A precious new addition to the pack

Kash

I have recently found out that I am pregnant with my first child, and with what seems to be par for the course, I am now worrying about anything and everything.

I am just wondering if anyone has any advice/experience on how to get your dogs used to a baby, and how to reduce the risk of them snapping/hurting the child in any way?

They are both big dogs, ladies of mixed heritage, and both are relatively well socialised - the youngest is wary of strangers, but just tends not to let them get too close, she has also been bottom of the pack since day one, and is quite content with her lot. The eldest is very used to people, but can show minor signs of dominance with for example, our cat, or other peoples dogs - she might snarl if they come near her when she is eating, or if they invade her bed when she is sleeping. Most animals pick up on that instantly, or I catch it and correct it, so it never goes further (apart from one time that she snapped at a bulldog who just simply didn't understand the very blatant "you cannot share my bed" signals - and even then, it was a snap and bark in his general direction, she did not attack him)

But of course, like the oblivious bulldog, a child will also not recognise the signals, and even though I would not leave them alone together, I do want to do all I can to minimise the risk of anything happening.

Your advice is appreciated!

Toulouse

http://apdt.ie/index.php/articles/new-baby/

callmekenneth

you're lucky in that big dogs seem to take to babies better but any dog can be nervous of children. have they had any experience with little people? and if so how did they get on?

TooManyDogs

Ahhh congratulations!!

That article Toulouse linked is good.

The one other piece of advise I would give you is to remember that you don't have to let your dogs close to the baby at all in the first few months. It was one of the most important things that my foster mammy dogs taught me and I implemented it when I had my baby and brought her home to my 6 dogs. For about 6 months they didn't get within 6 ft of her. Mother dogs demand a huge amount of space for their puppies, my dogs willingly gave this space and weren't offended but the massive benefit was they understood very clearly the puppies weren't theirs, particularily weren't theirs to correct. My dogs didn't take any offence and where keeping that distance really came into it's own was when my baby started crawling and moving, the dogs understood very clearly that she was my baby, if anyone needed to correct or bite the baby I would do it myself! Letting dogs close access to a baby initially can seem cute, "ahh look he's minding the baby", "he's thinks the baby is his", but that's a disaster because if the dog thinks the baby is his he'll also correct the baby when the baby is mobile.

When the baby is born you'll have neighbours and friends/family offering to do bits for you to help, hand them leads and poo bags, believe me that'll be a huge help to you if your dogs are well exercised, they'll accept changes much easier when they're tired.

callmekenneth

TooManyDogs wrote: »

the dogs understood very clearly that she was my baby, if anyone needed to correct or bite the baby I would do it myself!

LOL

Kash

callmekenneth wrote: »

you're lucky in that big dogs seem to take to babies better but any dog can be nervous of children. have they had any experience with little people? and if so how did they get on?

Very, very little experience - but they have been reassuringly fine with the bit they have got. My husbands 4 year old nephew stayed in the house for a few days over the summer, and the dogs took to him very well - happy to sit quietly while he petted them, and lie down for treats etc.

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Mother dogs demand a huge amount of space for their puppies, my dogs willingly gave this space and weren't offended but the massive benefit was they understood very clearly the puppies weren't theirs, particularily weren't theirs to correct.

Your whole post made a load of sense. I am constantly trying to treat my dogs as dogs, and to learn their dog-world behaviours, which are often a bit alien to our human ones. I should have thought about how the mama-bitch handles it

TooManyDogs

Kash wrote: »

I should have thought about how the mama-bitch handles it

I really wouldn't have thought of it if I hadn't seen it first hand for myself.

The things that really stood to me were really brushing up on my basic obedience, particularily the 'stay' and 'leave it' commands. I got their lead manners really good while I was pregnant so that I could take the buggy out and all 6 dogs on leads looped over my arm, and created a seperate toy box for the baby with just random stuff in it that I also taught the dogs to stay away from and used to throw toys on the ground and taught them to leave it too. That worked until the day I took a dog toy off my baby, she cried and the dogs knowing they weren't allowed touch her toys brought another of their own to give her :rolleyes:

The other thing I implemented was a safe zone where the dogs can go but the baby can't, in addition to that I made sure the dogs knew everything in the house belonged to the baby except this safe zone. If she crawled near to them they weren't allowed growl at her but if they got up and went to their safe zone without any fuss they got a treat. If they growled they got put outside for 2 mins and then back inside to start again.

FoxyVixen

TooManyDogs wrote: »

That worked until the day I took a dog toy off my baby, she cried and the dogs knowing they weren't allowed touch her toys brought another of their own to give her :rolleyes:

What a thoughtful bunch you have

callmekenneth

what sort of dogs have you toomanydogs?

TooManyDogs

A mixed bag!

2 JRTs
Springer x JRT
B. Collie x
Lab x
GSD x spaniel

They're my own but also at the moment living with me are my sister's 2
working sheepdog
lab x greyhound

And a foster terrier and her 2 pups

callmekenneth

TooManyDogs wrote: »

A mixed bag!

2 JRTs
Springer x JRT
B. Collie x
Lab x
GSD x spaniel

They're my own but also at the moment living with me are my sister's 2
working sheepdog
lab x greyhound

And a foster terrier and her 2 pups

holy jehovah, fair play. i'm fostering the world's biggest boxer at the moment (i have a boxer X dane who's bigger than most boxers and he's dwarfed by this gentle giant)



the pic doesnt really do him justice but he'd be bigger than a rottie i'd say

TooManyDogs

He looks gorgeous!