New baby

[frankiegoestobirmingham]

Hi all!

We have a very happy little 18 month old beagle and have had him since he was a puppy. We are soon to have a new baby. I've booked a dog trainer (more like a dog whisperer 😂) to come a couple of months before baby is due to give us some ideas of how to prepare our dog for the upheaval a new baby brings but wondered if anyone has any advice? I should stress we are adamant that our dog will be staying in our family home (I don't like when people get rid of dog just because of new baby!). He has never been aggressive at all and has been around lots of babies (from newborn to aged 3-4) and has been great with them. The only thing is he is quite protective of me since I have been pregnant. Nothing major he just likes to sit on me and be close to me. We have been very trying not to encourage this too much while reassuring him of his place.

Obviously he will never be alone with baby but he is a much loved member of our household and I want to make sure we can make all of this as easy as possible! :-) thanks in advance!

[Whoseranium]

There's a fabulous FB group called Dog Training Advice and Support which is run by professional trainers/behaviourists and has an excellent collection of resources in the 'Files' section (Dogs and Children/Babies) covering pretty much everything you need to know about having kids and dogs together in your home.

Is the trainer you've booked a member of any professional bodies? Dog training is completely unregulated and there are still plenty of people around who are training based out outdated information (such as "dominance theory") or using problematic techniques which can actually end up having exactly the opposite effect on the dog that you want.

[frankiegoestobirmingham]

Hi :-) thanks I'll check it out! :-) yes he is :-) we have had him before and our dog was like a different dog after haha hence why we have been calling him the dog whisperer! 😂

[harrypotterfan1604]

Hi :) I have 2 beagles ages 2 & 2.5 and I am expecting a baby any day now. The main preparation I’ve done is moving up their routine, they are no longer walked at set times of day just whenever we feel like it and often go a few days missing a walk. I did this so that when baby comes going a day without a walk won’t mean I have two horrendously hyper dogs and they aren’t mithering to go for a morning walk like they used to.
We have also put our bedside crib and Moses basket up weeks ago so they could learn not to go near them didn’t take long at all.
I already used a babygate to separate lounge from kitchen so they are used to being separated from me at times so if that’s not something you do already might be worthwhile. Does your dog settle well? If not teaching a good settle would be good.

I use Kongs with peanut butter for mine when I want them entertained but I’m unable to entertain them myself.

One of mine has become quite protective of me since being pregnant but it hasn’t worried me, it’s his job and both of them actually disturbed a burglar a few weeks ago the girl dog going to see the intruder off and the boy stayed with me to protect me which honestly was great because I was terrified!

[Santaisfastasleepatlast]

We had 3 ddogs when ds was born. Took his socks off when we got back home and let them have a good sniff - and lick!! Honestly never had a no issues. Ds is now 4 and they are all really close.

[Wolfiefan]

Well done you for thinking of potential problems before the baby comes home.
Think about what changes will happen. If you don’t want the dog on the sofa then stop that now. Maybe reward when dog is in bed (can there be a bed near your feet?)
Who will walk the dog when baby arrives? With a pushchair? Dog needs to be used to that.
Will there be rooms the dog can’t go in?
If you have to put baby down for any reason then how will you ensure baby and dog are separate?
Can you put out some baby related stuff now so dog gets used to it? (Big items?)
Noise? Can you play different sounds or watch some TV where babies cry?
Where will dog and baby sleep?
Good luck with the new arrival!!

[frankiegoestobirmingham]

Thank you for all the ideas! We are a bit naughty at moving walks around so he is used to having one or two long walks a day but not necessarily at set times! I aim to keep this up with baby so that I can keep him exercised, get out of the house and also get rid of baby weight 🙈 in the first few weeks our dog walker will still be taking him out as I know I might not be up to much then :-) the plan during my maternity is that he will still have a day of doggy daycare a week to keep his socialisation up and to give me a day of just baby.

He is used to walking with a pram as our dog walker has a baby so no issues there but I may do a few trial runs with him before hand (although I may look a loon walking an empty buggy!).

Great idea about putting the baby things out! I suppose this gets him used to knowing what he can and can't touch!

Currently he sleeps with us in our room (in a bed at the bottom of our bed) but I've started leaving the hallway door open so when baby comes he can wander off if it's too loud 😂😂😂

[harrypotterfan1604]

@frankiegoestobirmingham
It sounds like your well prepared anyway. For me the most important thing is to make sure my dogs don’t feel pushed out. The older dog was a rescue and he was rehired when his owner had a baby and decided she didn’t want him :( so I’m keen to make sure he knows he’s still
Loved this time

[frankiegoestobirmingham]

@harrypotterfan1604 yes this is my worry :-( people keep saying how when we have the baby the dog will go! I'm like 🤨 he is a member of our family!

[harrypotterfan1604]

Yep I’ve had those comments too it’s awful isn’t it :( they are my family and I appreciate it will be harder but you don’t rehome your husband when it gets hard so why rehome the dogs 😂

[frankiegoestobirmingham]

@harrypotterfan1604 exactly! If he ever does something I'd completely feel responsible as it's all down to our training! And as long as they are never together alone I'm happy baby is safe!

😂😂 might have to get rid of dh instead 😂😂

[Booboostwo]

A well socialized, trained dog should have no problem with a baby as long as you follow a few sensible rules which you seem to be aware of anyway, e.g. don’t leave baby and dog together unsupervised, allow the dog a safe place to retreat, etc.

He may well be very attached to you because of pregnancy hormones. One of my dogs (I had four at the time), a bitch, became really odd when I was pregnant. She was stuck to me, had to be physically touching me at all times, nearly tripped me up a few times and was very worried about me, but she returned to normal as soon as the baby was born.