App of sound of baby crying - need dog to get used to it beforehand!

[ilikecooking]

Anyone recommend one at all please?

Posted in In The Doghouse section too.

[Em1503]

Ooh no help sorry but watching as I could probably do with this too! I also need to train him out of barking at the tv whenever animals come on screen else he's going to wake the baby an awful lot...!

[smokeandglitter]

Could you youtube it?

[Whatabeautifulsight10]

I played mine clips from youtube repeatedly throughout the day. I also read ceaser milans' advice on his website about bringing a baby into the home. We gave our dogs a blanket our baby had been wrapped in to sniff, then dh took them for a long walk while I brought dd inside. Introduced edd in her car seat, for just a few seconds, allowed them to sniff, before taking her away again and repeating.

this meant the smell of baby wasn't a shock, and by removing her when we chose signalled that she was above them in the pack.

We kept dd with us on sofa and dogs on floor- very important to signal her place in the pack, and now she can be in bouncy chair on floor, dogs can sniff her, but we let them know when it's enough sniffing, and Never leave them on their own with baby.

In terms of crying, ceaser says dogs feel anxious when baby cries, due to not knowing how to console baby. They want to help just as we do, but can't, so get anxious. We kept close eye on this, and let dogs go outside if they were showing signs of anxiety, such as panting, licking lips, pacing. This helped. Also picked baby up to standing level straight away, as this is when risk is highest as baby is causing their anxiety.


We've been really gradual with it, and 2 weeks in, after listening to many newborn cries on baby monitors, they didnt bat an eyelid and lay snoozing on floor!


Phew, sorry for long post, I just wish I'd gotten advice as it caused me so much worry, thought this could help.. Dogs and babies can definitely mix, just with constant supervision and lots of cuddles with the dogs so they know they're still loved!!!

Hope this helped!

[Elysianfields]

Not sure about the pack theory....... But agree with never leaving the baby with the dogs and looking out for anxious cues and moving the baby. Dogs should have a a safe place too particularly when the baby is mobile.

[kitkat321]

That was a really helpful post Whatabeautifulsight10

We have a young lurcher who we rehomed in December and I want to make the transition easy for her - that said, I'm almost positive she's lived with young children before as she gets soo happy and excited when she meets young toddlers and just wants to lick them - but this is obviously something we need to try and control when our lo arrives.

[DearDinah]

I've been using videos from YouTube (it's abit odd people film their babies crying & upload them!) using a dolly wrapped in a blanket, putting phone on top of that, picking 'crying baby' up from bouncer & soothing, making dogs go back to bed if they show interest, also been dropping toys/dummies/baby clothes on the floor & making dogs leave them
A good tip I got was to freeze kongs with pate/cheese/peanut butter inside & give to dogs to keep them occupied when you need them out of the room for longer periods, provides positive association with being shut away

[twiglet2]

really useful info here ladies. I've got a 4 year old springer who has spent quite a lot of time with little nephews and nieces over the last couple of years. If she's had enough or is a bit scared by the noises she takes herself out of the situation, and is happy if we have her basket there to go and sit in. Fingers crossed she carries on like this when our little one arrives!

[slightlyinsane]

We already had 3 kids when we got our dog, considering he'd never lived with kids he was fantastic with them. I worried when I was pregnant of how he'd cope, babies and kids are very different. We tried the baby crying sounds and blanket, it completely freaked him out. In the end when we came home he's been fantastic with them, has the occasional sniff but that's about it.

[ffallada]

Oh - stay away from Ceaser Millan please. The man uses prong collars. there is never a reason for prong collars. I could list many, many ways the man is not a friend to animals but that would be terribly off topic.

I am glad keeping your dogs off the sofa has worked for you whata, but it goes against all the other advice I have read from every other dog trainer if your dog is usually allowed on the sofa. What the other dog trainers say is that if you change your dogs routine i.e. kick them off the sofa when they are used to being allowed on it, you will make your dog jealous and angry. Most advice is to buy a new chair for breastfeeding and ban the dog from that chair from the outset. Most dogs appreciate consistency.

I have a book 'how to tell your dog your expecting' which has 21 downloadable sounds of baby noises - crying, playing, splashing in the bath as its not just the crying noise that will be new. Written by a reputable, kind, positive trainer in Australia. Highly recommend it. It covers a lot and we have tried a few things and they are working.

that being said, I have a highly intelligent collie, so he knows the difference between sounds on a computer and actual sounds. So none of the downloaded tracks worked for us - our collie just ignored them.

I have also recently bought a DAP collar - do you know about them? They release a pheromone similar to that of a new mother which is supposed to calm the dog making more adaptable. Works on 50% of dogs and my vet swears by them. again hasn't worked for us but we will keep trying

My dog is my fur baby, its very important to me that his life is just as enjoyable and relaxed post baby my mum thinks I'm OTT

[twiglet2]

ffallada could you let us know how you get on with the DAP collar?

Our dog is really important to us too, so I'm really hoping that by making a fuss of her a lot and keeping her routine with 3 walks a day she'll adapt to the baby. One of the bonuses of maternity leave is that she'll have a lot more company during the day.

[Septbaby]

We've been doing lots with our furry monster too, there's some great advice on the blue cross website and I think dogs trust I read info also, all positive reinforcement stuff which is so good to see!

One thing that I keep reading and makes total sense is as well as teaching the dog to respect the baby, the baby (especially as it becomes mobile) needs to respect the dog and ensuring that the dogs safe space, whether it be bed or blanket or crate (whatever you use) is kept baby free so that they can retreat to it when feeling overwhelmed or stressed (or just want a break from an excited wee one)

Also we've been practising good walking etiquette and walking with the pram (husb was out at 6 am yesterday with an empty pram like a loon lol!) and she seems to be understanding that this means polite walking and not drifting under the wheels etc.

ffallada totally with you on staying clear of Cesar Milan, god only knows how the man has become so revered! Another rant for another time me thinks!

[Polkadotscarf]

I downloaded the book 'how to tell your dog you're pregnant' ( mentioned above) onto my kindle and it seems great. We have been adapting routines since we found out we were expecting so dog is no longer allowed on the sofa, training him to enjoy some alone time in another room, not to jump up etc. the book comes with sounds you can download too. Baby not here yet but feeling confident.
Having said that I would still never leave the dog alone in a room with the baby.

[Whatabeautifulsight10]

Oh please don't get me wrong, I agree, teasers' use of collars and other techniques have troubled me

[Whatabeautifulsight10]

Didn't know this had posted yesterday, I was dealing with my screaming dd and thought I'd cancelled the post!

What I meant is that ceasers' use of some techniques does worry me, but his advice on bringing a baby into the home is useful.

ffallada obviously when enforcing a no dogs on sofa rule this should be put into practice long before baby arrives for exactly the reasons you have stated. I have received advice from trainers on this who state that it creates a boundary, that's all, not an action that suggests to dogs that you don't love them as much as you did when sofa cuddles were allowed. I also felt it was safest in terms of protecting my bump from little paws! But of course, this is only my opinion and what trainers have all echoed to me. Do what works for your family.

In terms of this boundary, I felt safer where my dogs are of course very much loved and constantly cuddled, but in my opinion they also are dogs.. Therefore if when a baby is older and coddling around, they feel confident eating food without dog trying to take it, no competition over any toys, and a general understanding that the little person is to he respected, just as I would teach a baby to respect the dog and not climb over them etc. Sorry, hope that makes.my pack comment clearer.

Thanks kitkat I love launchers, I'm sure it'll all work out fine. If our dog gets too excited and wants to lick/ sniff, we keep this to her feet area, ie never her face. Dogs responded well to this!

[ViviPru]

Good post ffallada completely agree with everything you say. I also have the 'How to Tell Your Dog' book. It's excellent.

Incidentally, I assumed public awareness of the discreditation of CM was much more widespread but there you go.

[ViviPru]

X post Whata

[Whatabeautifulsight10]

Sorry vivi I'm new to mumsnet, what does X post mean? I'm still learning!!

[Lucy955]

Hello, this is the best one I know about. Produced by top vets who work exclusively in behaviour and work at universities here in the uk.

www.soundtherapy4pets.co.uk/sociable.html

I would also recommend you look up the information the dogs trust provide and research the blue dog scheme. All based on good solid scientific evidence rather that tv persoanlities and old wife's tales.

Given the number of dreadful media stories and misinformation around dogs and children it vital to get good professional advice.

Lucy

[ViviPru]

Whata just that I waded in with a comment about CM before I saw that you'd posted explaining that some of his techniques did worry you. X post just means I submitted my comment before I realised you'd already addressed the point I was raising

[Ilikecooking]

Crikey, I just find it so mind boggling.
Thankyou all for your input.

I will have to look into all of these individual posts one at a time.