How to Introduce New Baby into Home with Two Beagles?

B.,

When we introduced our boys to the house, we had a blanket from the hospital that we had them wrapped in that was taken home for the pet to cuddle an smell. That way the pet knows the smell of the child when he/she comes into the house.

God Bless,
T.

If at all possible, send a blanket or shirt that smells like the baby home as soon as possible before you get there with your son. That will help your dogs get used to the smell of the baby before he's in the house. You probably won't be leaving your son on the floor until you have a chance to see how the dogs interact and have a chance to teach them that the baby dominates them rather than the other way around. I also strongly discourage you from taking the dogs in the car with the baby at this point unless the dogs are crated or in seatbelts. We have a siberian husky that was riding in the backseat with our daughter and the dog was shifting to get comfortable and stepped on the seatbelt holding the carseat in. Fortunately I heard it happen and was able to immediately pull over and buckle her back in safely. From the sounds of things, your dogs wouldn't intentionally harm your son, but with 3 beings stuck in backseat, it's impossible to know what would happen.

Beagles are great with kids..we had one growing up that watched all her kids except the youngest graduate high school (There were five of us.) We think she was around 16 years old when she passed. She was great with us, and other kids..and was even very nice to other dogs.

Main thing: Include them, and if you set limitations right away..perhaps even go so far as to put the carseat in the car, and put a doll in the carseat ..or even a bag of sugar..something they might wanna lick at anyrate but not edible necessarily. Teach them to "Leave it" or whatever your "tsk tsk " word is and they will leave it alone. Make sure you praise them highly..don't give treats for expected behavior though will create spoiling. Just simply reward with ear rubs and such...make sure they familiar with baby sounds...listen to baby music a little, and other things..get out baby toys that rattle and squeak..you just familiarize them with the sounds and they won't be so traumatized by a baby crying. Don't blast them with surround sound..put a cd player where baby will sleep and have a track of a crying baby on there. (Warning this has been known to cause early milk let down ;)

Good luck..and give them plenty of love, and when the baby comes make a concentrated effort not to shirk them on their exercise, or affection. In our house the dogs go outside in the morning before we even get the kids up..and they usually are in shortly after. Before we move into the day we spend a few minutes saying "Good Morning" to them. And at night we say good night..as they are family too. (Whether that time is spent playing a short game of catch (one or two tosses) or just stopping for an ear rub for five minutes..seems to make a big difference in their day. They get ornery if we are too hurried and don't do it. SO, I Suggest keeping your routine with them or develop one now that will include them...so that nothing gets forgotten or left out..and no one feels left behind :)
Good luck!

Another thing to think about, try not to let the dogs be jealous of her. Make sure they are allowed plenty of attention too. They are sharing that now and need to feel that they are still just as important to you.

Great question, B.--- check out book by Cesar Milan ( or the cable show The Dog Whisperer) - . His tack is to make sure the dogs understand that this child is '''pack leader'' just as you are -- and you do that by your body language. Start now by making the babys room an area that they can only enter with your specific invitation--- when you walk into the room--- they do NOT just follow- they sit and stay at the door until you call them----. ( and of course you praise them for obeying) When the baby comes home, your concern about --- back seat - car seat--- there are harnesses that function like doggy seat belts - that keep them in one place -- I'd invest in them- as (((( GOD FORBID) in the event of any car accident- you DONT want 25--30 pound dogs flying around the baby-- so it keeps the dogs safe, and the baby, too --- It will work out- I'm sure of it-- What fun you will all have.

Blessings,
J.

We were nervous about how our then-3-year-old Lab would do with our new baby, so we had some friends with a baby tape theirs crying (not as easy as it sounds!), then we played the tape for the dog a few times before the baby was born. At first, we never left the baby on any surface where the dog could reach her, and even when she first started crawling we would put the dog outside most of the time, though we were careful to give her a treat when we did so and lots of extra exercise and attention. By about 10 months, they were great friends and we relaxed a bit, and now my daughter is almost 2 1/2 and dresses up the dog, climbs all over her, and takes her baby for "pony rides".

As for the car, we put up a safety gate between the dog's area in back and the carseat, and kept it up until just a few months ago, then there are no worries while you are driving. My dog missed hanging her head out the window, but at least she still got to come with us on car trips. It all worked out.

B.,
I brought my babies home to two siberian huskies, who were, undoubtedly, the first babies of our family before human children came. About a month before I was due, I would carry around a doll I had borrowed from a friend. Then when my first daughter was born, I had my husband bring home a blanket we had wrapped her in at the hospital. The day we brought her home, I had my dogs sit and allowed them to sniff her buns for until they were done. Every day, I would have my dogs lay down on their sides and then put the little baby bundle against their stomach and sit and pet and talk to my dogs. They accepted her and her sister without alot of trouble. As she grew, I always had her and her sister feed the dogs their food, piece by piece, to furter establish that she, if needed, could control their food. We never had any issues with biting ect, if anything the dogs were extremely tolerant of occassional rough petting ect.
Their are soooo many benefits to raising children with pets, if you plan a little, the dogs will include them and the "pack" can grow happily.
Good luck,
K.

Hi B.,

Congratulations on the upcoming birth of your son! I am birth doula and my daughter is an animal behaviorist who has gave me all the tricks of the trade to share with my clients. You will hear lot's about bringing home the cap from the baby, which is great advice if you know what to do with it. Here is what I have been told, have Dad/partner bring the cap that will be placed on babies head when he is born home before he arrives. Let the dogs sniff the cap and reward with treats, or attention, whatever motivates your dogs when they respond in a calm manner that you are wanting. The same goes with you when you bring your son home, reward calm behavior and remove dogs from affection and the scene if they are responding in a less than desirable behavior.

Best of luck and if you have questions you may feel free to ring me at ###-###-####

Again, CONGRATS!

T. Nelson CD (DONA)

First, a week or so before your due date, let your dogs see you carry around a bundle in a blanket. They may ignore you, or they may be curious. Put the bundle in the bassinet or whatever on the floor and tell your dogs to leave it alone.
Once baby is born, have your husband take a blanket that the baby was wrapped in to the dogs for them to smell so they don't see your baby as an outsider. When you come home, keep the baby in the carseat and greet your dogs first thing so they don't see the baby as competition. Dogs usually understand that babies are babies (like puppies) and won't try to dominate them. They instead already belief that they are dominant and feel no need to demonstrate that. With our kids, we worked with the kids with treats to have them train the dog around 2 years old. They told the dog to sit or stay and gave him a treat only if he obeyed. I made sure to make the dog understand that the command is coming from the kids and not me. In practicing this, it has helped a ton to teach the dog that the kids are higher in pecking order. Or dog, knowing they were babies, has always permitted kicking, hair pulling, etc with no problem.

good luck

Hello B. (again),

I know that some dog trainers have a very commercialized profile and I just wanted to pass on a little tv piece about Ceasar Milan - The Dog Whisperer - his methods are very contraversial and while they do work (punishment works) they can be very dangerous if you don't know how to do them or how to read dogs.

http://tinyurl.com/97lh6c

We have two pugs and were concerned with the same thing. Our son is now 17 months and they are his best friends (one is now 11 and one is 8). My husband took a blanket home from the hospital while I was still there and let them sniff it for a while so they'd at least get his scent before they saw him. When we got home, he took our son in and I went to greet the dogs since they hadn't seen me in a while. They were VERY good and careful, watching over him, and even making sure I was up when he cried at night! They almost seemed to take shifts, it was very cute. They were good about 90% of the time when he was on the floor- when they play, they sort of forget about anything around them and we had to watch for that. He did get sat on a few times but he survived and they mostly just liked to protect him :) It gave our older dog a blanket to lay on too, haha! Sounds like they are good dogs. As long as they still get some attention from both of you, I'm sure it will be fine. It's amazing how "parent-like" they will become!

My husband took a blanket home from the hospital that our son was wrapped in a day before we came home and let our dog sniff it. Not really sure if it made any difference - as of now our baby is 10 months and loves our dog but our dog is still a little unsure (but very tolerant) of the baby. They just have to get used to each other over time like anyone does. Most dogs do tend to be very spacially aware and will likely not cause any problems but at least beagles are fairly little. Our Lab-boxer mix got excited and stepped on our baby's back when he was like 4 months and everyone was just fine. Baby's are tough! In a few years they will all be the best of friends! Congrats on your upcoming addition!!

I could be totally wrong about this, but I think you might be my backyard neighbor!

First off Congratulations!!!!! Exciting times are coming soon!

I was raised with dogs my entire life,.. and up until just recently we finally got our own family dog. She's a big one though! I was worried how she would be with our son, especially since hes a toddler and can be rough, but she is fabulous! You just need to encourage good behavior remind them to "be gentle".

Dogs are very intuitive too, they can sense when someone is ill, or when a new child comes into the house. Let them smell the blanket, they will want to smell the baby and lick him! My parents dog (blue heeler) always has to smell and kiss the new babies, its a dog instinct to smell and get familiar with the new member of the family. So you don't want to shun them away but let them get to know the babe as the new member of the family. In no time they will become very protective of you new wee one. But since there are two pups, you may want to let them meet him one at a time that way its not too overwhelming for you, daddy, the babe, or your dogs!

Congrats again! That would be very cool if you were my backdoor neighbor,.. instead of swapping sugar we could be sharing childrens tylenol! ha-ha!

We have two beagles, boy and a girl, and just had our first child in August. We were concerned about the same thing. I watched the Dog Whisper and he recommends that you keep the dogs at a distance from the baby for the first two weeks so they recognize that this new thing is not a toy. Never leave the baby in a room alone with the dogs and never give the dogs a blanket or toy that's the babies because they will associate the smell as being their toy. We held our dogs off for the first week and never let them jump up on us if we were holding her. While she's on the carpet we keep a close eye on them and command "no" when they approach too close. They have done really well. The first week the dogs had some behavior issues because of the change but adore their new family member now. I wouldn't recommend allowing the dogs free in the car with the baby. All it would take is one claw to the face. My female dog is a nurturer and is always around the baby. They will be great companions as she grows. Best of luck and congratulations!

When my daughter, my oldest, was born we had a beagle. We weren't sure what to expect when we brought her home. She stayed with family while we were in the hospital and the day before we brought her home we sent a blanket with the baby's smell on it. My husband visited the dog and had her smell the blanket so she was familiar with it. We had the sweetest introduction - the dog LOVED the baby! Belle, the beagle, turned into a little nursemaid! If we came from the store or whereever and the baby fell asleep, we would often leave her in the car seat until she woke up. We'd put on the floor in the family room or on the couch. EVerytime we came home (awake or asleep) the dog would have to sniff up and down to make sure she was okay. If we left her sleeping in the car seat she would sniff her and then come back every so often to check on her. If the baby woke up and she didn't see up pick her up or take her into another room, the dog would sniff all over and whine and search the house until she found her. Then she would have to sniff her all over again to make sure she was okay. Unfortunately our beagle past away suddenly when our daughter was only about 18 months. It was such a sad time. Those two were inseperable.

Good luck to you! I hope you have a wonderful an experience with your dogs and your baby as we did.

I was real;y worried abou this too. I have a beagle mix & she is...was the boss. So someone told me that the whole family has to act like the baby is the new boss...the baby is the new head of the pack. I also acted very, very strictly whenever the dog showed any signs of wanting to compete with the baby. She got the idea pretty fast, I'm not talking about hitting your dogs...no....just let them know it's completely unacceptable to threaten the baby. But acting like the baby was the new head of the pack worked well, but my dog was depressed for about a year afterwards....so I would suggest that you also try to pay as much attantion to them as possible when the new baby comes, treats, petting, etc....good luck & congrats!!

We raised beagles, a great breed for families. But dogs are dogs. I strongly suggest that you don't ever put the baby in a carseat and leave him on the floor with the dogs loose. Riding in a car with the dogs unrestrained and the baby in the carseat is also not a good thing, at all. Your carseat keeps your baby safe if there was a collision, but flying dogs inside a car at the time of impact won't help your baby or the dogs. Your dogs have been the center of your attention for 5-6 yrs. They will have some 'sibling rivalry' issues with this new addition to the family, and as a result you won't know what they'll do. You could put the carseat down with a baby blanket in it. Sprinkle it with baby powder for a 'baby smell' of sorts and get them accustom to the new equipment in the house. Beagles are very inquisitive. You don't need them putting their noses in the middle of the baby's face or licking him. You need to set boundaries and realize that dogs don't reason. There will be areas that are definitely off limits for them, and it would be a good thing to set those boundaries now... like the baby's room, around the car seat, the bassinet or crib, stroller. Make sure that their toys don't look anything like baby toys, there will be some issues of 'sharing' that you'll have to conquer.

I wish you all well!!!

We did the blanket and "no entering the room without permission" things, plus lots of treats and rewards and everything turned fine. I was worried more for the cat but actually our cat turned to be our little hero. He saved the baby's life couple of times, plus I didn't need the monitor, the cat did meow like crazy when baby had fever, just got awake or needed attention. Yes, the same cat I wanted to get rid off because of the baby saved his life. Good luck with your new arrival!

Here is an article from a highly experienced dog trainer and breeder. He comes across very direct, but he's actually a super nice guy in person/video. So, don't be turned off by his writing style. He knows his stuff. I've had SUPER success with baby and German Shephard.

http://leerburg.com/dogs-babies.htm

He says many things that contradict common knowledge and practices. I would default to him anyday as he have over 45 years of experience with dogs. For example, some of the things he will tell you are:
1. Never allow the dog(s) in the baby's bedroom, not even with you present. It is off limits.
2. When you arrive home - make it a quiet entry / no hoopla. Mom greets dogs first. Dogs do not greet baby.
3. Dog is NOT allowed to smell the baby. They can smell it from distance anyway.
4. Do not give your dogs a blanket with baby smell to sniff and cuddle in - instead you teach your dog to not go near that smell/blanket/baby. So, he will tell you to have a blanket with baby smell and a doll in it. Place it where dog can reach it (on floor, etc) and when the dog goes to it, tell him NO. Kindly, sternly. It's just not allowed. Teach him baby is off limits.
ETC..

As the baby grows, they will of course form a relationship. How you introduce it is important - he is very concerned about safety as of course any mom is. It's just not worth any risk.

There are some great tips in what you can do to make a successful transition. I would strongly encourage you read this article and the others he has. They are free to download and read. He's a great resource.

http://leerburg.com/dogs-babies.htm