when I got PG with Paige, Sheppy(border collie) really started keeping his distance for a fair amount of the PG,We did all of the pre-introduction things including have DH bring home things from the hospital with the smell, when we came home we put Paige on the floor and Shep gave her the once over wagging his tail he was fascinated he looked at me as if to say 'oh I understand now, is she really ours?', as time went on he stayed close to her and when she started kicking her legs reliably he got his puppy toys and placed them at her feet and would move them back in to place as she kicked them...VERY CUTE,
once Paige could reach out and touch her Shep became a little more wary of her and keeps his distance mostly (but takes advantage of times when her hands are full to swipe her across the face with his tongue), he pretends mostly disinterest lately when she grabs him in a bear hug saying 'love you sheppy' you can almost see him rolling his eyes but if I come home without her in the car he gets most concerned and will continue to hunt for her and continues to give me daggers until we go and collect her from where ever she is.
When Paige goes to bed at night sheppy bundles the clothes that she was wearing for the day under his chin and sleeps on them like a pillow
I think they really will be the best of friends in time.
The best piece of advice I've been given about mixing babies and pets is to not change your pets way of life once the baby comes home. So if your dog is an inside dog, let him continue to come inside - if suddenly he's locked out he'll attribute that to the arrival of the baby and might resent it.... If you want to make changes to thier lives, do it well before the baby arrives so they can get used to it.
Having said that, I'm due in 5 weeks with our first bub, and our fur baby (3yo Jack Russell) is in for a shock.
I've been trying to prepare him for the arrival of bubs by giving him boundaries, e.g. must sit on his rug inside - no couch time, not allowed to jump on our bed, not allowed on the chair in the nursery, must sit on command etc. He does all these things and is quite obedient, but my DH treats him like a baby. He carries him around, kisses him, play fights on the floor and more! I've discouraged the floor play fights because soon DH will be on the floor with a baby and I don't want the dog to think it's 'go time'.
I think he'll be fine, although MIL keeps going on about how we'll have to watch him - duh of course we will like any other dog!
I'm going to get DH to bring home baby's clothes for him to smell, then I'll just make sure the dog knows the baby is higher up the food chair than him.
Anyway, that's my say- I'll let you all know how it goes!!
My kittycats have been superfriendly to me during my pregnancy until last night when one of them pee'd on me when I was sleeping! Didn't actually get any on me but she got all the sheets, blankets and doona and the pillow I use to prop my back up...grr had to wash all the bed linen today. She's been so weird the last week, the other day she tried to nuzzle into my head and started chewing on it!
mmm that's odd (and annoying having to wash everything!), I don't know much about cats behavior. Maybe puss is sensing that something is going to change and showing it's displeasure about it?
Hey all,
this thread has been an interesting read !
Kristin - I can really relate to your situation of DH play fighting on the floor ! My DH also does that - Simba (our kelpie labrador cross) loves it of course, but they both get rather full-on. Simba's kelpie nature leads her to take occasional gentle nips, including (to my horror) at the face, which is a really bad habit. DH laughs and thinks it funny but I never let her anywhere near my face (interestingly she is much more gentle with me than DH).... I have been trying to encourage DH to introduce a routine where he puts on welders gloves as the signal and goes outside for rough play, and discourage the face lick/nip games !
Simba is also an inside dog but at night sleeps on her bed in the laundry (closed off from us). She scratched the first few nights when we introduced it 6 months ago, but now takes herself off to bed or when we encourage her with "bed time". Another hint we've picked up is to allow her a few "escape" areas where you never touch or disturb her - for us, it's when she's lying with her head on the step up to the dining room, or in her bed in the laundry. So if things get too much with the baby she can go off and have a break.
but if I come home without her in the car he gets most concerned and will continue to hunt for her and continues to give me daggers until we go and collect her from where ever she is.
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