Home Moms-Pets and babies

[Dreamer_D]

Reading all the responses, I wanted to bring up another issue to think about. Baby''s can really get physical with dogs, so if your dog has any "sensitive spots" like his tail or his legs or whatever, best to try and start working with him to get over that now. I am a firm believer that you can *never* 100% trust a dog with a child, but even when we are all in the same room and I am monitoring things our son will go up and try to "kiss" the dog (aka open mouth lunge at his face

), or grab his hair and pull it, or basically just be overly affectionate. There is a magnet that draws kids and pets together I think! It is hard to keep them apart ever. Anyways, our dog is very comfortable being treated that way, even though I don''t like to let Hunter get too physical with him. So I think just being aware of your dogs quicks now could help avert soemthing in the future. An ounce of prevention I guess.

 

[purrfectpear]

You guys do realize that your toddlers are going to eat the dog food, right?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I''ve been reading this thread with interest as well since we will be TTC later this year and obviously our dogs are a BIG part of our lives (both figuratively and literally). When speaking with our breeders, we stressed that we wanted for our youngest dog to be at least 2 by the time we had kids, which was one of the main reasons for getting Bo in January of last year. Our breeders agree that 2 is a good age to bring home a baby--they are a bit older, so they''ve grown out of most of their puppy tendencies, but they are still young enough to be very accepting of new circumstances. I''ve heard from many sources that 2 is the ideal age for change.

When my friends found out they were expecting, they had several friends bring kids over to their condo just to see how their dog reacted to young kids in his own space. I thought it was a nifty little exercise, even if it''s obviously completely different than bringing home your own kids. Kids sort of flock to our dogs for some reason--our in-laws have neighbors with young kids and when they see the dogs outside they run over and hop on our dogs'' backs (not so great for the joints, kids). I think sporadic kid interaction like this is probably a good indicator of how patient the dog is, haha. Our dogs = very receptive to being poked in the eyes, pulled by the ears and ridden by young children. This is one of the reasons we chose newfs, haha.

Anyway, I know I don''t have anything really to contribute since we have yet to have any human children, but I''ve definitely been planning for the integration of the dogs and children for awhile now and I''m super excited for our human children to grow up among their furry older brothers

 

[elrohwen]

Date: 2/2/2010 9:56:32 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
LOL, thanks! I''m hoping this is the case! Also, how do cats usually respond around babies? Are they inquisitive? I have three and they''re each so different. I''m a little concerned I''ll find one napping in the crib with the LO.

My only experience with cats is with one friend - her cat has always been terrified of the baby, even before the baby could move around much.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 2/2/2010 5:15:51 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
I''ve been reading this thread with interest as well since we will be TTC later this year and obviously our dogs are a BIG part of our lives (both figuratively and literally). When speaking with our breeders, we stressed that we wanted for our youngest dog to be at least 2 by the time we had kids, which was one of the main reasons for getting Bo in January of last year. Our breeders agree that 2 is a good age to bring home a baby--they are a bit older, so they''ve grown out of most of their puppy tendencies, but they are still young enough to be very accepting of new circumstances. I''ve heard from many sources that 2 is the ideal age for change.


When my friends found out they were expecting, they had several friends bring kids over to their condo just to see how their dog reacted to young kids in his own space. I thought it was a nifty little exercise, even if it''s obviously completely different than bringing home your own kids. Kids sort of flock to our dogs for some reason--our in-laws have neighbors with young kids and when they see the dogs outside they run over and hop on our dogs'' backs (not so great for the joints, kids). I think sporadic kid interaction like this is probably a good indicator of how patient the dog is, haha. Our dogs = very receptive to being poked in the eyes, pulled by the ears and ridden by young children. This is one of the reasons we chose newfs, haha.


Anyway, I know I don''t have anything really to contribute since we have yet to have any human children, but I''ve definitely been planning for the integration of the dogs and children for awhile now and I''m super excited for our human children to grow up among their furry older brothers

LOL can you really blame the kids though? Your boys are the size of ponies!!! If my kid ever asks for a pony I''m just going to get a Newfie!

 

[ChinaCat]

We have a lab and so far the dog and baby ignore each other. BUT they are starting to pay attention so interesting to see what the dynamic will be.

We "tested" out our lab with other kiddos before and he loves kids and lets them pull on him, stand on him, etc. But I think it''s different when it''s in their space. He definitely is more needy and unfortunately gets way less attention. I watch him closely and I don''t ever let him stay in a room alone with the baby. So far, so good.

In fact, apparently our cleaning lady got close to the baby (was just being sweet and saying hi) but Rider got in b/w the baby and our cleaning lady and growled at her. So I guess he does feel protective.

For us the hardest part has been giving him enough attention.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 2/2/2010 4:58:18 PM
Author: purrfectpear
You guys do realize that your toddlers are going to eat the dog food, right?

Thank goodness our pup is not free fed!

 

[PinkTower]

We have always had excellent results with our pets and our babies. We adopted a labradoodle from our local resuce group about three months ago. The vet thinks she is about two years old. Here are a couple of photos of her reaction over the weekend when she went over a friend's house who has two babies. First, here she is with the baby girl who was born in November.

 

[PinkTower]

Here is her equally lively reaction to our friend's 15 month old toddler boy as he walked up and down the back of the couch behind her. She is a resuce, so, to my knowledge she has never been around children until now. So, don't worry, maybe you will get a reaction like this when your dog first meets the new baby!!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

This is going to be my kitty:

 

[Pandora II]

On topic...

I have two snakes. They''re happy in their vivarium and Daisy is happy NOT in their vivarium! She''s not that gentle and could easily hurt them. They''ll meet when she''s older. The pythons are harmless and while they ''could'' bite I''m pretty confident they won''t - I used to take them to schools to teach about snakes and they were passed round 20 odd 7 year-olds with no problems.

My parents have always had cats - on the whole they avoid small children and babies. They will curl up and go to sleep with them if they can though, but shutting the door to the baby''s room and using a cat net solves that one. One of my parents cats curled up on the sofa with Daisy at Christmas and the two of them had a nice sleep - they tend to like the bottom end in my experience, I''ve never seen one curl up near a child''s head.

I don''t think any of us got scratched as kids by our own cats - certainly not in anger anyway.

 

[waterlilly]

This is a great thread. Something I wish more expecting parents put more though into. I volunteer for a rescue by fostering dogs and we get more calls than you can imagine from people saying "I''m pregnant, I need to find a new home for my dog".

Sad, really. Some of this is directed toward your specific situation, some just general advice if someone has a dog they are concerned about:

I think the wise thing to do since your dog is still young and a breed that needs firm leadership is to just set boundaries from day one - even earlier if you''ve got the nursery ready. Teach your dog that the baby''s room is off limits - the dog is NEVER allowed in there - claim that room.

Sounds like he knows his place in the hierarchy with you and your husband and you just need to work to establish the idea that he now needs to let one more person squeeze in there above him in rank.

When the new baby arrives - do not let the dog approach the baby. Act as if the baby is a plate of food

- he is not allowed near it. There doesn''t have to be any yelling or punishing at all, you don''t want him to associate the baby with tension or negativity. You have to be consistent - he is NEVER allowed to approach the baby, if you let do it occasionally - you will confuse him and the situation. Remember - plate of food, not allowed, ever. When you see him focusing and moving towards the baby, just give a simple "leave it" and redirect him.

You don''t have to use your baby during the training - you can take one of his/her blankets or socks etc. (it will smell like the new bundle) and put it on the floor - as soon as the pup approaches it, give your command to stay away (leave it, no, away, etc. whatever cue word you use) and be sure to flood him with praise as soon as he complies.

Never let the pup jump on the furniture if you are holding the baby - he has to be invited first, and he has to keep his distance.

Unless someone is 100% confident their dog will welcome the new bundle and submit to keeping the bottom position in the pack, I recommend never letting them "meet" face to face or leaving them alone in the same room. Try to position the baby above the dog - put the carrier on a table and let the dog smell the baby''s feet, or let them smell the baby''s feet while you are standing and holding the baby.

Dogs that are having dominance issues should never be allowed at eye level or to stand over your baby - that is an absolute display of dominance in the dog world and if you are present and allow it to happen you are communicating to the dog - "I am letting you out rank that person"...problems are brewing. I cringe when I see pictures on the internet of big dogs smothering babies - those are not cute pictures to me at all. The intentions behind that behavior are SO different in the dog world than what people are perceiving it to be.

Some dogs get the message very quickly - in a matter of days. They just happen to have a submissive personality and welcome a new family member to follow. There are certainly some pups that might not even need to be taught, it''s just in their nature to be followers. But, unless you already know exactly how they will respond you have to err on the side of caution and clearly communicate the boundaries.

Best of luck!


Oh - For cats - they make these tent/net thingies that you can cover the crib with to prevent cats from jumping in, a girlfriend opted for this and it worked great, was completely safe to use while the baby was in the crib. She also added a cute screen door to the nursery - so they could keep it open essentially but still keep the pets out.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thank you very much Waterlily, your advice was insightful and I appreciate you taking the time to write it all out.

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 2/2/2010 4:58:18 PM
Author: purrfectpear
You guys do realize that your toddlers are going to eat the dog food, right?

LOL! Not mine! I can barely get my kid to eat PEOPLE food. He would live on air if he could

 

[waterlilly]

Date: 2/2/2010 6:14:28 PM
Author: ChinaCat
We have a lab and so far the dog and baby ignore each other. BUT they are starting to pay attention so interesting to see what the dynamic will be.


We ''tested'' out our lab with other kiddos before and he loves kids and lets them pull on him, stand on him, etc. But I think it''s different when it''s in their space. He definitely is more needy and unfortunately gets way less attention. I watch him closely and I don''t ever let him stay in a room alone with the baby. So far, so good.


In fact, apparently our cleaning lady got close to the baby (was just being sweet and saying hi) but Rider got in b/w the baby and our cleaning lady and growled at her. So I guess he does feel protective.


For us the hardest part has been giving him enough attention.

Just a word of advice - I wouldn''t "wait to see" what the dynamic will be. I would establish clearly what the dynamic will be. Your dog, just like your child, needs you to be in charge. It sounds like he''s got that sweet "labness" going on

, but at the same time, if there is no guidance he could easily test his boundaries and if you aren''t giving him direction - it can turn into an unpleasant relationship. Guarding the baby can be looked at in different ways. Either the dog sees the baby as HIS meaning "I''m in charge of this thing, stay away - it''s mine" or "this belongs to my owner, I''m going to protect it from this stranger" type of thing, no way to know what he''s thinking. I personally would not allow the dog to display protective behaviors of my baby if I were present - by stopping him you reinforce the message that you have things under control, you are in charge of everyone in the room - not him. He is not allowed to claim the baby as his.

Once your child is older and you know the dog is fine with it''s roll in the pack order - I''m all for letting the dog be protective of the child.

Just as a general comment:
It''s also SOOO important that there is mutual respect. You have to teach your child that climbing on, pulling parts, petting roughly are not acceptable behaviors. Even the sweetest dog could react with a snap if pain is inflicted. One bite to the face can be nearly impossible to move forward from - you would never look at your dog in the same way again and sadly neither would your child.