Introducing new baby to 2 much loved furbabies...

Hi there,
I am in my third trimester & am in the "worrying about everything" stage... ;)

I was talking to a work colleague yesterday, who when she had her first bubba, put the dog "outside" and didn't pat him ever again, nor get any more pets until the kids were over 5 years of age. The idea behind this was that dogs bring dirt and germs into the house (which they do!) and she didn't want to risk exposure to the new baby.

Now, IMO my furbabies were there first, have been allowed to sleep inside (not on the bed), gets lots of cuddles etc and if I just chuck them outside and throw their lives into chaos, I would be being cruel to them! What I want to do is gradually introduce the dogs to baby, allowing them to sniff him, be in his presence during tummy time(supervised of course!) as they are family, so is he! I think that as long as you don't let the dogs slobber all over baby and wash hands before feeding etc, that all "should" be fine.

Am I doing the wrong thing by the baby that's on the way, in thinking that the dogs can keep their lifestyles as they know them as much as possible? Or should I be looking at a total upheaval of how we treat the dogs?

There are different things to consider. I never realised how much hair my dogs dropped until I had a baby - and quickly figured it out when it meant tummy time left me with a baby covered in dog hair - even though I vacuumed regularly. The other thing I quickly realised is my dogs were both uncomfortable being around DD for a long time. One got used to it quickly, the other still isn't sure how she's supposed to behave and sits very still whenever DD is near. We still let them in at night to chill out on a mat, they sleep indoors on cold nights, but they actually prefer to be outside (one of them sits by the door as soon as she's let in).

My dogs were used to being outdoors though - they were out all day, only coming in at night when we got home from work. So this part didn't change for them. Whatever your plan is, get them used to it now so they aren't surprised when bubs comes along. If you decide that the dogs do need to go outside when baby comes home and toss them out, they'll associate it with the new baby and may have feelings of resentment. Make it clear to them now if you've decided that they can't go into baby's room so it isn't something you're trying to battle when bubs arrives. Get them used to walking with the pram. This took a long time for us - one adjusted straight away, the other freaked out completely. One would sit on my lap at night, and that had to stop - I was getting too big for that to happen, plus I knew that it would probably be my baby in my arms once she arrived.

The best thing we did to introduce DD to the dogs was whenever DH brought clothes home from the hospital to wash, he'd let them have a sniff and the day we came home, we put the dogs on leads and brought them out to the car to meet DD.

Two years on, one dog adores DD. They play ball, she's figured out where the crumbs come from :lol: The other dog sits and waits to be told what to do (she's generally like that anyway) and still sits perfectly still should DD go for a pat. It does change, no matter how good your intentions, but you just have to find something that works for you all :hug:

We started making changes to the dog's lifestyle before the baby came along so that he didn't associate these changes with the baby. The first thing was to ensure that he was seperated from the baby for sleeping - so he couldn't get to the baby at night etc. For him it meant moving his bed from the loungeroom to the kitchen but he still sleeps inside, he is just contained to one end of the house.

We also made sure that he got to smell the baby clothes before baby came home from hospital. He was also introduced to other small people before baby arrived so that he didn't freak out. We made sure that we always held baby when he was around and from a very early age established that baby was higher ranked in the pack and he had to wait to be fed, go through the gate etc so that the small people went first.

He has been great with the girls and loves having them pat him and give him treats so it worked well.

I just wanted to add, that I missed our dogs terribly once DD was born. Time was so scarce for me, my mum was away so I didn't have immediate back up once DH went back to work to give me a break. Once baby is here, try not to beat yourself up too much if your time is limited. It will pass. Because one dog was so freaked by the pram (and this is the more playful and relaxed dog), walking them in the early days was impossible for me and I felt so guilty. But we found a routine and life that worked for us all.

Thanks ladies.
In regards to the sleeping, the dogs have their beds in the family room (tiled) and the babys room is off this room, but we will have a baby gate set up so they can't go in. So, they can stay sleeping where they are used to it. Initially, the door will be closed when he's in there anyway, as there is an aged cat to add the mix and I am NOT having the cat have access to the baby when sleeping!

They are allowed into the lounge room when we are in there, but we have a baby gate ready to go for there too, so we can allow access when we wish. We intend to let them still come into this room, but only when fully supervised. If I want to put baby in a swing or something, I will just close the gate.

Luckily, we have a park over the road where we can give the dogs a bit of a run with the ball, so walking with the pram will not be an issue. We can do that when the whole family are free...

Great idea with the smelling of the baby clothes and bringing them to the car to meet him, must speak to DH about that!

for us we didnt really change much at all. we had to wean the dog off sleeping on the bed to her basket at the foot of the bed a few months before DS arrived, she doesnt have dinner until after DS has and isnt allowed to take his food or play with his toys (much as she'd like to!). she was a bit sad at first cos my time was so much focused on DS but we soon found she fit on the rocking chair under DS when he was feeding (who needs a feeding pillow??) and he is firmly higher ranking than her in our pack.
the hardest thing for us was teaching her she couldnt walk across his play mat or share his food but now the are no issues. he feeds it to her on purpose *sigh* and tries to force her to play fetch hehehe

I've found our dog has adjusted really well to having bubs around, and he was always treated like a baby by us. He's inside whenever we are, and we have a tiny house so he's in the lounge with us. He's excellent at staying on his mat when I'm playing with DD, but he was always good at doing what he's told.

I also had DH bring home baby clothes from hospital for him to smell. When we got home, because I hadn't seen the dog for four days, I went in on my own first and had a little play with him - he was so excited to see me again! When he'd calmed down DH brought DD in. We made absolutely no fuss over the fact she was there. He sniffed her butt and left it at that lol.

Until yesterday, DD had all her day sleeps in the pram in the lounge, so we had that out early for him to get used to. When she was in there, he'd get up every time she made a noise, then come and nudge DH or I lol. He's pretty curious about her - he watches her and follows us around. We let him get close when she's awake and we're holding her on the couch, and he's very careful. We just make sure we watch him and he's never alone with her.

Good luck!

Our two dogs adjusted pretty well to the new baby (five years ago...) but we did use baby gates to stop them having access without us being there. I'd encourage you to set them up before you bring the baby home and leave the pram and baby gear around where they can see it and get used to it.

If it's any consolation re dog hair, germs, etc, babies that are around pets end up with stronger immune systems. (FWIW DD is the healthiest kid I know - she has barely been sick in five years!) I vacuumed every day where DD would play on the floor and sleep when she was a baby, to get rid of as much fur as possible. But that was in a carpeted, small house, whereas now we have hard floors and more space, so it won't be as much of an issue.

Unfortunately one of our dogs died earlier this year (after killing a whopping great poisonous snake in our back yard), but DD and our other dog just adore each other. She's 'played' with him since she was about 7 months old. They're also great at removing food scraps from under the table/high chair when you have a toddler! I call them furry mops. ;)

our dogs were used to me being home and they were inside with me 24/7 unless i went out, so it would have been unfair for us to boot them out.

we basically let them sniff EVERYTHING new that came into the house for DD, clothes, blankets, furniture, the works...
we also let them in DD's room so they could familiarise the changes in that room as well...

when DD was born, DH bought home her worn clothes and used blankets and put some on the couch, in her swing and in her cot to get them used to where her scent was likely to be when she got home. they went crazy every night when DD got home sniffing everything for ages!

the day we bought DD home, DH carried her in and we got the dogs to lay down on the floor and DH sat on the floor with them so they could snif, i was armed with a cushion because they dont like the cushions for some reason :lol: so if they over stepped the mark i could tap them on the butt with the cushion and they were just happy to sniff her and find out what she was all about.

we always let them sniff as they wanted but they knew very quickly what their boundries were, and only one has over stepped the mark once, and even then she only tried to take DD's sophie the giraffe when it was thrown.

now that DD is 7months, they walk up to her and she gets all excited by them and we have no trouble, i often find one asleep under DD's cot and the other at her door way.

we didnt change their "routine" at all, kept it as it was and they havnt batted a eyelid

I haven't read anyone elses post so I'm sorry if I repeat anything.

We had a german shep that was our baby for 3 years before DS came along. He was (and still is to a degree) spoilt rotten. Anyway, before I had DS we gradually made the changes we wanted and started letting him go outside more so he'd be used to it and also so that he wouldn't associate being booted outside with the new baby and get jealous. We also started making him sleep outside as well. I know it sounds mean, but you can never 100% trust a dog and until we were comfy with him being around DS we weren't going to take our chances with him doing anything to DS while we were all alseep.
WHile I was in hospital with DS, DH would bring worn clothes home from both of us for Mannix to sniff so he'd get the idea that something "new" was coming. When we bought DS home from hospital we just had him in a nappy and let Mannix (our dog) in for a good sniff. He had zero interest in baby and honed in on my boobs :rollseyes:
DS is 18 months old now and some of the things that he'll do to Mannix would make some of you cringe, I'm sure, especially being such a large dog. We have never had any issues with him what so ever, and I do believe making the changes before bub comes helped that. We didn't banish the poor guy either, never to be patted again... that's just mean :(

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our dogs were used to me being home and they were inside with me 24/7 unless i went out, so it would have been unfair for us to boot them out.

we basically let them sniff EVERYTHING new that came into the house for DD, clothes, blankets, furniture, the works...
we also let them in DD's room so they could familiarise the changes in that room as well...

when DD was born, DH bought home her worn clothes and used blankets and put some on the couch, in her swing and in her cot to get them used to where her scent was likely to be when she got home. they went crazy every night when DD got home sniffing everything for ages!

the day we bought DD home, DH carried her in and we got the dogs to lay down on the floor and DH sat on the floor with them so they could snif, i was armed with a cushion because they dont like the cushions for some reason :lol: so if they over stepped the mark i could tap them on the butt with the cushion and they were just happy to sniff her and find out what she was all about.

we always let them sniff as they wanted but they knew very quickly what their boundries were, and only one has over stepped the mark once, and even then she only tried to take DD's sophie the giraffe when it was thrown.

now that DD is 7months, they walk up to her and she gets all excited by them and we have no trouble, i often find one asleep under DD's cot and the other at her door way.

we didnt change their "routine" at all, kept it as it was and they havnt batted a eyelid

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Thanks so much, I love your approach!
So good to find people who love their furbabies as much as I do! :)

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I haven't read anyone elses post so I'm sorry if I repeat anything.

We had a german shep that was our baby for 3 years before DS came along. He was (and still is to a degree) spoilt rotten. Anyway, before I had DS we gradually made the changes we wanted and started letting him go outside more so he'd be used to it and also so that he wouldn't associate being booted outside with the new baby and get jealous. We also started making him sleep outside as well. I know it sounds mean, but you can never 100% trust a dog and until we were comfy with him being around DS we weren't going to take our chances with him doing anything to DS while we were all alseep.
WHile I was in hospital with DS, DH would bring worn clothes home from both of us for Mannix to sniff so he'd get the idea that something "new" was coming. When we bought DS home from hospital we just had him in a nappy and let Mannix (our dog) in for a good sniff. He had zero interest in baby and honed in on my boobs :rollseyes:
DS is 18 months old now and some of the things that he'll do to Mannix would make some of you cringe, I'm sure, especially being such a large dog. We have never had any issues with him what so ever, and I do believe making the changes before bub comes helped that. We didn't banish the poor guy either, never to be patted again... that's just mean :(

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Thanks so much.
I agree that putting the dog outside to never get pats/cuddles again is just horrible!

I actually got a puppy from the pound when my DS1 was born so they grew up together. I got another one when my DS2 was born and they grew up together. We still have the same dogs and they have never even batted an eyelash about the other kids turning up. They come up for a sniff and a good lick and then wander off lol. BTW they are both outside dogs and don't come inside at all. They never have. I used to have an old shepherd too and she was such a sweetheart that the kids could climb all over her and she even used to help them start to walk. They would hold on to her fur and she would take tiny steps so they could keep up. It was soooo cute to watch them. I wish she was still with us but I had to make the heart breaking decision to have her put down when her hips went on her (age 13). I think it depends on the dogs and what their temperament is.

My older male dog is not as patient as my older female dog and will walk off when he has had enough so I make sure the younger kids don't follow him but my female will lay there and let the kids pull her ears and stick fingers in her mouth and eyes lol she has never even growled at any of my children. They love it when the kids come outside to play and they can join in :)