my fiance and i are expecting our first baby this summer and im already worrying about the loss of attention for my dog.. my dog is a 115lb yellow lab, hes a big boy but acts like a baby, hes a good boy wen no1 is home he just laysaround the house but if anyone is home he follows u like he is ur shadow if u dont pay attention to him he will get into/eat things- sabinets/bathroom/garbage/etc... he maybe 9 years old but he still has alot of the tendencies of a puppy ... the only time he walks on the leash like a normal dog is if i alone walk him.. wen i take him bymyself he stays right next to me and doesnt pull at all.. with anyone else hes like a bull he walks crazy fast the whole time and pulls like a maniac.. we have one of those spikey metal collars for him which was great but now he holds the leash in his mouth so it pulls his mouth not his neck we had a harness but he hated it plus hes just too damn strong.. anyway.. we moved back to new jersey in january (back in with my parents) we had been living in vermont about 8 months with fiances parents so doggy had to stay back in jersey.. i felt terrible because the whole time we were there he only got to take one walk.. my mom is not strong enough to walk him, my dad can handle it but struggles at times.. the one time he took him my dog saw a squirrel lunged forward n my dad slipped on his butt .. basically my fiance is the only one that can control him.. or me and only by myself if anyone else goes with me he drags me all over the place.. weather permitting i have been walking him everyday or at night wen my fiance gets home and he loves it.. hes starting to be able to walk longer and hes not as stiff afterward.. today i was thinking of how great it is and how much i missed him wen we were away.. it got me thinking once the baby comes i wont be able to do that often and i really feel bad i dont want him to feel neglected .. again... my parents cant really handle him as i said and im sure when my fiance gets home from work he will want to spend time with the baby.. i will be a SAHM so im hopeing that i can still give him the attention he wants ... my fiances cousin is in the process of trying to decide wether its best to give their dog up to her brother, she has a 1yr old and the dog never gets any attention... i could never give my dog up but i dont want him to be miserable, he is my first baby ... i just had to get that all out ..someone tell me im being crazy worrying about this lol
You are crazy to worry about this. Worrying won't change a thing. When you see that darling baby, although you will still love your puppy, your world will change. You will be too busy focusing on the baby to over stress on the dog. You will still have time for your dog! Maybe not as much time, but you will manage. No one will suffer........ everyone will just have to adjust.
Don't worry about it till you have a reason, and then deal with it. Take a deep breath and relax - your hormones are making you crazy. When hubs plays w/baby, you can play w/dog. And if you have a baby carrier, you can do dog hugs and stuff. You're not the cousin so don't assume you'll act like they do.
You'll be a stay at home my mom! your dog will enjoy your company and probably regard the baby as one more person to love! You'll put the baby in a front pack and take the dog for a walk -great for dog and you'll burn off the baby weight! Win win! Soon as those pesky hormones settle down you can deal with any real issues(could be montth or two after birth) Enjoy your two babies!
Good of you to start thinking ahead re: dog & baby. You might want to go through another set of doggie obedience training (an old dog can be taught new tricks). He needs to walk reliably on leash with anyone, and with you and a stroller and the baby. There are other elements of obedience, including not being destructive, which it sounds like your guy needs some reminding of.
dog and baby can work, and can work well. some effort on your part now will make it all go that much more smoothly.
good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
Your spoiled lil baby will be fine :). There will be some adjusting, because though you love your pooch that baby will be first!!
When the fiance comes home, let him have some one on one time with the baby and you go take the dog for a walk. If he weren't so hard to control I'd say go for walks w the baby in the stroller when the weather is nice (Good idea bout the training)
Please prepare the pooch and yourself as much as possible, but let go of the guilt NOW. As a parent you'll have LOTS of things to worry/feel guilt for, so prepare and learn from mistakes and don't beat yourself up for it.
Congrats and bestwishes
Our lab mix was great when we had our first. She knew his alpha male and alpha female had a puppy and she was very protective of him. She adored him, and she really basked in the attention he gave her.
Hope it goes as well for you and your furbaby!
Start training him to stay in one spot and walk better with everyone. Reward him like the dickens. You can do simple things with him once he learns to stay. I play hide and seek with my dogs in the house by making them stay, hiding and then calling them once. They love it if I just call them into the next room, then tell them to stay go into the next room and wait a bit and call them again. This will help tremendously when you need him to not be in the way. You may want to see if you can get a dog walker or someone to come walk him or, if he likes to fetch, play ball iwth him. If you work with him you might be able to take the baby in a stroller and him but you'll want him to be 100% reliable and controllable when a squirrel or other animal goes by. It also sounds like he's very smart and checks out who will make him mind or not when he walks.
Totally agree with MamaLucky! We did start putting ours in his crate when we leave because he started having accidents while we were gone...we think on purpose looking for the attention. Separation anxiety because we can't always take him to do everything we do but he loves to be part of the family. I tried to pet him while holding the baby but it's hard and not always possible. I love my dog more than anything and could never give him up but it has been a challenge. A lot depends on the dog though and he may adjust easier than you think. Take each day as it comes and don't worry about it until you have to, but you will need to change things.
It will be fine.
Just prepare yourself for some things;
-dog won't get as much attention
-you can walk him some but not nearly as much as before (you can do this after hbby gets home from work & can take c/o baby)
-make sure dog is good to baby
-never leave baby alone w/a dog
-when I was pregnant my normally quiet dog became protective of me, was uber kind to my baby, was gentle & loving. I still never left them alone unattended
-be vigilant
-accept that your baby comes first
-accept that while you can keep your dog, you won't be able to devote nearly as much time to pooch. And that is still ok esp if dog isn't hyperactive needing tons of attn & activity
-get hubby to help
-It can work
best of luck! :)
i think its good you're thinking about this now b/c you have some time to work on things before baby gets here. you WILL be much much busier and its going to be a big help if your dog is trained so that others can take him for walks, etc. if need be. enroll him into obedience class now so that you have the option of having others help take care of him in case you need it. you dont want to have to give him up b/c you don't have time to take full care of him and noone else can help. good luck!
Have you invested any time into actual dog training? It sounds like you took the easy way out by trying the spiked collar instead of taking the time to really teach your beloved dog how to act. Of course your dog is a smart guy because he already figured out how to work around the collar.
I'd suggest trying a different collar. My dog is only 18 lbs but will pull hard enough to actually knock my hubby off balance. I took him to dog training and found that nothing seemed to work with him. The trainer tried a lot of things with him and ended up using a gentle leader head collar in order to teach him how to walk correctly. The head collar gave me control over his actions because I was leading him by his nose instead of pulling against him. Once we got him walking correctly we switched over to a no pull harness. The no pull harness has the leash attachment in the middle of the front so if the dog tries to pull forward it actually turns him around toward me.
Put the time in now before the baby comes to get your dog walking well and then you'll be able to get out for strolls with your new baby during the summer without having to worry about your safety.
Info on no pull harness can be found here http://www.drsfostersmith.com/1/3/dog-harness-no-pull
