Any pointers on how to ..

[Holly1991]

Prepare a young dog for the arrival of a baby? Anyone gone through this? He's a shih tzu and when the baby gets here he will be 16months old. He loves children ad met his first baby the other day. He was okay with him but a bit too licky in his face and jumpy. Shih tzu's are stubborn and he doesn't listen to us all the time.

But I also want to prepare him for the loud noises and disturbances and less attention etc. any ideas ?

Xx

 

[gemloulau]

Hi there - I can't help but am in a similar situation. We have a jackahuahua who currently rules the roost in his very much a mummy's boy so I'm quite concerned as to how to make the adjustment as easy as possible for him so I'll be interested to see if anyone has any suggestions

xx

 

[Beanie1975]

I would also appreciate anyone ideas and tips on this. We have a 3 year old miniature daschund. He rules the roost. He barks at babies and kids we see in the street.... He's not going to like any attention being paid to someone else as he is my baby at the moment!! We were thinking of actually getting another dog - just to keep him company, distract him from the baby etc.

I did also read somewhere that when the baby is born you should bring home a blanket that the baby has been wrapped in (that is if the baby doesn't come home from hospital straight away) and you should give the blanket to the dog to smell so he gets used to the smell of the baby before he meets the baby.

But I'd welcome any suggestions from people who have been through this already. I reckon it must be quite common. x

 

[leela78]

Ooh - we have a 3 year old mini dachshund too!!! They are certainly barkers (and barking at times).

I was concerned about this until we had a friend and her toddler to stay, Hugo was brilliant with the wee one, better actually than our other dog (retriever) who just ignored him.

What we are doing and planning to continue doing is being harder on both dogs, making sure we have consisten boundaries with them about jumping on me, the furniture etc. Re barking, we'll be desensitising Hugo to loud noises like the doorbell and using positive rewards when he stops barking / is quiet when the doorbell goes.

I think with any animal it's really important to have consistency of the message and also to keep socialising them / keep introducing them to new stimuli. We use a ball to distract the dachshund when he's out and make sure instead of avoiding situations we approach them, make sure we keep him in contact with lots of kids / people of different ages and have lots of visitors to the house. I think this makes him feel less threatened / just gets them used to having lots of different situations.

When the baby arrives (due on 26th Dec) we will be just acting as normal as possible, taking the baby home and putting him / her in a bouncy chair in the middle of the room and just letting the dogs sniff about / get used to him / her. I think really for us anyway that will be the best approach.

We do have neices and nephews so our dogs are fairly used to kids but not one that's home to stay lol. I'm not too concerned I have to say, my friend's visit for the long weekend gave me lots more confidence. I think Hugo will be desperate to play with the baby's toys and get in the blankets... little sausages do like their comforts!!!

I'm not sure if that helps, it is something both my husband and I have been talking about (and acting on) lately and being strict and consistent is the best appraoch we are taking...

Good luck!
Leigh x

 

[gemloulau]

I know it wasn't my question Leigh but thank you for your reply - very helpful xx

 

[mummywanabe]

My friend had a dog trainer come to ger house as her dog was quite clingy and didnt know how he would react to baby either in a over friendly way or getting very possessive she thinks it worked wonders dog doesnt even bark now might be worth looking into!

 

[leela78]

No probs, I think it depends on your own dog / circumstances as well. it's the one thing we have started planning for. I'm in denial about all other things 'baby' lol!

One other thing I do is take food out of the dogs bowl and (pretend to) eat it, so he knows who's boss. I make sure I do things like checking his teeth, looking in his ears, touch his eyes / paws etc. Makes sure he gets used to be poked and prodded as well as checking his health too...

It is all doggy dependent though, I certainly wouldn't take food out of my Mum's dogs bowl, he'd take my hand off I reckon but is otherwise a total softy... just doesn't share food

 

[Leeslocket]

Hi guys think I can help a little here. I am a veterinary nurse although behaviour isn't my speciality. I would start by plugging a DAP diffuser into the house or purchasing a DAP collar. They release hormones thy the mother would have given off wen they were pups. It can help them deal with new situations and circumstances an the earlier you start using the better it will be when baby arrives. Also I would say never leave dog and baby alone no matter how much you trust them. Also I think it's important dog doesn't feel pushed out so try to let the dog have a sniff and get used to baby and don't always push them away or shut them out as this will cause jealousy which can cause problems. Hope this helps x

 

[Sprk]

Something I have heard of doing, is before you bring baby home, have hobby bring home a baby blanket...just a cheapie, that has the baby's sent on it. Hat way the baby's scent won't be completely new.

 

[Beanie1975]

Thanks Ladies. All very helpful tips! x

 

[Holly1991]

Thankyou all for your helpful tips he loves children just worried how to prepare him so he don't become too jealous !
He's just like a child himself hahah. Good tips ! x

 

[BBaby]

Hey I am in this position too.

I have a chihuahua that never sits on the floor ( only my knee! And is quite snappy with other people) and a Boston terrier that's like a loose cannon jumping and springing everywhere who also doesn't sit on the floor!

My sis is a vet nurse so has given me loads of pointers and I have enlisted the help of a behaviourist.

I have started by not kissing, hugging 'enveloping' and trying to treat more like a dog. I have now progressed to constantly moving and shuffling when they are on my knee to make them uncomfortable and choose their bed instead.

I also plan to put baby gate in kitchen to keep them / baby safe, so it's controlled when they come into the room (one at a time!) I am also going to start putting them in the kitchen more so they are not with me 24/7.

It sounds harsh, but I really want two well balanced safe dogs ..... I'm not 10 weeks left so have time!

Luckily they sleep in the kitchen of a night, so the bedroom shouldn't be an issue ( but I plan to put baby gates at top and bottom of stairs straight off to keep dogs from baby's room). I probably sound paranoid but with a sister in the veterinary industry, I have been filled with horror stories!! Xxx

 

[Holly1991]

Hey I am in this position too.

I have a chihuahua that never sits on the floor ( only my knee! And is quite snappy with other people) and a Boston terrier that's like a loose cannon jumping and springing everywhere who also doesn't sit on the floor!

My sis is a vet nurse so has given me loads of pointers and I have enlisted the help of a behaviourist.

I have started by not kissing, hugging 'enveloping' and trying to treat more like a dog. I have now progressed to constantly moving and shuffling when they are on my knee to make them uncomfortable and choose their bed instead.

I also plan to put baby gate in kitchen to keep them / baby safe, so it's controlled when they come into the room (one at a time!) I am also going to start putting them in the kitchen more so they are not with me 24/7.

It sounds harsh, but I really want two well balanced safe dogs ..... I'm not 10 weeks left so have time!

Luckily they sleep in the kitchen of a night, so the bedroom shouldn't be an issue ( but I plan to put baby gates at top and bottom of stairs straight off to keep dogs from baby's room). I probably sound paranoid but with a sister in the veterinary industry, I have been filled with horror stories!! Xxx

I can't really do the baby gates as I live in a flat. Kitchen and living room are open floor. Only baby gate I'm putting up is on baby's room door. Teddy's not vicious just very loving x

 

[Tigger87]

Spotted this thread and thought I'd add:

We go doggy training every week for obedience and agility, I have a cocker spaniel x Labrador, and he's 20 months old.
Some advice from my trainer:

We were told itd be best to train him out of bad habits now, so he sleeps in his crate rather than our bed like he was doing.

She also said when baby comes, let the dog lick its feet. She said if you keep the baby out of reach the dog will be thinking "ooo what a big scary baby she's trying to save me from", which isn't really the response you want!

We're lucky with our dog that he's very good, he's been obedience training since 3 months old, but if anyone's unsure I'd definitely recommend it. It's so nice having a group of dog "experts" to ask advice from because there's so many different ways of doing the same thing!!!

 

[Samantha55]

Sorry am tri hopping here but thought this was a great thread!

I had the same worries but with my cats rather than a dog.... So if anybody has any cat advice please advise. We have a 2 bed apartment so is all open plan but we intend to keep babies room closed and also we have started stopping our two cats in our bedroom to sleep so they get used to that. The thing I'm worrying about is my two cats are house cats so always indoors and they are quite young and one of them is very clingy to me to the point where if I'm sat down or laying she wants to be up by my factor laying on me. I don't want to have to always shut my cats out of the room as they are a part of my family but am so paranoid about them scratching the baby if trying to play or the clingy one trying to sit on baby and will end up suffocating it! Obviously I won't leave baby alone around cats but I'm sure there will be times when I need to use the bathroom etc so will need to leave baby in its chair or something for a minute or two...

If anyone has any advice on house cats and babies please offer any advice