any tips for introducing hyper dog and baby?

[blondierow]

hello girls!
was wondering whether any of you had any handy tips for introducing dogs to newborn? my dog is a springer, and to say the least is extremely hyper. she is a rescue dog and is not very good with things that make sharp unpredictable movements!! slight problem! she is very obedient though but am just worried as she can be quite unpredictable when nervous(not aggressive...just growls)any tips or past experiences would be a great help! thanks!

has she met any other babies / children? what was her reaction then?
I would be a bit concerned that you say she is unpredictable when nervous and doesnt like unpredictably-moving things. One od our dogs was aggressive to the postie but not to anyone else, but we had to rehome him (to dads!) when we had ds as he was too unpredictable. Its not worth taking any risks imo.
Our other dog is a hyper ex-rescue JR, and he is fine with ds.
there are lots of things to do - like get her used to not going in certain parts of the house; get a toy baby and handle it around her; when you have your lo let her have a smell of the blanket first; pet her while you feed to avoid jealousy etc etc. and NEVER leave them alone together.
but seriously think how she will be with a crawling baby and a toddler. although it broke my heart to rehome dd1 (darling dog!) I know it was the right thing to do.

I'm really sorry, and not what you want to hear, but I would think about rehoming the dog......I don't think you'd ever be able to relax, and you really don't need any more stress when you have a newborn. Sorry.

I agree with Seeker. An unpredicatable hyper dog and a newborn are incompatible.

blondie, I'm not sure how things will go but we have a big lab that's not aware of her size (!) and another on the way. I'm thinking she is going to be clumsy around newborn but don't have to worry about her being unpredictable. However, we have been crap in training her where she can and can't go and I think you may struggle trying to introduce this now with yours? BUT, we have stairgates so we can shut her in/out. You'll have to get them anyway in time so why not get some now so you can decide when they can be together and are able to be closely supervised? If you get them now the dog has time to get used to them. I don't think you'll really know how they get on until yours arrives but I wish you luck.

Me too... sorry, but you need a new home for the dog

I have a springer who was still a pup (less than a year) when dd2 arrived. She was a nervous dog and was used to dd1 (2.5yrs). She has been great - I always think springers are great with kids. She is very bouncy so we just had to be careful at keeping dd2 above tail hieght. I have never left her alone with dd2 not because I think she is untrustworthy - but dd2 is at the grabbing stage and may well pull an ear a bit to hard. I am more afraid of my dds hurting the dog than the other way round.

I woud make sure you give the dog as much attention as possible when the baby arrives and get her used to baby smell. I would also never leave them alone together - at least not for the first few years - otherwise I think springers and babys go great together.

well great thanks so much to everyone! i feel so awful if i have to rehome her...when we rescued her she had already been rehomed three times and she was only a year and a half! she is now starting to settle with us...(after a year). she is very good when told to do things etc and we do have gates so can easily shut her off, which she is now becoming accustomed to(as have been doing it for a few months for practice)
bunnyhohohunny- strangely enough she has been around two newborns and she was actually very well behaved...infact didn't bat an eyelid! she was curious of course but then after she had sniffed them she just lay down...even when the babies were screaming. i wonder whether it's to do with me being nervous? she only growls if we're out and children come running up to her and don't 'introduce' themselves first? but then sometimes she's an absolute angel!
perhaps it's just a case of wait and see and make her feel involved in a safe a way as possible?

I was quite worried about introducing our Setter to our baby, as he's pretty bouncy - but in fact he's been great with DS (now 15months).
We have a big playpen, and stairgates, so I can separate them if need be - and we don't leave them unaccompanied still - but I'm comfortable that nothing would happen if I did.

We did what Janus recommends, and were careful to make sure our dog had plenty of attention around the new baby. To be honest apart from sniffing him, he pretty much ignored him until he was crawling. Now DS will launch himself onto our dog, who will lie back and take it. He has been taught that if DS takes his (doggy) toys/chews etc, then he can, and he waits to be given them back.

If she's not aggressive when startled, then hopefully all will be ok. I think you just need to be sure that you have the ability to either separate them or be constantly present, so that you can assess how she's reacting, and take whatever action is appropriate.

When my best friend was expecting, I went round to hers and she had a moses basket and playpen travel cot stylee thing set up in the living room, with dolls in that cried and things so that the dog knew not to go near it and they trained him that way. the dogs ok with the baby now.. tho personally I wouldn't have risked it as altho the dog is lovely, baby comes first.

Anyway, it worked well, so if you're reluctant to get rid of the dog, maybe start off that way and see how it reacts.

I'm in the same situation blondie but with a cat that thinks he's a dog.. wags his tail when he is happy and likes to be walked round the cul-de-sac on a lead etc.. thanks to previous owner! I am worried about how he will be with the baby as he gets jealous of me with my husband and keeps getting into the cotbed, when I try and remove him he hisses! I think what we need to do is blatantly obvious but very sad

I have dog who is hyper and a 4mth old and the dog has never been near the baby! was told by MW there is never a good time to introduce as dogs (how ever well behaved etc) are unpredictable!..... Now my dog is not even interested in her even when she is crying.
I just would not bother xx

im rehome too tbh
i know its sad, but just not worth the risk
i bet then you've had your baby, you'll be amazed at the strength of your protectivness and you prob won't want the dog anywhere near

You really don't need to re-home if yet, at all. You need to set the house now as if the baby was here and introduce your dog to new sights and smells in the house. It can be done and you don't need to rehome. Goodness, everyone jumps on that bandwagon. You need to work hard with the dog (many people can't and don't so if you won't then yes, rehoming will need to be your option) but there are plenty of training classes available. Most are free but some make a small charge but totally worth it.

You should start training with the dog now so that it knows what rooms in the house are allowed and what are not. Do you have a cage for the dog so it has its own space to go where you can shut him away at night so he is not threatened. Honestly, there is loads you can do and the dog should be an part of the family, not a problem.

If you love the dog and you want to make it work, it will work. You have a gundog and that breed is one of the most loyal dogs. But, as I say you need to put the effort in now - if you can't/won't allow the dog to go to a home that will.

I am very vocal about this as you can probably tell but working with dogs is what I have always done!

I'm sorry to disagree with those who said you need to give the dog plenty of attention to avoid jealously with the baby.

Is actually quite the oposite, you have to start ignoring your dog more well before the baby arrives, because you are not going to have enough time to continue with such level of attention once the baby is here.

We have two dogs who were our "babies" before DS arrived, they were very predictable and good natured, one of them was a bit bouncy but being a Yorkie it was not that bad. Anyways, we hired a dog trainer to prepare them for what was comming, what she said was the following:

-Stop allowing the dog into the rooms he won't be allowed to once the baby is here. That helps him not to link the baby to the new rule.

-Don't allow your dog to jump, it may hurt your unborn baby and can definitvely hurt a new born. She asked me not to allow the dogs on my lap anymore (maybe not your problem having a big dog!), as they may spontaneously jump in when I had Ds on my arms.

-Increase gradually the time the dog spends on its own, like leaving him in the garden for longer but with good stimulating toys. She said I needed to make time for the baby in preparation for his arrival.

-and in general, establish a strong hierarchy, letting the dog know he is the last one in the queu: Never allow the dog to pass a door treshold before you do, don't allow him to sit higher than you (like in the stairs, back of the sofa, etc), always feed him after you have finished eating and never ever allow him on your bed.

My dogs have done brilliantly, but if they hadn't I would have rehomed them, no doubt.

Oh god the number of people who told me I'd have to rehome my dogs (and a few who told me to rehome my cat too!) when I had ds... and it was always people who'd never had a pet in their lives and just didn't get that pets are family members too.

I have two dogs, one well-behaved and quiet, the other quite boisterous. I did actually very little before ds arrived save for, as MeMySon&I so neatly puts it, making sure the hierarchy was more established. So no jumping up on sofas, no eating before us, that kind of thing.

I've never had a problem with either dog; they behave so well around ds it's ridiculous. I don't treat them any differently (although you may find your relationship with your pets changes slightly after the birth of your baby and just naturally they will get a bit less attention, which as MeMySon&I says is the right way around) but they all - yes even the cat - seem to know that ds is off limits.

Another thing that really helps is to take the dog for a long walk each morning (as per the Dog Whisperer, Caesar Milan). I do this with ds in the sling. It tires them out and Arthur (the more boisterous) then spends half the day flat out on his cushion!

Oh and all our pets are rescue pets.

"she only growls if we're out and children come running up to her and don't 'introduce' themselves first? but then sometimes she's an absolute angel!"

You really have to tell her off when she does that, unfortunately, you can't teach the world to "introduce" themselves properly to a badly behaved dog, is the dog the one who has to learn to respect people, more so if they are children, whatever the circumstances. You CAN'T afford any risks!

Sorry, I just seen that and I thought it was worth mentioning

Sorry, I just seen that and I thought it was worth mentioning

When DS was a newborn, I took him and the dog out for a walk every day - and our dog soon came to associate DS with his walk - which was a very positive association. We also have a cat - who has always ignored DS, but will tolerate him "stroking" him somewhat vigorously without reacting! We now have a puppy (4mths) who has followed our older dog's example and is very good with DS (15mths). At times it's been a bit crazy, but having a crate for the puppy and stair gates to exclude them from rooms as required worked well. If they're being bouncy they get sent outside until they calm down - we are fortunate in having a reasonably large garden.

So it's a busy house with 3 children, 2 dogs and a cat - but I think pets are great for children - but you need to be firm with all of them! I think what frances123 says about introducing dogs to children is right - there will always be a period of adjustment and watching at whatever age. Hope it goes ok...

I have to say that I wouldn't dream of re-homing my dog. If a dog is well trained, knows it's boundaries and is well aware that it is at the bottom of the pecking order then there shouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately there are too many owners who don't train their dogs to be bottom of the pack, with or without children and wonder why the dog behaves badly when their ?authority? is challenged by another person (baby or adult!)
I'm not claiming to have the world's best behaved and obedient dog but when baby arrives he will absolutely know this new arrival is more important than him. A little understanding of dog psychology is required but unless your dog is un-trainable you really should be fine. Too many dogs are discarded especially at this time of year and I'm afraid I can't bear the knee jerk reaction of getting rid of a dog just because there is a baby on the way. Obviously each case is different but please think about some training and positive association as suggested by other posters, I think it's a wonderful thing to grow up with animals and generally almost all children are fascinated with dogs (as I see every time I walk mine!)

Blondie - do not rehome your dog! i presume that those who say you shoyuld do not own dogs!
i have two boisterous 7 year old boxers and they are fine with my 10 month old son! as long as you supervise and never leave them alone together (commonm sense) there is no problem. i am a single parent so having a partner at home should make it easier. after all hey still need walks etc!
any problems please please please do not hesitate to ask me!
take care
springers are hyper (as boxers) as long as they are exercised and still have attention there shuld be no problem though i confess my boys have never growled like i said ask if any problems ok?

Hello after many years trying every think to conceive I finally fell pregnant after 9 years and im so happy but I'm so worried ... my fiancee has 2 male staffies who are unpredictable and get so over hyper that they become very arrgessive but not nessercery towards people but on a few occasions I watched my partners oldest dog attack his brother when his brother picked up a spade but also they attacked each other they are not very disaplined and im scared there going to knock me over when they get to over hyper would should I do ?? The dogs drive me mad at it is they bark at every little thing so it's hard to even get a full night sleep without waking up Becoz of them they jump around I told my boyfriend to get rid of them but he won't Becoz the bond they have and im stuck please help me

Is she getting enough exercise? We have a hyper cockapoo. He's 18 months old and I'm 6 months pregnant. We were taking him for 2 walks a day. One of which is a big off lead run around. It still wasn't enough. We hired a dog walker about six months ago and it has calmed him down no end! They're expensive but worth trying to avoid rehoming. Also do lots of impulse control training. It's an ongoing battle for us too, but he's made so much progress in the past few months that I think he'll be ok

Well it's difficult Becoz one of his dogs is 13 years old and the other is 9 years there taken out twice a day for long runs but that makes them worse we tried personal dog trainers and they gave up Becoz they so disobinet it's unreal they been spoilt so much that they are stubborn and arrogant they won't listen and there aggression is to much they so unpredictable they always under your feet the destroy my stuff all the time and no matter what we do they don't listen they need to be put down as we been told Becoz they far to unstable but my partner beloved they will change but he know deep down putting them down would be best Becoz if we sent them to be rehomed they be put to sleep anyway Becoz they are untrainable so I'm stuck maybe I have to leave :(

Mumma, you're posting onto the end of a very old thread. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Congrats on your pregnancy!
I'm a vet and a mother and a dog owner as well. I am definitely not a panicker but I think your boyfriend's dogs sound lethally dangerous, and there is no way I would spend five minutes with a baby in the house with them. If he wouldn't rehome them, I would leave before your baby is born.