Are you doing anything to prepare pets for baby?

[hokiegirl82]

We have 2 labs for are VERY needy and have never really been around children of any ages, but I'm not sure what we can do to prepare them for this new thing that will be invading their space and taking up so much of mom and dad's time. I am trying to do things like get in the habit of picking EVERYTHING up off the floor and low tables because our black lab likes to eat anything and everything and I want to be in the mind set of not leaving baby's things laying around, and I'm trying to instill a little more quiet time to get them used to not getting as much attention in the evenings right when we get home since we'll be having less time to play with baby around.

I do plan on doing my very very best to spend even 5 minutes each day playing with each dog and giving them special love - I don't want to become a pet parent who completely neglects the pets once a kid comes along. I am realistic in that I know my relationship with the dogs will probably change once kid gets here (they have been my everything for so long and we dote on them so much) but I really want to make the best effort to make them still feel loved even when the kid is here.

Anyone else have pets and nervous about baby coming along/how things will change?

[Odonata]

We have a dog (was H's before we got married) that was a rescue. He came with massive anxiety issues and H would enable him rather than train him. So for years before I arrived he, in a sense, spoiled the dog. The dog would freak out and pee on the floor if we left the house for even a second to put out the trash. It got so bad we had to replace the subflooring. He would eat anything we left out and obsessively bark (often at "nothing") out the window - for hours. It was madening.

I realized right away that 1) this was crazy as the dog was running our lives and 2) no way I could have child with such a needy animal.

We hired a professional trainer and here is what we learned:

The dog thinks he is alpha and in charge. This also increases his anxiety as he feels it is his job to protect us. However, we are also "under" him so he freaks and gets upset when we do something he has not allowed us to do (i.e. leave the house).

We were trained to behave as alpha dogs. One thing we were told to do is not give the dog what it wants when it begs. That means attention of any kind. We all think it is cute when the dog comes up to be pet or "tells us" he wants to play, but if we give it that attention, he has trained us. So we now ignore "requests" for attention. Now, this doesn't mean we are mean to the dog. We give love and attention and play with it, but only on our time and we approach the dog (so when he's not begging but instead laying in his bed or somewhere else).

The same goes for dinner time. He will sit in front of us when he wants to eat, but we will wait until he gives up and lays down before we will actually get up and get his food. (we feed same time every day).

So I guess the best advice I can give based off the training we received is to begin to let your dog know that attention to him is only on your terms. Don't let him train you.

[aqualuv]

We have been thinking of this as well. Our dog is 8 and will be 9 in November, a few months after the baby is born. He has been our baby and he is very spoiled. He also has separation anxiety that we have worked on several occassions to change his anxiety. It has come back when we've moved or have had a change in routine.

We plan to let him see and smell baby clothes and items prior to the baby being born. We also plan to have H, bring home something the baby wore in the hospital so he can get the baby's scent prior to us bringing the baby home.

Once we are home with the baby, we plan to make sure he feels like he is included and not all of a sudden excluded. It's important to us to make sure he gets his own attention and is not forgotten about. So we will ensure he gets his walks like he does now as well as his cuddle time. Last thing we want is for him to become jealous of the baby, and I honestly do not think its fair. We love our dog dearly and we simply don't want to treat him like he's not apart of our family. Plus we also plan to be a very active family regardless. We will get a jogging stroller, so that he and the baby (once they are old enough) can go out on family runs and long walks.

Our dog has been already children of all ages, so we know he will be gentle and he has been taught to be gentle. We have played a few YouTube videos of infants crying to see his reaction, lol.

[osulori]

Here's what we did (I have a beagle mix aka She Who Does Not Give a Crap and a pit mix aka Anxiety Dog)

-I set up all the big baby things ahead of time. And by ahead of time I mean they were set up by not long after my shower, so by 34 weeks. Pack and Play, swing, bouncer, etc. It let the dogs get used to their presence, especially Anxiety Dog who is thrown into a tizzy everytime a piece of furniture arrives or gets moved.

-I played a mp3 of a baby crying at random volumes and times throughout the day. The dogs were not particularly phased by it so I figured they'd be great once we brought the baby home. Nope, Anxiety Dog whined and cried whenever AJ cried for about a week. But it was only a week, then he got over it

-I carried a baby doll around the house, both in my arms and in one of the carriers we had. Anxiety Dog in particular wanted to jump on me a lot when I'd carry something so I kept treats in my pocket and gave him one every time he remembered to behave when I was holding the doll. She Who Does Not Give a Crap got treats too, but her jumping on me was never an issue.

-If you're planning on changing up anything about what your dogs are and are not allowed to do (ex no more sleeping on your bed, no more getting on the couch), start now. The crazy postpartum period is not the time to do this, its one more thing you won't want to deal with.

-Change up your routine if you can. If your dogs are used to eating at the same time every day/night, change it up a bit. Mine got used to eating anytime between 5-8pm real fast.

-Have your H or someone else bring home a hat or blanket that the baby has worn so the dogs can sniff it as much as they want.

-When you come home from the hospital, have your H and baby stay outside for a few minutes while you go in first. It'll be, at minimum, a couple of days since they saw you last so they're going to lose their minds with excitement. Once they settle down, have your H bring the baby in and let them sniff the baby while he/she is still in their carrier.

-Talk to your vet for suggestions too. Our vet recommended Composure Chews as a supplement to Anxiety Dog's longstanding Prozac dose. We gave him a couple in the afternoons (he gets his Prozac in the morning) for the first month or so and I think it really helped.

I know there's more that we did, I just can't remember

[bowies]

I'm not too worried. I've had my older dog (she's 12) since she was a puppy and she's a big ball of love. She definitely enjoys cuddles but I wouldn't say she's overly in-your-face. Especially now that she's slowing down a bit, LOL. She keeps herself entertained by sleeping or playing with our other dog, who is super chill. He's a nervous dog if his routine gets altered, but otherwise he's perfectly happy just being around us and not actively loved on. He's a smart dude who picked up boundaries/training really really fast.

My only real concern is when the baby becomes mobile and tries to invade our younger dog's space. But then, he'll likely just remove himself to another room. He's never snapped at anyone/anything. Heck, he's never even barked (though I think he's been close on a couple of occasions). I'm also mildly concerned that the dogs' toys and the baby's toys will become co-mingled. I have time to figure that one out.

ETA:  I will say that H has been working on establishing more voice commands with the older dog.  I wasn't great on boundaries with her, but she's quick to please/obey.  A quick "no" or "away" and she backs off whatever she was doing.  I just see her being uber-curious about the baby at first, sniffing him, and then quickly growing bored.  Both dogs sleep under the bed at night, so as long as their den remains their own, they'll be fine. 

[rbp]

I need to figure this out. Biscuit is spoiled as all get-out!

[loira]

We don't have any pets, but I do remember when my brother was born (I was 11) we tried to prepare our dog by bringing home something that smelled like him when Mum was still in the hospital. She was a Duck Toller (retriever) so very gentle with people anyway. We let her sniff a onesie and praised her, and I remember my parents didn't try to sequester the baby away when we got home from the hospital. We told her to sit and let her sniff my brother as soon as we brought him home so she wouldn't become obsessed with trying to see who/what he was. We never had a problem with her.

[mrssandro]

This is what happened when our GSD met DD. They have been BFFs ever since. My dogs are also very spoiled. The one in the pic is very protective of her but in a non crazy way. She loves to kiss and hug on them and they watch TV together.

[sunshine608]

I haven't done much yet but do plan on the baby blanket trick and I've tried walking around the house with the stroller/ car seat so he gets used to it. As of now he's still scared of them.

WE know he is good around kids ages 2+ and is very patient with kids in his space ect, but this is the first time it will ever be an infant. My main concerns are him jumping on us when we have the baby ( like when we come into a room or in the house or get up of the couch) and his barking. I have no clue how to truly address the jumping up. He's a small dog but it causes me to trip and its just not a good practice. THe barking will be interesting.

[linz]

I've seen before where some people will have the dad bring home something of the baby's from the hospital (a blanket or outfit they just wore) and let the animal smell it. Then when they arrive home make sure to include the dog like they are part of the family and not being pushed aside from the new member.

[mrspost08]

Our little Sammy (dog) thinks he is a baby, so he is going to be in a for a rude awakening when there is a baby living at our house. My situation is a little different than others. DH has a grown daughter with a 15 month old baby. We watch our grandson every other weekend. Sammy pouts all day when the grandson is over at our house.

My MIL thinks Sammy is going to live with her once the baby comes. I told her she is nuts. I am not giving my fur baby up just because we have a human baby.

[ringstrue]

No but we have cats.

For DD I was nervous but really the scream/crying kept them away often enough. The boy cat did jump into the crib a bit when DD was an older baby but then she'd just harass him and he'd leave, lol.