Bringing home a baby

[Summer1986]

Looking for advice/experience of others about introducing a new born to the family dog.
We have a lab girl who is almost 3 years old, she's beautiful and generally well behaved, has been around babies and toddlers although only for a couple of hours at a time.
I'm pregnant and baby is due in four weeks ish.
We want to do our best for both baby and our dog and plan to keep the routine of walks etc as normal as we can.
I've accepted that we need to reintroduce the stair gate to stop the dog sleeping upstairs, and need to do that now so she doesn't associate it with the baby arriving. Anyone got any pearls of wisdom to share?thanks in advance!

You’ve got the right idea. Any foreseeable problems, change before baby arrives.
We have a Staffordshire bull terrier and all the bad press they get made me fairly concerned but I needn’t of worried.
We set up the cot and I bought a doll and I would place the doll in the cot and play different baby crying noises off of my iPhone (which I also placed next to doll in cot) so the dog would get used to it. I also got her used to us carrying the doll as our dog was quite prone to jumping up to play. She learnt that when doll was in our arms that this wasn’t allowed. I would also randomly play general baby noises off YouTube. When we brought baby home, we did a quick brief introduction by allowing the dog to smell the babies head and gradually allowed more interaction over the next few weeks. Wherever the dog slept I would also place a worn item of the babies clothing so she could get used to the scent of the new baby. I probably sound neurotic and maybe I went overboard but it’s really worked out great. The dog is great with the little person and isn’t bothered by her in the slightest!

That’s all really good advice Mellow

Our lovely dog was 7 when we had our first DS. The poor thing was in a terrible state when I went into labour, he honestly couldn’t understand what was going on!

We brought the baby home the next day asleep in his car seat, let the dog have a look at him and a good sniff etc!

Always kept baby and dog separate, using stair gate etc. Never left alone in the same room, dog was adorable never showed any signs of jealousy, but the dog also had a few health issues so we didn’t want to take the risk of baby/toddler grabbing and hurting him.

We lost our dog when he was 13, still miss him every day.

Good luck OP, dog and baby will be fine.

Thank you for your advice! @mellow I was thinking of taking the dog for a walk with the pram (although maybe a bit mad without a baby in it!) Just to get her used to walking with it so a doll might not be a bad idea. I've let her walk around the nursery with the cot set up.
My brother has a Staffie with 3 young children, I've always ignored the bad press and stereotypes, I think it speaks more about the upbringing than the breed.

@Yoga I was considering trying for a home birth but I must admit, my dogs reaction was one factor in my decision against it! I still plan to labour at home as long as possible but hopefully it won't upset her too much. I had visions of her diving into the birthing pool and refusing to allow the midwife near me if I did give birth at home!!

@Summer1986 you are absolutely correct about the dogs upbringing but I guess it’s the ‘you just never know’ situation. I agree with you about walking with the dog and the pram to get her used to it. I think it’s incredibly thoughtful that you are taking into consideration your dogs welfare and preparing her.

Yogagirl123 raised a good point. We also never leave the dog and baby alone.
Also this will sound silly, but I always spoke to my dog in a ‘stupid’ voice, inevitably I also do this same ‘stupid’ voice with the baby. I make sure they both get the same silly voice treatment at the same time like if I’m changing babies nappy and the dog is nearby. Dogs are sensitive souls!

Haha, being a lab she just might decide to take a dip!

I stayed at home probably for a little too long before I went to hospital, my dog was crying, rushing about and would not leave me alone, I have to say as much as I loved him it got on my nerves.

I said to DH, get that dog away from me! The poor little soul knew something BIG was happening and he was trying to comfort me. But I wasn’t in my most rational state of mind!

Perhaps someone could take care of your dog, when the time comes if she is distressed.

Many congrats OP, becoming a mum is the best thing you will ever do. Good luck.