the doll that smells like baby and place it in a car seat and let her sniff around. If she tries to nibble/ or bark at the doll work with her to calm down and show her what is and what isn't ok.
She had a few other suggestions but they were a little much and kind of impractical for us. HTH a little!
A couple of good websites:
https://www.growingupwithpets.com/current_owners/en/expectant_parents.shtml
https://www.babiesandbeasts.blogspot.com/ (She has a really good post about how to prep baby if you look through it a little)
That's the same one I linked to!
I'm glad you were able to find the actual post! I was too lazy to find it
when you come home from the hospital bring your dogs out to the car to meet the baby out there. Then when you go inside, it's like they 'found' the baby themselves and let you bring it home. That way it won't be so hard on them.