Dogs and Babies What You Need to Know

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We adopted our rescue dog in 2012. When we started a family, our dog was five years onetime and well established in our household. She has e'er been an indoor domestic dog and was used to twice daily walks and personal attending. I didn't realize at the time that dogs and babies was such a hot topic.

Looking back at present, each life phase (newborn, baby, toddler, preschool) has had his challenges and benefits while having a pet canis familiaris. I am sharing my first hand experience with having a dog and a baby, along with what to wait and tips to brand the transition get easier in your household.

Dogs and Babies

Virtually Our Rescue Dog

After our girl'due south birth I received a lot of questions nigh how her and Lulu were adjusting. These questions continued well into the toddler and preschool period. Our friends and family were familiar with our household setup. We adopted Lulu in 2022 when she was 2 years former.

Lulu is a Lhasa Apso mix and came from a rescue shelter. Her full grown size is roughly fifteen pounds and she has long pilus which we proceed trimmed to about i inch long. Prior to having our girl, Lulu enjoyed walking with me twice a twenty-four hour period, enjoying her many pet beds throughout the house, having a decent amount of attention, personal training at dwelling house and more.

Our dog has never taken to learning tricks, fetch or using toys. When we adopted Lulu nosotros wanted to exist able to walk her without her pulling on the leash. After a lot of research and interviewing dog trainers, we took her to an intensive week-long training regime.

She spent eight hours a 24-hour interval with a trainer, and then in the evening we would reinforce the training. Forth with learning to walk well on a leash she learned commands such equally: sit, stay, come up, let's go and leave it. We chose to not allow our domestic dog to sit on furniture, and trained her non to. This is a decision I'm incredibly thankful for at present with dogs and babies.

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Having a Baby and a Dog

Pregnancy and Preparing for Baby

Prior to our daughter's nascence, my husband and discussed how life with a dog and baby would be. I also read upward on tips on how to best adjust and introduce your domestic dog to a baby. Lulu had been around toddlers a few times in the past, simply non on a regular basis.

To our cognition she had never been around a baby. During the last few weeks and months of pregnancy we began to give Lulu a niggling less attention. It may sound harsh merely this was one of the tips nosotros had read.

Once the baby arrived we would be forced to spend less time with our dog, and then adjusting her slowly was ideal. The natural progression of pregnancy helped with this. While I remained fit and good for you during my pregnancy, my stamina and mobility waned equally I got closer to the baby's due date.

At the outset of the pregnancy, I used to walk an like shooting fish in a barrel three miles daily with Lulu. Toward the end, those walks were more like i mile. At present those walks were every other twenty-four hours and non daily. She didn't realize it, but Lulu was already slowly adjusting to the changes.

Introducing the Babe to the Dog

Subsequently the nascence, my married man took a baby coating home from the infirmary and let our dog smell it. Prior to that trip, nosotros had friends check on our dog while we were at the hospital. Our dog was home alone when we arrived habitation a day later. We came in the door like normal, which was to not greet or overexcite our dog.

Of course, our dog Lulu noticed something was different, there was a little person in a car seat making noise. We took our daughter out of the car seat a few minutes afterward and held her. Nosotros sat on the living room burrow and didn't make eye contact with Lulu or deed similar anything was dissimilar.

We just wanted our dog to calm downward to the thought of someone else existence in the business firm. She has never been too great with guests, so really this was kind of similar a new invitee visiting. Only this invitee would stay. After some fourth dimension had passed nosotros permit Lulu sniff the baby. This was done chop-chop and very cautiously.

When our daughter began to cry, our dog Lulu became upset. Our domestic dog started whining and yelping. We chose to ignore the behavior. This continued every time the baby would cry. However, within two days Lulu stopped whimpering and came to terms with a crying babe beingness a new normal sound in our household.

Having a Babe When You Accept a Dog

Newborn and Infants: Dogs and Babies

By ignoring our domestic dog's behavior, nosotros did not draw attending to her beliefs or provoke her to keep information technology. This was exactly what we had hoped for in introducing our canis familiaris to a babe. Besides the whining, Lulu did human action up a scrap during this time, which is probably why everyone asks about how dogs and babies work together.

The odd part was she actually began acting up late in my pregnancy. She started jumping up on furniture, which nosotros had previously trained her non to do. After our baby'south birth, our dog Lulu continued to do this. We had to be vigilant to catch and reprimand her every time.

She too jumped on the couch a few times and tried to steal and consume my nursing supplies when I wasn't in the room. She did the same with a few pieces of infant habiliment that had spit up on them. I retrieve the smell was too enticing for her. Eventually the beliefs stopped. In many ways this period was easy.

We could sit our girl down and allow her play on the flooring or in a bouncer and Lulu would ignore her because the baby wasn't showing her whatsoever attention. The two of them basically co-existed for many months. Once our daughter learned to crawl this changed.

She could crawl up to Lulu and pull her fur. This is more of a trouble if you take a long haired dog. However, information technology's as well common for babies to try to pull on a dog'due south tail or ears. Lulu expressed a mix of confusion and intrigue. Nosotros tried to redirect our daughter but during the infant stage at that place is little you tin practice to teach.

Having Dogs and Babies

Toddlers and Dogs

Sometimes our girl pulled at our dog's fur a little too much or too difficult and Lulu growled. In these cases we were quick to defer the situation either by telling our canis familiaris Lulu to movement (literally with a command, which is another reason educational activity your canis familiaris commands is keen).

Nosotros accept also redirected our daughter elsewhere, such as to a toy. Equally she moved from the infant to toddler period and matured, nosotros were able to brainstorm education her the proper way to pet the dog. This is important considering while your domestic dog may tolerate a tail tug you lot do not want your child to larn this every bit acceptable behavior.

Pets need to be respected and it besides helps to teach the child how to interact with dogs in other situations such as if they run into a dog at a park or in someone else's habitation. We also began to teach where to pet the dog and to ask permission from an owner before petting a dog.

It took some time, but Lulu finally learned that growling at a baby is non OK and that if she doesn't desire to be touched she can get elsewhere. Commonly Lulu will get to her crate which is a "prophylactic identify." Nosotros take taught our daughter the domestic dog should not be petted or bothered while in her crate. I highly recommend having your domestic dog crate trained to assistance with dogs and babies.

Preschoolers and Dogs

We continue to monitor the ii of them equally best we can, regarding dogs and babies. Our daughter laughs at Lulu and finds her beautiful and funny at times. If the business firm is eerily tranquillity we usually know one of the two of them is up to problem. Again information technology has helped tremendously that nosotros had Lulu trained prior to our girl'southward birth.

We can easily give commands to make Lulu come to the states or movement away from a situation or get to her crate. This helps when my hands are full and I can't physically pick up either of them, or when I'm in some other room and hear something going on. In one case our daughter began walking we put put a baby gate upward.

Initially the gate worried me because we had previously taught Lulu to ring a bell to betoken she has to go potty. Over time Lulu adjusted to the new setup and we really enjoyed the gate for keeping our canis familiaris contained as well. If she had to get out she unremarkably would pace or whine a fleck to permit us know

However, when our daughter turned four we realized we were long past due in removing the gate. We removed the baby gate and nosotros had a short adjustment period, but our dog quickly went back to the one-time house rules and started to ring her doggy bell over again.

Other Helpful Dog and Baby Tips

After having our baby, I mastered walking with Lulu and with our daughter in a stroller or baby carrier. Over again, Lulu's training to "loose ternion" walk was paramount as walking the ii of them separate is non always realistic or time-efficient. This immune me to likewise get out and savor some fresh air.

If you are looking for a infant carrier. I used the Baby K'Tan for the newborn and infant menses. Subsequently I switched to the Catbird Baby Pikkolo and support chugalug which can carry a toddler. I was an avid baby wearer so if you accept any questions nigh wearing your infant and walking your dog please leave a comment at the end of the mail.

Baby K'Tan Baby Carrier
Catbird Baby Pikkolo Infant Carrier

Today, we no longer use the stroller. I accept transitioned dorsum to walking Lulu alone at a fast step. Other times we will walk at a slower pace as a family with our dog and our girl will ride her bike along. If I'm not careful Lulu might get spoiled again. Maybe nosotros will even return to the twice daily walks someday!

I experience bad sometimes I can't walk our canis familiaris as much as I used to, or that she doesn't receive as much attention these days. Only fifty-fifty on the worst days, I remind myself that Lulu is groomed, fed, has a clean basin of water, a cozy bed and a sunny south-facing window to look out anytime she wants.

Having a Domestic dog and a Infant

In Summary

Our story is that having a canis familiaris and a baby has worked out. Having our domestic dog trained and having house rules in identify for our pet prior to having a baby was vital to our success. We had some hiccups forth the way and an aligning catamenia, as expected, only overall having a infant and a dog worked for united states of america.

If yous are looking to start a family unit and practise not have a dog, I would strongly recommend waiting to get a domestic dog until your kid is older such as age 5 or older. If you plan to take your kid walk the dog and take on total responsibility, age 8 to 10 would be more appropriate.

Based on our firsthand experience regarding dogs and babies, I also would non recommend rehoming your domestic dog simply because yous started a family. At that place are and then many options with preparation, lifestyle changes, domestic dog walkers, fenced in backyard, etc. that tin be considered to help ease the transition for everyone.

What questions practise you have about having a dog and baby?

*This post was originally published in 2022 and has been updated and republished for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

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Source: https://blog.hollyhammersmith.com/dogs-and-babies/