Integrating dog and baby

[TeaDr1nker]

Hello there

I am sure others have asked this question but i can't seem to find a thread on it. I have a 10 year old female daschund, love her dearly, and i am due in 10 weeks with my first baby. I grew up with dogs so am not completely clueless, but i was wondering if anyone had any tips.

She is a complete lap dog, who seeks attention and likes to be petted like most dogs do. She is very inquisitive with my neice, who is 18 months old. What i am worried about is her getting jeolous (sp) of the baby and causing a problem. Would it be advisable to get a doll (i saw this on a programme once) to get her used to me giving attention to something else? We shall be moving her from our bedroom, currently has her basket at the bottom of the bed, into the kitchen. I know that she will whine but she will get used to it.

Any advice would be most usefull.

Many thanks

TeaDr1nker

Hi, I'm haven't had a daschund and am not familiar with them, but the way we introduced baby and dog was to have baby on me, my mum brought the dog over, dog sniffed me first and then sniffed baby on me. I think it is better than taking a dog up to a baby that is in a moses basket/bouncy chair etc. Hopefully the dog then realises that the baby is part of you. I don't know about the doll approach, sorry.

i gave my two choc drops etc when i introduced the baby, seemed to work well.

id move her bed now and discourage her from sitting on your lap so she doesnt try to do it when you are holding the baby.

cx

i heard a dog expert on the radio recently who said that a lot of the problems between dogs and babies come when the dog tries to 'manage' the baby and show him or her what is and isn't allowed. For example, if the dog isn't allowed on the sofa it will bark at the baby and try to tell it that it shouldn't be on there! He recommended that rather than banish the dog from doing things that were once allowed, you just cut back on the time it gets.

I am due in Jan and am trying to lay down the law now as our terrier is quite used to getting the run of the place! I used to let him sleep on the bed all night but now I make him sleep downstairs and he is allowed to jump on the bed in the morning just before i get up so that he can still go on there, just for a small amount of time. It's really hard as he is an expert at being cute just when he knows i can't resist, but hopefully this will pay off when the baby arrives!

Crikey, thanks for the quick response.

I hope she does live to a ripe old age. Unfortunately i know only to well about being vigilant - when i was four i bit a dogs tail, he bit me back Can you blame him, no lasting damage though.

Someone suggested keeping the crib in a play pen, so the dog can't get at it and knock it over by accident, is this going too far? Or should i just get a stirdy crib. We have got a moses basket with stand - the stand appears to be a bit flimsy though.

TeaDr1nker