Prepping for Baby
- The Dog
- Feb 5, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 6, 2020
Let's be honest. Once you see the positive sign on that pregnancy test, it seems like your brain is kidnapped, abducted by some entity and all you can think is "BABY". It's especially hard when that click in your mind hits you with nausea and morning sickness and you can barely get out of bed... and well you forget about the dog.
My first trimester was well, what you see in movies. That not glamorous step-sister that is puking and sweating and can barely move... yup that one. That's me. I could barely get out of bed and pup just laid in bed with me, protecting me, even though I couldn't think about taking care of him. I was struggling.
Once I bounced back, pup noticed and was doing anything and everything to get the attention he hadn't gotten in 3 months. Jumping on us, not listening, running, crying, even peed at my parents a couple times. Most of all super cute (except the peeing - peeing is never cute), but with a delicate baby maybe not the best behaviors.
So, the hubs and I began to research. We had to make sure to not forget about the dog. If we were confused and trying to figure out what to do, we couldn't imagine how pup was... so we all as a family started prepping.
Anyways - Here are the top 5 tips we found and have been implementing at our house. And we hope it can help you too, and of course we will write a follow-up on how everything went!
Keep in mind that - In no means are we experts or professional dog trainers. All of this is based on researcher and feedback we have gotten from what has worked for other people. Our pup is very calm and loves children, if he had any sign of aggression we would 100% send him to training.And we hope it can help you too, and of course we will write a follow-up on how everything went!
Top 5 Tips:
1. Sniff Sniff Away
Pretty easy and minimal effort... so why not give it a try. Every time something baby related is bought or brought into the house we let our pup give it a sniff. The theory is, this will help pick up that baby smell and have pup understand that something new is coming.
2. Holding Back on some "N-O"s
For us it is important that pup gets along with our new baby. So instead of having him not touch anything baby related and have him stay out of the nursery, we are allowing him to discover (under supervision) and setting up the limits. Yes lay on the nice white rug (why did i get white... ), No don't try to see whats in that crib. No don't jump on the rocking chair. Yes sniff around. Yes be comfortable in the space.
3. Being Handled
Baby's are delicate. But not their motions... so to check out our pups reactions we have been messing with him. Pulling his tail every now and then, pulling his ears and not immediately defending him when we see some toddlers trying to kick or pull at him. Why? Well, we want to make sure he sees this as playful and doesn't go into "Beast Mode". Luckily for us, our pup has a bunch of experience with this.. So this was easy to check off.
4. Re-Training
Since I ignored pup for a couple of months (due to you know..) Pup started becoming super crazy trying to get my attention. It's cute but this can't happen when baby comes home. So most importantly we are making sure he: (a) Doesn't jump on people We've been ignoring the bad behavior and having pup sit when we can tell he is getting excited. Link: Training Video for not Jumping when greeting (Inside)
Link: Training Video for not Jumping when outside (b) Has cues for calming down, or we know how to get him to settle down. Basically what we have noticed is that FOCUS helps overcome your pup's adrenaline Remember a pup always feeds off of your energy, so try to stay calm yourself! Link: Tips on how to overcome hyperactivity (c) Comes back on command
Link: Come back on command (d) Gets better at walking on the leash Link: Loose Leash Walking (Inside) Link: Loose Leash Walking (Outside)
5. Exposure. Exposure. Exposure.
Any opportunity we have to take pup out to a pet friendly place, see kids, be around a lot of noise, we do it. We need to make sure he is ready for anything. and gets used to the eventual cute chaos that will be his life. So lets just throw him in there and see how he reacts.
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