How to Introduce Baby to Dogs

First of all Congrads!!!

The only thing I can think of is let the dogs smell the baby's clothes and toys so that he will be use to the smell and when the baby is born. Then when the baby is born gradually let the dogs sniff the baby. This worked for my dog when my son was born.

I had a Boxer when my son was born. He just took to him. I think they just know..... We didn't do anything different. And he was an inside dog. Hope all goes well for you!

as Page said all dogs are different and they too take time to adjusting to the new addition to your family. But you will be surpised as how protective your dog will be of your baby. When i was in the hospital with my twins, my husband would take the the used baby blankets/caps/clothes to my dog (he's a pure breed Lhasa Apso) to sniff. And we also took the class "Preparing your pet for baby's arriva) at the Humane Society http://www.humanesocietyspca.org which is on Fredericksburg Rd.
Its so many things that you do to introduce your dogs to your new baby. Read this (requires acrobat reader).... http://www.humanesocietyspca.org/pdf/general/Preparing%20...
And also read this ... http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/introducing_your_pet_an...

There are lots of good points in these document.

Actually I have been in the same situation, except when I was pregnant I had a puppy and two kittens. I believe that it might be a women’s maternal instinct to want to be nurturing, considering she has a baby on the way. I think a couple of ways to let the dog adjust to change before the baby comes would be to get the dog get use to one area of the house being strictly used for the baby. Also by letting the dog know that particular area is restricted and off limits may help. Just until the baby is a little bit older and the dog has had time to adjust to the new change. You can let the dog know that a particular area is restricted maybe by blocking an area off with a baby door, or merely by reminding the dog everyday that this room is for the baby and is off limits. This also might sound crazy, but get the dog used to the baby smells. Since animals are keen to smell and view smell to be key to other animals’ territory. You can choose a baby lotion that you plan to use on the baby and rub it into a blanket. Then let the dog smell it and place it in the area that is restricted for the baby. This will create a visual memory as well as a memory of smell that can be linked to the dogs’ long term memory bank. You can also set the tone for the baby room or area of the house by creating a soothing atmosphere with soft music, dim lights, and the light baby smell of the lotion or any other fragrance you plan to use around the baby. This hopefully will create a feeling of safeness and security. Also it can be viewed by the dog as a place for sleep, and a calm attitude. Then before you take the baby home for the first time rub the same lotion that you used on the blanket and rub it on the baby and place the baby in the same area that is off limits with the soothing music, dim lights, and light baby smell. Give it some time and you will see the dog adjust to the new little member of the family.

S.

A.-
I read before we had our daughter to take a blanket with you to the hospital that the you can swaddle the baby in, then have someone take it to the house so the dogs can get the scent of the new baby. Also read to tape a baby crying and play it for the dogs this way they get used to the sound before the baby is even home. We introduced our dogs to our daughter a few days after getting home from the hospital and everything worked out just fine.

When you come home from the hospital have your husband carry the baby in the car seat. When you go in hug your dogs and make over them because they will probably have missed you. When they calm down introduce them to the baby, let them smell the baby and baby blankets.

I did this with my son and two great danes, the only problem we ecountered wae when the baby cried all three of us jumped up to check on him, which made for a lot of traffic going in one direction. My dogs became very carefull of my son and very protective, tolorant and loving towards him.

Good luck and best wishes to your whole family!

K.

At the time I had my daughter, I only had 1 dog, a Golden Retriever (I now have 3!). I simply showed her my daughter when we came home from the hospital and that was it. She is the best dog ever and wouldn't hurt a fly, unless it was hurting my family. I let her sniff my daughter and I never excluded her from any room (like the nursery)- if I was putting my baby to bed, she'd be laying right by the crib on the rug. I didn't do anything differently with my dog- I included her in everything so she knew she wasn't being replaced by the baby.

Hi A.. Well, I know all dogs are different, but our dog did amazingly well with our daughter when she was born. We thought he would be super jealous, b/c he was definitely the baby before her. He has definitely had his times of acting out over the last 2 years since she's been born, but never towards her and only minor things. One thing that we did (I don't know if it helped or not), but we when we were still in the hospital we gave my mom one of our daughter's hats (that she had worn) to take home so our dog and cat could smell them. Then they at least knew the smell a little bit before it was attached to a baby. Hope this helps and I'm sure your dogs will be fine.

I have an aussie/rott mix who has been my love for 5 years, and I had my first baby in March. He took to him in a heartbeat. I think if you breastfeed (which I am doing) then part of your scent is on the baby's breath, which I think helps with my guys. Definatly do the thing with the baby blankets and getting the baby's scent to the dogs--that way there is no surprises!!! good luck with your introductions----they should do great and be fine!!! Praise your dogs when they smell your baby and seem relaxed--so they know that this is a "good thing" and not competion. I would allow them into the baby's areas, and only speak harshly to them if they are putting the baby in danger.

there isn't too much you really need to worry about. we had dogs and cats in the house before and after my son was born. if anything the animals were extremely protective of him. if you are in alot of doubt you can allow the dogs to scope out the area the baby will be sleeping in etc. and after the child is born allow the dogs to get used to the babies scent by letting them smell his/her room, blankets etc. according to recent studies having pets in the house is supposed to help children build up a healthy immune system, so having pets around is great for that as well as teaching your child about how to properly interact with animals. i don't think you really have anything to worry about. but you are a new mom and it kind of comes with the territory. good luck and i hope this helped.

Hi A., my name is A. aswell, I have 3 large dogs myself and I was really worried about my daughter when we first brought her home too. What I did was put the dogs somewhere out of the view of the baby for awhile, and then once you get settled in and the baby is settled in then bring the dogs out 1 at a time so the baby won't get overwhelmed, and that way they can see who the new addition is and let them sniff around but not to close you Never no what a dog will do. That's what we did, and soon after the dogs get used to the fact that the baby was there to stay they will begin to watch their every move and be very protective of your child. Now if it is a Pit Bull or any type of dog of that nature I would recommend it be put away in another room and or outside, due to their gun shy nature they usually don't take to new things in their spaces. My family raises and breeds them so I know a little about that. So I hope this adive helps you out. And Good Luck to you, you will be fine. God has Blessed You and Your Loved Ones with An Angel, a Baby is Truely a Gift from God! God Bless You! <3, A.

We have a 18-month old little girl and two dogs and two cats. When we were preparing the animals for the baby's arrival, we played recorded baby sounds for them, so the sounds of the baby wouldn't be new (this worked really well). You can find free sounds on the internet by searching "baby sounds" in google, or I think there are also CDs you can buy with baby sounds, or if you know someone with a baby, you can record them yourself. We were also told to take one of the receiving blankets used to wrap the baby home for the animals to sniff before the Mom and baby went home (we didn't manage to do this in the hustle and bustle).

Good luck!

I've been working with dogs for 6 years now and I've always had them as pets, so I know dogs. I was 20 when i had my first baby, Ender.
The best thing you can do is start setting the baby's stuff up before you bring the baby home. Give your dog a chance to smell everything and get used to the idea of the furnature and clothes. Let the dog know his boundries before you bring the baby home (i.e. if he's not allow near the crib, let him know ahead of time).
When you bring the baby home, let the dog smell 'him' while you are holding him... dogs go on smell alot. Once agian make sure that you make your boundries, if the dog can only smell the baby's make sure that you let him know.
Most importantly, make sure that your dog knows that you love him, but that he is under the baby when it comes to the pecking order...
if you have any specific questions... mostly how to deal with your breed, gimme a shout
hope i helped!
T.

One of the best things I can tell you is try your hardest to treat your dogs just the same as before the baby. I know once the baby arrives your attention will defintely need to be with it, but like if they aren't doing anything wrong then include them. Introduce baby items before the arrival as well. We have a boston terrier who was spolied rotten before our now 10 month old arrived. We just let him be involved in stuff like setting up the nursery and putting together all the furniture. Once our daughter arrived, if our dog wanted to sit on the couch with us and the baby we let him. As long as they are doing good then just let them be. Of course don't ever leave them unattended or set things up for danger but you feel my drift. Now almost a year later our two children are the best of buds and it's so cute. Good luck!!

A.,
I certainly understand your concern. We have 2 dogs ourselves. 1 is a hound dog mix, and is kind of the stereotypical lazy lay by your feet type dog that does not require a lot of attention. However, our other dog is a jack russel mix, who constantly wants to be on your lap, be petted, has tons of energy...and this was the one we were concerned mostly with. Since bringing home our daughter, they were more curious than anything. They wanted to smell and lick her. Smelling is fine, but licking in the face/hands (we have read) is bad. We just seem to talk to the dogs in a very pleasent tone when they are acting calm around the baby, as to assure them that they are behaving very good. This seems to do the trick, and everyone is getting along fine.

Our main problem is trying to stop them from barking when they see the mailman, or someone walking in front our our house. I believe it is good for them to let us know when someone is there, b/c God forbid if someone were try to break in. However, when we have a sleeping baby, loud barks wake her up, and creates a stessful situation. We have not found a solution to this as of yet. Best of luck.
-K.

I would take a blanket they wrap the baby up in soon after delivery home and leave it with the dog. Then when you go home let dad hold onto the baby cause they will be excited about you coming home and you will not be up to juggling new baby and excited canine. Once they have settled down then you can introduce baby to them. Initially, keep the baby swaddled and let them smell. then kick out the feet and let them go there. Train them to smell there. Once the baby is a little older and has some immunity to bacteria it is not as critical. Believe me, once that kiddo can be in charge of it's own mobility you will be lucky if the kid and dog don't eat out of the same bowl. With my daughter I sterilized everything that touched her mouth. If the binky hit the floor we had 3 sterilized ones on standby sealed in nice clean ziploc baggies for duty. When she was 8 months old I was washing dishes and she was on a blanket. I walked out into the living room and the dog was licking the inside of my daughters toes through her tonsils. I figured after that sterilization was a moot point. Not long after that I figured out that once she was crawling that she was taking between meal snacks from the cat's dry food bowl. The first few weeks are the most crucial for cleanliness but once baby's immune system is stronger (usually 6-8 weeks) you can relax a little.

Congrats on the impending arrival of your little life changer. Keep us posted on things,
C.

Hi A.,
there are a number of websites out there to help people indroduce babies to dogs. Please be aware that each dog is individual, just like each person is.

Some dogs may be jealous of a new arrival, just like some siblings are. Some dogs are very welcoming of the new arrival, and are protective of the new baby, just like some siblings are.

The best thing to do is treat your dogs and children all like family, because that is what they are.

I have included a couple of websites to help you along with this process:

Introducing Your Pet and New Baby http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/introducing_your_pet_an...

Also:
http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/newbaby/index.shtml

But I stress the importance of one-on-one time with the dogs after the baby arrives so that jealousy and negative behaviors following doesn't become an issue. This is the same with siblings.

The only thing in that article I don't completely agree with is keeping the dogs restrained when it's just you and the baby. This should not be done unless aggression is an issue.

I hope this helps.
C.

I was very nervous about my dogs with my daughter when she was born, I actually went as far as to build a dog pin and put them outside! My husbands dog was a meanie, so he did stay outside. BUT my dog was a sweetheart, so I finally let her come in when the baby was about 2 or 3 months old and it was amazing how well they got along.... my daughter would smile and pull her tail or ears or prop herself up on the dogs side to see what was going on, and the dog (Sissy Belle RIP) would just lay there and let her do what she wanted. If anyone tried to come near the baby when I had her on the floor with her blanket, the dog would stand guard and bark, I'd have to come out the kitchen and tell her it was ok, then she'd let whomever wanted to hold the baby take her! It was a trip! I've even got a photo of the dog laying at the edge of the blanket on the floor with the baby! MAN I miss that dog! (She was a medium sized dog, mutt=part chow, part lab, part weiner maybe, and some sheperd).

Good luck, I'm sure your dogs will be wonderful with your new baby! (I did sit beside the baby the first time I let the dog sniff her.... making sure they would be ok together). I strongly believe that dogs can sense what is going on with you, so I'm sure they know whats growing in that tummy of yours :) As a matter of fact, my dog got pregnant while I was pregnant, and had her pups 1 day after I returned home with my daughter, one of her pups was breach and I had to sit on the floor stitches and all (had a c-section) and deliver puppies! lol It was pretty neat that we had babies almost at the same time!

Take care,

K.

Hi A....congratulations to you. When my second son was born the nurse in the delivery asked if we had a dog, and then suggested my husband take home the towel they used to clean my baby off with. So while I stayed in the hospital w/ the baby our dog got to get used to the scent from that towel. All was fine we got home. We had a wonderful lab back then, he was always wonderful with our children, so much so that when our 3rd was born we didn't really bother doing that again. We did introduce dog and baby though. And again all was well.

You should have your hubby bring the dog out to you and the baby on a leash, and let the dog smell the baby, then you and let him make sure you are alright. Youcan also borrow some baby stuff from a friend (used stuff) so he can get used to the smell of babies before you bring yours home. some people also suggest having a tape of baby sounds, crying, cooing and such so he gets used to the sounds too. Never leave the baby alone with the dog. Use a baby gate on the baby's room door so he doesn't feel too excluded and then resent the baby because of it.
Good Luck
Jas

Something I learned when I was training my dogs was teaching them to laydown when a child enters the room. It was easier for us because I had a three year old, but both our dogs know that as soon as my kids enter the room they need to hunch down as if they're laying down and stay below my childrens height. I normally bring the dogs in first for a few minutes though ( they're usually the most excited then) and then tell my kids its ok. This way the dogs get out their excitement and I can watch my kids and make sure they dont run to the dogs. I would train them to learn your commands first if they havent and after the baby is born then hold the baby in your hands and tell your dog to sit. This will take time and lots of treats.. Lots of treats! but after repitition the dog will get it sooner or later depending on the breed.

A.,
My husband and I just brought home our first child in October to our 95lb. german shepard/rott mix! While we were still in the hospital, my parents brought home one of the blankets that our daughter had been wrapped in all day and let him smell it to get used to her smell. On the day we brought her home, we left her inside with the grandparents and both of us went outside and saw the dog and let him get some of his excitment out. After he calmed down for a bit, I went in and situated myself with the baby and then my husband brought him in (holding him by the collar). He was very interested and wanted to sniff her, which we let him do...but needless to say, we didn't let him lick her eventhough he wanted to! The first time she let out a cry, he laid down right in front of her! It was amazing! We're very proud of our pup! Now our daughter is almost 5 months old and her and the dog get along great! I am sure it will be wonderful for her to grow up with such a giant puppy (as we like to refer to him!)

Hey A.!

I've heard the letting the smell the blankets and the tape of a baby crying worked really well. I never tried either of those though. My husband and I were worried about my dog, she's a pekingese, lhasa apso mix. We have been married for 3 years and I've had my dog for about 10 years. She still does not like my husband!! She will do everything she can to avoid him but if he tries to pet her she snaps at him. We were very worried how she would act around our baby when we had him, but we were very suprised to see she did fine! When he was 6 months old we got a lab, shepard mix from a friend of ours she was 8 weeks old! She really did well with him too! She was one with a lot of energy and if you were in the back yard she'd just about knock you down when she'd run at you. But we had JJ outside on a blanket playing one day and she came running toward us and all of a sudden stopped about 6 feet or so away, almost laid down and started crawling toward him. It was like she knew she wasnt supposed to be ruff with him. We had never told her anything but not to lick him. I think most dogs know when there is a little one around they cant act the same way as they do with us. I will say i have seen some exceptions to that!! But it really has been very few! JJ is 16 months now and plays with both of the dogs all the time. He loves them! I do still try and give both dogs the one on one time with me while he's sleeping though just so they wont feel left out!! Ha ha! But anyway! Sorry this is so long, but hope it helps!!

Have a great day and Good luck!!

T.

A.:

I went through this with my two very large dogs and my first child, who is now 2 1/2 years old. Keep in mind that your dogs see themselves as your babies, and therefore it's important to make sure the dogs know that they are still loved. Make time for the dogs after the child goes to bed, introduce the dogs slowly to the child, make sure you do not leave the dogs alone with the child, make sure the child doesn't encroach on their space, i.e. their dog bed, food bowls, places they like to sleep. Dogs are very territorial and will defend their space. Dogs are just that, dogs, and they communicate differently than we do; it's not their fault, but if not handled properly, you may have a difficult situation on your hands. It really depends on the personalities of your dogs and the way you handle the situation. I could go on forever on this subject, but it's hard in an email. If you'd like to contact me to discuss it further, I may be able to offer a little more advice. I am a former dog trainer and my passion before settling down was traveling all over Texas and OK showing dogs in conformation, agility and obedience, so I may be able to help a little. My situation is bittersweet: My big male has always been the submissive dog in our family, whereas my female was always very dominant. I think I was too carefree about the situation, and ultimately had to give up my female, as she bit the child and we could not trust her around the baby. My male was the complete opposite. In fact, I have been informed by my 2 year old child that Logan is not "Mommy's Logan", he's "Julanne's Logan". They get along famously. Good luck to you, and if you want to chat about it, my cell phone is ###-###-####. If I can't talk when you call, we can pick a time that's good for both of us. You also may want to make a trip to Barnes & Noble to find a good book on the subject. I'd love to hear more about your dogs. J.

I recently had to figure this one out too. My sister in-law suggested this and it worked great. After our son was born my husband brought home the blanket that he had been wrapped up in for his first few hours of life home to our dog for her to smell. We lesft it ther with her and his next trip home he found the blanket in her bed and to this day(almost three months later) that's were it has stayed. The other thing we did was when we got home with him, like others suggested my husband carried him in and I got our calmed down. Then we laid him on a blanket on the floor and let her check him out. She sniffed him all over and after she was done she wondered off to her bed to rest. Now when ever he cries she is rite there and if we don't get there fast enough she gives us this look like aren't you going to do something about that.

I hope this was helpful! Good luck and congrats

These are all great ideas. something else my ob suggested was turning on the swing and other moving and/or noise toys before the baby is born. Then the dogs can get used to them and won't bother them when the baby is in them or playing with them. It worked great with our son and dog!

My husband and I have 3 kids and we are a very dog oriented family. My husband is a K-9 officer. I work with drug, bomb dogs and rescue dogs. We have 5 family dogs of our own. When you bring your baby home, introduce them to each other. Try never to yell at the dogs if they get to close to the baby, stay calm. Treat your dogs the way you have also treated them especially since they were your first babies. Before you know it they will be best friends.