Dogs & Baby (and other questions!)

MaddiPaddi37 · August 2015

Greetings, everyone!

I've been lurking around on the forums for a while now, and there is ONE important issue I've really been trying to do as much research on as possible (you know, aside from the bajillion other things?) I have three wonderfully behaved dogs. I'm a dog groomer, so they're always up to date on their vaccinations and grooming, know basic obedience and beyond, are socialized at grooming shops and are respectful of my home and guests. Needless to say, these three dogs have been my "babies" for years and they're only such because I've spent every waking moment with them (when you can take them to work, that makes it easy!) They're very different sizes (90 lbs, 14 lbs and a spritely 3.5 lbs) and different breeds, but as a groomer/trainer for 12 years I've never had any illusions that they were my children. Rules, boundaries and limitations have always been key.

Recently, DH and I have started trying to conceive. Not really "trying"... I suppose... just started getting all our affairs in order and stopped "not trying." We both understand the absolute undertaking this will be and are doing as much research and preparation as possible. All that other stuff we can handle, but being a dog lover for so long, the biggest change for me and my pack will be that they aren't "first" in my life anymore!

I was wondering a few things:

1. If you are an avid dog lover, what are the best/worst things you did starting a family with your dogs?
2. How did your dogs change/react?
3. How did YOU change? (It's simply a concept I can't wrap my mind around, loving something more than my dogs! But I'm excited to feel it!!!)

Also, any other references to training sites, videos, blogs or additional information about this subject as a whole I'd eat right up!

Thanks for the help, and I will continue lurking and learning! Like I said, we finally decided to stop "not trying" so we're nowhere near any other major milestones yet. There's insurance, vehicles, budgeting and doctors to lay in order, but my dogs have ALWAYS come first to me!

You guys are the best, and thanks in advance for your help!
Maddi

JenandJosh1310 · August 2015

Im sorry i dont have advice but im curious about all these things as well! Our dog is pretty much our baby right now and she loves attention (which we love giving her!) im already doing little things that show her she can wait a bit longer or occupy herself-i figure the sooner the better. I feel sad thinking she might feel bad or left out with a baby so if a baby happens i want to make sure make time for her even if we are tired or would rather veg out then go for a walk. I hope someone with experience offers some insight! Glad to know im not the only one who worries about this too!

HookEmNelson · August 2015

We knew going into pregnancy that our dog was not going to be a good fit with a baby. He was old and set in his ways; we had to rehome him with my brother-in-law. We are so thankful that he took the best care of our guy his last year. We visited often and tried to make it work, but we were just too nervous to have Chief around the baby.

That being said, this was our experience. So many dogs welcome babies into the family just fine. You know your dogs the best.

We still talk about Chief often and show Jack (our 3.5 yr old) pictures of our "family" before he was born. We loved that dog so incredibly much, but we knew what was best for our son.

HookEmNelson · August 2015

Side note: He was a rescued Catahoula that we saved 5 years prior to becoming pregnant. There were traits that just couldn't have changed with him being a rescue.

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

We have a fourish yo spaniel mix that we adopted in February, early history unknown since he was a stray. We asked our rescue group for a dog with a good history with kids in foster, which has proven true with our friends' kids. Right now we're going to obedience class to make sure he's awesome at not jumping, respecting boundaries, and walking on a lose leash so we can keep our walks up without me falling while PG. Once a LO is here my plan is to never leave them unattended, teach the baby to respect his space, and keep up with his walks, manners, and playtime. He's a pretty chill and sweet dog, so I'm confident he'll do ok. Yours sound similar!

satuttle1014 · August 2015

I can't say yet for myself. My parents introduced their dog to my 1st niece when she was probably 1 year old and did fine and pretty much would just sit next to her and guard her. My sister also got a dog before her 2nd daughter was born and does fine, the crying is a little annoying lol

I have a 9 month old puppy (pomeranian/husky mix) and they can be very stubborn and dominant breed. She plays well with our little cousins who are 6 and 7, yet to be around a baby though. I have read you can play a cd of baby sounds so they get used to the sounds, when you receive new baby stuff let them sniff it to know it is new and also when the baby is born let the dogs sniff a blanket or hat with the baby scent on it so they don't growl or are not afraid type thing. I would say it will be a transition for everyone but introduce them slowly when it happens and I think all will be okay. As another PP said, just keep up with their walks, playtime and giving them love and I the dogs would do great with a new member.

NLewis1 · August 2015

I have two 3 year old border collies and a 1 year old son. Borders don't really start to mature until they are quite a bit older and they were only 2 when we brought the baby home. One, we've had since he was 8 weeks old and we know he's been great with our nieces and nephews, the other is my rescue and he spent the first 6 months of his life in a cage.

I was worried about my rescue, since he's been fairly skittish around other kids. I was also worried about the other dog being too excited and accidentally hurting baby. This has been our experience over the last year -

Cooper is my rescue. He's been phenomenal. I think having the baby from a point where he pretty much just laid there asleep, to now where he is up wandering around and chasing the dogs, has been a good period of cooper getting used to baby. I am hyper vigilant with my son and our dogs. They are not alone in a room together, I do not allow baby to pull hair, tails or crawl on the dogs. Cooper has made fabulous choices and when he feels like he's having too much interaction he gets up and leaves. I would say he does like the baby though. He will come lay by him, inspect him, and is fine if baby is playing by him. He has never growled, or shown other signs of stress. I know if he gets up and walks away that's him saying he needs a break.

Ranger is our BC we've had since he was a pup. That dog is amazing with the baby. He nuzzles baby, tries to play with baby, baby has figured out is very fun to give ranger his Cheerios... That dog is ALWAYS near that kid, tail wagging. This being the case, the baby and the dog are never left alone together, and I enforce the same "no pulling no crawling" rule.

I refuse to set my dogs up for failure. Even the very best dogs will snap out of stress or fear. Maybe the dog has an ear infection no one knows about, and a toddler pulls at that ear - snap. I am very vigilant.

Just know the signs of stress, and introduce them slowly.

Before we brought baby home we took his hat that he was wearing and some socks he was wearing home, my husband put a sock in his jeans pocket, rubbed the hat on the dogs tennis ball. The dogs found the excitement of my husband coming home now associated with the baby smell. Then my husband played ball with them - they associated the fun of playing with new babies smell. It worked for us. Good luck!

yogahh · August 2015

HookEmNelson said:
We knew going into pregnancy that our dog was not going to be a good fit with a baby. He was old and set in his ways; we had to rehome him with my brother-in-law. We are so thankful that he took the best care of our guy his last year. We visited often and tried to make it work, but we were just too nervous to have Chief around the baby.

That being said, this was our experience. So many dogs welcome babies into the family just fine. You know your dogs the best.

We still talk about Chief often and show Jack (our 3.5 yr old) pictures of our "family" before he was born. We loved that dog so incredibly much, but we knew what was best for our son.

Your story made me tear up. It must have been so hard to give up your boy, but you did it for such loving reasons. And the fact that your son knows chief is adorable.

Designermomma · August 2015

We rescued a 3 year old Boston Terrier before having kids as our "baby". She is very tame and calm. I read a bunch online when we were pregnant with our 1st about letting the dog smell the baby blanket etc. to introduce them and to be careful not to leave the baby on the floor unattended where the dog could get him. When our son was born, the dog was curious and whimpered when he cried. One time I left DS in the swing and was going to go pee and come back and I saw the dog get up and go to the baby out of the corner if my eye. She was protecting him and giving me a look like "how date you leave this baby unattended". I felt pretty safe after that like she had adopted him as her baby too. She was very protective of him. When my Inlaws came to meet the baby for the first time she blocked the baby's room and growled at them. They had not been pre-approved by her yet. We calmed her down and let her meet them and showed her that we knew them but we had to take baby out of the room for her to let them see him. DS and the dog became fast friends when DS started eating solids. The dog gained a lot of weight from eating all the table food DS threw which I worried about the dogs health a little bit. We just took her on walks with the baby in the stroller more often to excersize more which everyone enjoyed. Another thing to think about is if you have a chewer. Mine chewed up a few baby toys left on the floor. And vice versa, the baby tries to chew on the dogs toys. What worked best for us was to keep the baby in a play pin or play yard away from the dog if I needed to go the bathroom or something. When he got older we kept the dogs things in our bedroom (baby kept eating dog food and splashing in her water bowl) for a little while and let her access them periodically throughout the day. We keep all the baby's toys in his room and don't let the dog in there unsupervised. The trickiest was actually our cat who kept trying to sleep in the crib and bassinet. Now that DS2 is a toddler he is trying to pull on the dog or hit her and I tell him no and take his hand and show him how to pet the dog nicely. She has been so good and doesn't growl or anything but she gives me a look like "can you deal with this kid please?" He loves her to pieces though and giggles when she comes close and loves to watch her go potty outside and run. He shares all his food with her as entertainment though but luckily all the toxic foods to dogs, babies don't eat either. Hope that helps.

MaddiPaddi37 · August 2015

Wow!

Thanks everyone! Yes, your experiences have been quite helpful to me!!! Any more would be great to read about, too!

Thank you thank you again for timely responses!!!

MrsRo731 · August 2015

Hi there! I was so, so nervous about our pittie while I was pregnant. He is a rescue and is the sweetest, gentlest dog I've ever known, but I had no idea how he'd react with a baby in our house. He has always been very lazy and laid back, but you just never know. We took lots of precautions like others did. My husband brought my daughter's hat to the house to let him smell before we came in. Also, when we came home, I went in first and spent some time alone with him since I'd been gone for a few days. My husband brought my daughter in and let him smell her. He smelled her and then just walked away, lol. Fast forward almost 2 years and they are best buds. He loves when she tosses him some food from her highchair and is glued to her side during meal times. I do want to point out that we never leave him alone with her, though.

While our relationship with our pup has changed, he still gets plenty of love from us. After our daughter goes to bed he gets plenty of belly rubs and snuggles. Also, he hasn't changed much at all either. He is very attached to me, though; he got much more affectionate when I was pregnant and that never stopped. He was my first baby and I'll never forget that!

patriciahomol · August 2015

We adopted our jack russell terrier after my ds was born and ds was about 1.5 when we adopted her. We brought ds with us to the shelter to see how dogs would interact with him and make sure ds liked the dog also. However, I never left the dog alone with ds when he was younger just because you never really know how they will react to something. Now however ds loves on her and they are best friends. ds is really rough with her(pulling tail, ect--obviously we don't allow him or encourage but it happens sometimes). I think dogs and kids go well together and become like siblings.

Thats ds and lucy our jrt

NLewis1 · August 2015

I am a big advocate for kids having pets. I think it not only teaches them responsibility but also creates a bond that is unlike anything else. Besides, I don't have to sweep the floor if DS throws food on the ground

and he thinks it's really fun to feed the dogs

patriciahomol · August 2015

NLewis1 said:

I am a big advocate for kids having pets. I think it not only teaches them responsibility but also creates a bond that is unlike anything else. Besides, I don't have to sweep the floor if DS throws food on the ground and he thinks it's really fun to feed the dogs

yes this! love my dog vacuum

MrsStephee · August 2015

I have 2 dogs and a cat. My dogs are 31lbs and 62lbs. One is a purebred Pitbull and the other is a Boston Terrier/Pitbull. I was just curious on how I should introduce them to the baby. They are both loving of children and with us. But just wondering on the side of US actually having the baby in the house 24/7 not just at the park or family.

greeneyes14 · August 2015

Commenting to follow as I am curious as well what others did.

We have two siberian huskies who are our babies they get all of our attention and especially mine plus if anyone else owns a sibe they know how much attention and exercise they need a walk around the block just doesn't cut it.

I'm planning on staying home a little before the future baby is due but am more worried about the end of pregnancy when hikes and 4 mile walks aren't going to be as easy and fun as they are now :-( it does worry me because I don't want them to not get the attention they get now as well I am hoping hubby will step up to the longer walks as I am the main walker.
Anyone have a high energy dog ?
Here are my two fluffy butts I love them like crazy. They are pretty well trained and great around kids of all ages I am a nanny and have even brought them to work they are so gentle and our girl the black and white loves my god daughter and always stays right by her whenever she's At the house - so sweet !

Xstatic3333 · August 2015

greeneyes14 said:
Commenting to follow as I am curious as well what others did.

We have two siberian huskies who are our babies they get all of our attention and especially mine plus if anyone else owns a sibe they know how much attention and exercise they need a walk around the block just doesn't cut it.

I'm planning on staying home a little before the future baby is due but am more worried about the end of pregnancy when hikes and 4 mile walks aren't going to be as easy and fun as they are now :-( it does worry me because I don't want them to not get the attention they get now as well I am hoping hubby will step up to the longer walks as I am the main walker.
Anyone have a high energy dog ?
Here are my two fluffy butts I love them like crazy. They are pretty well trained and great around kids of all ages I am a nanny and have even brought them to work they are so gentle and our girl the black and white loves my god daughter and always stays right by her whenever she's At the house - so sweet !

I'm the main walker too, though mine just needs 1.5 miles a day. In my head I envision myself kicking butt and walking him until the end of pregnancy, and then a few days after wearing the baby, but as a future FTM who knows if that's realistic! Hoping my H will step up if needed as well. He has in the past when I've travelled for business.

ska8471 · August 2015

I can't directly answer your question, OP, but I can say that I've thinking about/concerned about it. We love our pooch so much. We're very committed to making it work; DH has agreed to make sure pup still gets his love and attention if I become a sleep-deprived milk machine.

I've read some great posts/blogs online about introducing dog to baby and creating a sort of boundary for the dog to follow; teaching them how to act around the baby etc. I would check some of those resources out with a google check.

One thing we're also conscious of is teaching the baby-not just the dog-how to behave around dogs as he/she grows up. I think it's important for children to understand how to play with dogs/interact safely with dogs as well. It can't all be on the pooch!

greeneyes14 · August 2015

@xstatic3333

Yeah the hubby has done the same thing when I work very late or travel as well. I am hoping I can do the same and walk till the end and beyond lol! A friend told me she knew a women who ran miles everyday till the day before she gave birth! I'm not much of a runner but I thought if she can do that then a 2 hour hike will be cake
Also I wanted to look into those stroller attachments for a leash as my youngest pup is only less than 40lbs so would be okay on the stroller also timing feeding around walks once hubby gets home so I can do alone time with the dogs if it works out

stylist001 · August 2015

HookEmNelson said:

We knew going into pregnancy that our dog was not going to be a good fit with a baby. He was old and set in his ways; we had to rehome him with my brother-in-law. We are so thankful that he took the best care of our guy his last year. We visited often and tried to make it work, but we were just too nervous to have Chief around the baby. That being said, this was our experience. So many dogs welcome babies into the family just fine. You know your dogs the best. We still talk about Chief often and show Jack (our 3.5 yr old) pictures of our "family" before he was born. We loved that dog so incredibly much, but we knew what was best for our son.

Lurking from TTGP but I just wanted to say your story also made me tear up. I currently have an 8 year old rescue who I know deep down will not be able to adjust to a baby. He has severe fear aggression and I would never want to set him up for failure. I know if we ever have a baby we will have to rehome him for his safety as well as the baby's. I think about it all the time and start to cry because I love my rescue so much but I know it would be the right thing for both of them. Your story gave me hope that he will be ok if/when this happens.

MomFoto · August 2015

1. If you are an avid dog lover, what are the best/worst things you did starting a family with your dogs?

The best thing we did when we got our lab/shepherd mix is put him through the beginner puppy class at Petsmart before our son was born. We put him through intermediate class shortly after I gave birth. I also would pet him quite often so that he would get used to someone else being around that may not be so gentle.
2. How did your dogs change/react?

Our pup was relaxed, even though he was less than a year old. Not a huge change.
3. How did YOU change? (It's simply a concept I can't wrap my mind around, loving something more than my dogs! But I'm excited to feel it!!!)

We just made sure that we would spend one on one time with our pup as well. As long as he got some attention as well everything was okay. I think the same is true when you think about having more than one child. Some can not understand how in the world you would have the time, energy, and enough love for another. Your love just increases! They all are your babies and it just works! We now have 2 pups, the lab/shepherd mix and an akita, and a one year old and a three year old. It is always a bonus to get hubby to take a worn onesie home before everyone goes home so that the dogs can smell it and get used to the new smell. Also, we never "separated" our dogs from our children so that they never feel excluded or pushed away. This will keep them from resenting the children.

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Dogs & Baby (and other questions!)

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Mrs. H

Crohn's Dx: August 2008

Endometriosis Dx: May 2010

Married: 05/19/2012

TTC #1: June 2013

BFP: December 2013

DS: Born 08/29/2014

TTC #2: July 2015

Mrs. H

Crohn's Dx: August 2008

Endometriosis Dx: May 2010

Married: 05/19/2012

TTC #1: June 2013

BFP: December 2013

DS: Born 08/29/2014

TTC #2: July 2015

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Dogs & Baby (and other questions!)

Re: Dogs &amp; Baby (and other questions!)

Mrs. H

Crohn's Dx: August 2008

Endometriosis Dx: May 2010

Married: 05/19/2012

TTC #1: June 2013

BFP: December 2013

DS: Born 08/29/2014

TTC #2: July 2015

Mrs. H

Crohn's Dx: August 2008

Endometriosis Dx: May 2010

Married: 05/19/2012

TTC #1: June 2013

BFP: December 2013

DS: Born 08/29/2014

TTC #2: July 2015

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Re: Dogs & Baby (and other questions!)