[max935]

I am hoping for some advice. My husband and I are due to have our first baby in just over 5 months, and we are wondering how to be prepare Jesse for the new arrival and resulting changes in our household. Jesse will be about 11 months old when the baby arrives....not ideal to have a teenage dog and new baby at the same time, but too late now to change that!!

I am sure others have been through this scenario, and I would love any tips and advice so we can prepare as early as possible. I realise it will be an ongoing commitment. We will definitely be investing in baby gates, and we have a halti for walking as Jesse is a puller (should make it easier for her to walk with a pram). We do weekly obedience training with Jesse (and of course lots of practice at home) and she is currently very well behaved most of the time. We also have a great dog park about 3 mins down the road and beach about 5 mins away so lots of places easy to access for off lead exercise. But, this will be a massive change for us all....what can I expect?!? What do I need to do now to prepare??

Thanks in advance

 

[FlyingQuizini]

Congrats!

Check out the book And Baby Makes Four by Penny Scott Fox and Raising Puppies and Kids Together by Pia Silvani. Both are EXCELLENT! You can get them on Amazon.com and possibly Dogwise.com.

 

[momtoMax]

You will be raising two babies. Expect that your puppy is going to play rough and will probably at some point make the baby cry / scratch her/him by accident. Oh, btw, congrats on parenthood!!!

 

[Willow52]

We had a dog when our daughter was born, we had a dog when our granddaughter was born (DD & DGD live here). No problems either time and honestly I didn't do anything special to prepare the dogs. They both adjusted very well.

The only thing we had to watch with Maggie (she was 10 when our granddaughter was born) was when DGD started walking Maggie didn't like her to fall on her. Maggie was getting hard of hearing by then and I think it would startle her. You shouldn't have that problem since your dog is young.

 

[Bender]

I did a few things....

First off, get a doll and pretend it's a real baby, do whatever you'd likely do with your real baby (walk around the house, use a carrier/wrap, use the swing, crib, chairs with music) so your dog gets a chance to get used to all of that before hand (and you can troubleshoot, I wouldn't have thought that a swing would be an issue but I had one dog who wanted to bite at it...). It also allows you to figure out the logistics of things like going for a walk with baby and dog, what you'll need, how it'll best work to get both ready and out the door...

With the stroller, it's best to teach your dog to walk on one side of the stroller and on a short leash, so he's not going in front and getting tangled, or whatever. Also helps to work on circles with him so he can learn to 'yeild' to the stroller (and the stroller makes an excellent training tool, turn into the dog if he starts to pull... works awesome). Plus that allows the dog to get used to that part of his 'new' life so he doesn't spook the first time he gets bumped or run over by a wheel if it ever happens.

I also keep a cookie jar on the change table to work sits or downs, the dogs have to do one or the other and stay there till I'm done changing the diaper, at which time they get a cookie.

The other thing I did was to have a bunch of treats and did a lot of pulling of each dog's hair, and then giving a treat when they turned to see what was going on. Did this before baby and then when baby was in the same 'space' - but made sure if my one dog did snap (he had issues with kids from a neighbor) he'd get my arm first.

That and a lot of polishing on the obedience etc. so I could control them without having to get food or put a leash on, that helped a lot. I did teach Bender to fetch diapers but then she decided whenever she was bored to go get a diaper and wander around, drop it somewhere.... or shred it if we weren't home, so that game ended pretty quick. Ticket was great with the babies and is great with the kids too, so I haven't had to worry, even though I thought he might have issues. In fact, when Nathan was first home, Ticket came running in the room, jumped up on our bed and landed right next to Nathan, who FREAKED out. Poor dog went flying out of the room and hid, then it took him a good month before he didn't sulk into the room ever so slowly... and he's always looked before he's jumped on the bed ever since. He is my son's dog for sure, the two will play ball together and trash the house, very cute.

Good luck with the new baby too!

Lana

 

[Finn's Fan]

Congratulations on your impending parenthood! Some dogs are freaked out by the sound of a baby wailing, so playing a tape of a baby's cries well before the real thing arrives can be helpful if your dog is the nervous type. Also, once baby arrives, have your hubby take a blanket or baby cap home with him the first day so puppy can sniff the new little one before he or she even gets home. Try not to worry too much if pup sneaks the occasional lick of the baby; they won't die from dog germs

 

[Bender]

Ah yes, dog germs, forgot about that one! My son was born with a heart defect, spent his first weeks of life in the hospital, had surgeries... came home to three dogs and a cat and has been very healthy despite all the 'germs' in the house. My daughter is currently training to be a puppy, and if the puppy's crate isn't closed, yep, she's in there. Tonight she was in there licking the bowl (hoping there wasn't leftovers from the puppy's meal of raw food) and she'll even grab the cat's kibble and munch on that from time to time....

She's a bit on the small side but yup, healthy! Both kids have only had antibiotics once each and no other real trips to the doctors for anything (well apart from the heart stuff). Oh and they also eat/ate a lot of dirt from time to time. I figure the germs are too scared to go near them!

Lana

 

[max935]

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely have a look at the books suggested and also give the other suggestions a go.....didn't really think too much about germs yet, but I don't think that will concern me too much!!