Forum home Babies Baby

Introducing baby to the dog?

For those with dogs, how did you introduce the dog, did you bring the baby in or did you bring the dog in after? I really dont know how my dog will react to the baby.......he is not aggressive at all but I am worried he might think it is a squeeky toy..........in reality i think he will be interested for 5 mins then ignore it



6+5

Replies

  • hi, sorry, im gatecrashing from preg forum. just come across this idea and thought it was great. wev got a 9 month old siberian husky and was wondering how we were going to do this. will be digging out the stair gates in the next couple of days!!

    xx
  • p.s what a lovely photo xx
  • Hi,

    We have 2 dogs - a Boxer and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. We have had them since they were babies and they are now 3 and a half and 4. From day 1 we have always had stair gates restricting them access to certain rooms. They have their bed in the conservatory which is all open plan off the kitchen. They also have a dog flap so have constant access to the garden. They only come into the rest of the house when I am home. They basically knew their place from the beginning. I was very worried about introducing my new baby to them. Although they had experience with kids they had no experience of a newborn and although they are both big softies and have never shown any aggression not even to other dogs i dont think you can ever trust any dog 100% so was constantly worried. I did quite a bit of research.

    When my hubbie left the hospital after i had had my lo he took the nightie i gave birth in home with him. He allowed the girls to sniff it. This had the smell of the baby and me on it. This is a good way to let the dogs know that the baby is a part of you and is not a threat so when the baby arrives home they already recognise the new smell.

    When I came home with my lo i left her in the car seat on the lounge floor. I immediatly went and made a big fuss of the dogs and then brought them into the lounge. The boxer came over straight away and started sniffing her and wagging her little stump. Immediate acceptance. The Staff didnt really care and appeared a little wary. My lo is now 7 weeks old and its only been in the last 2 weeks that the staff has become more interested. She now comes over when im changing her and licks her feet. Neither have shown any aggression and I constantly ensure I give the dogs as much attention now as i did before.

    I think its important not to side line the dogs when a new baby arrives.

    Good Luck.xx
  • We did exactly the same as Gemma118 and we have had no problems at all so far and Poppy is now 17 months old. She lies in his bed with him and they play very nicely together. The only thing with him is that he is very clumsy and at 5.5 stone, he's a big dog!!!
    xx
  • one of my dogs was scared to death when millie cried and h use to run and hide under the table( hes a bit wimpy anyway!) the other dog was fine and just wanted to lick her. they r both fine with her now although i make sure millie doesnt pull them too much as she has a strong grip and i dont want her hurting them. the only other thing no matter now nice ur dog is never leave them alone with ur baby as any dog can be unpredictable as its a dog. but im sure u know that! it was terrible that baby being killed by them 2 dogs recently was such a gorgeous little boy too! x x
  • I agree with Princessjane - you must NEVER leave your baby alone with your dogs. I have 2 dogs, a jack russell and a lurcher and both are extremely gentle with children. They are both PAT-dog assessed and have never shown any interest in Abby (7.5 weeks).

    I bought a playpen before Abby arrived and planned to always put her carrycot, bouncy chair, play mat etc in it so that if I leave the room she would be protected. Once she arrived I became complacent as neither of my dogs have shown any interest. However since the death of that beautiful little boy I will not tempt fate again - she is my world! At the end of the day all dogs are carnivorous hunters.
  • I think any responsible parent and pet owner knows that! My daughter is never left alone with Howard as common sense tells you that.
    I think every mother on here knows that the baby is priority EmmaLou and your post did sound rather patronising, whether it was intentional or not.
  • we were really worried about our dogs before baby arrived.
    i have a very obedient collie, but a very lively black lab!!

    we had a behaviour specialist in to work with them before mia arrived we were that worried (it was the woman that did the first series of the bbc programme dog borstal!).

    One thing we did was to set up the baby bouncer in the frontroom and buy a cheap baby doll and sat her in it!! then we would every now and then pick the doll up and wander around the room, sit on the sofa etc....just to get the dogs used to the baby and things that we may do with a baby.

    my dogs are still very lively but it def worked as whenever you are holding Mia now the dogs wont dare jump up. they seem to know that baby is more important than them.

    its awful to hear what happens when dogs and babies are left alone but remember they are part of your family too, dont all of a sudden shut them out. My dogs are soft as brushes...the collie is very protective of Mia and warns the lab away should she get too lively. Mia loves the black lab and often lays watching t.v whilst resting her head on her back.

    Just make small changes now in terms of how you want the dogs to behave when baby arrives, that way they wont be so shocked when it all happens.

    We brought Mia in in her car seat and let the dogs come to her and sniff around her.

    After considering getting rid of the black lab before Mia's arrival I can honestly say we have had no problems at all.
    Good luck x
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions