The day is here when you welcome your “second” baby into your home and you are holding your breath on how your first “baby” your dog will respond to the new addition? I had the exact same thoughts when we brought our son home, so before he was born I hit the World Wide Web to get some ideas on making an easy transition for our dog. Being that he was a 210-pound Mastiff, I wanted to make sure I had all my bases covered!
First and foremost for the safety of your baby before he/she is even out of the womb, make sure your dog is up to date on all vaccines, is parasite-free and their nails are trimmed. If your pet does not have basic commands down enroll your dog ASAP in a training program or work with them in learning, sit, down, and no.
Next, as you prepare for the baby to arrive by bringing in new furniture, clothing, and toys, including your dog. Have them smell and be around the new environment your baby will be in. Play some of the toy sounds, noise machines and even playing sounds of a baby crying will help your dog adjust to all the unfamiliar new things.
Now, I am not sure if it is an old wives tale or not, but we had a family member bring a baby blanket home for our dog to smell and lay with along with a new bone. I have no clue if this helped prepare our dog for our son’s arrival, but I like to think so! When we got home from the hospital we brought our son in with him still in the car seat. Greeting our dog in a happy tone and allowing him to smell him while petting him. From then on, we would pet our dog and praise him whenever we were holding our son. We just tried to include him in our daily activities with the new baby.
Bottom line, it’s likely your pet will seamlessly adjust to new baby arrival like ours did if they have always had a good temperament. We made sure to stay vigilant when our son was around our dogs, never leaving them unsupervised. We kept including our dog in all aspects of life with the baby. I am a firm believer that a dog that is not given attention will some way or another start to do things to get your attention and with a new baby, it can be hard to deal with regressive behavior. New routines for all members of your family can cause a short shift in daily life, just try to stay consistent and your new normal will seem like that was the way it always has been!
