How you go about introducing a baby when your new family addition arrives is important for your dog. Dog rescue workers report that many people who surrender their pets to animal shelters cite a new baby as the reason why they give up their pet.
It is wise, therefore, to prepare your dog before the arrival of a new baby, as this arrival will be the beginning of a significant shift in their lives. within your pack you dog will go from being the only child, to being bottom of a pack, below the baby. For a dog that’s a tough shift, as they want to be the centre of your world.
So here are a few tips, based on my experience, on how to handle introducing a baby to your dog.
During the Pregnancy. Before the baby is born, kickstart the programme of introducing a baby to your dog. try and ensure your dog gets as much exposure as possible to babies. you see babies have a different smell and they tend to be pretty noisy, so it’s better to introduce babies slowly and, ideally, before your new arrival to acclimatize your dog.
Some people buy CDs with baby crying noises on them, and play them loudly to allow their dog to become accustomed to the sounds a baby makes. the aim of this is to ensure that their dogs don’t become too distressed at the sound of their new arrival’s crying in the home. This can be useful.
There is another school of thought that you should try to give your dog less attention during the pregnancy so that, when the baby arrives, the reduction in fuss is not a huge impact. However once the baby has arrived, you must try and set aside, at least, a few minutes a day just for your dog, this will help counteract any feelings of jealousy that your dog may harbour.
While you are setting up the babies nursery prior to their arrival, make sure that the dog is able to go in there and familiarise himself with the new room and its surroundings.
You can try to desensitise your dog by starting to do the type of things that toddlers will do to them, like pulling ears and tails. Start off gently and increase the intensity so they don’t become distressed and react badly when this happens to them for the first time. you can do this as part of your rough house play with your dog.
Bringing Baby home Once the baby is born and before you bring baby home, take some clothing, worn by the baby, home and place it on the dog’s bed for get him used to the smell. This indicates to your dog that whoever this smell belongs to is more important than the dog.
When the baby is actually brought home, let mum enter the house, as they will have been away for a while and will smell different. Mum should then make a huge fuss of the dog to reassure him that all is well and that he was still part of my pack.
Once complete, bring the baby into the house, whilst still in the car seat and place in the dog’s bed, again showing the dog that this baby is higher than him in the pack. This is trying to keep within the pack psychology guidelines.
Through all the chaos that a new baby brings to your home, try to keep the routine of your dog going, as that will keep your dog in their comfort zone. before the baby arrives try and find a network of friends that are happy to take your dog for a walk so that they don’t lose out on their most important part of the day other than feeding.
If you have issues with your dog jumping up, you may wish to consider putting a baby gate on the front of the nursery door for your own piece of mind. This way you can leave the nursery door open and not worry about the dog getting in.
Some things not to do
You should try not to shut your dog out when the baby is around as this can cause resentment for the dog. instead try and include him even in small activities, like feeding, by talking to both the baby and your dog.
YOU MUST NEVER LEAVE A BABY ALONE WITH A DOG, even the most placid of dogs can turn and it is a risk that you should not take.
If you follow these ideas, it shouldn’t take too long for your dog to get used to the new baby. Initially though, your dog may get upset when the baby cries, just keep reassuring them and soon your dog should settle down.
Finally, and just to reinforce what I have said, I firmly believe that when introducing a baby, you should consider the pack psychology. If you reinforce the status of the new baby to your dog through the pack order, it will help your dog settle in well with your new baby.
For more details on the pack psychology visit; love-springer-spaniels.com/springer-spaniel-pack.html.
Introducing a Baby to Your Dog
