Retired in laws won’t come pick up dog before my due date

I think you’re going about introducing the baby and dog completely wrong! That’s your dogs home and you’re sending them away and when they come back there’ll be a whole new person to get used to?! 🙄
By far the better and easier option is to keep your dog at home, invest in a couple of stair gates so dog can’t go in certain rooms and introduce from the start - instead of confusing the poor dog with all the coming and going!
Will it be hard? YES but that’s the responsibilities you take on when having animal family members and then have a baby!

My laws came to ours to dog sit from Yorkshire and dropped everything when I had to go in to be induced we’d of never sent the dog to them!

Contrary to opinions it was a godsend to have them with us for the first few days to walk him and general be an extra pair of hands, making food etc it was a very special time! Could you do that?

And our dog had his own issues we’ve worked hard on and is a bit mental but he’s amazing with our little girl….. not that we leave them unattended. He still has his issues but not with her!

I was worried how we’d cope with a one year old Labrador (who was mental) and I new born. But it’s really important you integrate your family from the off. We were advised from a fantastic dog trainer to bring a blanket or something the baby had on in hospital for our dog to sniff before we arrived home. I had to stay in one night but my dh took the blanket so our dog could smell her. Then when we arrived home I came in first to fuss the dog and dh came in with the car seat. Once the dog settled we let her safely sniff the baby. And that was that. Life as normal. Highly recommend a sling for dog walks. Or a dog walker so you can have a few hours chill time. But if I were you I wouldn’t send your dog away. Even if your in-laws were accommodating. Good luck op.

This all sounds a bit ridiculous tbh. You don’t need to send the dog away for two weeks. We have two very needy dogs and they met our baby the day we came back from hospital. I would’ve missed my dogs so much if I couldn’t see them. Having a dog and newborn is fine.

The best way for dog and baby to get on is to keep everything normal! Sending a dog away for two weeks then suddenly coming back to a newborn will just build up the changes in the dogs life. Just got to keep the dogs normal routine so they don’t feel like baby has replaced them.

Im also with your in laws in that I wouldn’t want to drive 4.5 hours either to pick up a dog and go home. They’re doing you a favour!

Dog needs to be at home when baby arrives. You’re increasing the chances of jealousy issues by sending her away.

You've had 5 years to train the dog!

You could start now, you have a few weeks.

Good practice for raising a child that doesn't also turn into a nightmare.

How does that help?

Get rid of the dog
which you won’t I’m sure
so keep the dog away from the baby at all times
fuck that shit of introductions ffs
and going into labour blah ..you’ll be hours and hours

A 4 hour round trip isn’t a big deal, especially when your in laws are doing you a huge favour.

I did a 6 hour round trip (I drove) 6 days before my due date.

And baby gates etc. keep the dog away from the baby until you are certain the dog isn't stressed.

My DD had her gorgeous boy last August, they also have a dog. Dog stayed with me when she went into labour, when he was born I visited and brought back a muslin with his scent on, put it in dogs bed.

DD introduced dog as soon as she came home, and slowly let dog sniff the baby. They were very careful to make sure dog was and is not left alone with he baby. 11 months later and all is going well.

Hope it goes well for you.

Sorry posted too soon. Having been away for two weeks. I reckon the get dog walkers in plan is better. And play babies crying soundtracks, that kind of thing.

Oh, you’re one of those.

@Oli16 your dog knows you are pregnant and won't be surprised if you go away for a couple of days and come back with a baby. I understand you're nervous about how your dog will be when the baby's here. Nobody knows, ultimately sentient beings can be unpredictable. However, I think your dog will be more likely to he unpredictable hav

Your baby will more than likely be late anyway, and even if not, labour will take more than 4 hours. You are being unreasonable. You're going to need to make a lot of compromises trying to run a home with a dog and a baby, so you need to lighten up. The plan for DH to take the dog half way is totally fine.

You've said he “requires a lot of attention” and he’s “a small nightmare” and “enthusiastic and don’t know how he will react”?
fucking hell love. No words.

You didn't ask a question about what other people do. You asked if you were unreasonable to be annoyed with your in laws.

Gosh, taking traffic into consideration 2 hours was my husband's commute when I was pregnant with one of my DCs.

It's a big ask to have someone take your dog in for two weeks, especially if they are not doggy people. The least you could do is drop the dog off to them. They only want to to meet them half way!

Speak for yourself. I've only been in labour a total of 19 hours and I've had six babies.