Introducing Dogs To Newborn

tempnam

We have 2 little terriers. They're part of the family. They live in the house and even sleep in our bed at night.... Basically they're the O/H's 'babies'.

We're expecting out first actual baby any day now. So just wondering if there are any tips of how to introduce the dogs to the baby when we come home for the first time. Should they be locked out, or let come in and sniff around??

angeldaisy

I remember when we had to do this, we were advised to bring home one of our sons babygros / vest that he'd worn in the hospital for the dog to smell before we brought him home. Seemed to work for us, dog gave a cursory sniff and then wandered off. I found hardest bit was when he started crawling and grabbing, poor dog!

Toulouse

http://apdt.ie/index.php/articles/new-baby/

kylith

Depending on the dog, training for babies should start well in advance. You can get cds of babies crying which you can use to get them used to the noise (while I don't have kids myself my terriers get very excited when they hear a baby cry, they definitely view it as an 'animal' noise rather than a human one). You will need to get them used to the fact that you and your OH will be carrying a bundle around, this can be done with a baby doll. Also, if they're not already, get a 'down' or 'off' command well trained for the sofa; you don't want to be trying to feed the baby when you have two inquisitive dogs climbing all over you.

tempnam

angeldaisy wrote: »

I remember when we had to do this, we were advised to bring home one of our sons babygros / vest that he'd worn in the hospital for the dog to smell before we brought him home. Seemed to work for us, dog gave a cursory sniff and then wandered off. I found hardest bit was when he started crawling and grabbing, poor dog!

Yeah, I've heard this mentioned before. Will give it a try.

kylith wrote: »

Depending on the dog, training for babies should start well in advance. You can get cds of babies crying which you can use to get them used to the noise (while I don't have kids myself my terriers get very excited when they hear a baby cry, they definitely view it as an 'animal' noise rather than a human one). You will need to get them used to the fact that you and your OH will be carrying a bundle around, this can be done with a baby doll. Also, if they're not already, get a 'down' or 'off' command well trained for the sofa; you don't want to be trying to feed the baby when you have two inquisitive dogs climbing all over you.

They're only allowed on the sofa when invited up, and we can tell them to get down (and they do) so that should be fine. One of them used to be very interested in the O/H's sister's last baby - she's be asleep in her cot. He would lie down next to it and go asleep too...

If the baby moved or made noise though it was like he (the dog) thought it meant play time... he'd have his front legs still in lying down position with his bum in the air, tail wagging, and barking! :pac:

Just to add; we have also brought the moses basket into our room since about last week. We let them have a sniff of it at first and now they don't pay any attention to it. Only worry is this may be different when there's a baby in it - new smell & strange noise!!

kylith

tempnam wrote: »

They're only allowed on the sofa when invited up, and we can tell them to get down (and they do) so that should be fine.

That's good, it will be important to have some boundaries in place.

One of them used to be very interested in the O/H's sister's last baby - she's be asleep in her cot. He would lie down next to it and go asleep too...
If the baby moved or made noise though it was like he (the dog) thought it meant play time... he'd have his front legs still in lying down position with his bum in the air, tail wagging, and barking! :pac:

Just to add; we have also brought the moses basket into our room since about last week. We let them have a sniff of it at first and now they don't pay any attention to it. Only worry is this may be different when there's a baby in it - new smell & strange noise!!

Well, that's a good sign, but I'd still recommend training them to keep away from the basket and desensitising them to the sound of crying. They might want to play, but if one of them jumps and knocks the crib over by accident it would still be awful.

witchgirl26

I know the advice my friend was given about her dog & bringing home her first was that they shouldn't ignore the dog when they brought home the child as it can create jealousy which in turn leads to problems. Basically the hubby's routine became come in, make a little fuss petting the dog etc before making a fuss of the baby. And my friend would try to have a little "dog-time" when the baby was asleep even if it was just curling up on the couch. Seemed to work for them.

kylith

witchgirl26 wrote: »

I know the advice my friend was given about her dog & bringing home her first was that they shouldn't ignore the dog when they brought home the child as it can create jealousy which in turn leads to problems. Basically the hubby's routine became come in, make a little fuss petting the dog etc before making a fuss of the baby. And my friend would try to have a little "dog-time" when the baby was asleep even if it was just curling up on the couch. Seemed to work for them.

A good plan, but I'd probably have done it the other way round; make a fuss of the baby first, then the dog. I'm not a follower of dominance theory but it makes sense to me to greet the humans before the dogs.

TooManyDogs

I brought my baby (now 3 years old!) home to a house with 6 dogs. Here's my advise for what it's worth.

First things I'd do is change the dynamics to make sure it's clear you guys are in charge of your house and that your dog isn't getting spoiled anymore, it'll mean that your dog realises you can decide who you give your attention to. This you need to change by implementing the Nothing In Life for Free training, ie he gets nothing nice without doing something for it, even if it's as simple as a sit. This will get him used to looking to you for direction rather than making decisions about things himself and also spruce up his basic obedience. So he doesn't get a treat or dinner without doing something for it, doesn't get on sofa or beds without being invited, doesn't' get to shove through doors ahead of you, doesn't get to demand attention off you. Start bringing things to being solely on your terms.

Do work on basic obedience, especially the 'leave it' and 'stay' commands. Make sure he has a bed he's comfortable with and make sure he'll stay in it when you tell him too. You'll have a lot of visitors and it could very well happen that he decides to protect the baby from the visitors, he needs to know that you can protect the baby and it's not his job.

Get baby gates in now and let him get used to being behind them, you can start with a few minutes and reward and let him out, gradually increase the time he's in a separate room until you know he'll be comfortable separated for a while if you need him to be.

Do bring home an article of clothing from the hospital, let him have a quick sniff but then teach him to stay at least 6 - 10 ft away from the smell. Dogs don't need to be right beside a new baby, a mother dog doesn't allow other dogs anywhere near her pups and demands huge space from other dogs in the vicinity, demand the same for your baby. I promise your dog won't be offended, in fact it'll be completely natural for him. Demanding space makes it clear to your dog that it's your baby and you'll demand respect and protect it so he doesn't need to. As the baby gets older you can gradually reduce the space you demand, my lot didn't get anywhere near my baby until she was nearly 6 months old.

Keep him as tired as possible when you bring the baby home, a tired dog is far less likely to get jealous and far easier to train. When people offer to do something to help you out then hand them a lead and a poo bag!!! Honestly it'll make all the difference. Do train your dogs to walk nicely without pulling now, and walking with a buggy if possible, you simply won't have the energy after the baby is home so if that's already done you can just grab leads when you have to pound the pavement with the buggy (if your baby is anything like mine was anyway!!)

borderlinemeath

kylith wrote: »

A good plan, but I'd probably have done it the other way round; make a fuss of the baby first, then the dog. I'm not a follower of dominance theory but it makes sense to me to greet the humans before the dogs.

But from the dogs point of view, it runs to the door to greet it's owner while the baby sits in it's pram unable to do so!
So you have to deliberately walk past the dog who is running alongside you, tail going ninety, eyes begging up at you to be rubbed and then ignore the dog in favour of the baby you could trigger a bit of anxiousness. "what did I do wrong?", "He always says hello to me and gives me rubs, but he's going to the new noisy thing first!" Then daddy picks up baby and dog is thinking "Oh, he's picking up the noisy thing, I must investigate!", jumps up and gets reprimanded for jumping. Dog in trouble and not happy.

I would greet the dog first and once the dog is settled in it's bed/crate with a treat for being a good dog then go and say hello to the baby. As children get older the pattern will reverse but for the initial adjustment of integrating a newborn into the house, I would prioritise the dogs feelings. I know it sounds a bit crazy to some people but don't forget, the dog is the one capable of inflicting damage, a happy, confident dog is what you're aiming for, to be a lifelong companion for your family.

kylith

borderlinemeath wrote: »

But from the dogs point of view, it runs to the door to greet it's owner while the baby sits in it's pram unable to do so!
So you have to deliberately walk past the dog who is running alongside you, tail going ninety, eyes begging up at you to be rubbed and then ignore the dog in favour of the baby you could trigger a bit of anxiousness. "what did I do wrong?", "He always says hello to me and gives me rubs, but he's going to the new noisy thing first!" Then daddy picks up baby and dog is thinking "Oh, he's picking up the noisy thing, I must investigate!", jumps up and gets reprimanded for jumping. Dog in trouble and not happy.

That's why training needs to be implemented as early as possible because jumping up is attention seeking behaviour and should never be allowed. I never greet my dogs when I first enter my home because I simply do not want them to associate me walking in the door with it being OK to demand my attention. When I have said hi to my boyfriend, taken off my coat, hung up my bag and changed my shoes then the dogs get attention. Most of the time I get the dog equivalent of 'oh, your'e home', i.e. a raised head in a bed to acknowledge my presence before they go back to sleep.

The dog will soon learn that 'human comes home, human greets other human, human greets tiny human, human greets dog' is the order of events, as long as the dog gets his allotted attention then he won't really mind where in the greeting order he is. The dog may be put out for a day or two until it learns the new routine, and then all will be back to normal. A dog simply should not get to dictate whom a person can greet and in what order. In human families humans are more important than dogs, the more important family members get greeted first.

Look at it from the other way, in a couple of years will it be 'Why does daddy play with the dog when I want to say hello to him?' or what will happen when the child runs to meet you at the door and the dog takes exception to this sudden interruption of it's routine? Better to set the rules from day one.

borderlinemeath

kylith wrote: »

That's why training needs to be implemented as early as possible because jumping up is attention seeking behaviour and should never be allowed. I never greet my dogs when I first enter my home because I simply do not want them to associate me walking in the door with it being OK to demand my attention. When I have said hi to my boyfriend, taken off my coat, hung up my bag and changed my shoes then the dogs get attention. Most of the time I get the dog equivalent of 'oh, your'e home', i.e. a raised head in a bed to acknowledge my presence before they go back to sleep.

In an ideal world all dogs would be trained not to jump up, but with the best will in the world I don't think I would want my dogs to be as under excited to see me when I arrive home as yours are! Honestly, if they were that underwhelmed on my return home I would be bringing them to the vet thinking they were extremely off form!

The dog will soon learn that 'human comes home, human greets other human, human greets tiny human, human greets dog' is the order of events, as long as the dog gets his allotted attention then he won't really mind where in the greeting order he is. The dog may be put out for a day or two until it learns the new routine, and then all will be back to normal. A dog simply should not get to dictate whom a person can greet and in what order. In human families humans are more important than dogs, the more important family members get greeted first.

But this is veering too much towards dominance behaviour for my liking. Dogs don't think like humans and don't know that humans are more 'important' than dogs. They are just happy to see their family member home and to repress their exhuberance like that would just make me sad.

Look at it from the other way, in a couple of years will it be 'Why does daddy play with the dog when I want to say hello to him?' or what will happen when the child runs to meet you at the door and the dog takes exception to this sudden interruption of it's routine? Better to set the rules from day one.

There's routine and there's dominance. Y'know the dog will always get to the door quicker and faster than any child so a quick pet and a rub and then hello to the child will work just as well. I certainly wouldn't make the dog sit and wait his turn if he was there well in advance of the child.

tazwaz

hi op, whether this is right or wrong i dont know but it's what we did. Our terrier was used to having the whole house to himself, including our bed but a month or so before i was due we put up a stair gate on the stairs and on the kitchen door. we stopped him from coming to bed with us but he was allowed the run of downstairs at night, he usually settled in his own bed in the kitchen. it took a few nights for him to get used to this, his crying was heartbreaking but it had to be done.
when our baby was born we put a sheet in the cot with him for a few hours and my partner brought it home and put it in the dogs bed. he cuddled up with it for the night :-). when i came home from the hospital i came into the house on my own for a few minutes first for cuddles before we brought baby in. we had him in the carseat and left it on the floor for a few mins so doggie could have a good sniff.
for the first few days there were a constant stream of visitors so he was confined to the kitchen with the stair gate and was fine but we had been doing that prior to babys arrival.
baby is 9 months old now and the dog has slowly but surely been allowed back upstairs at night. the kitchen gate is still being used quite a bit esp for nappy changes as he seems to love the taste of vaseline :-)
he's very good and gentle with baby now, and the baby is just fascinated watching his every move.
god bless the dog in a few weeks or so when the baby is crawling, can imagine the poor dog will be begging me to close the kitchen gate :-)

kylith

Borderlinemeath; I reckon we could go back and forth on this all day. Shall we agree that the OP needs to decide what routine they wish their new, expanded, family to have and to begin to implement it as soon as possible?

borderlinemeath

kylith wrote: »

Borderlinemeath; I reckon we could go back and forth on this all day. Shall we agree that the OP needs to decide what routine they wish their new, expanded, family to have and to begin to implement it as soon as possible?

True, everybody has their own ways and routines. Good luck to the OP with their new baby and their new family dynamics.