Dogs and Children

In this day and age of "drive-thru" deliveries where the mother will be lucky to spend a night in the hospital (two nights if you have a great insurance plan), the old idea of bringing home a blanket the baby was wrapped in so the dogs can spend a few days getting used to the scent is difficult. My husband still did this – however, our dogs ignored the blanket. They were more interested in looking for me and then getting reassurance that all was OK. However, there are things you can do to help the transition when baby comes home.

The day you are to go home, make sure the dogs get a real solid run beforehand. The dogs should be really worn out. This will help temper an over enthusiastic greeting. I also kept a couple treats they normally do not get ("moo tubes") packed away. When we got home, the first thing I did was go inside and take the dogs out back while my husband and mother brought the baby into the nursery. I played about five minutes off fetch and then brought the dogs in and gave them their treats. I went upstairs to the nursery.

As each dog finished, he came to find me. I sat on the floor and had each dog do a down/stay. My husband was holding the baby. Each dog got to greet the new addition gently. This way, the dogs were not hit with everything at once and they had a transition between greeting me and meeting the baby. As I took a nap, my husband took everyone out for more playing. My mother was in town for the week and this gave me time to work with the dogs and reinforce the prior training in nursery rules while Mom helped with the house.

I like to make it a point to allow the dogs access to all aspect of raising the child. They could be with me while I nursed as long as they were quietly on a down/stay. They could watch diapers being changed as long as they were calm and quiet. Same for when we were all just hanging out on the bed napping. When my son napped, I would spend alone time with the dogs before I napped.

Making sure the dogs get one-on-one time without the baby is very important. You want to keep that bond with your dogs but also enforce that child will be higher on the pack rank than the dog. Baby is not a bad thing but a welcome addition and there will still be time for the dog. However, safety is always first and no matter how well trained and socialized your dog is, never leave him unattended with an infant or child.

As the baby grows, use the opportunity to teach the child "Gentle Hands." I started showing my son how to gently touch the dogs and not to grab as soon as I could. Waiting until the child is a toddler to try and start teaching Gentle Hands can be too late. Babies start to grab and poke and even hit at a young age. They need the same gentle love and guidance as you used when getting your dog set for the new arrival.

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