Our animals were and will always be our first kids. We adopted our formerly feral cats 8 years ago, and are also parents to a 6-year-old Lab/Rhodesian Ridgeback (Eleanor) and a 3-year-old Lab/Basset Hound (Tucker). Tucker came from a family who had kids, and loves kids and babies. We take him to Home Depot regularly so he can get his share of petting in and kiss the kids that come up to him. Eleanor, on the other hand, has a major kid and baby phobia. She has always had anxiety issues, and kids have been one of her triggers. I worried for a good portion of the pregnancy how Eleanor would get along with the baby, and what we could do to ease the transition.
After Aidan was born, we were lucky enough to have Otter Pop’s mom watch our dogs for the first two weeks while we settled into our new life and routine. I tried to read everything I could about introducing anxious dogs to babies, and found some useful tips online. This article from the ASPCA was especially helpful.
We started by sending Otter Pop’s mom home with some of the clothes Aidan worn so they could get used to his scent. The next step was to bring the dogs over for a short visit. We started with Tucker, and reasoned that if we were able to have him come over first and have a good experience with the baby, that Eleanor would be more at ease when they both came back. The visit went well, and the next day, we had both dogs over.
We kept both of the dogs on leash, and greeted them at the door with treats. We made sure to speak in quiet, gentle voices so that they felt more at ease. Once we had them in the house, I held Baby Sea Otter so the dogs could smell him, and Otter Pop gave them treats. We made sure to let them walk away when they were feeling stressed out and didn’t force either of them to check out the baby. Eleanor was surprisingly calm and didn’t bark when the baby cried. She sniffed his feet and seemed to do well with the situation. I was so relieved that the visit was going well since I had worried about this for so long.
We had several more “dog visits” before they came home for good. We ramped up the time that they were here, and kept them on leash until we felt comfortable. We made sure to reward their behavior and gave them toys that they could play with in the same room as the baby. After two weeks, they came home for good, and we settled in as a family of 7 for good.
One Big Happy Family
We’ve been so lucky that Eleanor and Tucker have accepted Baby Sea Otter and become very protective of him. I know that once he’s mobile that we’ll have different hurdles, but right now I’m just grateful that everyone seems to be coexisting.
Did you have any issues introducing your animals to the baby? What tips do you have?
Preparing Pets for Babies part 8 of 9
1. Babies and Pets by Mrs. Bee2. Fur Babies and Real Babies by mrs. tictactoe
3. Doggie House Rules by Mrs. Sketchbook
4. Making Blue Dog Family-Friendly by Mrs. Blue
5. Preparing the Pup by Mrs. Hopscotch
6. Kids and Pets by Mrs. Chocolate
7. introducing baby to our pets by Mrs. Jump Rope
8. Introducing Dogs to Your Baby by Mrs. Sea Otter
9. Introducing Your Dogs to Your Baby by Mrs. Garland
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
This is a great post! Our dog is great with babies but had a history of being…overly loving to toddlers, so we worried about what would happen when C got bigger/became mobile. Thankfully, time moves slowly enough and the transition from baby blog to mobile toddler is very gradual, so the pup had time to adjust.
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
thank goodness our dog loved both of our kids, she has been so good with them, shes an old cocker spaniel; I could tell both times that she was depressed for awhile at the new additions though.
GOLD / grapefruit / 4555 posts
We had similar concerns about the kids meeting my parent’s dog(s) but were lucky that this new mewling ‘puppy’ wasn’t of much concern to them. They also liked to come guard us whenever we were over and were surprisingly gentle – even the skiddish dog!
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
We had similar concerns about our cats meeting Chloe for the first time.
Both our cats are adopted. Our oldest, Maya, is very easy going and loveable. I worried that she’d be too curious and jump in the bassinet. Our younger cat, Bailey, came from an abusive home. We’ve had her for five years and she is still anxious, skiddish and terrified of loud noises and quick movements.
My husband brought home blankets from the hospital each day so they could get used to the smell. When we brought Chloe home, she was old news to them!
Surprisingly, it was Maya that wanted nothing to do with her and Bailey earned the nickname Mama Bailey. She slept under the bassinet (and later the crib) and would come swat at our feet if Chloe cried or stirred. The relationships have switched ever since Chloe became mobile. Maya is finally warming up to her and snuggling, while Bailey can’t get away from her quick enough!
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
With our oldest son we couldn’t do any of the little tricks like bringing clothes home. We didn’t have access to those things before the day we brought him home. We pretty much just sat on the floor with him and called the dogs over so they could smell him. We didn’t have much trouble until they could walk and pull tails and things.
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
What gentle giants!
nectarine / 2028 posts
This is one of my biggest concerns, and I’ve spent a majority of the pregnancy worried about it. We have two dogs who certainly believe they are people (aka spoiled!), and haven’t spent a whole lot of time around kids. We are working with a trainer pre-baby, and she’ll come back when we bring the new addition home to help with the transition. Thanks for sharing that having the dogs stay at your MIL’s was helpful…I am contemplating sending them on vacation to my parents for a bit when the baby is born. They’re two hours away, though, so we can’t do visits so easily….bit known they are getting attention and exercise will be a huge help as we adjust to life with a newborn!
blogger / pomelo / 5361 posts
I was really worried about this, too, because our dog had need been around many babies or toddlers and she was clearly very uncomfortable with them when she was exposed to them. When we brought the boys home, she did great! Now that their very grabby toddlers, I can tell she gets worn out sometimes and needs to go hide, which we always let her do.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
We had no issues with our two dogs and the kids. We didn’t really do much to introduce them to each other. We have two small tame malti-poos though.
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
Great tips!
blogger / persimmon / 1225 posts
Great post! We have a dog as well but recently she’s met a few of my friend’s babies and does really well, lots of sniffing, no licking yet. So while we will definitely bring a blanket to her first, we’re expecting her to do really well! Fingers crossed!
apricot / 403 posts
great post! any tips or a post on life the first few weeks back home with baby and dogs? I’m less worried about the dogs being ok around the new babies, and more worried about adjusting to the craziness of what life will be like with figuring out the babies’ needs and juggling the dogs’ schedule.
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
Awesome post! I was worried about K with my parents dogs, but they didn’t even acknowledge her until she would crawl after them!
honeydew / 7916 posts
We kind of just threw them together and have photos of them hanging out together in bed our first morning alone together at home. This morning after a feeding we found our dog curled up around LO’s tiny feet; it was too precious.
@Mrs. Palette: Our dog seems to have gone through a somewhat depressed time too and we realized we had to lavish special attention on her and make sure to include her in activities, feed her all her favorite foods, etc. It’s tough suddenly becoming number two and not knowing why!
guest
We have a rescued doberman mix that my husband adores. I was worried about it my whole pregnancy as well. The first 9 months with the baby were great, but now as the baby is getting more and more mobile, Now I am very concerned. Now that our son is 10 months old he crawls towards the dog when she is laying on the floor and relaxing. I try to keep a close eye on everyone, but the other day our son crawled up towards the dog and the dog growled and barked. I totally freaked out and think this is unacceptable behavior for a dog. My husband’s answer was for me to keep a better eye on our son, but he’s not home during the day and doesn’t understand that things can happen in a second. Any ideas? Should I press him to get rid of the dog. He loves her so much.
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
Awww, so sweet! CB was 15 months when he met our dog, Piper, and it was love at first sight! She was and is so gentle with him and really helped with is initial transition!
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
@spaniellove: I know its so sad! I would take her on special just us walks, and still let her cuddle a lot. poor babies.
blogger / apricot / 335 posts
I’m totally going to share this with my sister who has a dog and is preggos!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
SO sweet! I’ve never had pets (I know, it’s awful) and I look forward to having them when Little P is old enough to have a role in taking care of them.
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
So sweet!!!
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
Great post! (And look at that sweet photo!) Our son was one and mobile when he came home, so baby gates were a must for him and our greyhound those first few months!