Ideas on Introducing Dog to New Baby

I'm in your situation (due end of May) and folks raved to me about the book "Living with Kids and Dogs... Without losing your mind" by Colleen Pelar. It's not a long read, and it's very helpful. Good luck!

I'm sure people have already posted similar responses to this- but this is the usual doggy/new baby protocol.

My husband brought Peyton's baby hat home from the hospital to let him sniff his scent. We also wouldn't let Fletch into Peyton's room when we finished decorating the nursery. We let him know he's not the boss of that territory. When we got Peyton home- we allowed Fletch to sniff him all he wanted-as long as I'm watching, of course(but not lick him-although he snuck in a few anyway.

Oh, and watch those dirty diapers. Fletch is a poop eater- and heaven forbid I leave one of those his in reach- he gets a little snack. (I still gag as I write this)

Good luck!!!

a good idea is when the baby is born,the hospital gives the baby a hat to wear. most of the time a few anyway let your husband and or relative bring the hat home before you and baby come home so he can get used to the scent of the baby. when baby comes home let the dog sniff the baby andhe will know the scent from the hat.this worked for us when my son was a baby.ihope this helps

Hi P.!
We have a 7 month old baby and a 2.5 year old dog. We think of our golden retriever as our first baby, so we wanted to try and prevent any issues between baby and dog.
The suggestions everyone else has give are great!
Also, my pediatrician suggested allowing the dog to lick any parts of the newborn that can't go into her mouth (like the top of her head and the soles of her feet). We let our dog do that with our son when we first brought him home from the hospital. She was extremely gentle with him and loved interacting with him.

Now the 2 of them are the best of friends and we never had any jealousy issues.
I'm sure your dog will love the baby!
good luck!

We have a 3 month old baby girl and a 2 year old medium sized mutt that we had before the baby. Some things we tried that seemed to work were bringing home the baby's hat from the hospital and letting the dog sniff it before we brought her home. Then when we did arrive home with her we let him sniff her by holding her down near his level, and petting him the whole time. He never showed any signs of aggression toward her then or now. We make a point to try and pet him with one hand while rocking or holding her, to show him he is included, and now that he is a bit older we let him gently lick her hands and face (washing them afterwards of course!). Hope that helps!

i think babies and dogs can go really well together! i have a 4 month old baby and an 11 month old puppy so i;ve just gone through this. hope this all helps!
here are my tips:
1.) change things in the house now, before the baby comes, so that the dog is used to these things before the baby comes. if there is a room the dog won;t be allowed in anymore, a gate you want to install, furniture that mayneed to be moved to accomdate a diaper changing station, baby swing etc.
2.) i also recommend putting out stuff like a swing etc before the baby comes, if possible, so that the dog can get used to it and not be scared of the mov't, sound or anything. 3.) i also practiced walking my dog with the stroller. being very pregnant at the time, i made a pretty funny picture but it helped my pup to get desensitzed to the stroller and it's big wheels being next to her while we walked.
4.) when the baby is born, take one of the blankets that he/she has been swaddled in an put it in the dog's crate or bed.
5.) when you come home from the hospital, have dad keep the baby outside while you go in and greet your dog and give him/her lots of love and personal attention for a few minutes. then let your partner bring the baby in. do not let your dog jump up to the baby - instead give the dog a chance to smell and see the baby. you remaining calm through this is so important as the baby and dog take their cues frm you and feel what you feel on a very basic level.
6.) make sure you are very firm and consistent with the dog about what is and is not okay where the baby is concerned. let them be near eachother as soon as you are comfortable. my husband took the baby in his lap and let the dog come up and sit and cuddle in.
7.) the dog will obviously lick the baby, they are so juicy and yummy. we let the dog lick once and then say "enough" and she usually stops without further fuss b/c it is what we have done from the start.
good luck and feel free to email me if you have any other specific questions!

Hi P.,
Congratulations on your new baby! I have a ten month old daughter and a two year old dog (a medium sized mutt as well). When I was pregnant, I carried around a baby doll a few times so my dog would get used to my hodling something that was not a toy (I don't know how useful this was) My dog stayed with my parents while I was in the hospital so they brought her a blanket smelling of the baby. When we came home, we arrived at the house first and my parents brought our dog home later on - so the baby was in the house when the dog arrived home. We greeted our dog without the baby in arms (she was excited to see us after a few days away) and then after she was settled, let her have a good sniff of the baby. The two have become best friends - my daughter shouts the dog's name when she wakes in the morning and always looks for her dog. The dog sits at the door to the nursery when baby cries and now that we are eating solids, is my daughter's constant companion when she eats her meals. My daughter has even learned to throw a ball to the dog (sort of). Despite how much fun they have together, I am extremely careful to always supervise them when they play together - ever mindful that alhtough my dog was my first "baby", she is an animal.

There are also lots of classes on dogs and babies locally that are great. Isis has a Barks and Babies seminar and Especially for Pets also has a seminar.

Best of luck!

Congrats on your soon to be munchkin! We introduced our first dog (a middle aged, mids sized cattle dog) to our daughters in much the same way others suggested (bringing home a blanket or hat from the hospital for the dog to sniff). She was fine when the girls came home. That dog has since passed away and we have a new dog - small mutt, young and very rambunctious. That was a whole different ball of wax! It was less of a jealousy issue with him as it was a curiosity issue - he's a very nosey little dog! So we did a lot of supervised sniffing and still have to keep an eye on him (of course we never leave our son with the dog unattended) because the stinker will steal socks and pasifiers. Alls been well.

The only other thing I can suggest aside from preliminary sniffing of hospital stuff, heavy supervision, and slow introductions is to make whatever household changes well in advance of baby's arrival. If you're going to be moving doggie's sleeping quarters from say your bed to the floor, start that now. If doggie will be newly segregated from some portions of the house, start that now. It will make the later transitions of your house of three to four much easier for everyone! Good luck!

Edited to add - my doggie is a total diaper thief too!!! Dirty or clean, he'll swipe them (GAG!). Keep a tightly covered bin handy in your usual changing areas. Nothing grosser than finding a confiscated poopy diaper all over your living room floor! EWWWWW!

Hi,

We don't have a dog, we have two cats. My husband took the cloth that was around the baby and brought it home from the hospital and used it for the cats to get used to the new baby smell.
You might want to do that for your dog since their smell is super sensitive. It'll get him used to it and then when the baby comes home, he'll associate the smell with the baby.

E. P.