please help me before i kill my dogs!

[lissy]

In relation to babies stuff, my pups have to learn that they need to be invited to touch/smell/be near. Yes i want baby to play with them when she is older and to grow up with them BUT they need to know child is above them in pack order and this includes babies stuff. If they wanna check out babies cot while you are there fine, but you don't want them thinking they can do that whenever they feel like it.

Completely agree with this. As much as you love your doggies the baby must come first and the dogs need to understand this, so best to start now before the baby comes along. Springing it on them when the baby comes is a sure way to start the whole 'jealousy' thing.

[*Efjay*]

Personally I think you need to set some boundaries. I think its really important for dogs (any pets really() to know their place in the family. ATM it sounds like they think they equals with you. Once baby comes they will think they are higher then her in the ranks. They need to be at the bottom of the pecking order.
I think its wonderful you treat your dogs so lovely & allow them so much but I think its time to make some changes & set some firm ground rules.
For example, I can understand having them inside while its raining. But if you are not going to be home I would restrict where they can go inside. (What breed are they?) If they are small I would just let them int he laundry. If they are bigger then maybe close all bedroom doors & only allow them access to the main living area's.

[crumpet]

I truly don't think that they know the difference between one soft toy (ie your babies bear) or their soft toy (a squeaky carrot!).

I know it is hard sometimes but do try. Give them a pat and an ear scratch, forgive them, then shut that door!

xx

i agree hun i dont think they realise its not their toy, even though they had to get it out of a bag...

it took me till this morning to feel like i could pat them without causing them harm in the process! but im happy to say we are friends again, and they are being VERY well behaved so far today.

Have you thought of putting a gate on the bedroom door, they will be able to see in but not get in.

we had been thinking about that and that was as far as it had gone, but we decided that we will be definatly getting a gate becasue i dont want her door closed but dont want them in there when she is asleep so perfect solution for that problem!

Personally I think you need to set some boundaries. I think its really important for dogs (any pets really() to know their place in the family. ATM it sounds like they think they equals with you. Once baby comes they will think they are higher then her in the ranks. They need to be at the bottom of the pecking order.
I think its wonderful you treat your dogs so lovely & allow them so much but I think its time to make some changes & set some firm ground rules.
For example, I can understand having them inside while its raining. But if you are not going to be home I would restrict where they can go inside. (What breed are they?) If they are small I would just let them int he laundry. If they are bigger then maybe close all bedroom doors & only allow them access to the main living area's.

one is a boxer and the other one is a jack russell.....
we had been closing our bedroom door becasue of items being pulled out and i really didnt think they would get something out of a big bag, i know the boxer has to be the one who grabbed it becasue the jack russell is to small to be able to even see in the bag .....

as of last night we have been a lot more on the ball with making them sit down in their bed at night not roaming like they usually do, and just in general making them do as they are told or they go outside for 5 mins, its slowly registering.


thank you all so much for ur tips and advice!!!

its greatly appreciated and im going to work really hard with making sure they realise they arnt as high up in the food chain as they think they are atm!
its going to be hard not to spoil them like we do now, but it has to happen so might as well get cracking on it now!

oh and i do love them again today!

[AnyDream]

Yep, time to start working on some pack order fundamentals.

I would first of all put a gate across baby's room so straight away there is a boundary there. Teach them not to dash through the gate when you're going through it.

When DD arrived, we had a rule that the dog was *never* allowed on the couch/lap when DD was on the couch/lap, and he was not allowed in the room when she was on the floor. This meant he spent a bit more time in his "doggy condo" in the laundry for a few months, but he came out when DD was sleeping, and he had lots of rawhide chews and kongs etc to keep him entertained.

Eat your dinner first and make your darlings "stay" or "wait" until you give the ok. Teach them the leave it/take it command and then train them to "leave it" against a few baby toys. Do it now before baby arrives.

You can still give your doggies love & attention while maintaining pack superiority for your offspring. Extra play time when bubs is asleep keeps your doggies amused and means there won't be "competition" for your affection.

[HotI]

Our lounge/kitchen is open plan so we would really long fence /gate to keep the dogs out of the lounge. We now have a playpen with the dog's beds inside it which keeps them away from baby's stuff if i have to move & can't monitor them. It will also give them some respite away from her when she is crawling & liable to bug them. Just thought i'd mention it.

[crumpet]

we have trained them from puppies so they know that they dont eat until after us, if we hand feed them something we say "gentle" quite sternly and they nibble it out of our hands and they know when u are inside u sleep on ur bed.
sometimes the bed thing goes out the window if they want to lay in the sun, or if they decide to be silly, which if they carry on now i boot them out for 15 mins and they are then allowed back in.

i plan on getting a play pen for times where i need to leave the room and baby is in her swing or on the floor so they cant get near her, when she is moving ill be putting them out until i can supervise them all again....

ive been out today and they went outside so we are making small amounts of progress!
DH is letting me do the new routine as such because im the one home with them all day everyday, in the hope they respond to that, they do as he says straight away, it takes me 3 goes usually.

im determined and ill stick to it because i dont want hassels when she is born.


when u ladies had ur bubs, did u send clothes/blankets etc home with ur DH for the dogs to sniff??
did it make a difference?

i thought id get DH to place a few around the house, so on the couch, in her swing and bed, places where she will be so that they get used to her smell for when she does come home?

[YoYo]

Curmpet - I didnt do the blanket thing but i conditioned charl to a babies cry by playing them on u-tube. I didnt fuss over max when charl was around so charl knew he was just like part of the furniture IYKWIM. I put up a gate at max's door and charl just ended up sleeping outside his room.... no gate.

[crumpet]

Curmpet - I didnt do the blanket thing but i conditioned charl to a babies cry by playing them on u-tube. I didnt fuss over max when charl was around so charl knew he was just like part of the furniture IYKWIM. I put up a gate at max's door and charl just ended up sleeping outside his room.... no gate.

oh thats a good idea.... i might down load some noises like that and play them randomly as well....

ive got all these "plans" of what ill do, hopefully it works!

im happy for them to come into her room if im there and to be near her if she is awake to sniff and stuff so i have to work out the best way to introduce them all so there is no jealousy issues.