If one more person asks what am I going to do with the dogs when I have the baby I'll go mad!

[ToffeeAddict]

Honestly, so many people have asked me what am I going to do with my dogs (3 whippets) when I have the baby, as if 'getting rid' of them is the only sensible course of action. I always protest and say that I have no intentions to do anything with the dogs other than keep them, obviously taking all due care with them around the new arrival, and seemingly everyone has a story about how they/their daughter/brother/friend really wanteed to keep their dog but had to rehome it soon after the baby was born. Please can some of you share your success stories of bringing baby home to a house with dogs with me so I can stop feeling so dsheartened by other people's attitudes to their 'beloved' pets?

I know some people really have no choice, for example where the dog(s) are presenting a real danger to the baby even after reasonable attempts at introducing them and I would never judge anyone who is forced to make the difficult decision in those circumstances.

you should say
'Im going to let them have puppies too, so we can bring all our 'children' up together"

i have 2 dogs a husky and a Jack russel. i have 2 children already we got the dogs when DS2 was 2yrs old.
when i had DS1 i lived with my mum and their ancient Golden retriever. He never bothered with the baby and i just made sure they were never alone together.

i am due DC3 in Feb and am not concerened about teh dogs at all. They are not allowed out of the kitchen in the day anyway and come throught to lie in front of the fire in th eevenings but thats it. They are not allowed upstairs. I am lucky in the fact they are used to having kids about and the noise and disruption that brings. They are kenneled outside so have their own space to escape too.

the only thing is to remeber if they get alot of exercise and attention from you then they will miss it in the frist few weeks when you are not up to it. So arranging for someone else to walk them once a day so the pressure is off for that. nothing worse than dogs with cabin fever and you can't move off the couch.

good luck

I don't have a dog, but my MIL has and she (the dog that is) is like an extra auntie to our little boy.

You know your dogs and will be able to judge if they are getting jealous or over-excited. My DS will be 18 months old when DC#2 arrives and tbh I'm far more worried about what he might do to the baby than what MILs dog could do!!!

I obviously dont remember but my mum had me with 2 dogs in the house and nothing ever happened.

I'm now 23 weeks pregnant and we've just (about a month ago) got a 23 wk old puppy. The only worry I have about her is she's gonna be overexcited but I'm pretty sure the worst she'll do is give it a clean when we get back LOL.

I remember my mum bringing home my little brother when we had a dog. There was never any talk about rehoming the dog, she was a part of our family and it all worked out just fine.

I believe very strongly that pets are for life. Obviously if there is a danger, you need to think again but you know your dogs. Frankly I would be suspicious of people who so willy nilly got rid of their pets. What does that say about their sense of responsibility.

People said it to me about my cats and I laughed at them.

Thanks everyone, I know plenty of people keep their pets, it's just that I am surprised by the number of people who seem to have such a casual attitude - hopefully these are mainly people who don't actually own pets themselves and so don't really understand. Fully agree that pets are for life bikini- if you take a dog/cat on you need to be prepared to work at any challenges you might then face because of it. It's nice to hear from other like-minded people, I'm sure we are in the majority really.

haha like your suggestion Fruits, that will raise some eyebrows!

You're right raindrop we will have to make sure the dogs are not neglected and make the effort to ensure they get their normal amount of affection/exercise to minimise any initial teething problems that there might be. As others have said, we know our dogs, and I for one am really excited about watching my dogs reaction to the baby when it comes home, and I do hope I will be able to say one or all of them are like aunts or uncles to him like your MIL's dog lucas! Lucky as a family we've always had pets and my mum and dad had a family dog when I arrived, and there were no issues, apart from the fact the dog just wasn't in the slightest bit interested in me - must have found me rather boring!!

Its a very sad and "normal" story for dogs appearing in rescues (or pounds) we had a baby or I'm expecting. It's a horrible, horrible thing.
I too agree if its dangerous for dog to not be there then ok but if its just cos your too tired from having a baby then thats not nice. They are family.

My 2chihuahuas were fab when i brought my baby home,my female lay next to pram/babyseat,if baby cried and i was not up to her quick enough or just DH was in room she would come get me.When visitors came she would patrol the room unless i told her visitors were fine,then she would relax an just sleep.
My dogs were wonderful,still are and i would never rehome them.I take good care when my youngest is with them,they are never alone with her so its fine.

Our first black lab was in just about all of my baby photos 'guarding' me! I brought my DD home to my very spoilt 6y old black lab and she was absolutely fine with her. Sadly she had to be put down when DD was only 13w old and I was so sad that she wasn't going to grow up knowing her. I had a 6m gap with no dog and then got a rescue dog - a chocolate lab this time. She is great, quite a handful, but very loving and gentle with DD now 19m. Every night she goes through to the kitchen and says night night to her and kisses her. It's very sweet to watch them interact.
My only real problem has been being pregnant with number 2. DD can't walk far enough to excercise the dog and since being about 20w pregnant I can't carry her on my back and there aren't that many places locally that I can take the buggy and the dog so I try and take the dog out when DH is home or we all go together and DH can carry her.
There are ways around most problems though and getting rid of a dog just cos you've got a baby makes me sad. I can't believe so many people have commented to you!

I had two 5 yr old yellow labs when I had DD, and they were, and are, fantastic with her.

It helped that I had a really supportive midwife who was 100% positive about dogs in the house (and bedroom) as she said it meant healthier babies.

DD is now 3, and loves walking and feeding the dogs and letting the dogs in and out. One of the first things she did to mimic me was to stand in an open doorway and call to the dogs outside to come in - all very unintelligible but the intonation and thigh-slapping was spot on!.

She has used them as stepping stones and supports when climbing and learning to walk, as backrests when reading and cushions on the sofa. Her first memories will very likely be of the dogs and I love the thought of that.

Oh DD is getting that now it's gorgeous isn't it!

Tizzy - rescue collie X Springer - is ace with her. She lets her "ride" her as long as she doesn't get too heavy on her back, she's even let her give her food and then take it back out of her mouth! I have no qualms about her but like every pet owner/parent should, I never leave them alone together.

Hi, I had two rescue dogs when DS was born and had exactly the same comments from (some) people. They are part of the family and were so accepting we now have a third rescue dog! 2 greyhounds and a saluki all toll! As you should hopefully discover sight hounds are great with children, they are so laid back. However when we have additional children to visit they are kept in one room behind a baby gate, for their own peace as some toddlers do get really excited by three dogs.

More lovely to read accounts, thanks for posting everyone!

Forgot to mention, my two eldest are both rescues, and in fact one of them was rehomed for this very reason (couldn't cope with a child and a dog)

It certainly won't be happening to him again!

What a lovely thread!

My two will be staying and I think a toddler will be sweet revenge on the Jackapoo who hasn't stopped bouncing for 3.5 years. See how she likes someone hanging off her tail, pulling her ears, etc., etc.

The greatest danger - some might call it a gift - will be the early initiation to "snogging".

just say your going to feed your placenta to them ,you will be bringing it home from hospital in a doggy bag that should shut them up !

Was expecting this to have loads negative responses - so I am delighted there are so many like-minded women here.

DH and I discussed this yesterday and decided we have to treat the dog like an older sibling: make sure she doesn't miss out on any attention, treat her to be gentle around baby, and never leave the two alone together.

Our rescued lurcher can be aggressive to other dogs, but adores children and despite being hyper is very calm around LOs. she was quite taken aback and shy when my three year old (now four) nephew wanted to manhandle her, yet she is normally the one hanging off of us. As ski says, a little revenge will do her good!

If anything does unexpectedly become a problem, I'm pretty sure the in-laws, who adore our dog, would take her on. But I really cannot see that happening...

MIL was the other way around and kept asking what I intended to do about my cat. The Jack Rusell I had at the time was never mentioned. I mean you hear of babies being mauled to death by cats all the time don't you . She loved the dog, but hates cats.

FWIW both the dog and cat were fine when dd2 was born, just as they were when dd1 was born. MIL did not listen whenever I told her this and kept telling DH we should think about getting rid of the cat.

My JR shared responsibility for my babies. She would guard the bedroom doors while they were napping and alert me when they woke. Obvioulsly she had been reading The Daily Mail and believed that they would be stolen if they weren't constantly in sight

My dogs (two labs) were both around 3 when ds1 arrived. 3 years and a ds2 later they are still here, helping to keep us all healthy by demanding walks and bringing their special healing bacteria into the house:No need to clean floor when ds2 starts crawling then

I don't have a dog - would love to, but I work 4 days a week, so not fair. Anyway, my CM has a wonderful Border collie, who is fab with the children. My DD2 (who adores this dog) fell asleep with her head on the dog's belly one day when she was about 18 months- my CM found them lying on the floor, the dog lifted his head and looked at my CM, thumped his tail once, then put his head back down and stayed there till DD2 woke up. I so wish I'd seen it.

DH's uncle has a black lab, who came to stay with us last Christmas, never lived in a house with children before. DD2 (now 3 yo) saw him lying on the floor, went and got a book and sat down in between his legs and used him as a backrest! The dog just lay there and let her.

I'm seeing a theme here - DD2 really wants a dog doesn't she??

We have a Boxer (notorious for their love of children), who was quite put out when we bought DD home. He gets a bit jealous if everyone is giving attention to the baby and not him, but this is nothing that a good stroke and fuss can't solve. He worships both of my children, especially my 8yr old DS, and lets 15 month old DD climb all over him, steal his chew, take his food bowl away half way through eating, etc. Ultimately I think common sense rules; you know your dogs better than anyone and should be guided by this.

shiny The whole cat thing is mad, someone said last week "cats suck the air out of baby's lungs" and I howled with laughter... but people agreed with him! Apparently it's folklore but people... a little logic please?

We used to have the same response from people with our then two dogs (setters). The dogs are great with the kids we now also have an 18month old labradoodle who is brilliant with toddlers and I have no worries about having another baby with all of our animals - just another member of the pack as far as the dogs are concerned!

my dh was brought up with german shepherds (and a very fierce father, so the dogs were allowed no nonsense!); when he was a toddler, his parents noticed the current dog moving around in the garden, just shuffling along and then dropping back down again. After watching for a while, they realised that he was positioning himself so that he could see both child-dh and the garden gate at the same time!
I have cats, but know that carefully managed dogs can be amazing additions to a family with children. I would always want to bring my dd and future children up with animals, and agree that it is very sad when they are jettisoned just because the parents are too tired (safety is of course another matter, and I do think that certain breeds of dogs cannot ever be trusted around children, however well you know them - JMO, though).

Hi we have a rescue crossbreed who is now about 10, he was fine when DD arrived 4 years ago, but we did have a few problems when she got to about 9 months and would use him to pull herself up on, which obviously hurt him with those pinchy little grab fingers! He has never snapped at her but does growl and grumble if she's annoying him, which is fair enough IMO. As said before, your dogs are a part of your family and a real commitment and we owed it to him to work through the problems with extra training and rewards, as well as separating them at times.It can be hard work fitting in the walks etc espec as your child gets older, but I think generally it's a really positive thing for small children to grow up with pets. We never leave the 2 unattended as definately not worth the risk, no matter how small you think it may be.I'm expecting DC2 in 3 weeks so we'll be doing it all again! Good luck!

castrojb I'm sorry, I simply don't agree. "Some breeds", yet presumably you're not including the aforementioned German Shepherds who looked after your husband when he was little. Nurture, not nature!