Preparing dogs for baby's arrival

[Chocolatecakefan]

I have two small dogs who are my utter fur babies. They are 12 years old and used to having the run of the house.

For the last few years, one dog has her own space underneath our bed where she sleeps quite happily and where she goes for her own space. The other dog hates being alone and needs to be surrounded by company as much as he can, therefore although his bed is on our bedroom floor, he tends to sleep on our bed tucked in as close as possible to one of us (he loves having cuddles).

I'm trying to get him used to sleeping on the floor again, and to be fair to him as soon as you tell him to go to bed, he will happily go to his own duvet and he has started going there straight away the last couple nights rather than jump up for a cuddle....

Anyway, do you have any tips for introducing the baby to pampered pets? I've read to let the dog sniff something that smells like the baby before you come home from the hospital and to start playing the sound of a baby crying so they get used to it

Are there any other tips? I want the transition to be as calm as possible for us and for them

I know it sounds mean but for the first couple of weeks I keot my dog in another room entirely. After that he was allowed in but nit allowed near baby he wasnt allowed to sniff until she was around 8 weeks. The reason being he had to realise that babies are just little people and that they are to be protected not slobbered all over. It works perfectly for me. My dd is now 1 and ds is 6. Dd actually uses him as a step to get onto the couch! He is almost 11 and an alsatian but he will lie there quite happily. He knows hes not allowed to hurt the little ones even if they do bug him sometimes. He usually gets up and goes into another room if it gets too much for him. Hes not meant to but he sleeps either on my bed with his head on the pillow or if ds has a bad dream he sleeps at the bottom of his bed. He cant get into dds room as there is a stair gate on her door.

My concern with shutting them in a different room is that when we first got them (as a rehoming when they were 6), they were originally sleeping in our living room with the door shut but one dog got so distressed being by himself that he ripped up the carpet as he was so stressed, hence them being allowed to come upstairs with us

We have a pampered pooch and I definitely won't be shutting him out of the room, he is part of the family after all. I spoke to a dog trainer and he said to do the things you said, also take them for a long walk before you return from the hospital so they are abit worn out when you first arrive back, introduce them to the baby and then let them sniff and then walk off and settle somewhere give them a special treat or you etc... I agree that you obviously shouldn't leave them and the baby alone together. As for the sleeping in your room, can you gradually move the dog bed away from your bed until it's just outside the bedroom door before the baby arrives! Good luck :)

Just re read that and it didn't make sense!! After they have sniffed the baby and walked off and settled somewhere give them a treat, bone or new toy! Give them lots of fuss whilst they get used to baby so they don't feel pushed out! X

Definitely lots of treats...my dog is slightly pampered but is also a guard dog so anyone new in the house and he is instantly on guard and can become aggressive hence the gradual intro and having him in another room to begin with. I suppose you have to find what works best for you

Think my dog in for a shock that's she's going have to share the attention but she will love having someone else to fuss over. My suggestions are try to stick to your dogs routine when baby is here keep going for walks at same time & meals at same time etc then it's just some training exercises & treats to reinforce although I can tell my dog will be running around with a nappy in its gob!

Id get the Moses basket in the room ready, so they can get used to it. And if your starting to wash babys clothes and stuff to get ready id dry them around the house (get them used to the different smells) i also kept dog away from her for a while and I'm so glad I did ( got told I was being over paranoid) she is now so gentle she will roll in slow motion near her lol. I really think she is like that because I really drilled it into her to stay away for first few months. It made life easier when baby was on her mat dog knew to stay away ect. Good luck with your new arrival x

We didn't keep our dog separate. She is a CKCS and was only 8 months when the baby arrived. My feeling was as my dog wasn't used to being shut away from the family, doing that when the baby arrived would only cause problems. We just made sure we had the baby stuff out for a while first to let her get used to it. When we arrived home from the hospital (we had been in for 4 days so the longest the puppy hadn't seen my for) Dh carried the baby in so I could make a fuss of the dog. We then gave her a sleepsuit to sniff and only once she had calmed down after sniffing that did we introduce her to the baby. She is the gentlest thing with DD now aged 1 so I won't be doing anything different with DC#2.

I would just suggest doing some reading, speak to a dog trainer and find an approach that you are happy with that also won't upset your dogs. You know your dogs temperaments so will be able to judge the best method for you.

The kennel club has some good advice here

This is a timely post Op, thanks.

We have a 9 year old rescue dog who can be very nervous but is also high energy. We're alreay taking steps to prepare him (Moses basket is in living room where it will stay till d day!) but I'd love some suggestions on what people used to prepare the dog for babies crying. Are there tracks you can download and how often do you play this and when do you start?

Thankfully DH will be off for 8 weeks after baby arrives so we will be able to stick to the dogs very demanding excercuse routine!