Preparing pets for baby's arrival

Danalana wrote: Did any of you have inside furbabies when you brought a baby home? Especially a first baby. Our 2 dogs are completely unfamiliar with babies, and have only heard babies cry when I watch "Birth Day" or "A Baby Story". DH and I are going to make sure to soend quality time with them, still...it's important to us not to alienate them you know? JoJo is my first baby, even though he isn't a person. Do any of you have suggestions that could make the transition easier for us? I heard something about bringing in the blanket baby is wrapped in BEFORE bringing baby in. Apparently, this gets the furbabies used to the scent of the baby and can make it less surprising when you introduce the baby. Ideas, please!

Kentuckychick replied: Set limits now.
Make whatever room/area the baby will sleep in be in off limits when you aren't in there (this way you're doing it now and not when the baby is already there... no resentment). Use this time to get them used to the way a baby will likely tug the tail or move towards them fast. Give their tail a tug every now and then and be there to reward with a treat when they don't nip or get upset (of course it will be important to teach Kade not to do that as he gets older, but babies don't know better).

I think one of the most important things is to just watch them the first few days and you'll know pretty quickly how they'll react. The people I nanny for have a shitzu and it did not like E. at all... of course he didn't like the 5 year old much at the time either. The parents did the rough play and tail tugging and goofing off with him with rewards and now when E. goes after him he just runs and hides, but if he gets him he just sort of lays there and whimpers until one of us (I'm always about a second behind him) tells him no and he lets go. He hasn't bitten him.

Also I think it's important to remember that there have been a number of reports of babies being bitten/attacked by dogs while they are in infant swings. They aren't sure what causes it but they think it's something about the motion and the sound sets them off. So just make sure never to leave the dog and the baby unattended even if the dog seems gentle enough.

Danalana replied: Yeah, we've discussed never leaving him alone with them, if nothing except for the fact that they won't understand he's a person for a while. So no worries there. I just want it to go as smoothly as possible.

Kentuckychick replied:
I've also heard where you could have your husband take a blanket home that Kade's sleeping with at the hospital before you leave the hospital -- so the babies become familiar with his scent.

Danalana replied: Hehe, I mentioned that in the first post We definitely plan on doing that.

Kentuckychick replied:
Lol -- fuddle brain over here

Danalana replied: I understand.

BabyOwen427 replied: We've got two dogs and three cats. And for the most part the dogs weren't bothered by Owen when he first came home. They sniffed him and I guess 'sensed' he was okay. They're really protective of him. If unfamiliar people come over to the house and go near him the dogs get defensive and stand between them until I or my DH tell them to lay down. That's been our only real problem with the dogs. I've never heard of the swing being an issue with dogs. Mine didn't seem bothered by it.

With the cats my issue at first was them laying on his clean laundry or napping in his crib. I still get irritated when they lay on clean laundry. And I've figured out that if I leave the crib sides up all the time the cats don't get in it. So the sides of the crib only go down when I need it to. I was also really worried when he was a newborn sleeping in the bassinett of the cats climbing in with him. I was paranoid about that but I never caught them in the bassinet.

I think if you are going to allow your dog to follow you through the house (like my dogs do) then trying to restrict them from the babies room would be pointless. Because at some point they are going to follow you in when you have the baby in your arms. What you could work on is training them to not climb on furniture (if that's a problem) and to leave baby toys alone. I have found destroyed toys because my lab got to them.

I hope this helps you some, I think I've mainly just rambled on

ETA: I wanted to add that now that Owen is a toddler the dogs are great with him. They just lay on the floor as Owen climbs over them and plays with them. Owen loves to give the dogs and cats hugs. If it gets too intense for the animal they just get up and walk away. And they are still protective over him around unfamiliar people.

Nina J replied: I would try to reinforce that the babys room is off limits. A newborn was mauled to death by the family dog recently here. Thats a terrible thing to say and won;t happen to you, but even if you've had a pet for years they can still be unpredictable.

I've heard of people getting baby dolls, cbecause they kind of looklike the baby and get the animals used to having the baby around.

Good luck Also, just remember to give your fur babies lots of love once Kade is here, so they don't feel left out

lovemy2 replied: We have a German Shepherd - a wonderful but fiercly (is that a word? ) loyal dog - and very jealous in some respects - we brought home a blanket that the baby had in the hospital and put it on her bed before we came home - we never changed where the dog could or couldn't go - she is the kind of dog that would rebel KWIM? Not (well obviously you never know) but we never feared she would "retailiate" against the baby but in other ways - she can be a bit of a priss - so we just made sure she was never alone with the baby, we introduced her to the baby - we put the baby on the floor WITH us and the dog, etc. we involved Maxi in her/his homecoming, etc. all went fine - Maxi loves the kids and if she gets annoyed she just gets up and walks away.....

gr33n3y3z replied: Our dog never had problem with the kids either when they came home from the hospital.
The dog was just very protective of the kids.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Dudley, our cocker spaniel, was 7.5 when we had Olivia. He was definately a part of our family as our all our previous and subsequent dogs. He had no previous experience with babies in his house for the long term. Both our dog trainer and vet suggested spending a little less time with him in the months before the baby came. That worked OK til they put me on bedrest at 34 weeks. He was on the couch with me for the rest of the pregnancy.

We never shut him out of any room or shoved him aside in any way in "preparation" for Olivia. The room that was her nursery was previously our guest room and we didn't use it all that much anyway. He had no connection or territorial issues with it so there was no concern there for us. I did have my parents take home the clothes she wore at the hospital so he could sniff them.

The only issue we ever had was right when we brought her home. We thought it was so hysterical and we still laugh about it. In we march with baby Olivia. Dudley sniffs her a little while she's in my arms, walks to the back door and poops. Guess we got his thought on the whole baby thing in one fell swoop!

Dudley sat by or on me when I nursed and fed her. We weren't infant on the floor people~Olivia was either in her crib, being held or being wore for the first 3 or 4 months so leaving her unsupervised was never an issue. His schedule with us didn't change much at all. We still walked him, gave him plenty of attention, he still slept in bed with us, etc. It was just a total non issue for all the worry it was.

TBH, I've had several family and friends with well established furbabies before they had their real babies and not one has ever had a problem. According to both the vet and the trainer (both told us this seperately) if the dog is not a "problem child" now he/she won't be when the child comes. If your dog is already territorial and possessive, you might have an issue. If this were the case in my house, I'd find a certified trainer and work it out ASAP. If your dog is generally laid back and has a good disposition, he'll likely be fine. I think pushing him aside or putting up all kinds of restrictions he can't possibly understand will only breed resentment. I personally know of no one who did that.

Danalana replied: Thanks yall
Both our dogs are little, so there's no fear of them getting in his crib. I know they wouldn't try to eat him or anything but, as somebody said, they could maul him, not understanding that he is a person. So we will not be leaving Kade in a place where they can get to him when we're not around. I'm just so nervous. It's important to me that they still feel loved and cared for...luckily, DH feels the same way. Between the 2 of us, I know we can do it I'm thinking of using Kade as a positive thing for them that gets them treats. They absolutely love treats (JoJo is standing by the treat door now and staring me down )! Maybe I can let them close and then reward them immediately with a treat because they are good? I gotta think on it some more. But anyway, thanks again!

Kirstenmumof3 replied: The only thing we did was set everything up before the baby was born, crib, playpen etc. and when the baby was born DH took a diaper home from the hospital and let each of our pets smell it. Our animals had no problem adjusting to a new baby.