Pets

[Kylie1007]

I was worried about our cat jumping in the moses basket or wherever, but he has stayed right out the way! I don't think that he likes the noise that Finn makes!

He does think his luck is in though when we get up at 1 to sort the baby out - he thinks it's breakfast time!

 

[skimpy]

I am worried about this Got a dog, a kitten (who was given to me to rbefore i knew i was preggy) and 2 snakes

The snakes are the least of my worries, had them a long time, and we've been through the escaping problems - their setups are now so secure there is no posibility of escape.

but i worry about the cat. we decided to keep him indoors, and now im pregnant, it will stay that way to reduce risk of toxoplasmosis. but he is full of beans. a bit like my collie. I would have the dog in the garden through the day and in at night, if he would behave out there. he just barks incessantly and it drives me nuts


if anyone can offer advice on training him not to bark, i would be very grateful

 

[Sherlock]

Do any of you pet owners have any worries about how they will react with your LO's?

I have a dog and i have no problems about the jealousy side of things as he very well trainned but i am concerned about the baby being on its play mat on the floor (safest place in my eyes so they cant roll off anything) and the dog stepping on him/her by accident.

How is everyone else planning on adapting?

With regards to your dog stepping on the baby when on the play met, chances are, if its well behaved anyways, it won't do anything like that. It may investigate, walk round and so on, but usually dogs avoid walking *on* other creatures and its usually only in play when bouncing around they tend to not keep an eye where they are going.

My own experiences with my dogs are that they both like kids and are reliable round them. One adores children and just wants to be their best friend. They always go and investigate a young baby, usually have a sniff and so on but never anything else. I think they consider them boring and just leave them alone because of it. Once babies have gotten older and are crawling and walking, my dogs have again been brilliant. One sits there and wags her tail while small child pulls her tail, pokes fingers in her eyes and tries to pull her along by her ears. The other gets his tail pulled and eye poked once and then every time he sees baby heading his way at speed he jumps up and moves somewhere else, even out of the room.

I think it depends on the animal and how its been trained and brought up at the end of the day. And that although it will be difficult in the early days of bringing a new baby home, trying to include our pets then is important as they notice things. So reassuring them, not shutting them out, but including them and observing them and seeing how they react to everything and hopefully all should be well. As baby grows, he/she will need to learn boundries with any pet and how to behave and treat them. And hopefully as they learn, our pets will adapt also.

Of course, if anyone has any concerns about their pet (esp dog) beforehand they would do well to ensure that baby and dog are not left alone together. And it may be kinder on the dog to then considering rehoming it. Some animals are just not cut out to be around very small children and I do feel its better to not try to force it to work in case the outcome is an upsetting one. This from experience of being very badly bitten by my Aunt's dog as a child, as she had a dog who was not good with younger children but refused to rehome him. He ripped my arm to shreds and she still kept him. If that happened in todays society he'd be put down within the day and there would be an outcry :/ I lived in fear of that dog and until I was old enough to tell her what was what, I had to suffer the little shit of a thing around me. I refused to have anything to do with her when she moved and would not visit either, telling her only when her dog was dead would I cross her threshhold again. We've not really spoken since and that was 20 years ago. She can blame herself and her sodding nasty piece of work dog for that.

 

[DebbieM]

You can get a collar that sprays a small amount of some kind of lemony scented liquid or something which dogs hate. It will activate when they bark and it's meant to be quite effective.

I'll see if I can find it for you.

 

[DebbieM]

Here you go:

http://www.canicom.co.uk/canispray.htm

Does your dog have a habit of barking at the slightest thing?
Thousands of dog owners now have happy contented dogs, thanks to Canispray and so can you.
How Does It Work?

Canispray works by means of a special microphone designed to detect the frequency of a dog's bark. When the dog first barks, the collar releases an odourless spray in front of the dogs snout. Although harmless, the spray is quite dramatic. Your dog will hear and see it. The dog will quickly learn that when it barks Canispray will spray!

Although totally harmless, your dog will find it unpleasant and associate it with their barking. This conditioned reflex discourages your dog from barking. In a few days the dog learns to keep quiet while wearing the collar and ultimately your dog is trainied to cease barking without having to wear the collar at all.

At just 40 grams (1.6oz) Canispray is the lightest collar on the market. Unlike other collars, Canispray is a sealed unit and requires no battery charging at all - the unit will last up to 5 years!

I used to go to Puppy Party when Barney was a pup and there was a dog there that was a terrible barker and the woman who took the class got the owner one of these collars and it worked a treat after a few weeks. It's not at all harmful to the dog either.

 

[Babylicious]

My cat has shown no interest in the moses basket, she loves the bed instead

 

[muppetmummy]

We've started shutting the cat downstairs at night, previously it would sleep on our bed but can't risk that with a baby as I can see the cat jumping in the moses basket with the baby, he's a real lap cat.

 

[Babylicious]

think I need one of those bark collars as harley always goes ott

 

[helsekia]

awwww all those gorgeous doggy pics!

I have always had dogs,well trained dogs and well trained kids just go together

when Kiara was a baby (shes now nearly 7yrs)I had 5 dogs one of which was a dobermann,2 labs and 2 collies,and I never had any problems at all.we had safety gates on the kitchen and lounge,i seperated the dogs from baby if i wasnt in the room but if i was in the room i laid baby on the floor and just told the dogs to lay down.

dogs work by pack order and as long as they understand you are pack leader you shouldnt have problems,you just make sure they are aware that baby is higher in the pack than them.

I just have the 2 dogs at the minute both of which are labs but i dont have any worries at all,I got the oldest when Kiara was 18months and theyve grown up together,im sure everything will be fine.one word about crate though.once baby starts to toddle just keep an eye on baby entering doggies crate they may not like it ive heard problems from this.crates are great and ive used them in the past but its just something to think about

 

[skimpy]

Here you go:

http://www.canicom.co.uk/canispray.htm

Does your dog have a habit of barking at the slightest thing?
Thousands of dog owners now have happy contented dogs, thanks to Canispray and so can you.
How Does It Work?

Canispray works by means of a special microphone designed to detect the frequency of a dog's bark. When the dog first barks, the collar releases an odourless spray in front of the dogs snout. Although harmless, the spray is quite dramatic. Your dog will hear and see it. The dog will quickly learn that when it barks Canispray will spray!

Although totally harmless, your dog will find it unpleasant and associate it with their barking. This conditioned reflex discourages your dog from barking. In a few days the dog learns to keep quiet while wearing the collar and ultimately your dog is trainied to cease barking without having to wear the collar at all.

At just 40 grams (1.6oz) Canispray is the lightest collar on the market. Unlike other collars, Canispray is a sealed unit and requires no battery charging at all - the unit will last up to 5 years!

I used to go to Puppy Party when Barney was a pup and there was a dog there that was a terrible barker and the woman who took the class got the owner one of these collars and it worked a treat after a few weeks. It's not at all harmful to the dog either.

Thanks for that seems a bit more humane than the electric shock collars that were popular last year.