Ok, which one of you has twins and dogs. Come hold my hand!

[PeelingmyselfofftheCeiling]

I remember reading here that one of the very experienced dog handlers has twins.

I am an inexperienced dog owner, in my first pregnancy, and have just found out I'm expecting twins

Come tell me it is survivable, that you were able to carry on walking past 20 weeks (have been reading horror stories..... must not, I know), and that neither babies nor doggy suffered overtly (sanity and sleep I appreciate will take a bit of a beating).

Dog is large breed, 10 months

Minimu is a behaviourist and has two sets of twins, so either she is superwoman or it must be doable!

I'm sure you'll be fine. I waited till my twins were 10 yrs old however to get our first puppy and am still finding it full-on!

All I can say is - support, support, support...with the dog and the babies. I did it singlehandedly from the start (no partner or family - hence, waited 10 yr till adding a dog to the equation!) and if I had my time again, I'd have done whatever necessary to get more help with the babies.

I think you could do with a daily dog-walker for the first few months after giving birth and a full-time helper with the babies - ie a partner, a parent/ parent-in-law and a full time housekeeper....OR....just know you'll manage - simply because you just have to and - being human - we all find the strength we need to survive, when love is at the root of it (for the dog and for the twins).

Think how healthy you'll be, during your pregnancy, however, if you're walking your dog daily. It's do-able, I'm sure. My sister had twins as her 4th and 5th children and was working right till the last minute and also the day after giving birth (although had a partner and nanny and housekeeper, unlike me).

Provided you get plenty of regular rests between dog-walks, I think you'll be fine.

You will be fine As Midori says two sets of twins and one son in the middle.

I am a bit of a wimp to be honest and not a superwoman so if I can do I am sure you can.

I found the sickness the worst bit and did throw up on many a dog walk. I had to make sure that the dogs did not tidy up for me tmi sorry!

I found the dogs my relaxation to be honest and really enjoyed taking the twins out with them from very early on. We did spend money on a rough terrain buggy and used it nearly every day. I found I had the energy to walk the dogs but was way too tired to do the ironing odd that

At the end of my pregnancies I was still walking the dogs (well waddling and a lot more ball throwing went on than speed walking to be honest!) I couldn't get my hunters on cos my feet were swollen so wore my DH wellies!

If people offered help I always quickly, properly too quickly asked if they would make a meal I could chuck in the freezer. I did the minimum of housework and my DH did quite a lot in the early days when I was stuck on the sofa feeding for hours and hours and hours .

I was a bit sleep deprived at times but when the twins were asleep nothing was better than cuddling up on the sofa with a big warm furry dog next to you.

My Twins were hard work, fun, emotional, funny and brilliant, they m ake me laugh constantly, they can frustrate me at times (girls are now teenagers!) but the hard work you give at the beginning will be given back 1000000 times from them.

Enjoy it but do take any help given

Just remembered - one thing I couldn't do was pick up poo as I got so humongous so had to get a long handled poo picker

Dogs did not suffer at all they loved all the visitors and crumbs from toddler high chairs.

Twins were healthy and happy and have grown up to be able to care for living things and take their needs into account. I am sure daily outings with the dogs kept them healthy and allowed them to sleep better. Well my excuse anyway

Sorry, but I am laughing at the idea of anyone with 5 DC and 5 dogs being a 'bit of a wimp'...

Also at the dogs clearing up after morning sickness... I had to stop whilst taking one of my (quite insane!) horses to the field when I had morning sickness with DS3. Something made a noise in the hedge and scared him and he barged forward, knocking me over and treading all over my leg in the process. He then stood there looking at me on the floor as if to say 'er, get up and take me to the field then!'. I ended up with a huge haematoma, but was otherwise OK. Even that is better than having to stop a dog eating vomit when you've got morning sickness... Yuck!

Thank you all, am going to come back with more questions later (off for a long calming dog walk while I can!)
I have already been sick on the dog's head during one particularly bad morning poo patrol - he didn't seem to mind!

Thanks all, have had a chance to read these properly now.

Solo you must be bionic dealing with twins singlehandedly, my hat off to you! I do have plenty of support fortunately, as DH is great with the dog, although his paternity leave will be quite short. MIL is nearby and adores the dog too, although I suspect she'll want to be more involved in the babies. And we have used a local dog walker with great success so I'll get them lined up for some more regular walks too.

Whilst minimu, 5 kids and 5 dogs?! Clearly you ARE superwoman so I don't know whether to ignore all your advice as unsuitable for mere mortals! Actually I do know you speak good sense as I'm usually on here under the alter-ego AlltheYoungDoods complaining begging advice about my labradoodle so all your input is really appreciated (had brief freak-out about being recognised on MN, but, er sod it!)

In terms of practical things I can do with the dog between now and then - any tips? I am adopting a zero tolerance policy on jumping up, barging through doors etc. I am also making sure he has no routine whatsoever, so he gets used to waiting for us to decide when is walk/play/etc time. He seems very chilled out with that.

He walks well on the lead when he's concentrating, but still gets distracted sometimes and lunges for a scent, which I obviously won't want when I'm more unstable/with buggy. Am still using standard collar and lead, with treats or stop-start etc to reinforce proper walking, but I suspect I'll have to get a Halti or similar once I get bigger. My plan has been to carry on with the lead and training as long as possible, or do you think it's better to get him used to, and walking well on the other type of lead asap?

Just gently bumping this for the 'key things to teach the dog between now and then' question. Any tips welcome..

On the positive side and i'm clearly tempting fate here but we seem to have made some great progress all of a sudden, and several times recently have been in the park with other dogs and people around, yet doodle is ONLY interested in his tennis ball. From 3 months ago that is a turnaround of EPIC proportions!

On the negative side, whistle recall is STILL optional in his head, despite months of slowly building it up in the house/garden, he still ignores it when he chooses. ARrgh.