Newborns and pets

hi,

i have two cavalier king charles spaniels, one i have had since he was 8 weeks old (dexter)and one for three years (Prince was a rescue dog).

Dexter is very friendly, love people and kids where as prince is a little shy and timid due to being abused by previous owners.

I am worried about bringing home our newborn and what is the best way to introduce the baby to the two dogs.

Am asking if any one has any ideas or tips on how they introduce their newborn to their furry children.

Thanks in advance.
Lisa

We have a cavalier cross ****er spaniel and a cavoodle. Had both from pups and when DS came home one was 2 and one was 4. Dogs sleep outside and come on for varying periods during day.

We sat on couch with DS and let dogs sniff on a regular basis, in time they licked his feet (would not let them near face and hands.)

As he got bigger we would have him on floor on a blanket and dogs would come and sniff him.

Since he has been moving him and dogs are all over each other and get alone great.

We did plan on DH taking home a blanket or singlet from hospital for dogs to sniff and get used to but never got there

I have a maltese x shi tzu x poodle (apparently) and she was my baby before the real one came along. I worried how things would go.

She did a lot of sniffing around on the day he came home. I don't think she knew what he was. She was scared of him up until about 6 months when they suddenly became friends. Prior to then if he tried to touch her she'd run off.

We'd get her to sit up on the couch while we held my son & let her lick his feet or on the head (like on the hair) & when he was older put his hand on her.

She still runs off from him if he tries to grab her, but they do get on well now.

There's a great post around from about 6 months ago about how to introduce dogs and babies - has some awesome advice. I'll try and find it... think it may be in the pets area.

sorry hun, can't find it.

My DH took home a wrap that Peter was wearing in hospital. When we came home the next day I greeted all pets on my own without Peter. Later on when things had calmed down DH brought all 3 pets over to me one by one while I was feeding Peter. We had his feet out of his suit & we let them sniff them. We were very careful to not push them & gave them dinner straight after so they'd associate Peter with something happy!!
So far so good - haven't had any dramas with any of them.
Good luck!!

Just wanted to subscribe to this thread! We have a german shepherd (3 years old) who is our baby and we're getting a bit squirmy about how we're going to introduce our actual baby to him!

It should be on the main site? I'll have a sticky

ETA: Here it is!

https://www.bellybelly.com.au/pregna...-your-new-baby

i was initially a bit worried about our dog. he is an outside dog but can be very bouncy and excitable. Before bub arrived we spent time training him (he is already quite obedient) to go down the back stairs when told and lots of sitting. When we brought her home i did take out a blanket she had been wrapped in for him to sniff but he wasnt that interested.

We gradually introduced them to each other, firstly with DF holding DD and me restraining Mr Bouncy, now I'm able to take him for walks with DD in the pram and hang out the washing with her in the rocker - he does have a few sniffs from time to time but usually just ignores her and lies down near me chewing a bone. He really surprised me, i thought we would be fighting with him to stop him bouncing all over her/near her all the time but he has been fantastic!

Teagz, we have a Shephard too. I was a little apprehensive about introducing them, and about how she would take a 'drop in the ranks' but she's largely indifferent. The one thing I have noticed is that she's now a bit funny with other dogs at the park - has growled at a few - which is totally unlike her, as she's usually super friendly and wanting to play. I took her to the vet recently and he said that this is the biggest problem he's seen with Shephards and children. That they tend to be super-protective and can be a bit hostile to others that they see as a threat to their new human-puppy. He said that one family he worked with had to put the dog away when their DS's friends came to play, as if there was wrestling and sillyness between the kids, the dog would snarl at the other child.

Since this, I've also noticed that our dog will often put herself between bubs and visitors - no hostility, just a presence. It's kinda sweet that they're protective, but something that definitely needs to be watched.

We just did what ss_storm suggested - lots of training beforehand. Our dog is pretty well trained anyway, but I made sure that she will go to her bed when told and stay there, and 'leave it' - don't touch something that she's interested in.

I've also got a spare cot in our loungeroom so that if I have to put Ivy down to go to the loo or whatever, there's somewhere secure to put her down so I'm not leaving her unprotected with the dog around.