For many dogs, the addition of a human baby to the household is a crushing blow. After all, she was your first baby. Here’s the good news: If you start to prepare your dog for the arrival of the baby in the early stages of your adoption or pregnancy, you can give her the support and training she will need to be a model canine citizen.
First thing’s first. It’s never too late to start training your dog. You can take your dog to local classes, such as those offered by the animal shelter, or you can follow along with online training videos, such as the ones by Kikopup – my personal favorite.
Step 1: Investigate
Now’s the ideal time to start to think of how your dog asks for attention. Does she bump you with her nose or hit you with her paw when she wants to be petted? Does she jump on you enthusiastically when you come home from work? Will she sit if you ask her to…while you are carrying 4 bags of groceries or a basket of laundry?
Step 2: Train and Practice
If some alarm bells went of while you were doing your preliminary detective work, don’t worry. With some training and practice, you can make loads of improvement. Before you decide what types of behaviors you want to train, you need to consider what you want your dog to do when…
- …you are feeding the baby or changing a diaper?
- …you come in the house with the baby for the first time?
- …you are carrying the baby in your arms or the baby carrier?
Then, you can train the specific behaviors you want your dog to do.
- Do you want her to go lay on a special mat when you are changing a diaper? No problem – look for online videos with the topic “go to mat.”
- Do you want your dog to do a down-stay while you are feeding the baby? There are videos for that, too.
- Do you want your dog to stop jumping when people come into the house? I’ve got you.
Of course, if you want more personal support, you can work with me virtually and we can create a customized training and management plan for your family.
Step 2.5 – Getting Used to Equipment
Baby equipment is notorious for swinging, rocking, rolling and making noise. Heck – babies make a lot of noise too, come to think of it. These are all going to be new experiences for your dog, so take advantage of these few months to practice ahead of time. Start slowly, so you don’t frighten your dog. Gently nudge the rocking chair or stroller and see how your pooch responds. If she has soft body language, you can try more. If her ears go back, her tail tucks, or she licks her lips, take it down a notch and help her become more comfortable. Drop some treats onto the floor when she can see the object, but not when she is close enough for it to make her nervous. If she chooses to investigate, reward her when she returns to you, showing her that she has the choice to approach and retreat as needed. Once your pooch progresses (and if you don’t feel too silly), take your dog on a walk alongside your empty stroller. You can repeat these same steps while you play baby sounds from your phone or computer. Of course, your baby will sound different from the ones you can find online, but if the dog responds well to the concept, it will help her once her new housemate comes home.
Step 3: Set up for Success
Photo by Pooch Parenting
This concept allows the dog to be safely included in your family’s life, while ensuring that the baby remains safe. Help your dog get ready to use a safe space before baby comes home. Ask yourself…
- Is my dog crate trained?
- Has my pup learned to eat from a frozen Kong?
- Can she relax on the one side of a barrier while she can see you on the other side?
If the answer is yes, then start to practice! If not, work on each of these behaviors separately so that your dog will be ready to go when baby gets home. A new parent is a tired parent – and by using safe spaces like these, you are being proactive (#parentgoals!).
If you feel overwhelmed, take a deep breath. Becoming a new parent is a big deal. But with lots of practice, you can set your pooch up for success. You’ve got this.
If you want additional support, I offer video-based consults, where I can help you and your dog get ready to have a baby join your family. I also have a self-paced online course called Preparing Dog for New Baby. You can even upgrade and get 2 30-minute sessions with me to discuss your progress.
27 Comments
Brilliant! I love the “success station” notions. Now, to get this info into every expectant parents’ paws!
Wow love this post, so many great tips including getting your dog used to the new equipment he’s going to be seeing around. Your infographic about success stations is fab and very clever. Having a new baby certainly changes the dynamics of a household, but with your great tips it should make for a smoother transition for everyone.
Great tips. Many moons ago, when I was a teenager, we had a dog and then my parents had a baby. I was just a kid back then so I didn’t know any better but we didn’t make any structured changes for the family dog. He loved the baby but I do feel like he was sad and confused about the changes for a while.
This is a great post although I do not have kids it is so important to educate those that do. I am very lucky though as Layla is very good with all kids of all ages so I have nothing to worry about
That’s wonderful! Glad she is an easy going girl.
It can be a confusing time, for sure!
Thank you for the kind feedback! xo
That’s the challenge! I hope we can collaborate to spread the word!
Great post! Not something I’ll personally have to worry about since we don’t have any kids, but important information for sure. I especially liked the success stations info graphic. I’ve used a similar technique for introducing my dogs to new pets.
This is so important. Too many expectant parents surrender pets simply because they are unaware that a little knowledge up front can prevent issues a dog may have with a new baby. These are great tips to help prepare your pooch for a new baby
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
My wife and I had our first child a little over seven months ago (my how time flies!) and were a little nervous about introducing him to our dogs. Thankfully the dogs have been doing alright with their new sibling!
Congratulations! Luckily, there is no rush when dogs and babies live together – it’s a process to get them acquainted.
Yes, we see that all the time at the shelter where I work. Sadly, many of these rehomings could be avoided with a little work upfront before baby comes home. It’s such a draining time that some poor mamas don’t feel like they have a choice.
It works for so many different situations!
I love the idea of success stations. Our dog was very chill when we had our daughter. He seemed to take it all in stride. I think he assumed she was just another foster animal passing through. Our cat had the most difficult time because her routine was a little more shaken up. She was a lap cat and all of a sudden there was a baby in my lap and so she felt a bit left out. We eventually came up with a balance of attention for the pets and baby and everyone ended up being good friends.
I love happy endings. People forget that they take work, like everything else. Thanks for chiming in – this story makes me happy.
This is really great info that all new parents with pooches should know. It’s so helpful to be prepared ahead of time so the entire family can live together in harmony.
Such great advice. I can see that many people will benefit by finding and reading this article.
Great tips! I think people underestimate just how much of a life change it is for their dog when there’s a new baby, and that they don’t always automatically become the perfect older sibling.
Great tips! I’ve heard that cats tend to have more problems when bringing in a baby than dogs, but I’m not sure about the research behind this.
What a great plan- love success stations and info. Such a good way to keep everyone safe. My niece brough her new baby for dinner and Kilo tried to eat him after shouting his displeasure. He normally doesn’t mind kids but the baby totally confused him and made him very jealous. Lucky it was only here one night but we will have to do major training if my girls decide to have families.
Yes – there is a lot you can do ahead of time, which is great!
It’s possible that cats have a hard time, but dogs can probably be more physically damaging to a new baby, which is a major concern.
Great point!
These are great tips! I’d like to add one a suggestion for a baby shower gifts is to hire a dog walker (or volunteer) for a few long walks during the first weeks as everyone settles in.
This is a very helpful post for new mom’s who are pet parents. Thanks for sharing your tips and suggestions.
Great post! When my daughter was pregnant, I did a piece on Huskies and welcoming new a baby. So important to highlight the tips, and I so agree, practice! Practice runs helps everyone get comfy, both humans and our dogs! I was not aware of Family Paws, that is fantastic to have such a resource! Pinning to share your post!
Comments are closed.