Any tips on preparing and introducing 2 border collies to a newborn?

[DaffyTaffy24]

Hi all
Not sure whether this is the place for this thread, but thought I'd give it a go.

I'm 19w+3d pregnant with our first but have a 5 year old and 4 year old border collies.
They're both well tempered with children and very passive - will both 'give their bellies' for children.

We've started training them to not come in to certain places downstairs without being asked, as they can be very bouncy when playing and I'm worried that they may knock over a moses basket or similar with baby in.
They're training well so far, and I intend to set up the moses basket and bouncer and such so they can have a sniff and get used to them being around before baby is here.

I suppose what my main question is, does anyone have any tips or tricks to help the pups become used to the new smells, sounds and routines of a baby before they arrive?

I really want them to be as prepared as possible so they dont feel put out and start acting out.

TIA!

Dog training advice and support on FB should have a file on this. Ideally I don’t suppose you really want to introduce them as such. Do your dogs have a settle command and can you separate them from a toddling little one when the time comes?

I made sure i let me dog come and sniff when he wanted, and tried not to say no too often, didn't want him to be resentful of baby.

Made sure his routine didn't change, still got walked the same as before.

Made sure i had 1 on 1 time with dog as well as time all 3 of us again so he got attention too

Used sling to take baby with us on dog walk so he got used to her being there, then introduced pushchair so he learned how to walk next to it

I put the moses basket in the cot in our room so baby was always safe and our of reach of being knocked over during the night. During the day she was in a swing chair so was out of reach of dog.

Don't overthink it

Thanks both

We have 3 dogs and before our dd arrived we used to play babies noises on Alexa, ie babies crying etc. I was in hospital for a few days and dh brought home the blanket I had used for dd so they could sniff it and get used to her smell.
They have all been fab, no issues, I kept their routine the same as much as possible and never pushed them away if they came up close.
I used a baby carrier when I waked them and then progressed to the pushchair. Again they have all be brillliant.

Try to treat them the same way you always have as much as possible and they will be happy puppies x

I have a (very excitable) border terrier. We used to play baby sounds / crying on YouTube to get him used to that, and left all the baby bits (pram / Moses basket / nappies) out for a while before so he could see and smell them.

I was in for a week (unexpectedly) when I had DD. When we came home, I came in first, on my own with his favourite treats and made a fuss of him, then DH came in after with DD. We let him sniff her etc (but not jump up).

Made sure he had lots of fuss and attention throughout the day.

We never had a Moses basket on a stand for the same reason - he is very bouncy and jumpy. We always just put it on the sofa or kitchen table. When she was a few weeks old we started putting her in a bouncy chair too, which he couldn’t knock over.

DD is nearly 3 now and they are the best of friends. He loves her so much, and is stuck to her like glue! Having a dog has helped to ensure she is very respectful of animals, as from a very young age she has learned to be gentle with him.

The main emphasis is on non-interaction between child and dogs. We played baby noises and carried a doll around, put it in the bouncer and pram, and the goal was to persuade the dog to leave it alone. It’s too soon for them to be “friends”, the dog is a danger to the baby. Even if it doesn’t bite it can easily suffocate a baby by accident. Then at the crawling stage the dog can assume the baby is another dog and nip them, or the baby can pull the dog and it reacts. DS was 18m before he really interacted with the dog and gave biscuits - by then he was walking and the dog understood he was a person.