We have 2 silky terriers and 2 working dogs, from the time they are puppies I try to get them used to having food taken off them (bones, dinner bowls etc) and having their feet picked up, touched, grabbed. So far this seems to have worked with my nieces and nephews as the silkies will put up with pretty well anything - including being picked up by the back legs!!! The working dogs seem good with other peoples kids, but tend to get a bit over excited and bowl them over.

I have also been worried about bringing a baby home and how the dogs would react as they are really quite spoilt at the moment. Mum told me that when she brought me home, she was told to put me on the floor and let the dogs sniff me until they were satisfied - apparently it worked as they never left my side after that - probably not a solution that would work for everyone and I'm not sure I'm that keen to try it. I will try to keep walking the dogs every day and make sure they are still allowed in the house at night. I'm sure that as long as the animals that were once the centre of attention don't get left out completely they will cope well.