pets!

lynlopez · November 2014

I have 3 dogs 1 cocker spaniel mix age 7, Maltese age 8 and a year old pit bull. Im terrified of how my dogs are going to react towards the baby. They have been my babies for a long time but im really worried about my pit bull. She is very active and friendly not aggressive and is very over protective. I have no idea how to introduce a new born to a household where kids aren't around. Any ideas?

muffyvonmuff · November 2014

I have 2 small dogs. A 9 yr old Yorkie and 2 yr old Maltese/poodle. My older dog could care less about him when he was an infant and even now avoids DS for the most part, I think he's just too old to be bothered. The puppy however was IN LOVE with DS from the second we brought him home. So I guess I'm saying I think age of the dog has something to do with it. Or at least it did in my case.

dancingbelle · November 2014

We are working with our hyper active border collie on "down". She gets very excited when people come over, and very jealous if someone pays attention to any of our other animals.

wineandcake · November 2014

We have a lab/husky mix and a Pekingnese mix. When we brought DS home from the hospital, my peek would cry everytime he cried. The lab was his usual wild self, but didn't bother the baby, just watched him. The two dogs and the baby are the best of friends now, they're always together and play so nicely. Try not to worry, they will feed off of your stress/anxiety about the situation.

samantha726 · November 2014

Dogs are baby makers too, they will know. The main thing is making sure you let your pups smell and see the baby, let them be part of the experience of bringing baby home. Give them love and praise when they are acting appropriately with baby and show them good things happen for them when baby is there. They will be fine.

lovlee1999 · November 2014

We have 3 cats here. They were curious at first. They would take turns lying on or near me when I was nursing. I couldn't use the pack and play in my bedroom as planned because they all slept in it! We had a small basinette we used instead. Closing our bedroom door was not an option as they'd scratch at it all night. When we transitioned baby to her crib/room at around 3 months the cats would claw her door but we sprayed them with a water bottle and that stopped that. Now they will cry outside her door when they want food in the middle of the night - go figure! We've been teaching her gentle kitties and she loves to pet them now. She's 13 months and says cat and points at them. So cute!

BabyShaps · November 2014

My dogs know. My German Shepherd, usually a "daddy's girl," has been more snuggly with me lately and I haven't been trampled in the bed like the every morning trampling I would receive prior to pregnancy.

cschissell · November 2014

We don't have a dog now, but when my first was born we had a very clingy older dog that was my velcro dog. When we brought home my son we had DH take him directly to the nursery and I came in and had some one on one time with my dog. Then when he got over his excitement of me being home DH brought our son out and let the dog sniff him a bit. He did really well with him until DS became mobile and was kind of a jerk to our dog. That combined with our dogs failing health meant we mostly had to keep them separated until our dog had to be put down because of his health.

babyd1102 · November 2014

I have two, a 6 yo mini Schnauzer and a 3 yo pit bull. They are best friends and my pit is so protective of her. I can only imagine (and hope) that is how he will be with the baby. He is so curious and doesn't know his own strength sometimes but listens very well.

I've heard from other moms that once you have your baby, the dogs that were once your "dog children" become just family dogs. Any thoughts on that??

anfranklin2 · November 2014

I have 4 cats and a gigantic lab/rott mix (about 120-130 lbs)

The dog I did a lot of training when he was a pup, which included "off" and "be easy" I'm not too worried about him with the baby. He's great with my 4yo SS, as soon as he hears him wake up in the morning he cries until we get up too!
I plan on having H bring home a baby blanket before we come home, so he can get used to the baby's smell as well. A few friends with lots of dogs swear by it.

I'm not worried at all about the cats, except for them trying to sleep in the crib, but we lock them out of our room at night anyways.

ELauren88 · November 2014

Things you can do to help prepare your dogs:
Set baby furniture up early on. (Ex: swing, crib, PnP, bottle drying rack, baskets of burp rags, floor mat, etc)
Start establishing the boundaries. (Only allowed in babies room with permission, not allowed on floor mat, etc)
Get them used to new scents they may start finding around the house. (Open a small package of diapers to release the smell, wash a couple items of baby's clothing in babies detergent, etc)
Once baby arrives, send your partner home to check on them, play with them, and introduce babies scent with a receiving blanket and hat.
When you get home have your partner carry in the baby, so you can go in first and greet the dogs, give them some love. Then one at a time introduce them to the baby. Let them sniff the feet and blankets.
After that, just be sure to include them as much as possible. (Ex: walks everyday, sitting on the couch with you and baby, invite them into the nursery often, etc)

Holy novel, batman!! Hope some of these ideas help ease your mind and prepare you!

bosco213 · November 2014

We have a 4yr old golden who is the calmest, sweetest dog. Our only worry is not giving him the attention he is used to! He's our baby now so it makes me sad to think he's going to be 2nd fiddle.

jlbaker08 · November 2014

Mine didn't bother my first when she was born, she just peedon the floor for about 2 weeks. Now they are best friends.

I've heard a dirty diaper is best to bring home from the hospital, as blankets smell less like baby and more like shampoo or laundry detergent.

slamar3 · November 2014

We have 2 dogs, a boxer mix, 4 and a english bulldog/pit bull mix, 1.5. They are both well aware that I am pg. The pit mix lays on the floor by my bed every night now instead of their bed on the other side of the room. @kristhegirl‌ our dogs were on our bed too until we started trying. Of course that was a year ago so they are much better now, but at first it was very difficult to keep them off. They would sneak on the bed in the middle of the night for probably about a month before that stopped. Good luck with your transition!

@lynlopez‌ good luck with your doggies!!!

evemadalyn · November 2014

We have two dogs! A newfoundland and a minipin/poodle mix. I was also so nervous with my last pregnancy about how my dogs would react with a baby. Especially because my little dog doesn't normally like children and he has epilepsy, so i was worried he would have more triggers for his seizures! I had all baby equiptment set up for a couple weeks before my dd was born..and my dh took a swaddle blanket home to the dogs after dd was born, so they got used to her scent!
My dogs adjusted great! They are so wonderful with dd and they are her bff!

so try not to worry to much!
Here is a pic of dd and her best bud, Ziggy.

Ashelee13 · November 2014

My friend has 2 chihuahuas a ppm and a lab/rotten mix. All are loud and protective of the house. They tend to nip people that come into the house...even if they have been there before (they are probably the worst bunch of dogs I've experienced in a group setting like that lol...and I'm a huge dog person...I'm a groomer and used to show/handle dogs at dog shows...alo bf with extensive research about dog behaviour). They didn't do any training before the baby came home. Those dogs are amazing with the baby. They lay down next to him and don't get crazy near him. They still bark and get crazy when people come over but they know where the baby is at all times it seems. The baby has grown accustomed to the barking and isn't bothered by it at all.

I agree that dogs know. But basic commands are always a plus to teach your dog. If your concerned that they will get a little crazy because they have bever been around kids Take them loud places with kids. Have them be able to sit near a play ground without getting too excited. Sit outside babies r us with them. Use high reward treats they get just when they are around kids and babies...like boiled chicken or hot dog pieces or cheese.

WhiteSun · November 2014

I'm actually having our dogs go through training again. We have even decided to do a board and train. They're both King Charles cavaliers. One is going deaf at 8 so that's become problematic for recall and off leash but mostly were going to work on not jumping up (never cared about it pre pregnancy) place command, heel and walking with a stroller. I want to make sure that while adjusting to a new baby and loss of attention they aren't also getting into lots of trouble! Poor fur babies.

Fireworks813 · November 2014

We have 1 1/2 year old pup. He is pretty big, and likes to sit right with us. We were worried about him being so hyper. Since getting pregnant, he has already calmed down a ton. He's very snuggly now too. We have been working overtime on commands (down, off, gentle,etc). We are also starting to bring around other kids and babies, which has been going well. Every animal and every family is different! Good luck!!

MittenMomma · November 2014

When we brought our daughter home we set her in the play yard in her car seat and let our dog explore her scent (dh brought home dirty diapers and blankets the night before)...he was so interested he (all 70 pounds of him) jumped in with her, thankful my husband grabbed her car seat before he landed.

He has never done that again and was fine with her after that freak out

ahsile10 · November 2014

ashleynslattery said:
I've read you can also bring blankets home
from the hospital with the new baby's scent on it so they can smell it and try to get more acclimated. This is prior to you coming home of course. I also think Pinterest has some good links to info on this. I've pinned it but not read it! The biggest adjustment is that they now have to share their time with you.

We did this. It semed to help. There was alsoa cd of baby sounds just for playing for pets to get rhem used to it. MIL got it for us and we played it. Not sure if it "worked" but DD and my JRT have always fotten along fine.

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