New Baby
You need to prepare your dog as soon as you are aware there will be a new arrival! The more time you spend training your pet the easier the whole preparation will be.
Let your midwife know you have a dog and you are seeking professional guidance to help your pet adjust.
DO NOT leave this preparation to the last few months. Your dog will need as much time as possible to adjust to the disruption in his life!
In the months before the baby arrives.
- Make sure your dog has a basic level of obedience and good behaviour. Brush up on basic training so he will lie quietly for short periods, wont jump up, walk on the lead and come when called. This will make life so much easier in the future.
- If your dog has any behavioural problems these must be addressed as soon as possible. Seek professional help, ask your vets for a known qualified pet behaviourist. If your dog is an only pet then get him used to being alone for periods during the day. Help him get used to being a little less important.
- Make sure he is healthy – up to date with his vaccines and wormed every 3 months before and after the baby has arrived.
- Crate train your dog, so that he has a safe place to settle in and to stay out of the way of a crawling baby or toddler.
- Start to teach him to stay out of certain rooms if that’s what you will be asking of him, use chills gates to keep him out of certain rooms.
- Teach him to walk quietly beside the pram (an empty pram is a training aid) and teach him not to pull.
- Introduce him to the new pieces of furniture such as the pram, cot, highchairs etc. and get him used to seeing these things out and being moved.
- Keep his toys in a separate area from the babys’ and teach him what he can and cannot have.
- Play a sound cd with baby noises on it so he can get used to hearing strange sounds, and play it in the areas the baby will be in.
- When playing the sounds AND using baby products give him a stuffed Kong or treat ball. This will reward him for being quiet when the baby needs attention. He will then associate the baby with a reward for himself.
- Smells are also important so use baby products around the house such as baby bath, talcum powder etc.
- Take him to, or invite friends with babies and small children into the home to get him used to seeing and smelling small children. This will also teach him how he can avoid them when necessary.
- Teach him to stay of the furniture and beds.
The baby’s here! Now what?
- Try not to make a big deal with your dog and the new arrival. On the first day home there will be a lot of excitement and people around, don’t let the dog get over excited. Take him for a long walk and play with him in the garden for a while. When you bring him indoors leave him with his reward toy.
- Allow short supervised visits to the baby and put the dog on his lead for the first couple of introductions. This way you will have control should he jump up or on your knee when you are holding he baby.
- The baby should be a reward centre for your dog. When he sees the baby give him lots of praise and clicker treats, again you are teaching him that when he is around the baby he gets lots of praise and rewards for staying calm.
- NEVER PLACE THE BABY ON THE FLOOR IN FRONT OF YOUR DOG.
- NEVER shout or hit him especially for approaching the baby. This would undo all the good feelings he gets around the baby and make him resentful and fearful of the baby.
- Make sure your dog has a ‘safe place’ to go to get away from baby. Especially when the baby starts to crawl then walk the dog needs to be able to withdraw from the child if he feels apprehensive or even ill.
- Put child gates up this way he can be kept separate from the baby if you are too busy to watch him.
- Make sure he gets enough exercise and things to do, both with you and on his own. A bored dog with to much energy will get into mischief when you are busy with the baby and then become stressed if you discipline him.
You can also help calm the environment for your dog by using the Dog Appeasing Pheromone or D.A.P diffuser in the home. This helps dogs in environments and situations they my find worrying or which makes them apprehensive. The diffuser is available from your Vet or many good pet shops.
Remember to praise and treat your dog when he is calm and ignore any attempt at contact from him until you ask for it. Do not try to appease him when he is nervous, as this will have the consequence of you unintentionally reinforcing his feelings of unease
No matter how much you trust your dog never leave a baby or child alone with a dog no matter how good you think they are. Dogs have off days and moods just like we do and children can be naughty, this is not a good combination.
You never know how things will turn out once your dog gets used to the new addition to his family!
Give your dog plenty of things to keep him occupied. As Peter Neville once told me “if you don’t give a dog a job, he’ll go self employed!”
Bev Truss CABT (COAPE)
