Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Flip

Original poster

What are you going to do with your pet when you go into labour?

16 replies

Fishcake77 · 07/05/2014 14:01

This is starting to really bother me now. We have a 15 month Boxer girl who means everything to us but we have no-one to leave her with when I go into labour. She gets really fretful when she is left on her own and of course we have no idea how long we will be in the hospital!
My parents have offered but they do not understand how she ticks - they keep saying she is being very naughty and needs shouting at when in fact she is just being a Boxer, and my mother keeps coming up with little words of wisdom like "lock her in the toilet if she keeps barking" and "you should stick her head in a jumper sleeve to take her tablets". We do not operate like that!
I know it seems such a minor thing compared to having a baby, but it is worrying me and I just wanted to know what other people are doing with their pets. I can't be the only one who loves their dog!
TIA

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

SassehMonsta · 07/05/2014 14:12

Hadn't even thought about this (only 8 weeks!) but we're lucky that my dog is used to going to my parents house or having people here instead of us.

Think I'll ask my parents to have him, once I've convinced my dad he's the one I want to drive me into hospital! Otherwise I'm going to talk to my siblings and see if one of them will stay over with the dog. He needs needs every 12 hours so hoping someone will have him!

Have a look and see if there are any local dog walkers or pet sitters that you can talk to. Find someone you like who agrees with your outlook on your dog and get your dog used to them in advance so it's not a complete shock to him. Some look after your pet in your own home, others take them into their home, whichever you are most comfortable with.

TwigletFiend · 07/05/2014 14:13

Pet sitting service! There's a lovely lady in my area who takes dogs into her own home rather than a kennels and ours absolutely love it. They get walked twice a day and are kept to their normal routine and she's brilliant with them, very calm and cheerful and she's fully insured.

I would definitely think about looking for something like this for a highly strung dog, it's much nicer than kennels, which is our only other realistic option. It's quite expensive, but we think it's worth it

Original poster

Fishcake77 · 07/05/2014 14:17

Thanks for you replies. I have looked into a local pet sitting service which seem great, however they book up really quickly and who knows when the baby will actually arrive. If I could guarantee my EDD I would book her in now! I think it would be best for me to give them a call and see what they say - nothing to lose! Should have done that before I wrote on here I guess but I seem to get upset quite quickly now and not thinking straight!

OP posts:

MrsMonkeyBear · 07/05/2014 14:18

I have a 3 year old cat, who luckily enough will manage to fend for himself. We also have a neighbour who can pop in to feed him.

Why not look into getting a pet sitter, I have used them before and they normally come to your house. You could even ask if they could do a few visits before dc is due so that your dog can get use to them.

My pet sitter came round, fed and watered all pets. (At time we had 2 guinea pigs too) played with all animals, cleaned cage/litter tray when need be. They came twice a day to do all of this. Look on gumtree or a local Facebook page to find one.

Hope this helps.

Snook99 · 07/05/2014 14:43

I haven't really thought about it to be honest but like you I'm a lover of my dogs, I have two mine have really bad anxiety issues which I've tried everything in the past so I think I will prollb leave items of clothes on their beds and get a friend to come to my house to occupy them as they aren't used to being alone. Hopefully they won't get too distressed if they're in their own environment. If you want a distraction... Dog meet in a toy kong then frozen keeps them occupied for hours takes about 6 hours to defrost x

SassehMonsta · 07/05/2014 15:03

I'm sure if you call around and explain they will all understand the uncertainty! But definitely try and get him in for a trial session or two so he's comfortable well before due date.

Incacola · 07/05/2014 15:15

We left our dog at home and the neighbours popped in to feed her and let her out for us. We we're only in for about 3 hours before baby arrived though and it was late afternoon so she wasn't alone for long before DH went home to her. I worried lots about this before going into labour but hadn't got a plan before it all started (a bit early!)

PuppyMummy · 07/05/2014 16:51

could you start getting her used to someone new coming now so it wouldn't be as difficult for her later? any other friends you could ask?

Our dog is 7 and used to being left during the day so im not too worried about her.

I will ask a neighbour (who she knows) to pop in and feed her and walk her. if its going to be longer than 24 hrs then I will ask my sis to pick her up and take her to her house.

cheshirem2b · 07/05/2014 16:51

We are going to get my parents/neighbours to pop in and feed our two cats when the times comes... pet sitters are good though for fretful dogs as they can get anxious. Hope you find a nice pet sitter for your doggy!

SouthDerbyshireMamma · 07/05/2014 17:25

We intend in putting our dogs into kennels. Ive booked them in for kennel cough vaccination so we have more choice for late notice kennels. My brother in law lives with us but I don't want to rely on him or anyone else. We intend on our boys spending a few days in kennels after the birth so we can concentrate on bonding with our new baby

Fairypants · 07/05/2014 17:38

I was in for less than 12 hours with dc1 so family popped by to walk our dog and it wasn't a drama. Had a homebirth with dc2 and planning on another for dc3. Although I wouldn't have the dog in the room with me after early labour, as long as he gets to meet all the strangers in the house, the labour itself doesn't seen to bother him-I guess he knows what's going on by instinct.

CherryLips1980 · 07/05/2014 18:50

We're really lucky in that the people who bred our dog live very locally, run a kennels and have become friends so we had an arrangement that if DD started her evacuation during the day, we could text them and leave him in one of their day kennels and they'd sort him out for overnight etc. Kennels is maybe 10 minutes out of our way to the hospital. If it was a night time thing, we arranged that we would leave him in his crate and one of the kennel staff would come down and get him before they got to work (with us having left a key somewhere for them).

As it happens, I ended up being induced (sort of - turns out I was already in labour when we got there) so we were able to book him in and drop him off ourselves during their normal opening hours.

Hoping for a home birth when we have DC2 (er, who is yet to be conceived) although I do have visions of him ending up in the pool with me :-/

We had one night at home with Otto (dog) still in kennels and then picked him up on the Monday - discharged Sunday - and they let us take him for a walk with DD in one of their fields so he had room to run about and be stupid without being a danger to DD or the house (or himself :sigh: ) so by the time we got home, getting them all in the house together was a complete non event.

Good luck OP - we have a weimaraner so appreciate Boxer 'woes' ;)

LondonJen · 07/05/2014 19:36

I really feel your woes Fishcake I am concerned about this for our dog. He has high anxiety and can only manage an hour by himself. We have just found a dog sitter who we'll be using for the first time on Sunday, but whether she could sit for him when I am in labour would depend on when I went into labour and how long for!

Dp's brother lives nearby but he works as do all our friends. We have a neighbour who has offered to dog sit in the past so we might try to arrange something with her before hand (am only 18 weeks now) in an attempt to have as many people as possible on standby.

The other option would be to try to ship him up to either of our parents (4 hours away) but that would have to be in advance and I worry there will be enough changes going on for him. I half expect my mum to offer to come down and stay with him as she wants to come the second baby is born anyway! I wasn't really up for relatives staying but I guess I have more than myself to think about.

I hope you find a solution.

toldmywrath · 07/05/2014 20:42

I would go with the pet sitter idea-do any of your neighbours have children in their 20's / I bet one of them would be happy to help, I know my DD would. They don't even have to be dog owners themselves to understand the needs & wishes of your pet.
Good luck.

BEEwitched · 07/05/2014 21:21

Our dog is used to being on her own for a good number of hours but goodness knows how long labour will take - a former colleague lives a couple of miles away, he also has a cocker spaniel, and I hope either him or his wife would agree to come round and just take her for a quick 30 minute walk and feed, water and widdle her.

Boogles91 · 08/05/2014 00:15

our lil kitten will be ok on his own :) hubby will come back to see him for a bit obviously but we will make sure hes got plenty of foodies and is nice and cosy in home :) we have to go out some days anyway so he is used to us not being here all day sometines. misses us though and we do him hehe he always greets us woth a load of neows when we come in and starts rolling all over the floor....swear he is more dpg than cat -.- x

Flip