Best way to introduce a baby to the dogs.

DoubleT

DoubleT

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hey guys, as some of you may know i became a dad on tuesday!.

we have just bought him home today and am just seeking advice on how best to indroduce him to the dogs.

i got him in the house and let them both have a sniff of him, one (the spaniel) seemed more interested than the other and she has been sniffing him and everything he owns and watching him all the time and shes been getting quite excited,

the other one ( border collie) hasnt really taken much notice, he had a sniff and a little look, but has now just been acting normal .

do you think i should just corry on how i am and keep a close eye on them,

thing is the collie dotes for me 100% of the time and seeks for my attention constantly, hes my constant shadow. i have been slowly trying to distance my self from him a little in preparation for the baby coming so that he doesnt get too jealous, i suppose its too early days yet to see how he is with the baby.

anyway, any thoughts or suggestions will be great.

Thanks

Matt

:wave:
 
Congratulations on your new baby.

I would be inclined to let the dogs sniff and examine the baby as much as they need to do to get used to him without being a nuisance but not leave the baby on his own with them as babies make strange noises and tend to provide food for dogs as they regurgitate etc. which some dogs might get a little over-excited about.

If this is difficult and you have a dog crate then put the baby in his cot or chair in the crate while you do the housework for your wife while she is resting so the dogs can smell, see and hear him but he will be safe. This is what I do now with visiting babies if their Mum's want to have coffee outside or something. When I first bought my daughter home my Dobermann bitch at the time "adopted" her and protected her from any visitors such as midwives and health visitors :D

Keep the dogs to their usual routine as much as you can.

Have fun

:baby:
 
Firstly, it's important that you continue giving the dogs as much attention as possible so that they don't start to feel left out. Common sense, but don't leave them in the same room as the baby unsupervised :rules:
Let them sniff the baby - a good thing I usually recommend is to let them have a good sniff of a vest or babygro the baby has worn so they get used to his smell.
Make sure that the hundreds of vistors you will receive make a fuss of the dogs too. It's when they start feeling left out that they start to resent the new baby.
 
Cannot agree more with what has already been said.

My friends dogs have to be kept in another room most of the time now because they felt left out when the baby arrived.
 
Just remember you can not trust any dog 100%.
The lovely cuddly Cavalier in my avatar was a "rescue" dog, given up because of the arrival of a baby in the house, and as soft and placid as he is I would not trust him 100%.
All circumstances are different and in theirs they reluctantly had to give him away after 7 years because they could not watch him all of the time.
Not saying you should do the same, just note and remember my first line.
 
Best not to ignore the dogs...mind you there is nothing funnier than a border collie in the huff :lol:
 
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I would trust my dog 100%-but I still wouldnt leave a baby alone with her-because you shouldnt leave a baby alone anyways.

You have two good breeds of dog-both working dogs and used to doing what they should and would normally be trusted around other animals like sheep and stuff and not eat them.

As said just make them all part of one big family always and they will get used to each other.
 
regardless of dog type or breed, you cannot trust them 100%. The reality is they are animals and even when trained they need the trainer/master present to control them. Anything can spook even the most well behaved dog and cause an adverse action, even one beyond the control of a master's command.

I wouldn't trust a baby and dog together without close supervision and adequate space to seperate the two should the worst happen.

Congrats on the baby. Take your time letting them adjust to him, but watch out for those signs in the dogs which indicate they might not be liking the baby so much. I would also advise making sure the dogs know they come 2nd place now. That will be hard but they soon adjust.

Good luck! :)
 
We went through the same thing a few years ago. Dogs are pack animals and need social order. In a family they need to know that their place in the pack is on the bottom rung. That doesn't mean you have to be unkind to them or not give them attention, it just means things like making sure you feed the baby first so that the dogs know they have to wait for their food until the baby has finished. Or make sure the baby always gets to go through doors ahead of the dogs... they have to follow. If they know that the baby is in their pack and that they are lower in the pecking order then they will not try and dominate... worked for us anyway! :)

There's loads of little tricks you can do to reinforce this. If you have a good vet he (or she) will be happy to give you loads of valuable dog psychology advice on how to reinforce their pack status.

Flashy
 
hey thanks guys.

ive been doing what everyone says, they were having as really good sniff of him last night and watching us feeding him and that and they didnt seem to distressed, so far so good.

Flash In The Pan said:
Best not to ignore the dogs...mind you there is nothing funnier than a border collie in the huff :lol:
Click to expand...

how ever much did i laugh at that. its so true


thanks again guys

:wave:
 
lol, except those bits,

well i have been doing the house work a little

buts here a couple with the dogs

n510581398_1615967_2894.jpg


and


n510581398_1615966_2589.jpg
 
Throw the baby in and take bets? no ho ok
looks like it went ok :D
 
Nice photos.

I would trust my three dogs TOTALLY 100% to leave them along with a child.....but I wouldn't because I don't trust children. They can be horrible things and grab hold of the dog, pull tails, twist ears and poke eyes, and if the dog is trapped and in pain, it can only do one thing to get away....bite.

With no witnesses, parents only see a bitten crying child and a dog cowering in the corner............dogs are often blamed for something which wasn't their fault. I blame the owners............
 
Looks & sounds like you're getting on well enough without any advice so I would carry on as you are.

Don't exclude the hounds but make sure they understand the baby has higher status than they do. As Flashman say's there are some easy ways of doing this - I won't repeat his examples, I'm sure you get the idea!

One issue we have had with my parents dog and my neice & nephew is how exciting the sqeaky, rattly toys and teddies that the kids have are for a dog. Obviously these aren't a million miles away from a dog toy and you can't really expect a dog to know the difference. The only suggestion I have with this is make sure your dogs know commands such as leave / drop and consistently enforce that they are not to touch the babies toys... oh and make sure they have lots of their own doggie toys and get some play time with these instead :thumbs:
 
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