Furbabies and newborns

Lindsay808 · December 2013

I know that every furbaby is different but STM - how did yours do with the new baby?

FTM w/ furbabies - any concerns? Are you doing anything to prepare with them?

I'm pretty nervous with our little furry babe because she's so clingy right now and will only be about a year old when we bring home the baby. My biggest concern is how she barks over every little noise and does not listen to me or DH when we tell her to stop. But regardless, I'm a huge dog lover and hope it all works out because I think it'll be awesome for our little girl to grow up with a dog!

cgoldian · December 2013

Our rottie is going to be 9 when LO is born. She listens pretty well and we don't have too many concerns. If we could only get her to stop barking at the TV, she'd be perfect!

We are not letting her go in the nursery to set boundaries and DH will bring home something from the hospital before I come home with LO to familiarize her with the scent. I have pinned a couple of articles that I will be reading when we get closer to April.

amhah09 · December 2013

The only thing we did for preparation - aside from allowing them near all the new baby gear and familiarizing themselves with that - was have someone bring home blankets or clothes from the hospital with baby's smell. My brother brought home swaddle blankets and let the dogs smell them. He said they both (Yorkie and Doberman) sniffed for a little while and then moved on. We never had any issues bringing home baby.

thomas930 · December 2013

My Leonberger will be 16 months old when the new little is born and I'm not really worried at all. He is already really great with my other two kids and has grown up around them. He is young and full of energy so we do plan to get him in an obedience class before the newb arrives just for a refresher. We've always treated him like a dog and he knows he place in our family...I honestly see him being very loving and concerned about the new baby.

buffyjsa · December 2013

my parents have a black lab/golden retriever mix that's better known as a lazy lump of black fur. I don't think this dog will need any prep. I would actually feel safe putting our baby on the floor beside the dog without any issues because, other than liking to lick ears, he'd probably curl up next to her and go to sleep!

sking72 · December 2013

FTM here, pitbull and puggle/shar pei mix. I'm having my family bring baby things back for them to smell before we come home. Because Brutus is a guard dog, he is allowed to be in the nursery. No jumping on the crib of course. I'm concerned because the dogs are allowed on the furniture and we're working on them to wait for our command but when they little one gets all riled the big one jumps up to escape him... Gonna be interesting! Also concerned about the little dog jumping up, but as soon as my roommate is gone, we will have consistency to train him.

RocksInTheWater · December 2013

We have an 8 year old beagle/dachsund/something mix that is afraid of kids. We've been working 1:1 with a dog trainer to get the dog ready for a baby in the house. So far we've just been doing obedience work and the dog is responding pretty well. After the holidays, the trainer will come back to do some specific baby/kid training.

When I am home alone with the baby and dog during my maternity leave, I do plan on having boundaries for the dog because even with training, he will still need to be 100% supervised around kids. We are thinking of gating off the mud room for the dog to use at times but I also want him to get used to hanging out with the baby. I'm crossing my fingers big time because our baby's safety is #1 but I can't imagine having to rehome our dog for my husband's sake.

Tferr02 · December 2013

My dogs did amazing with my son. All we did was have my son in the other room when the dogs came back home. We greeted our dogs and then my husband went and got our son and introduced them. Our girl dog is a barker, but it never bothered my son. I guess because he heard it when he was in the womb? He would sleep right through it. The only other thing we did was we practiced walking the dogs with the stroller. My male dog is 80 pounds and still acts like a puppy, so we didn't want him to freak out with it

*sparky* · December 2013

I have a very high strung German Shorthair Pointer. He was about 4 years old when we brought DS home. We did not really do anything to prep him before DS was born, but once DS was born and I was still in the hospital, DH brought a hat with DS's scent on it home for the dog to smell before we brought the baby in. Then when we brought the baby home, we set him in the carrier on the floor and tried to get the dog to come over and see him. We actually watched the video a few days ago - the dog was totally freaked out and would not come near the baby - he went and hid in his crate.

After a couple of days, the dog adjusted pretty well. He figured out this little person was staying and that he no longer had to jump up out of bed every time I got up in the middle of the night. He took to DS pretty quickly and was always gentle with him. We did always have to be careful of leaving DS's toys on the floor as the dog would steal them for his own.

He never really got used to the baby crying though and would howl every time DS cried, even when DS was 3 or 4. It was actually funny and would sometimes make DS stop crying.

ETA: someone else's comment made me think of this. I was always careful not to leave the two of them unsupervised when DS was little, even when he was a toddler. Kind of a PITA sometimes but I did not want to take any chances of the dog knocking DS over, or jumping on the baby in the bouncer, or whatever. So even if DS was safely strapped in his swing if I had to go to the bathroom I would bring the dog with me.

eireyes · December 2013

I think all three of our furbabies will be OK with the LO. Both my cats and our dog have been around my sister's children, and the cats know to go and hide if they want to be left alone, and the dog is a little goofy, but generally very well behaved.

I'd like to sign the dog up for a training refresher course for he and my husband to take together, and I'm thinking that's going to happen in the new year. The dog listens to me very well, DH not so much. The dog is also very clingy with me, so I'm hoping some of that 'nanny-ing' will transfer over to baby.

The cats will most likely just keep their distance, but I'm hoping they get lovey with baby as well, because they really are sweet boys. Our older cat loves to sit on my stomach when I'm laying down, and I love it now because LO gets really feisty within the first 30 seconds and starts kicking at the cat from the inside; I don't think baby likes to be smushed!

sloger · December 2013

Our dog is 3 and will be almost 4 when we bring baby home. I just spoke with the vet about this the last time we were there, and he mentioned getting the dog started on a heart worm preventative. I guess it also helps with like intestinal worms which are transferable to humans.

joyfullyfound · December 2013

Our cat gave her a sniff and moved on with his life. We was completely nonchalant about the entire thing, and he actually cares more about her now that she can chase him around and feed him and stuff.

Our dog was under a year when we had DD, so we weren't sure how he'd do, but he INSTANTLY loved her. He was still a wild puppy everywhere else, but he has always been totally gentle and calm around her, and never caused her any harm, intentionally or otherwise. I'm so thankful he's such a great family dog... she crawls all over him, and used to pull out fistfuls of his hair before she knew better. He's a saint

Oh, he's a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, so a bigger breed.

*sparky* · December 2013

One thing to add - if there are any "bad behaviors" your dog has, I would try to work on correcting those now. For example, jumping, so the dog is not jumping on you when you walk in with the baby. Also, our friends have a big rottweiler who used to barrel down the steps and they trained her to wait until the people went down and then go down, because they were worried about the dog barreling past while they were carrying the baby down the steps.

sking72 · December 2013

*sparky* said:
One thing to add - if there are any "bad behaviors" your dog has, I would try to work on correcting those now. For example, jumping, so the dog is not jumping on you when you walk in with the baby. Also, our friends have a big rottweiler who used to barrel down the steps and they trained her to wait until the people went down and then go down, because they were worried about the dog barreling past while they were carrying the baby down the steps.

Yes, that's what we're trying to do! Some things are hard to do, because a few of them you don't realize bad behaviors are bad behaviors! I realized my pit running up the stairs behind/next to me wasn't such a good idea. So I have him wait at the bottom until I'm up. We're having a baby hate in the hallway for when we walk in, don't know how to train the dogs not to come say hello haha.

sking72 · December 2013

ColleenSwerb said:

Yes, I came back to add something similar to @*sparky*. If there are bad behaviors, or behaviors that you don't want to continue once baby is here, start working on them NOW. If the dog is a jumper, work on that. If they don't walk well on a leash and you will want to go on walks together, work on that. If they have food issues, absolutely work on that. My dog is extremely well trained. It was important to me from the time that I got her that she be a good ambassador for her breed, so obedience is hugely important in our house. When we tell her to go on her bed, she does. She's not allowed to beg for food, she's not allowed on furniture unless we invite her up, she's excellent on a leash, etc etc etc. So there wasn't anything we needed to fix before the baby came.

ugh, lucky...haha

JBellacqua84 · December 2013

Our dog will be 3 when the baby comes. We always made a point of having him around our nieces since we got him and he's always been very good (just likes to give lots of kisses!) We plan on bringing something home from the hospital and getting him used to any swings/toys that make noise or move before the baby is born. My biggest concern will be keep track of baby socks! He's been known to eat a couple!

LBStewart · December 2013

We had two German Shorthair Pointers. Other than the fact that one got injured the day I delivered DD and had a cone for a week, they originally adjusted okay. They were both really gentle with the baby. We bought a new house in August when DD was 9 months old. Since we've moved, they have not adjusted well. I'm pretty sure it's the new house and not the baby that they have a problem with. They don't have as much freedom in our new home.

ASasquatch · December 2013

We just started our guy with a one-on-one trainer after obedience school with other dogs was a total bust when he couldn't get over the excitement of wanting to play to learn anything. He's a little over a year and quite the handful. Being a mix of multiple hunting dogs he is stubborn to a fault along with being a kleptomaniac. The trainer has informed us that our boy is a definite challenge and now I'm terrified that he is going to be way too rambunctious to be around the baby.
Fingers crossed that this guy is successful because we've tried everything else!

thomas930 · December 2013

Yes, good behavior around food is a must! Can't stress that enough. Even though I trust my dog around food and my kids are a part of the feeding routine, I still supervise just in case something were to happen.

I love watching my kids feed our 100lbs dog, because even I still don't believe how well he listens to a 4 year old and 20 month old sometimes. He patiently sits and waits for my 20 month old to tell him to 'eat, eat, eat!' and doesn't move a muscle until the 3rd eat.

natpirt · December 2013

I have a Maltese/Shih tzu who will be turning 4 around the same time LO is born. When we brought my 2 yr old home he wanted nothing to do with her. We had no boundary issues. At about 4 months when she cried he would peek at her and come find me if I wasn't close. When we started tummy time on the floor he would sit at the edge of her mat and just watch. Now he loves her to death, they run through the house chasing each other. We tried the blanket from the hospital and he wanted none of that...lol

*sparky* · December 2013

ASasquatch said:

Being a mix of multiple hunting dogs he is stubborn to a fault along with being a kleptomaniac.

This made me LOL. My GSP is so stubborn. I blame it on his German heritage, but it is definitely a hunting dog trait. And he is a total klepto - his favorite things to steal are my DH's socks.

But he has been so good with our DS and they are close buds now. My biggest fear when DS was little was that the dog would knock DS down so I never left them alone together, but I never had any issues with the two of them.

MadBloom · December 2013

I'm actually a bit nervous about my fur baby and how he will react. He's a 16 month old Lab who is the centre of our little family right now. He is pretty well behaved when it's just my husband and I at home with him but he gets very excited when someone comes to visit and is a bit crazy when there is another dog at the house (crazy as in he just wants to play play play).
He is allowed on the furniture and sleeps in our bed with us.
My friend has brought her newborn over 2 times (less then a month old) and he is very interested and wants to lick the baby. We have to hold him back because I don't think he would know to be super gentle with his "kisses" although he did do much better the second time she was over with her son.
I'm sure everything will be fine but I can't help but be nervous for the first few weeks!

Ps. Here's one of our announcement pics

sking72 · December 2013

A big part of me feeling comfortable with the dogs around kids/babies was putting them around kids and babies! My friends and family helped prove that my big dog is great with kids hanging on him and being in his face and that my little dog needs a little work...he's very happy they are there, but he wants to jump right in the carseat and lick their little faces!

J&NL · December 2013

Our dogs are pretty gentle and learn quickly so I'm confident they will be okay. When we had DD, our old dog thought she was a toy and it gave me nightmares. I would lock him in the other room across the hall and would have nightmares that he would jump the baby gate to come after her. It was horrible. He learned quickly too, though.

lilmama412 · December 2013

I love dogs, but hate DH's dog. She is a pitbull/sharpei mix, 5 years old. We always joke that she needs to be on Xanax, because she is always so anxious. Pacing, barks at every noise she hears, she cries and cries when we leave and she is home a lone. She is hard headed. She thinks that she is lap dog, and she is 70 lbs. DH spoiled her rotten, and she is rotten. She has snapped at kids before, never bitten them, but snapped when they are bugging her. I was TERRIFIED of how she was going to do with DS. I begged and begged DH to get rid of her, but he wouldn't.

For the first 12 months of his life, she completely ignored him. If he cried, she would get up and go in another room. She is now pretty gentle with him, even though she still tries to steer clear of him. If DS starts walking towards her, she will walk away. We try not to let them have too much interaction, and never leave them in the same room together. I am still trying to get DH to get rid of her before the next one comes. Although there hasn't been any incidents with DS, I still don't trust her.

ETA: Our allow our dog on the furniture, and I think it has been really great for her. It is a place where she can get up and away from DS. We don't have to worry about DS stepping on her or anything.

RBabies8709 · December 2013

FTM! We have two dogs-brother and sister chihuahua basenji and they will be 5 when LO gets here. They are literally like our children, we've had them from the beginning of our marriage and since they were only a few months old. It sounds silly, but I swear they can sense the changes. We've also just moved to a house with a yard, so I'm sure that will help. One is quite timid and the other is very hyper, but they both get excited when people come over and are very protective.
My cousin has been bringing her baby over from time to time and they just sniff her and are so curious. When she stayed the night, Taco would stand over her protectively and when she laid down to sleep and was crying, he went in her room to check on her. So sweet! And they loved the extra food on the floor during meal times.

To prepare, we plan on bringing home blankets, and we don't really have boundaries for them. They don't get on furniture and we recently took away bed rights, which they seem to be good with. The nursery is the warmest room in the house so they sun bathe in her room and are familiar with all the new pieces we put in. So, we'll just see how it goes!

luvU2theMoon · December 2013

Well my puppy enjoys being held like an infant and shes very attached! so at first i was a little worried how she will react but i dont think it will be an issue. she wont even be 1 yet so we will have to watch her since shes so excited about everything in life. She loves kids and she does bark at noises but i am sure she will adapt just fine as long as we still hold her like an infant and she gets her belly rubbed.

sking72 · December 2013

lilmama412 said:

I love dogs, but hate DH's dog. She is a pitbull/sharpei mix, 5 years old. We always joke that she needs to be on Xanax, because she is always so anxious. Pacing, barks at every noise she hears, she cries and cries when we leave and she is home a lone. She is hard headed. She thinks that she is lap dog, and she is 70 lbs. DH spoiled her rotten, and she is rotten. She has snapped at kids before, never bitten them, but snapped when they are bugging her. I was TERRIFIED of how she was going to do with DS. I begged and begged DH to get rid of her, but he wouldn't.

For the first 12 months of his life, she completely ignored him. If he cried, she would get up and go in another room. She is now pretty gentle with him, even though she still tries to steer clear of him. If DS starts walking towards her, she will walk away. We try not to let them have too much interaction, and never leave them in the same room together. I am still trying to get DH to get rid of her before the next one comes. Although there hasn't been any incidents with DS, I still don't trust her.

ETA: Our allow our dog on the furniture, and I think it has been really great for her. It is a place where she can get up and away from DS. We don't have to worry about DS stepping on her or anything.

oh my gosh, this is so funny because I have a pit bull and then a shar pei mix and all of these little quirks sound like one dog or the other. My 70lb pitbull is a lap dog and hates being home alone but using the couch as an escape from the little sharpei mix. The shar pei mix barks at every little thing and is very much an alarm dog. also very hard headed.

hlm184 · December 2013

My brit will be two when we bring home baby. She's met my BFF's baby twice and was quite good - except she couldn't understand that the squeaky giraffe wasn't a dog toy. All the other toys were clear to her, just not that one.

I loved watching when baby was in a swing in the doorway pup wanted to get through - baby was doing everything to try and pet pup and pup was trying to time the swinging to get through without getting patted.

baileymama3 · December 2013

ASasquatch said:

We just started our guy with a one-on-one trainer after obedience school with other dogs was a total bust when he couldn't get over the excitement of wanting to play to learn anything. He's a little over a year and quite the handful. Being a mix of multiple hunting dogs he is stubborn to a fault along with being a kleptomaniac. The trainer has informed us that our boy is a definite challenge and now I'm terrified that he is going to be way too rambunctious to be around the baby.
Fingers crossed that this guy is successful because we've tried everything else!

Kleptomaniac! hahaha SO IS MINE!!! every day I come home and he has literally stockpiled laundry at his chair. (tights, socks, shirts, pajama pants). and he is only 16 lbs-- so it is hilarious to imagine him dragging all these items from upstairs to his den! I have attached a pic for your viewing pleasure... bailey (the small guilty one)next to the stuff that got caught under the door and couldn't make downstairs!!!

jennypenny1014 · December 2013

Before we brought DS home, DH came home the day he was born with the hat they'd put on DS's head right after he was born, so they could sniff it and get used to his scent. I think it made a huge difference in how they reacted when we got home (no jumping all over at "the new guy" or excessive curiosity about who we just brought into the house.)

Our blind 8 (now 10) year old female rottweiler was totally fine when we brought DS home, a couple of sniffs and that was it...my 8 (now 10) year old male boxer was also fantastic; though where the rottie would ignore his cries and gave zero fucks except to sniff him out every so often, my boxer was a neurotic mess - trying to get our attention, with a whimper, pacing between us with this look on his face, and a demeanor as if to say "mom, it's making noise... Is it ok? What do I do?! What can I do to help??" He was super attentive, and would sit by us 24/7, would peek in on DS in his bassinet or bouncy seat...always making sure he was ok. Such a good little nurse maid.

To this day DS and the boxer are best buddies.

jennypenny1014 · December 2013

MadBloom said:
I'm actually a bit nervous about my fur baby and how he will react. He's a 16 month old Lab who is the centre of our little family right now. He is pretty well behaved when it's just my husband and I at home with him but he gets very excited when someone comes to visit and is a bit crazy when there is another dog at the house (crazy as in he just wants to play play play).
He is allowed on the furniture and sleeps in our bed with us.
My friend has brought her newborn over 2 times (less then a month old) and he is very interested and wants to lick the baby. We have to hold him back because I don't think he would know to be super gentle with his "kisses" although he did do much better the second time she was over with her son.
I'm sure everything will be fine but I can't help but be nervous for the first few weeks!

Ps. Here's one of our announcement pics

Your dog is gorgeous! Is he mixed with Weimeraner? I've never seen a blue lab before. Beautiful!

summershanty · December 2013

We have a 70 pound shepherd/rottie mix, and she did great with DS #1 when we bought him home. We did have a trainer come in one day to help with some issues she was having before he was born (she is also part boxer so she likes to "paw" a lot). I did a lot of reading and researching to make the transition as stress free as possible for her, but like I said, she did fine. And now, DS is in love with her and tries to play with her and thinks she's hilarious. We did have my parents here when we bought DS home, and we let the dog see him and sniff him when we first came in so she could get used to him.

Oh, and common sense says no matter how great your dog is or has been around your baby - don't leave the baby and dog alone! It only takes one split second for something to happen, and it just isn't worth the risk. If LO was in the swing in our living/family room, and I needed to go to the kitchen, I would just call the dog to come with me.

To be honest, I've had more issues with my cat and DS than our dog!

summershanty · December 2013

thomas930 said:

My Leonberger will be 16 months old when the new little is born and I'm not really worried at all. He is already really great with my other two kids and has grown up around them. He is young and full of energy so we do plan to get him in an obedience class before the newb arrives just for a refresher. We've always treated him like a dog and he knows he place in our family...I honestly see him being very loving and concerned about the new baby.

Just have to say I love Leonbergers!! Hoping to get a rescue one day when we have a bigger house!

Cecilbear · December 2013

We have one cat that hisses all the time. I'm a little worried about her being around the baby and I definitely don't want her cozying up in the baby's crib, so we're planning on investing in a video monitor and keeping the baby's door closed while she sleeps. Truthfully, I would very much like to find a new home for this cat when the baby comes, but my husband is not having it. She just kind of reminds me of those mean Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp.

Mamaengen · December 2013

It sounds like we had similar for babies. Unfortunately mine had to be put down last Christmas, but he was great with the baby!!! He was not as clingy when she arrived and didn't get jealous of her like in expected based on his pre-birth behavior. He actually would alert me if she were crying and I didn't rush over to check on her. He kissed her every now and then on her hand if she we're crying too.

I miss my lil man. He was a Yorkie if that matters.

hordol · December 2013

This is all very interesting to me--I'm stressing a little bit about my dogs and the new baby. Right now, our dogs ARE our babies and are a little spoiled--they are used to a lot of attention. I know our yellow lab will be just fine--he is 9 years old and a lover. Very calm, although he does tend to bark a lot at outside noises. Our Welsh Corgi is almost 2 years old now and loves attention. She has been very sweet around the few kids she has been around (a 10 month old and an almost 2 year old) and she let them grab her fur and everything, and she would follow them around and be their best bud for the day. She was fascinated by the little ones! The almost 2 year old that she played with was in a kicking and hitting stage and would jab at the dog and my dog just sat there and looked at her like, "this is weird..." but would just move away from her instead of nipping...then would come right back for more so idk, she's weird. Haha. But I'm hopeful that we won't have any issues. She is very protective of treats, so I know I am going to be careful with letting my LO carry food around because I don't want my dog to try and take it from him. My dog lets people handle her food no problem, but will snap at another dog if he tries to come near her food. I'm worried that she won't view the LO as a person but as another dog, so I'm going to be very careful about it.

We also plan to bring home a hat or blanket that the baby wore to have the dogs smell before we get home from the hospital.

MadBloom · December 2013

jennypenny1014 said:

MadBloom said:
I'm actually a bit nervous about my fur baby and how he will react. He's a 16 month old Lab who is the centre of our little family right now. He is pretty well behaved when it's just my husband and I at home with him but he gets very excited when someone comes to visit and is a bit crazy when there is another dog at the house (crazy as in he just wants to play play play).
He is allowed on the furniture and sleeps in our bed with us.
My friend has brought her newborn over 2 times (less then a month old) and he is very interested and wants to lick the baby. We have to hold him back because I don't think he would know to be super gentle with his "kisses" although he did do much better the second time she was over with her son.
I'm sure everything will be fine but I can't help but be nervous for the first few weeks!

Ps. Here's one of our announcement pics
Your dog is gorgeous! Is he mixed with Weimeraner? I've never seen a blue lab before. Beautiful!

Wynn is a Silver Lab! Named after the casino in Vegas where DH and I got engaged. He's technically a diluted chocolate. His dad was a silver and his mom was a white lab. They just both had a certain recessive gene and had a full litter of silvers!

Beachgal72 · December 2013

I have a 5 year old greyhound/german shepherd mix and she absolutely adores children. She has been exposed to many from newborn through toddler and always tries to make herself look small by getting down on her belly and crawling over to greet them. But she is a big licker! I think my daughter may have a wet head all the time if there was no intervention. Overall I'm only worried about her stealing the baby's toys. A PP had the idea of leaving out the activity mat once in a while before LO arrives and keeping the dog away. I think that is a great idea and I will try that out to set some initial boundaries.

mallyandryan · December 2013

Our pup will be almost three. He is a pretty big boy and stays inside. When we are not home and at night, he sleeps in the office. Unfortunately we are turning the office into the nursery. I'm a little nervous bc he really likes "his room". We are going to transition him out during the Christmas break and hope for the best. I'm not worried about how he treat the baby, but I am worried about how he will feel neglected.

jennypenny1014 · December 2013

MadBloom said:

I'm actually a bit nervous about my fur baby and how he will react. He's a 16 month old Lab who is the centre of our little family right now. He is pretty well behaved when it's just my husband and I at home with him but he gets very excited when someone comes to visit and is a bit crazy when there is another dog at the house (crazy as in he just wants to play play play). He is allowed on the furniture and sleeps in our bed with us. My friend has brought her newborn over 2 times (less then a month old) and he is very interested and wants to lick the baby. We have to hold him back because I don't think he would know to be super gentle with his "kisses" although he did do much better the second time she was over with her son. I'm sure everything will be fine but I can't help but be nervous for the first few weeks! Ps. Here's one of our announcement pics
Your dog is gorgeous! Is he mixed with Weimeraner? I've never seen a blue lab before. Beautiful!
Wynn is a Silver Lab! Named after the casino in Vegas where DH and I got engaged. He's technically a diluted chocolate. His dad was a silver and his mom was a white lab. They just both had a certain recessive gene and had a full litter of silvers!

WOW! I've never seen anything like him before! He's very pretty.

And looks like such a good boy!

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