I am currently pregnant, just coming up into the third trimester and have recently been thinking about how to prepare dogs for baby’s arrival. Our dogs (two golden retrievers, 3 and 5) have been our babies for a while now, so I am likely going to have to break some old habits.
They are reasonably well trained, know plenty of commands, not crate trained but are restricted to one room by a baby gate when we leave the house etc. They have however had a lot of freedoms that may not be incredibly safe when baby is born. It is also worth noting that the 5 year old has been particularly more attached and protective since I have been pregnant. He has always had a little bit of separation anxiety, but not enough to cause poor behaviour, just can whine at times if left alone or follows me around at my feet. Since being pregnant, I have noticed the intensity increase slightly, but also can’t tell if lockdown and being home 24/7 has also added to that. Overall, it’s definitely time to get some training in and ensure that the dogs are no longer around my feet as often or are able to feel more comfortable if I leave them alone while I am still in the house.
The past two nights we have started leaving them behind the stair gate at night. They usually have access to the whole house at night, including our bedroom. They won’t often even lie in our bedroom all night, but can spend a good proportion of the night at the side of the bed. First night was successful, barely any whining from the older dog, however last night he was good for most of the night but has whined all morning since about 5 am. I went down at first and gave no attention but let them out into the garden to pee and then came back in, shut the gate and came back to bed, but that didn’t help at all. I have been reading all morning on the best way to deal with this situation but not entirely clear on how to handle it. Do I let him whine and ignore it? The noise isn’t awful, if I shut my bedroom door, I could definitely mute it quite a lot, we don’t have immediate neighbours so it’s not bothering anyone. My main concern is that this isn’t going to help his anxiety. My head is telling me to ignore it for a few days and it’ll improve, not to give him any reaction to it, but I don’t have much experience in this so I am worried it’s going to make his attachment to me more insecure.
If I am rushing it a bit much, there is the option to place a stair gate at my bedroom door, or top of the stairs. Giving them a bit more freedom, and closer access to see us, but then to not be in the way.
My boundaries in general are getting a bit firmer, they are no longer allowed to climb on the sofa with us without being invited and they are being encouraged to settle more without our constant attention. I am really just trying to treat them more like dogs then I probably have done in the past, but I am anxious about doing this right though. Does anyone have any tips about getting these basics firmed up? Also appreciate any tips on just preparing for life with a baby and what helped you.