Any advice re: our dog

[pickled_onion]

Does anyone have any advice re: preparing our dog for the new arrival. We have a four year old greyhound cross lurcher and he's pretty boisterous and darts around the house when he gets excited but most of the time he's lazing in his armchair. I'm probably worrying for nothing cos it's not like he's going to be left alone with the little one at any time and to be fair to him, he hasn't jumped up at me once in the last four months (we reckon he 'knows') but he still jumps up to greet my partner each day. I guess the important thing is to make sure he's not going to feel sidelined in the early weeks. Anyone had any experience with sort of thing? Hints and tips would be appreciated.

Ta

 

[louxlouxbellex]

I have a 5 year old lab, shes quite laid back & isn't very demanding but I still want to make sure she feels secure when the baby arrives.

I few months ago we started to do little things that I knew I would have to change when the baby arrived for example Cara's bed used to be at my side of the bed but thats where the moses basket will go so I've moved it to the other end of the room.

We hope to keep her routine the same as much as possible. We have a dog walker for Cara, we don't use her every day, just when we are both working but even though I'll be home I'm still going to use the dog walker a couple of times a week, Cara totally loves it Also someone said that when we come home from the hospital I have to get my DH to bring the baby in to the house & I've to spend a while playing with Cara cos I'll have been is hospital for a few days & she'll wonder where I've been.

Can't think of anything else but I'm sure some of the girls who have 'been there, done it' will be able to give you some tips Your dog will probably love having you & the baby home all day

 

[Fluffy Bunny]

Definately introduce any changes you might make a few months before babba arrives - like maybe if your dog sleeps in the bedroom and you think it may sleep elsewhere, or if you let it on the sofa and you want to stop that.
I would really recommend getting it used to being elsewhere in the house to you as well. It should be used to being shut in a different room (and being relaxed about it!) or if you are thinking about using gates to seperate it off - do that now. There will be times when you don't want the dog in your face (or babbas!) so it needs to feel relaxed about not being around you all the time.

Basically you want to make any changes now rather than when babba get here so it doesn't resent the new baby in the house and associate changes with the babba arriving.

I would also recommend when you've given birth to get your OH to bring home a blanket or similar which smells of the baby and leave it lying around for the dog to get used to the new smells.

Good luck, I'm sure it will be fine. It is so cool watching your little one grow up with a dog around - Evie and ours (digs) truely are best mates. Evie is obsessed with her so much so that even though the dog wasn't with us she wanted to take the dog lead into church when we went to a wedding last weekend

 

[Fly]

We plan on slowly introducing our dogs to the baby - they'll be kept away and only allowed close and under strict supervision on their leads for a short amount of time which we'll gradually extend out until they are quite used to the new member of the family. We've had a gate up between the living room and hall for the last 3 or 4 months and the dogs are now used to their bed being in the hallway and also used to only coming in the living room if they are invited to do so.. even when the gate isn't there they sill wait by the door bless them
Make sure your dog doesn't start to panic and think they have to look after the new member of the pack.. make sure your dog knows you are the leader of the pack and this should stop any problems from occuring.. goodluck x x x x

 

[claire_louise]

start putting new stuff in early

and introduce slowly , but include the dog

- advice from my lovely mummy who had a 2 year old loopy labrador when i was born, me and the dog grew up together and i loved her bits, and the dog dotted on me,

they used to leave me in the garden when i cried (i was a horrible baby) and Gemma would lay down by my pram and not leave me (ps. my parents were sat in the conservetory they didnt leave me out and go shopping or something)

 

[pickled_onion]

Thanks, you three. Some good suggestions there!

He sleeps downstairs but has a jaunt up the stairs in the middle of the night sometimes (for no apparent reason, he just comes and says hello) so I kinda want to prevent him from bounding in unexpected. I was contemplating a gate at the top of the stairs. Great point there, fluffy bunny about the association he might make re: any changes. We'll try to get things in place asap to give him time to get used to them. This (after all) is a dog who gets put out if we move the sofa slightly to hoover up

Also someone said that when we come home from the hospital I have to get my DH to bring the baby in to the house & I've to spend a while playing with Cara cos I'll have been is hospital for a few days & she'll wonder where I've been.

Yes, I've heard this too. He'll be keen to see me so it's best we enter the house with OH holding bub so I can fuss over him (I guess this will also reinforce to him that he's still important!)

Thanks everyone!

 

[pickled_onion]

(ps. my parents were sat in the conservetory they didnt leave me out and go shopping or something)

Thank goodness. I thought I was reading a tale of neglect for a second then

Thanks for the tips, claire_louise.

 

[Sherlock]

Everyone has given good advice here. Its worth spending time preparing

We have a Whippet, about a year old now and got him when I was 34 weeks pregnant. TBH we haven't really done anything different since we got him.

Our gate on the stairs was fitted when he arrived and he sleeps on the sofa at night. He is allowed to go upstairs if the gate is open during the day but often chooses to lounge around downstairs still. Our gate is always shut at night and he is happy to sleep downstairs.

We regard to introducing him to our LO we did this when our son was about half an hour old as I had a homebirth and our son was born in our sitting room Eric the whippet spent my entire labour in the sitting room with us (he slept on he sofa) apart from trips up the garden. He only went outside when I got to the big push stage and came in once our son was all dressed and on my boob.

We've done nothing different with him since then tbh. He walks fine with the pushchair, has never poked his nose into the moses basket and its only in recent weeks since my son started showing an interest in him that Eric has been mauled Galen loves grabbing at Eric and all Eric does in response is to try to lick his hands So we are wiping LO's hands a fair bit now each day. Eric knows that 'leave' means he should not lick Galen's hands etc. He associates the word with Galen now.

He really has been good with Galen so far and tbh as Galen starts moving round I am sure Eric will learn to move out the way. Eric may start to jump up when excited but I'm not overly worried about that tbh. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it with Galen. Children need to learn to respect animals so both Galen and Eric can learn together then

We personally felt that our dog was not the kind of dog who would be a real problem so we have made sure we are careful but didn't do anything really specific. Whippets and Greyhounds (and lurchers) are very friendly dogs as a rule. I've owned many dogs and am confident training and handling them so am prepared for future and any training Eric may need. And also to help Galen understand about dogs and how to treat them and behave round them.

 

[EllieBelle]

Thanks for posting Pickled Onion, was about to ask the same advice!!

So enjoying reading all the informative replies!

 

[mrs_tommo22]

Well i havent advice as i dont have a new baby but make the changes slowly and gently as greyhounds are such sensitive souls and pick up on things quick ( i have a 20month old bitch).
Im sure your boy will be fine with the baby but take precautions.

 

[meandthebump]

This is an interesting topic. I have two dogs, including a lurcher cross.

We already have a gate in the house so we can shut the dogs in the kitchen at night but my advice is to get a dog gate rather than a baby gate. They look the same but are taller and you can get them at Argos. My lurcher cross can leap over a baby gate no problem! (my fault for teaching her agility)

I grew up witha dog and i think our babies will be very lucky having dogs around.

 

[hennaly]

We have always had very strict rules with our dogs anyway, we had to cause of their size so they arnt allowed upstairs or on the furniture and are used to being put in the kitchen if we had visiters that find them a little ott
The only problem i can forsee with mine is one of them has a habbit of running in the lounge and throwing whatever she has in her mouth (usually her bone) directly at you so we may have to remove anything like that and just give her soft toys for a while.

It may be worth adding that when you have the dog and baby in the same room at the same time, give the dog little rewards, ie if the dog comes and sits quietly by you and leaves baby alone give it a small treat, it will soon associate the baby with positive stuff.

 

[widowwadman]

I can only speak from a sample of two dogs, but greyhounds seem to be absolutely fabulous with kids.

My future In-Laws had a greyhound/lurcher who sadly passed away about 4 months ago and she's always been brilliant with our nephew who was about 14 months when she died. She was always watching out for him, getting help when he stirred in his sleep, and didn't mind him crawling all over her. Obviously she was never left alone with the kid, but always supervised, but basically she was super patient and great with him. I was so sad when she died as I was looking forward to see how she'd react to our child.

Now the In-Laws got another greyhound (so much for not wanting another dog for a while...). He's a friendly giant. An ex-racer, really tall and muscular, a beautiful dog. When I heard they got him, I just thought "uh-oh, I hope he's at least half as good with kids as Tess was". Well, my nephew didn't hesitate long before crawling all over the dog and again,you can see just patience, the odd rolling of the eyes and a sigh, as if the dog wanted to say "ah, well, children..." and generally looking after the little one. Again, obviously under constant supervision.

Maybe the inlaws are just lucky and picked two incredibly good dogs which are amazingly well suited for children, or maybe greyhounds are brilliant with kids in general.

 

[CH0C0H0LIC]

We have a white german shepherd and a golden retreiver and we have had our kitchen/lounge stairgate up for about a month now and for an hour or so a few times a day we put them in the kitchen with the gate shut (but the door open).

We also have a baby Annabel doll (they type that cries/gurgles etc) and we have had the moses basket set up in the lounge with a gurgling Annabel in it and if either dog goes too near we say no leave James alone etc and thats worked well too. Our german shepherd has taken to sleeping next to the moses basket but neither sticks their face in it. Sometimes we put the doll on the changing mat on the floor or in the car seat on the floor and dogs have learnt to stay by the kitchen door when baby is on floor.

Was also told to make sure that dogs need to be fed last in family (after you and bubs) so they know their place in the pecking order!!!

Sarah xxx

 

[*pud01*]

get your OH/relative to take a baby grow/shawl/anything the baby first wears home to put with your dog so it gets used to the babys scent an wont be all over the baby wanting a sniff when you bring him/her home. even if its with the dog for just a couple of hours itll get it used to the scent.

 

[Chrissy1]

My dog was my baby until Poppy arrived. Before the birth I used to wrap a teddy up in a blanket and carry it around with me and talk to it so that he got used to seeing me with something in my arms. I also moved his bed further away from the bed because it used to be on the floor next to me but that is where Poppy's moses basket is so I moved him away about a month before the birth.

I was very lucky to have a homebirth so he was there throughout the whole of the labour and birth so I didn't just walk back into the house with a new baby. I let him sniff her almost straight away and to be honest that's about as much interest as he's shown in her!!

He has a little peek at her if she makes a noise just to check she's ok but so long as I'm still giving him loves when Poppy is asleep he's happy

 

[pickled_onion]

Hello again,

Thanks for all the replies We're definitely going to take all this advice on board and start preparing him early. He's got a beautiful nature my dog, but as someone mentioned, greyhounds are characteristically sensitive and he's no exception!

Eric may start to jump up when excited but I'm not overly worried about that tbh. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it with Galen. Children need to learn to respect animals so both Galen and Eric can learn together then

You're quite right. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it too. I have a tendency to get a bit ahead of myself Totally agree re: the respect thing.

...my advice is to get a dog gate rather than a baby gate.

Absolutely! I imagine mine would sail over a baby gate with very little effort. I'll take a look at Argos.

Thanks again for all the tips and also the reassurance, folks 8)