Hello wise MNers,
I am pregnant with our first child due in autumn this year. We will at that point have 1.5 year old dog.
A bit about dog. She is 7/8 months old now. She came to us at 8 weeks, a Shih Tzu x Bichon Frise, and is absolutely adorable. The gentlest, kindest, most generous tiny little fur ball ever. She is already tiny but when she snuggles into a little ball on my knee, or on DH's knee she is a little woolen ball. She was fully housetrained by 3 months, asks and waits to be let out, is happy to be on her own when we are out, has never destroyed even a piece of paper, knows loads of tricks and as you can tell, is the apple of our eyes :) if I drop a bit of meat and she rushes to it, and in day LEAVE she freezes and leaves it. If she is playing with her teddy bear, same. No protecting, growling, Snapping ever. She has met loads of kids from 6 months to 10 years and is perfect with them. Just follows them around like they are really really cool people.
Ok, so I want to really prep her for the new arrival. Any tips? Or books? I have read general guidance online from RSPCA etc, but am after any individual stories or books or anything really. Looking for specifics of what we should do before birth, when baby comes home and as habits then on. We have a good trainer who we could call on I guess, but happy to do this ourselves.
We love her loads, she prepped us for feeling parental in so many ways, and of you don't believe how adorable she is, well, here's a pic! She's good as gold :)
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Dog and new baby
Focusfocus · 04/04/2015 11:47
Congratulations! 
Both for your pregnancy and your well trained pooch 
.
I don't have any experience in this but just thought I'd throw in a few ideas.
Is she quite used to settling by herself or does she usually curl up on you. Perhaps you could get her used to that happening less often because you'll have the baby there instead?
I've also heard that you can play baby crying noises from youtube on low and then gradually increase the volume so that she learns to ignore it and isn't bothered by the noise.
Does she have a crate/room/bed that she can go to for some peace and quiet if she wants it?
I had DD when my pooches were 10. They were my first babies and I absolutely adored them. I still do now they are 12 and DD is 2.
TBH I did nothing to prepare them. They just accepted DD, like I thought they would, and she loves them too now.
But - I had my dogs from 7 weeks old, knew them completely and utterly and anticipated what the future problems would be (one is not so keen on babies / toddlers when they start moving and can be a bit unpredictable). We had a few growls but that's it. Every time DDog2 growled she was sent to her basket. She got the message. DDog1 adores children and we've never had any issues with him at all.
Congratulations on your furry and human babies
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