anybody have dogs?

ectyrer08 · April 2014

this will be our first baby, and I'm very nervous about how my spoiled-rotten pomapoo (pomeranian/poodle) dog-son will handle not being the center of our universe anymore. I think he can already tell something's up, he seems more clingy and snuggly lately.

anyone have any tips for incorporating new baby into the lives of your dog-children?

(edited:typo)

blessdtxas · April 2014

I have 2 dogs and 2 cats! I'm not super worried about introducing everyone. The 4 all get along relatively well. I am worried about my dogs waking the baby up...they tend to be rather playful, and we have all tile in our house so you can hear every step they take. Puppy mittens I guess?

I'm eager to see advice for that process though! Hopefully your puppy and new baby will be best friends!! I love the pictures I see on pinterest of babies+dogs!

nopegoat · April 2014

We have two black labs. At first they were kind of ignored. We didn't go out to play as much, their walks weren't quite as long, our focus was on the baby. Once we got our schedule down I was able to play with them more, I put the boys in the stroller or carrier and was able to walk them more. Now that my boys are a little older they are all best friends. I swear to you these dogs get played with more now than before.

nopegoat · April 2014

To make the transition easier definitely make sure your dog has some basic obedience training. Sit, stay, leave it, and back. I guess it might be a little different with bigger dogs but go ahead and set boundaries as well. If you don't want him in a certain room, or if you want to put a blanket and keep the dog off, whatever. Start practicing now.

AngelSong76 · April 2014

We have two rescues, one with serious abandonment issues. We eased them into it by bringing blankets and hats home from the hospital before we brought baby home. I was in there for a week because of induction and then c-section, so my husband just took the stuff home and let them smell it. By the time we brought him home, they knew him pretty well. We called him "the puppy" to them for awhile to bring out a protective instinct... I think it worked. lol

They are fiercely protective of him now and he is the same with them. They are best friends.

They never woke/wake him up. I assumed he heard them barking when he was in the womb and it just felt like a natural sound to him. He never even flinched when he was tiny and they would bark right beside him.

LaxMOM44 · April 2014

First I would stop spoiling your dog an start enforcing whatever rules you plan on instituting when the baby is born.I stopped my dogs from going in the nursery when I was pregnant with DD.

My female dog adjusted no problem and the male is completely in different to the baby. They both get less time with me but I try to spen a bunch of time with them after LO goes to bed.

PS they are both boxers so @gradschoolmom1234 that breeds notorious for being great with kids and they are super patient with her, your dog will be great.

baseballcr8zd · April 2014

I have two dogs, one medium size and one LARGE. Right after my sons were born my H took the blanket they were wrapped in home from the hospital and hung it directly on the drib. He let the dogs walk over to it and sniff the hell out of it. I've had two c-sections so he did this everyday until I got home. The day I came home we would keep them away until I was sitting in the rocker in the nursery and we left them in one at a time. They each would sniff the car seat which I left on the floor and would sniff around the baby. My big dog is a huge licker and wanted to lick the shit outta the kids when we got home but that wasn't happening. They were great with the boys as babies and now they are all best friends.

My bff's LO is a month old and they have a very spoiled pomapoo as well and she has been great with their daughter.

LaxMOM44 · April 2014

Oh ya also with both pregnancies, my dogs started insisting on sleeping in our bed before I POAS. They know and they get way more cuddly.

AngelSong76 · April 2014

LaxMOM44 said:

Oh ya also with both pregnancies, my dogs started insisting on sleeping in our bed before I POAS. They know and they get way more cuddly.

Ours did this last time and this time too! So bizarre. Our female dog wants to lay ON me all the time right now. They sniff me a lot too. lol

TroopT45 · April 2014

We have a pug and he LOVES E. It took a little while for the dog to get used to significantly less attention from us. We would send him over to grandma's house for some spoiling time every week or so (more for us to get a break).

We also didn't bring home any blankets or smells prior to coming home from the hospital. The dog had been around enough of the baby stuff leading up to E's birth so none of it was scary any more.

Someone told me that we would hate our pets after the baby got here (we also have two cats). I think hate is a little strong... but I get annoyed by them a lot more easily now.

Pros521 · April 2014

While I was pregnant I would bring my dog into the nursery with a doll that cried. No joke I baby trained my dog.
I also had a blanket from the hospital go home before the baby.
When the baby got there, the dog didn't really seem to interested or upset with the baby being there.
They are BFF now. At least Francesca thinks they are

emichelle86 · April 2014

We have a 10 month old golden and she is great with all the kids in the neighborhood so I'm not super worried, but she is our baby and is used to getting A LOT of attention. I have read about introducing the smell of the baby to the dog and trying to have the dog associate the smell of the baby with good things. For example putting a baby sock in their dish with food or putting something of the babies in your pocket when you get home. This way the dog associated the smell of the baby with good experiences. Also, I have heard you can feed your dog smaller portions throughout the day. Give them the same amount of food per day but split it up into like 10 meals. Dogs are about resources and they may worry about losing out on resources with a new addition to the pack. By feeding them more smaller meals they will think they've hit the doggy Jackpot and won't realize they are getting the same amount. Obviously ween this back down to however you feed them now throughout time. These are all tips I have found while researching, not actually tried, but they seem to make sense.

MaggieN2028 · April 2014

I've got two big ones. I think my plan is to start keeping them of furniture as time progresses and I think that I'll keep them out of the nursery for now. They would love a LO so much that I would be worried they'd get too excited. They're pretty good with noises and stuff but I am hoping too that they don't wake up a baby. I've heard though that babies get used to the noise and won't wake up if they're in the middle of the nap. I think someone on here said that their LO would only wake up if the dog barked and they were at the end of their nap and were about ready to wake up anyway. This is what I'm hoping happens anyway!

rzakhia · April 2014

I have a medium to large border collie who is just always happy and excited. Now that she can sense something different about me she's even more bouncy.

This is our first baby. I'm not worried at all about how she'll react - I know she will LOVE the baby - my only concern is she will be a little too excited... She's extremely clumsy & nearly bowls ME over when she gets excited by something, so I'm hoping there won't be any accidents involving baby!

blessdtxas · April 2014

AngelSong76 said:

They never woke/wake him up. I assumed he heard them barking when he was in the womb and it just felt like a natural sound to him. He never even flinched when he was tiny and they would bark right beside him.

I have 2 rescues also! You are right, I guess the baby is used to the barking and playing after being around it for 9 months.

briewong · April 2014

We just got two Chiweenies back in Feb. They are still puppies and will only be about 1yr old when I have the baby. I think having two puppies though is easier since they still have each other to play with and wont feel left out.

Here are my fur babies!!

nopegoat · April 2014

Hopefully this works. Here is a video of my son playing with one of our dogs. Especially with big dogs, obedience is key!! He was 20 months old in this video and he could already give her commands. So so helpful!

https://s922.photobucket.com/user/Mathieu617/media/Vids/play_zpse2214672.mp4.html

mflowers929 · April 2014

I have a 7 year old peek-a-poo (pekingnese/poodle). He's pretty darn spoiled, but I don't think I have to worry. He's really empathetic, and where he usually sleeps right next to me, he's been sleeping on the end of the bed, or even on the floor. He did crawl into bed with me when I was crying and upset when I started bleeding (stopped licking himself to do it lol), and he'll come lay beside me if I call him, but so far he's been super good :-)

michellemybelle915 · April 2014

We have a 3.5 year old Golden Retriever.. He's our spoiled furbaby, but I'm not worried. He looooooooves kids and babies and is always so gentle with them!

He's such a good boy and super affectionate; always comes to me when I'm upset, or just lays down next to me and gives me kisses.. I've also trained him pretty well with commands (sit, stay, lay down, comes when I call him, goes away when I tell him to - taught him that one just in case I need to do something with baby and his curious nose would get in the way)

byrne15 · April 2014

We have a dog and a cat. With ds#1 our dog was only 2, so he still had a lot of energy and sometimes would be a little wild in the house. With ds#2 he was 6 years old, so much calmer. Now, he will be 9 years old so I'm not concerned at all how he will handle it. He's been through it all already.

Obviously, whatever you do...always supervise them together and don't let your child "bother" the dog (even if it seems like they are playing).

AngelSong76 · April 2014

blessdtxas said:

AngelSong76 said:

They never woke/wake him up. I assumed he heard them barking when he was in the womb and it just felt like a natural sound to him. He never even flinched when he was tiny and they would bark right beside him.

I have 2 rescues also! You are right, I guess the baby is used to the barking and playing after being around it for 9 months.

"rescued" is our favorite breed.

Kbomgardner · April 2014

This is our 2.5 year old American Bulldog, Brees with my neice Kendall. He adores her and she is never out of his sight for long. As ornery and rambunctious as he is with DH, he's as gentle as a lamb with her and all the other children he's encountered. Our plan is to involve him as much as we can. We want to teach boundaries through our actions not by creating a physical barrier which is stressful for him. No matter what you decide the most important bit of advice I have is to never ever leave a child and a dog unsupervised, no matter how gentle and sweet the dog is. Children are unpredictable and a surprised or pained dog will react based on instinct and not training. I hope it all works out for you!

darkbluesunday · April 2014

I have a 13 year old Jack Russell Terrier named Peanut. This is our first baby, but my JRT and I lived with my sister when I was going to college. When we brought my niece home from the hospital after she was born, Peanut was very curious about the baby. She never bit or nipped at the baby, and eventually she settled down and pretty much ignored the baby. My niece was her first exposure to kids, and from then on she really loves kids. I think she'll do just fine with our baby.

SummerLove21 · April 2014

We have a dog that was our "only child" for almost five years before LO came along. We did the "blanket from the hospital" thing, but it still took about six months for him to adjust to the baby and our new family situation. He was never mean to the baby; he just sort of sulked for a while. Now they get along great. Our dog has been trained, so that helped a lot in establishing boundaries.

strngrm911 · April 2014

I have a Bichon and a Beagle. I'm a little concerned about the Bichon because toddlers make her nervous. But she has been fine with my neice so far (she's almost a month.) That's made me feel a little more at ease! My BIL and SIL brought home a blanket the baby was wrapped in and my BIL brought in the baby and SIL went right to their dog. That helped as well.

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