Dog owners please come in

TJ1979 · February 2012

I have two wonderful dogs who always been well behaved. My golden is 7 and an angel, and our other pup is only one and a half, but he has always been very well behaved other than having way too much energy. Since I got pregnant, suddenly the dogs have started tearing things up. Every time we leave the house, we come home to something else destroyed. Last night, they ate a tube of chapstick, an ink pen, and a $50 gift card (DH was so upset!) Has anyone else had any issues with dogs behaving differently since they got pregnant? Any thoughts on what I can do? Thanks in advance ladies!

vanessagorc · February 2012

Well, my youngest is a puppy....and is totally crazy already. My older dog, seems to want more attention and to lay next to my belly. Maybe they can sense it?

My friend was very worried about her dog adjusting to her baby, and there is a dvd u can buy. The DVD is actually for the dog! It' plays baby sounds ets, to get the dog ready for ur LO.

DeputiesWife · February 2012

my pup is attached to my hip.

she has pooped in the house twice -- VERY unusual, she is 8.

But she wont leave my side...she wasnt like this before. I firmly believe animals can sense these things.

doggie mama · February 2012

I have two. One is 2 years old and skittish. He does not like strangers so we are working on that. Any behavior that has altered is likely related to that. He is a momma's boy and followed me around anyway. He is very loving with people he loves and trusts so we are really hoping he will bond with the baby since the baby will be a permanent fixture, and it's people he doesn't see contantly that bother him. I have noticed that he doesn't jump on me really any more, or if he does, he's more gentle. I'm concerned about him, but a positive side, I'm definitely going to be way more mindful about supervising him than I would be if I had two super friendly dogs. I think in that case it's easy to be complacent, but even the friendliest dog needs to be supervised.

My other one just turned one and I have noticed that she has been more affectionate with me. They stayed with my ILs after my ET, and when DH brought them home, she came right up to me and put on my lap. It was really like she knew. She is having some chewing issues but I think it's just the remnants of puppyhood.

This post reminded me taht I have to but tha baby CD. THere are also workshops, books, and even dolls to prepare them.

I

babystinkbreath · February 2012

my dog is also attached to my hip, esp since being home on maternity leave. I'm playing the baby sounds cd for him now, he is not happy about it. I'm a little worried about the adjustment period too.

leolyns · February 2012

My husband and I adopted our dog almost a year ago but leave her crated every time we leave the house. Our dog is about 2.5 years old and is energetic but has only become more protective of me since becoming pregnant.

I highly suggest crating your dogs (especially your puppy) when you're not home. That's really the safest place for them when you're not home. They can't mess with any of your things. They are probably bored out of their minds waiting for you to get home. Can you walk them or toss a ball or frisbee before you leave for work? What about a doggie daycare place once or twice per week?

TJ1979 · February 2012

leolyns:
My husband and I adopted our dog almost a year ago but leave her crated every time we leave the house. Our dog is about 2.5 years old and is energetic but has only become more protective of me since becoming pregnant.

I highly suggest crating your dogs (especially your puppy) when you're not home. That's really the safest place for them when you're not home. They can't mess with any of your things. They are probably bored out of their minds waiting for you to get home. Can you walk them or toss a ball or frisbee before you leave for work? What about a doggie daycare place once or twice per week?

We do crate them while we are at work because I know that is the safest place for them. However, when we just do little trips like the grocery or dinner out, we try to leave them out of their crates because I feel guilty about them being confined. This has always worked well, until recently. And we do exercise them at least an hour a day, plus the pup gets to play ball pretty much constantly when we're home. He's a fountain of energy! I guess we will have to go back to crating them at all times when we aren't home. Sad

kimikins79 · February 2012

Mine has not really increased her level of mischief, but rather she has started some funny behaviors - she will not go for a walk with my DH if I do not go with her. She never did that before I was pregnant. She also will sit in our front window, even if my DH is home, and wait for me to get home. She will not snuggle on the couch with him but will only do that with me now. She always sat with my DH, now she only wants me.

mdiblasi10 · February 2012

Sometimes you have to go back to using a crate, even when they have left things alone for a while. Our 5 year old Mastiff still decides to shred a blanket every once in a while when we are gone.

I haven't noticed any changes with him, but one of our cats has been super snuggly with me and attached to my hip. I swear he senses something is different with me

leolyns · February 2012

Ah gotcha, yeah I hear ya on the guilt but I would rather have them in a crate for 30 minutes or however long your errands are rather than getting into something they shouldn't be in and have an accident.

Puppies are energetic but hopefully yours will settle down after 2 years of age.

byrne15 · February 2012

Our dog started acting up again. I think it is out of boredom. He is 6.5 years old and has always had the occassional destruction when we came home (like 2 times/year). Lately it has been 3-4 times/week.

I don't really know what to do. We brought back up his crate, but he has completely destroyed it and bent all the metal and took off the door! He probably needs more exercise, but he has hip troubles and arthritis so we have to be careful there too (He is 110lbs). I have just been trying to leave him alone less.

TJ1979 · February 2012

byrne15:
Our dog started acting up again. I think it is out of boredom. He is 6.5 years old and has always had the occassional destruction when we came home (like 2 times/year). Lately it has been 3-4 times/week.

I don't really know what to do. We brought back up his crate, but he has completely destroyed it and bent all the metal and took off the door! He probably needs more exercise, but he has hip troubles and arthritis so we have to be careful there too (He is 110lbs). I have just been trying to leave him alone less.

Oh, bless his heart. It's so hard when you know exercise would help, but it will also hurt. I can't believe he destroyed the kennel! Although in her younger days, my golden unraveled the carpet off of an entire flight of stairs in one hour while I was gone. It's amazing what they can do.

justlld · February 2012

Check out the pets board FAQs. They have some great blogs and posts about babies and pets. We have a 2.4 yr old choc lab. We call her our cat dog becaus she's really aloof, especially for a lab. She's been even more not that into me since I've been pregnant, but it could be because she just doesn't think we're that awesome.

Want a personalized experience?

Dog owners please come in

Re: Dog owners please come in

Choose Another Board

Search Boards