2 dogs and a baby?

niavd

Myself and my other half are expecting our first baby in June. We are both really excited and nervous as all first time parents would be I presume.

However the issue that has arose is that we have 2 large dogs, one lurcher cross and one boxer cross - so high energy, very loveable and completely part of the family. We have one of them for the past 3 years since a pup and the other one we just adopted about 7 months ago and is now 1 years old. They are both fairly well behaved dogs but do demand a lot of time - regarding walks etc and can get quite hyper when they are over due a walk. They live in the house and are walked atleast once a day but most times twice.

My parents are both putting pressure on us now to think about the dogs future and would we not be best to rehome atleast one of them as 'how could we possibly have time for 2 dogs and a newborn'. I cant even begin to imagine getting rid of either dog and my OH wont even entertain the subject.

I just want to know if anyone else has managed a situation like this and has it worked out ok? Or what is your honest opinion on the situation and its possible outcome?

Latatian

Lots of people have dogs and small kids. And it's not like they're young pups needing all their training. Sure, you'll have to remember to make time to walk them but that might be a lifesaver in terms of making yourselves get exercise and a bit of headspace.

Of course you'll have to remember to keep them separated from the baby, supervise everyone etc. But sure if you had two kids and were having a third people wouldn't be like "well you'll never be able to manage if you don't get rid of one", and kids take more time and trouble than dogs do- and rightly so.

Knine

I'm a single parent, one of my children has a severe disability. I have 4 high energy dogs. It is difficult at times but I manage. With an other half to help I can't understand why you would rehome one of your dogs. It sounds like the usual New Baby excuse. Sorry probably not what your parents want to hear. You can do it & sure walking the dogs after junior arrives is a very good way to get fit again.

Good luck with your decision

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

Flippyfloppy

First off congrats! I'm no expert on dogs, but I do have kids. The one thing that comes into my mind is, do you work? In the early weeks when your partner is recovering from birth and baby needs to be fed and winded every couple of hours day and night will you be there to take the dogs for a walk? It would obviously be extremely difficult to have the time, plus logistically two dogs on a lead & wearing or pushing a baby wouldn't work.

If you don't decide to change their living arrangements, do let them get used to any impending changes from now. I.e., more outside time, only allowed in kitchen/hallway, no more sleeping upstairs with you, get them used to cots being around, some parents put the Moses basket into a travel cot to stop curious dogs jumping up for a look. They'll also be less curious if they're used to these big items being around before the loud new human arrives

Dial Hard

My neighbour had three St. Bernards and fell pregnant unexpectedly. Then found out it was twins. Both his and her parents put serious pressure on them to get rid of the dogs.

The girls are now 5, the dogs never went anywhere and the world didn't burn.

It can absolutely be done, with a bit of planning, cop-on and preparation. Good luck!

Ms Doubtfire1

I grew up with dogs.My parents were always supervising and it taught me respect to all living things.There is nothing better for a child than to grow up with animals. Make the dogs part of your daily routine, when you change diapers, let them be around to get to know the babies smell. I myself had a  boxer when i had my daughter and when she came home the dirty diaper was handed to my dog to have a good and decent sniff. There were never an issues.Babies need daily walks, bring the dogs along - they will soon cop on that baby goes in pram or carrying sack, it's walkies time.Make sure all their connection to the baby are good ones. If they are not good on the lead yet, now is the time to take a couple of courses to train them.teach them with a pram with a doll in it or take obedience courses with them. Also, the dog hair and un avoidable dirt will highly improve your babies resistance to all kind of colds and pretty much make sure he or she will not grow up being allergic as the body builds up it's resistance levels at a young age best. My daughter hasn't had a flu in her life and her colds can be counted on one hand. Congratulations!!!

niavd

Thank you for all the positive replies.
Both dogs are reasonably ok on the leads and I have just started to teach the newest one to walk beside me - she is catching on very fast.
I am trying to think of what problems might arise when baba comes along so I can fix any issues that might come up but I honestly cant think of anything that we cant handle.
I currently run the hoover over the floors most mornings before work - I cant stand dog hairs gathering in corners of rooms etc and will hope to continue this after baby arrives - and my OH will obviously be there to help. He will be working fulltime but I will be off for the 6months maternity and although I know the tiredness with a newborn wont make things easy etc im sure I could fit an hours walk into the day with dogs and baby in a decent pram - or I could invest in a sling.

I know my parents are only worrying because neither of them had dogs when I was little and every dog we had when I was growing up they ended up getting rid of so I don't think neither of them realise how much part of the family they really are. They don't think we are being realistic about it all and they think we have our heads in the clouds half the time but we adopted the 2nd dog whilst trying for this baby so it wasn't a complete surprise and we knew this day would come.

borderlinemeath

It's very manageable. I have 3 setters, high energy dogs, all in around 25kgs and we had a baby last year. I also mind dogs so we had to be more prepped than most!

1/ Stairgates - everywhere. Put them up before baby arrives, get the dogs used to them. You can get tall pet specific ones as your dogs may be able to jump the regular kind.

2/ Get the dogs used to having their own designated area. Be that the kitchen, or utility, or hallway - are they crate trained? Very handy, particularly in the early days when you might have loads of visitors coming over to see the new arrival. It's a retreat where they can go with a treat to relax.

3/ Get your equipment up and assembled early, buggy/pram, cot, changer, push the buggy around so it's not a strange moving metal thing when you finally get to put the baby in it. (You'd be surprised how many dogs may be scared of them)

4/ You can play sounds of baby crying (youtube) and carry a doll about in your arms - again so it's not a big deal when you're carrying a real infant! Are either of your dogs prone to jumping? If they are, it might be worth investing in some training to stop it. One of mine was a brat for jumping, and I trained him to stop jumping on me, but my husband didn't get onboard with the concept until the dog knocked his phone out of his hand and smashed the screen;)

5/ Bring the baby clothes home from the hospital and make sure they can smell the scent. And I would be doing some gentle introductions from the get go - rather than keeping them apart. Of course they'll need to be fully supervised but I wouldn't be excluding them from family time, a newborn can't do much other than cry, so once the baby is in a safe space in the living room (ie in a moses basket or pram) then there's no reason that they can't be in the same room once you're there. It's not until baby starts moving about and gets more dexterous with their hands is when you'll need eyes in the back of your head

I would imagine that if your parents are the "get rid of the dogs" type, then they would be of the notion that if you do keep them that they'll be out the back garden because they're "too dirty" to have around a baby. It's been scientifically proven that babies and children that grow up with pets as part of the family have a far stronger immune system and suffer from less respiratory illnesses such as asthma. As a bit of anecdotal evidence, my 15 month old has only been to the doctor for her vaccinations, and has only caught one cold, which wasn't even that bad of a cold!

Bells21

Congrats on your fantastic news. The dogs are very clearly part of your family for the way you speak of them. Would you consider involving a dog trainer closer to the time to help ye and the dogs prepare? I'm sure they would have some very practical advice for ye in terms of introducing the dogs and keeping every one safe and calm. They might also be able to help you get the dogs used to walking along with a pram etc.

VonVix

Bells21 wrote: »

Congrats on your fantastic news. The dogs are very clearly part of your family for the way you speak of them. Would you consider involving a dog trainer closer to the time to help ye and the dogs prepare? I'm sure they would have some very practical advice for ye in terms of introducing the dogs and keeping every one safe and calm. They might also be able to help you get the dogs used to walking along with a pram etc.

It would be more advisable to start preparing now, makes the transition much more smooth and less sudden. A good trainer may be useful closer to time (also depends on how close you're thinking), but they mightn't be a huge amount of use without a bit of work having been done already.

OP, ensure you can have an routine that you can stick to in terms of exercise for your dogs, it's the change in their routine that they can struggle with. If you're inclined to be the only one walking the dogs on a regular basis, or you usually walk them together, try and have your dogs used to being walked just by your partner.

Youtube videos of babies crying, reward calm behaviour when holding a baby doll (if you can get a blanket from a family member or close friend who currently has a baby it can help in terms of smells), start training your dogs not to jump up on you, especially if you're holding anything in your arms.

Baby gates and crate training may be useful to you as well if you do not have them crate trained already. Creating a safe place for them to go can be VERY useful if you have a newborn. You can start simply by having a crate for them each and feeding them in it (without shutting the door) to build up the enjoyment of the area, and make small steps along the way to reinforce it.

Think about where your dogs sleep now, are they in your bedroom or downstairs? Also, are you going to have a room just for the baby? Put a babygate up there now so the dogs get used to not entering that room.

Also, congrats!

niavd

Neither of my dogs jump up - thank god. We have put quite a bit of work into training them already and have a dog trainer that knows both our dogs IF we feel we will need help with anything major.
With regards to baby gates, we might need to put one on the kitchen door so that can be their room if we need them to be away for any particular reason.

One of the dogs is already crate trained but our other dog is quite fearful of enclosed spaces so I don't know if it would ever work - also fitting another large crate in the house isn't really an option, they are too big BUT I will say that he is the better trained of the 2 dogs and so is more responsive to commands etc. so I don't think he would need it. I could maybe benefit from a couple of training classes to sharpen their memory and the whole buggy and doll idea is great so will definitely incorporate this into their training as of January (and when I buy a buggy, too afraid to buy anything prematurely).
The baby noises don't phase them at all.

The dogs are not allowed upstairs and that is where baby will sleep etc so that shouldn't be an issue either. And if they do happen to go upstairs they know they are not allowed into the rooms without being called in and so will happily lie out on the landing.

As you can tell, both dogs have manners and I have put the work into teaching them most the basics etc so its so frustrating to think that my parents are so against the idea of keeping them when baby comes along.

Really appreciate all the replies.

VonVix

niavd wrote: »

Neither of my dogs jump up - thank god. We have put quite a bit of work into training them already and have a dog trainer that knows both our dogs IF we feel we will need help with anything major.
With regards to baby gates, we might need to put one on the kitchen door so that can be their room if we need them to be away for any particular reason.

One of the dogs is already crate trained but our other dog is quite fearful of enclosed spaces so I don't know if it would ever work - also fitting another large crate in the house isn't really an option, they are too big BUT I will say that he is the better trained of the 2 dogs and so is more responsive to commands etc. so I don't think he would need it. I could maybe benefit from a couple of training classes to sharpen their memory and the whole buggy and doll idea is great so will definitely incorporate this into their training as of January (and when I buy a buggy, too afraid to buy anything prematurely).
The baby noises don't phase them at all.

The dogs are not allowed upstairs and that is where baby will sleep etc so that shouldn't be an issue either. And if they do happen to go upstairs they know they are not allowed into the rooms without being called in and so will happily lie out on the landing.

As you can tell, both dogs have manners and I have put the work into teaching them most the basics etc so its so frustrating to think that my parents are so against the idea of keeping them when baby comes along.

Really appreciate all the replies.

You sound like you're on the right track, you'll be grand. Often the bigger struggle is when a baby starts crawling/grabbing things, that's when parents probably feel like they need a whole new set of eyes on the back of their head. Easy enough to teach a dog to behave, much harder to teach a toddler!

niavd

Also the dogs sleep downstairs in the kitchen at night. They used to sleep up in our room but with 2 of them it was just more practical to start leaving them downstairs - and I love having a dog hair free bed and room.
So most of the drastic changes are already done.

They used to be allowed up on the couches also but we stopped this aswel as there wasn't enough room for myself, my Oh and 2 big dogs on the one couch so all 4 feet stay on the floor now and they have their own beds in the sitting room where they lie in the evenings when we are watching telly etc.

borderlinemeath

niavd wrote: »

Neither of my dogs jump up - thank god. We have put quite a bit of work into training them already and have a dog trainer that knows both our dogs IF we feel we will need help with anything major.
With regards to baby gates, we might need to put one on the kitchen door so that can be their room if we need them to be away for any particular reason.

The great thing about stairgates is that the dogs can see you and be close to you but separate if needs be. Something as simple as running to the bathroom when you have a newborn can be hard enough, you want to leave the door open so you can listen out so closing the door to keep the dogs out of the room isn't feasible (and baby might have supersonic hearing and might stir if you close the door!;)).

One of the dogs is already crate trained but our other dog is quite fearful of enclosed spaces so I don't know if it would ever work - also fitting another large crate in the house isn't really an option, they are too big BUT I will say that he is the better trained of the 2 dogs and so is more responsive to commands etc. so I don't think he would need it. I could maybe benefit from a couple of training classes to sharpen their memory and the whole buggy and doll idea is great so will definitely incorporate this into their training as of January (and when I buy a buggy, too afraid to buy anything prematurely).
The baby noises don't phase them at all.

Can you borrow a buggy off a friend/family member to see how they react when you move it around? Depending on if they're fearful you might need to spend a bit longer desensitising them. If they aren't perturbed at all then you can leave if until maybe a month to go, just so it's a familiar item in the household. If lots of new things start appearing the week you bring the baby home it may stress them out. It's not a certainty, it may not bother them in the slightest, but you want to try and minimise any stress they may feel.

The dogs are not allowed upstairs and that is where baby will sleep etc so that shouldn't be an issue either. And if they do happen to go upstairs they know they are not allowed into the rooms without being called in and so will happily lie out on the landing.

Your baby will sleep a lot of the day, and the handiest place for that may be close to you if you're downstairs! My baby never napped in the bedroom, always either in her pram or in a travel cot that I got for the living room when she outgrew the pram. Most standard travel cots are square, but you can get them cot size so you can put a standard cot mattress in it. I got mine on amazon and the mattress in IKEA. She still uses it everyday. (and its a great place to tidy away all the toys at the end of the day)

As you can tell, both dogs have manners and I have put the work into teaching them most the basics etc so its so frustrating to think that my parents are so against the idea of keeping them when baby comes along.

Really appreciate all the replies.

Different generations have different views on pets, older generations tend to be stuck in their views and their way is the only way. Your pets are your responsibility and you know they're not disposable for when the baby comes along, you just need to articulate that to your parents. Be firm and insistant, and also point out the benefits that pets bring to children - the boost to their immune system, the development of personal responsibility and empathy etc.

And besides, when the baby comes, you'll find you'll have to be more persistent with your views on raising him/her. Grandparents always mean well but you'll find you'll be clashing over everything, from sleeping arrangements, feeding, weaning, even if you wanted to take infant swimming lessons (the horror, how could you put an infant into a dirty swimming pool!!) Don't worry, you'll know best for your baby

scudzilla

We have 2 dogs (boxers), both female, Brodi is 7 and Piper is 2, Aoife arrived in July.

The first day she was brought home we put her on the floor in her car seat and let the dogs sniff her, didn't exclude them in ANY way at all

They both love her to bits, Brodi is more like "Meh, the babay's crying" but Piper is all over her, wherever we go with her she follows.

When she goes up to her cot at night 1 of them will periodically go upstairs to look at her, she loves them too i think, she laughs when they lick her hands and she rams her hands into their mouths, they're toally fine with her

borderlinemeath

I raise you a wookie with 2 dogs, to a wookie camouflaged with 3 dogs

niavd

That's brilliant, both your babies wearing the same clothes. Adorable!! I hope and pray our 2 will be that good when our bundle arrives in June. Thank you all so much for the comments - it has helped more than you will know :-)

scudzilla

niavd wrote: »

That's brilliant, both your babies wearing the same clothes. Adorable!! I hope and pray our 2 will be that good when our bundle arrives in June. Thank you all so much for the comments - it has helped more than you will know :-)

Something else we did, my wife was in hospital for 3 days after birth, each night i brought a baby grow that baby had worn and gave it to the dogs to sniff, just so they could 'get used'?? to the scent?

Good luck with the birth

niavd

scudzilla wrote: »

Something else we did, my wife was in hospital for 3 days after birth, each night i brought a baby grow that baby had worn and gave it to the dogs to sniff, just so they could 'get used'?? to the scent?

Good luck with the birth

Yes we will definitely do that.
And when I buy the buggy - hopefully after I get to 20 weeks, I will walk the dogs around with it a little. I don't think there will be too much trouble with that. One of our dogs has seen buggies plenty of times before and the other one is so laid back I don't think she will care.
I might borrow a doll from someone too closer to the time and see how that goes down wit them both - one that cries and makes noise preferably haha.

sillysmiles

niavd wrote: »

As you can tell, both dogs have manners and I have put the work into teaching them most the basics etc so its so frustrating to think that my parents are so against the idea of keeping them when baby comes along.

Thank you for making it work and not going to the "we are having a baby therefore must dump dogs" mentality. In general, I think I would find the parents trying to dicate at this stage what is best for your baby more annoying.

borderlinemeath

Another thing that you might consider is using a dog walker for the early days. At the start it can be difficult (and sometimes daunting) getting out and about with a newborn (and all the paraphenalia that goes with them!). Also timing is of the essence with feeding on demand or every couple of hours in the first few weeks so the dogs walking routine may be a little out of kilter and take a little while to establish.

Even in the latter stages of pregnancy you could get your dogs used to a local dog walker, so if you have a day that you're sleep deprived or even a day like today with relentless rain that the dogs are tired out and relaxed and you don't get stressed about it. It could be a lifesaving number to have in your phone.