Not to hijack the U/O thread...what did you do to get your dog ready for baby

Winnieella · August 2013

Since there there was talk in the UO thread, about getting a dog ready for the new baby, I ws wondering what did you do/ plan on doing. I don't think having my dog sniff a blanket will make him understand that a new bay is coming. And that seems to be the popular opinion here too. So I'm wondering what all you wonderful STMs did?

ras26 · August 2013

Our dog is pretty tolerant and we have largely kept his routine the same, so we didn't have to do much. That being said, we worked with him a lot on just making him comfortable with lots of touching, like his paws, his ears, his nose and gave lots of praise and positive attention when he was gentle and non-reactive. He already knew basic commands, and we worked on reinforcing that when we say "go lay down" there is a spot just for him where he can and should go.

As I said, it's nothing we did to "train" him, but his walks were not shortened in frequency or length. We saw it as our responsibility to keep that part consistent for him, and I really think that helped. I think the part we got lucky on was that somehow, despite being a numbskull lab, he had the innate desire to dodge the baby/toddler. Fortunately for us when he's going after a ball and she gets in the way (not his fault) he does really try to dodge her. Eventually there is a certain amount of training for the child too (gentle touches, no touches while sleeping or eating, his toys vs. your toys, his cage is his space, and DD learned to cover her face when she gets close to the tail :-) ) I think we had an easy case, which was part of what we looked for when we adopted our dog, but we did try to get him comfortable with what might be coming his way.

ETA, we did let him investigate all the new furniture etc. It was really funny when we put in the giant bear because he was scared and would bark at it (he almost never barks). We let him get used it at his own pace and eventually he realized it wasn't going to hurt him and he doesn't care in the slightest.

RondackHiker · August 2013

This blog has a lot of good information.

The right hand navigation bar has two books and there are topics sorted further down.

https://babiesandbeasts.blogspot.com/?m=0

kella0708 · August 2013

I am a FTM and I have questions about this too. My pup is sweet but very large, lots of energy and a big jumper. Also want/needs TONS of attention from DH and me. I am definitely getting a trainer but wondering what other suggestions STMs have.

Winnieella · August 2013

Thanks @RondackHiker for the blog. I will read that.

RondackHiker · August 2013

Basically, we set up all the equipment early and ran it if it moved or made nose. We trained the dog to stay out of DS's room at night. We played tapes of crying and screeching babies, and pretending to fuss over something in our arms (so he learned not to jump up to see).

We reinforced down, sit, come, leave it, stay, go to your place. We taught him to walk with the stroller and reinforced never, ever to pull or lunge.

I taught hand signals and snapped my fingers for "look at me" so I could direct him soundlessly while DS slept.

I exposed him to the children of friends and taught him to sit quietly and watch kids play at the park.

I taught him to walk away if annoyed and toward the end we got him used to meals at irregular times and fewer walks.

ShannonMB74 · August 2013

I've been finding clips of babies crying on YouTube and playing them for him - he doesn't seem to care for it much.

He loves children though - he thinks they're delicious. Can't stop licking the ones at the park or my friends' kids.

slwprincess · August 2013

Our dog didn't really mind the baby too much but she absolutely HATED hearing him cry. It took her a good 2 mos to get used to it. Till then, she would come running into the room and run in circles barking her head off until he stopped. I really think it was just her way of alerting us but ummm, I already heard the baby cry and her barking was NOT helpful.

thusain7712 · August 2013

This is the first time Im bringing a baby home to a one year old german shepherd. she is sooo sweet and great with my older kids...already very tolerant of the typical toddler touch. with my other kids we had older dogs so we didnt do a darn thing. they were used to children from the beginning and never had much to care about...but this time will be different. my trainer suggested i find some babies to have over and play with. i dont see her routine getting too much out of whack accept for a few days while we are in the hospital. we shall see....i do plan on getting a few things set up but we are moving when baby is only 3 weeks old so we arent setting up a crib or room. just the bassinet and changing table/dresser.

Winnieella · August 2013

I guess a good thing I have going for me, is the last time we saw a baby, when it started to cry, he ran to another room (I think he didn't like the noise). These are all good ideas. I'm glad I asked this question.

RondackHiker · August 2013

slwprincess said:
Our dog didn't really mind the baby too much but she absolutely HATED hearing him cry. It took her a good 2 mos to get used to it. Till then, she would come running into the room and run in circles barking her head off until he stopped. I really think it was just her way of alerting us but ummm, I already heard the baby cry and her barking was NOT helpful.

Our dog would nudge me repeatedly until I got the baby to stop.

For those with high energy dogs or ones who need routine.. That can be hard with a NB. At least for me, since dh works crazy hours.

Consider hiring a daily dog walker. That would help your dog get walked inthe cold months until baby is a little more predictable.

RondackHiker · August 2013

kella0708 said:
I am a FTM and I have questions about this too. My pup is sweet but very large, lots of energy and a big jumper. Also want/needs TONS of attention from DH and me. I am definitely getting a trainer but wondering what other suggestions STMs have.

What do you mean by "tons of energy" and needs "tons of attention"?

Does she demand attention? What does she do?

How do you handle jumping? How much exercise does she get?

Winnieella · August 2013

When my dog jumps, I turn away from him and don't give him attention until he is sitting still. It has cut down a lot of his jumping on me when I come home.

kella0708 · August 2013

RondackHiker said:

kella0708 said:
I am a FTM and I have questions about this too. My pup is sweet but very large, lots of energy and a big jumper. Also want/needs TONS of attention from DH and me. I am definitely getting a trainer but wondering what other suggestions STMs have.
What do you mean by "tons of energy" and needs "tons of attention"?

Does she demand attention? What does she do?

How do you handle jumping? How much exercise does she get?

Tons of energy - likes to play, doesn't get tired easily not even after hours with other dogs or 3+ mile runs

Attention - doesn't demand it but loves to be close to me or DH, big snuggler, typical pack animal behavior

The jumping is ok with me and DH and close family and friends that he knows well. If he does jump I ignore him and he will stop. It's more excitement when there are new people and/or a lot of people around. He was getting a lot more exercise when DH was home but he is away for work right now. I try to take him for long walks 3-4 times a week and doggy daycare once a week

RondackHiker · August 2013

By okay with you, do you mean he rarely does it with you or that you don't mind? You'll want him to stop before you're nine months and off balance. Turn your back and ignore. Never give him attention while he's jumping or bouncing, and don't let anyone else.

When guests come over, consider putting him in another room till he calms down. Then bring him in on a leash and have him sit and stay before e gets attention. You can have him sit and then step on the leash so there's only a few inches of slack. If he jumps, he's pulled back down.

As far as exercise, even a twenty minute daily walk can help him calm down. You can also add daily mental stimulation. Before meals, do ten minutes of obedience and trick training. It can be fun! Take a handful of her food and reward good behavior.

You can also feed her in one of those treat toys. Use her regular food, not treats. There are balls they roll around that slowly drop food. Or you can soak some food, put it in a kong or hollow bone, and then freeze it. Give her that in your crate.

Don't feed her extra, pull those from her meals. Mental stimulation can help tire out a dog a LOT.

kella0708 · August 2013

RondackHiker said:
By okay with you, do you mean he rarely does it with you or that you don't mind? You'll want him to stop before you're nine months and off balance. Turn your back and ignore. Never give him attention while he's jumping or bouncing, and don't let anyone else.

When guests come over, consider putting him in another room till he calms down. Then bring him in on a leash and have him sit and stay before e gets attention. You can have him sit and then step on the leash so there's only a few inches of slack. If he jumps, he's pulled back down.

As far as exercise, even a twenty minute daily walk can help him calm down. You can also add daily mental stimulation. Before meals, do ten minutes of obedience and trick training. It can be fun! Take a handful of her food and reward good behavior.

You can also feed her in one of those treat toys. Use her regular food, not treats. There are balls they roll around that slowly drop food. Or you can soak some food, put it in a kong or hollow bone, and then freeze it. Give her that in your crate.

Don't feed her extra, pull those from her meals. Mental stimulation can help tire out a dog a LOT.

No jumping in definitely NOT ok with me. He rarely jumps on me because I have always ignored/turned my back to him.

Thank you for the advice!

[Deleted User] · August 2013

The user and all related content has been deleted.

ramfan05 · August 2013

RondackHiker said:

Basically, we set up all the equipment early and ran it if it moved or made nose. We trained the dog to stay out of DS's room at night. We played tapes of crying and screeching babies, and pretending to fuss over something in our arms (so he learned not to jump up to see). We reinforced down, sit, come, leave it, stay, go to your place. We taught him to walk with the stroller and reinforced never, ever to pull or lunge. I taught hand signals and snapped my fingers for "look at me" so I could direct him soundlessly while DS slept. I exposed him to the children of friends and taught him to sit quietly and watch kids play at the park. I taught him to walk away if annoyed and toward the end we got him used to meals at irregular times and fewer walks.

We did all of this as well. We also would put baby blankets on the floor and train him not to walk/lay on them. We would put baby toys out on the floor and train him to to touch them, only his own toys. The transition could not have gone better when we did bring DS home from the hospital.

Oh, the other thing we did when we came home was that I came in the house first, alone. He had been seeing DH daily while I was in the hospital, but I'd been gone for 5 days. I went in and greeted our dog while DH stayed in the car with DS. A few minutes later when he had calmed down from us being home, DH brought DS in and we let him smell DS while I held him on the couch.

TRMBach · August 2013

I did nothing. I was a little nervous because he can be pretty hyper but he did great. He was really interested the first day home and all he wanted to do was sniff her. After that he was completely fine with her and they have been best friends ever since.

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Not to hijack the U/O thread...what did you do to get your dog ready for baby

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