Dogs and new babies

[Granny2008]

Hi all. This is my first post. I'm wondering if I'm too concerned about my pregnant daughter continuing to allow her 4 dogs to sleep on the bed with her. I've read chat items before from dog owners who have said they don't see what the fuss is about. The dogs are very boisterous and one of them is very noisy, winding the others up. They come and go in and out of the garden from doing their business their dusty or muddy feet and get straight on the bed or one of the sofas. The bedding in my daughter's room is always dirty and smelly. All my instincts tell me this is a very unhygienic environment to bring a new baby into and that the dogs will have to banned from the room but my daughter seems reluctant to accept this. Am I being too fussy? I'm not a dog hater, by the way. I love all her dogs and have a great relationship with them. I just feel they are treated too much like humans. Is it just me?

Just realised there is a gransnet. Maybe I should have registered there instead

Hey OP I'm not sure I have any advice on this as me & DH often have our lab retriever on the bed and the sofa although we try & wipe his paws down before letting him up on anything.

I can understand where your daughter is coming from as I very much regard our dog as a member of the family and treat him as such, that being said I've recently spoke to DH about setting boundaries with him i.e making sure he gets used to sleeping downstairs and getting off the sofa when told (the dog not my husband!)

It's a totally personal decision though. How far along is your daughter? From a practical point of view I'm finding it harder to get comfortable with the dog on the bed the bigger I get so maybe circumstance might make her rethink it?

Maybe she could put some throws over the bed in the day that she can take off when she gets in to bed and also easy to clean? Might be an idea to start not having them up as much too just so if she stops having them up constantly when the baby arrives they won't associate it with the baby and think they've been replaced! When she's in the bed perhaps they could be invited up rather than just jump up as they please! Really depends what she wants to do though!

You're not being fussy at all. A dog shouldn't be sleeping next to a baby, let alone 4 boisterous, muddy dogs. Who knows how the constant crying if a newborn could affect an already boisterous dog, or they could become jealous of the attention the baby gets. Your daughter needs to move the dogs to another room before baby arrives and never leave it alone with the dogs no matter how much she trusts them. I have a very sloppy, soft cuddly cavalier, but I still wouldn't be allowing this.

Maybe your daughter is not planning on having the baby in the bed with her?

My dogs do not sleep on the bed overnight, they are in another room, but are allowed up in the mornings. I do however always wipe paws anyway when they come in from outside. There's no mud in my house! Only bits of dog hair and my sheets are washed regularly 😂 don't think that will harm a baby! lol

Honestly..... don't over fuss. As long as she's not going to leave baby unattended with dog or co sleep with dogs in the bed I don't think there's a safety issue.