3 dogs and a baby

[Lilloulou]

Hi, I wonder if anyone has had a similar situation.
I’m 15 weeks pregnant with my first child due April 18 :-)
My mother in law has decided to get a puppy in January as company for her other dog.
We have a dog which she currently looks after twice a week when I work in the office.

Her rationale for getting the puppy is that she thinks her dog gets depressed and lonely when he is not with another dog. She’s decided on January so she can train the puppy whilst I’m on maternity.

The problems are:

1. Her existing dog is not good with children and very protective over her. Dog growled and barked at our friends toddler.
2. The plan is that when I go back to work when the baby is 1 she will have the baby once a week as well as my dog. I’m scared that it will be too much three dogs and a crawling/toddling Baby.
3. she’s a lovely lady and I don’t know how to bring it up in a way that won’t offend her. My partner is her only child so this will be her first grandchild. I think the Dogs will prevent us asking her to babysit. I’d love to be able to tell her that I think her timing is all wrong and I think she should wait.

Has anyone had a similar situation? Any advice would be great thank you xxx

Congrats on your pregnancy.

I'd be more worried about her existing dog than a new puppy, from what you've said here. He does not sound at all safe to be around a 1 year old.

Puppies plus babies can be manageable, if there's an experienced and responsible owner who has good systems in place. But an aggressive/possessive dog? That's really dodgy. If it wasn't your mum I doubt you'd even consider that setup as a childcare option.

Sorry, MIL not mum. But the point stands.

Thanks Tinymeteor, yes really good point I should be more worried about the existing dog rather than the new puppy. I think we will have to just do gradual introduction with lots of adults around and see how the dog reacts.

Thank you