Baby

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bendog
Posts: 2188
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Baby

Post by bendog »

Hi guys,
A lot of you will have seen on Facebook but those that haven't, I finally had my baby almost 3 weeks ago now, so thought it was time for a little update about how we are all getting on!

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Mostly, it's been great. We are very lucky that little baby is very chilled out most of the time and so it's been quite easy from that point of view. OH has been walking the dogs most days, though I've been out with them a few times as well, with the baby in a sling, or occasionally the pram. The sling is much easier for managing all the dogs, we still need to do more work on walking nicely with the pram, they do very well one at a time, but it gets a bit tangled up trying to walk more than one dog as they try to change sides and stuff, so at the moment we only really take the pram if OH is coming as well so one of us can manage the dogs and one can push the pram. A lot of days they have only been getting an hour to an hour and a half walk, and not as much mental stimulation as I'd like, but hopefully now we are getting into the swing of things and starting to get into a bit of a routine, I'll be able to get them out on my own a bit more. Bully sticks and kongs were our saviour for the first few days!

The first few days Pops and Charlie were a bit too interested when baby cried, or when I was changing his nappy etc (we do this on a high surface so dogs can't reach whilst my concentration and hands are busy) but they've got much more used to it now and don't tend to bat an eyelid as long as the baby is in my arms. I still can't really put him down (either on the floor on his playmat, or in his Moses basket) without them going over and trying to sniff/lick him though, which makes trying to do any housework tricky as can't put baby down anywhere unless I shut dogs out, or OH is out walking them. But the last few days we've put him in his basket in the living room whilst we eat and the dogs have been more interested in our food than the baby so just need to start building in "ignore baby in basket/playmat/bouncy chair" a bit more. I thought it would be Poppy we had most trouble with, but she's actually doing really well and it's Charlie who gets more "interested" (in a similar way to how he would if he saw a bunny or a cat, so we are being very careful)

Ben hasn't bothered at all, but is a bit more attention seeking in general.

At the moment I still wouldn't trust Pop and Charlie without awake, active supervision, which means I am sleeping in the spare room with the baby (and occasionally Bendog) whilst OH sleeps in our room with the dogs. This means that a) he gets some sleep, and b) the dogs still get to sleep in bed with him. In the mornings I let them in with me for a snuggle whilst I hold the baby and they are fine then, I just don't dare trust them with the baby in his basket whilst I'm asleep incase he wakes up and they hurt him (accidentally or otherwise). Once he moves into his big cot there will be a bit more of a barrier between him and the dogs so we might look at sharing a room again otherwise we will just carry on as we are until he moves into his own room. It works well anyway as I'm breastfeeding so OH can't help with night feeds and so it seems daft us both being woken up.

From a parenting perspective I'm approaching a lot of things the same way I would approach looking after a puppy. Talking to him even though he can't understand yet, explaining what I'm going to do eg. "Do you want me to pick you up, ok, let's pick you up" so he has some warning and isn't just being swooped up. He is getting well socialised meeting lots of friends and family, going to the shops, and out for lunch etc and learning to "settle" ;P
But we are making sure he doesn't get overwhelmed.

Whatever we are doing seems to be going ok so far anyway as he is getting used to the world. The first couple of days for example he cried whilst getting his nappy changed or getting dressed and now he is totally cool with it. I think things will get much harder once he is more mobile and wanting to play on the floor more, at the moment he is happy to be cuddled/carried most of the time and the dogs don't bother, but already had to rescue a few toys and teddies from charlie though he is very good about dropping them when I ask, so once there are more toys about we are going to have to be on top of clearing up afterwards. Though I'm still hoping that Charlie will get much better at ignoring the baby by then, and I've deliberately relegated all "noisy/squeaky" toys to the nursery so they don't excite the dogs too much.

Anyway, little one just woken up and needs a nappy change so that's all for now but just thought I would pop by and let people know how it's going!
JudyN
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: Baby

Post by JudyN »

bendog wrote:It works well anyway as I'm breastfeeding so OH can't help with night feeds and so it seems daft us both being woken up.
I always much preferred OH to get a good night's sleep because it meant the next day I could be hellishly grumpy and have a b!tch about how little sleep I had and how tired I was without feeling so guilty :mrgreen:

This may sound like a daft idea, but have you considered putting baby in a crate? :lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: Baby

Post by Nettle »

JudyN wrote:
This may sound like a daft idea, but have you considered putting baby in a crate? :lol:

We used to call 'em playpens :wink:
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
emmabeth
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Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
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Re: Baby

Post by emmabeth »

Aye, I remember ours and I remember it travelled so we could be crated.. I mean put there, anywhere we were, securely... Marvellous fings!

He's great (for a naked pink human puppy, obviously) and I think you are doing super well with him (mind, I had no doubts there anyway!).
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Baby

Post by Erica »

My parents neglected to socialize me to different sorts of people as a wee baby, so when I was a toddler I had some fear-based aggression. I've since been desensitized and all is now well, but early socialization is important. :) Hope you're doing well!
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
gwd
Posts: 1958
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:33 pm

Re: Baby

Post by gwd »

Congrats ........has anyone ask you if you 'rescued' the baby or looked disapprovingly at you when you say you bred him yourself? :lol:
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JudyN
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:20 pm
Location: Dorset, UK
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Re: Baby

Post by JudyN »

:lol:
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: Baby

Post by Nettle »

:lol: too!
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
jacksdad
Posts: 4887
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:48 pm

Re: Baby

Post by jacksdad »

congrats. never forget babies are the gift that never stops giving....muwhahahahaha :lol:
PURPLEEDOGGPAWS
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 1:43 pm

Re: Baby

Post by PURPLEEDOGGPAWS »

omg that baby is 2 cute awww :D :) :) :) :P :P :P
peter
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2015 3:43 pm

Re: Baby

Post by peter »

That's cute, but I have a question if you don't mind.

Did you prepare your dogs for that event in anyway or just hoped that it will be ok?
Every dog is different, but maybe somebody will have some general advices what can be done to prepare own puppy for a new hope member.

Thanks!
bendog
Posts: 2188
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:42 am

Re: Baby

Post by bendog »

I absolutely tried to prepare them as best I could, but there are still more things I wish I had done that having experienced it myself now would have come in useful!

Things I did:
Had good general level of obedience - loose lead walking, sit, stay, recall etc.

Played baby noises (via iPhone) and carried a doll around (this is often advised but in my case not sure how much it helped as it is so obviously different to the real thing)

Had baby equipment eg pram, Moses basket, play mat set up WAY in advance, so that the dogs got used to the new objects and lost interest in them by the time the baby was here.

Worked on a more solid "drop" command for my youngest terrier who loves to steal teddies etc so that I can take the babies toys/teddies off him if I need to, though I also try as much as possible to keep them out of reach. I will continue working on this as well as "leave it" as once the baby is more mobile and playing with toys more I'm sure it will be harder to keep them out of the way.

worked on directing dogs around the house without having to touch them - eg "off" the sofa, "outside" in the garden, "through" the baby gate to the kitchen, "on your bed", "bedtime" upstairs - so that I can get them out of my way if need be or if visitors coming round etc.

Taught a decent "leave it" with plates of food as there are times you need to walk baby around to stop them crying, or feed baby whilst also trying to snatch a few bites of (cold!) dinner, from a plate balanced somewhere, with one hand (and without dropping any on babies head!) and you don't also want to be fending off dogs who are trying to pinch the food from your plate.

Brought baby blanket home from hospital for dogs to sniff before me and baby came home. Boyfriend carried baby into the house in his car seat out of reach so I could greet the dogs as normal before they were introduced to the baby.

Practiced loose lead walking WITH the pram, as this is different to the dog than walking without a pram, they need to stay I same side to avoid getting in the way of the wheels or tangled up.

Things I wish I had done:
Spent some time with ACTUAl babies. Even with playing the noises when the baby arrived and made a noise the dogs were still very interested. Recordings and dolls do not equate to the real thing. also if you do play recordings don't just play "baby crying" noises. Babies make a whole range of noises and all are likely to be new to a dog that hasn't been around babies before. New noises require investigating, when really you want the dog to ignore them. It took about a week for my younger dogs to stop jumping up everytime the baby made a sound.

Made them spend more time alone. My dogs are fine if I leave the house, but don't like being in a different room of the house from me. When the midwife or health visitor calls they dont all like dogs to be in the same room so it's important to be able to shut them in a different room or in the garden. 2 of my dogs sometimes bark nonstop if do this unless they have a kong, bone, or chew. And then they still bark when they are done eating.

Taught a solid "back up" - useful for when you are bringing baby into the house in car seat to stop them crowding you, but also useful if they are crowding baby and wanting to sniff to get them to give you space.

Solid "leave it" for sniffing - again, same as back up. One of my dogs especially always wants to sniff the babies head. I'm happy to let her have a quick sniff, I'm not happy for her to sniff too near to his mouth, or lick his face/ears, and so a stronger leave it or back up to move her away once she's had a quick nose would be helpful, at the moment I still have to move myself/baby away instead. Especially difficult if baby is in Moses basket and don't want her jumping up and looking in.

better behaviour around visitors - I was trying to work on this, but lack of volunteers to help, and laziness on my part meant I haven't done as much as I should. The dogs are fine with people they know well, but more distant family and friends visiting don't always want the dogs jumping up, and one of my dogs can be a bit skittish with people she doesn't know. Also midwives, health visitors will be around lots during first few weeks and also postman will knock lots if family and friends post gifts so it helps to have a dog that won't go berserk when visitors call round.

Stop barking at noises outside - similar to door thing. My dogs react to car doors slamming outside and it makes the baby (and me) jump out of his skin everytime. Luckily he sleeps through it, but it's still not pleasant if it makes him jump, and can distract him if he's feeding (which is last thing you need if you have sore nipples!)

Skip a few walks - dogs do need walking but having the odd day of down time is important to as if you have a dog that's bouncing off the walls because it missed a walk it is harder to deal with.
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