[LottesMama]

We are expecting our first baby (ultra sound tech is 90% sure its a boy) in Feb of next year!! If you count all our fur babies, which we do, that will make a happy family of 6.
Do any of you have experience with your hounds and newborns? What should I do to get Charlotte ready to be a big sister? She hasn't really met any little babies and we don't know of any we can borrow to introduce her to either. She is such a sweetie pie I am not too worried but I want to make the transition as easy as possible for her too.

 

[Mikey T]

preparing dog for baby

How do I prepare my pet for our new baby?

To be perfectly honest there is a lot of fuss made about preparing the dog for a new born ,but dogs general adjust well even without taking any precauions. it is easier to keep the dog and baby seperated The problem with dogs and children is not babies it is toddlers. Toddlers are an alien life form to most doge. they do not move like humans do not act like humans tend to be highly unpredictable and there exploration of the world of includes causing pain to a dog. The is the age most serious dog bites occur. It is preparing and being prepared able to seperate dog and child for prolonged period if necessary etc that I think warrants even more attention

There are thousand of articles on preparing both dog and toodle for this experience on the web. but there must be a lots of hand on management and supervision in order for both the child and the dog to survive this stage,

 

[bubbad]

First and foremost you never,I say,never leave a dog and baby,toddler,young child ,alone together.As it gets closer you may want to do some of Lotte's wash in the detergent you will use for the baby's wash.She will get accoustom to the smell of having a baby around.

 

[Annie714]

Oh congrats!

My sister had her first baby in May and I am now babysitting her here since my sister and her husband just started back to work. Just yesterday I took little Maddy out back to formally meet Annie. I wasn't sure how Annie would react at all. I have often held the baby down at sniffing level and let both dogs smell her through the screen, so both parties would at least get to see each other and smell each other. Anyways, when I took the baby (almost 4 months old) out back yesterday Annie was interested and when I stopped walking she rolled over at my feet for a belly rub. I knelt down and gave her the rub with the baby's hand. Very cute. I can't wait until I can take a picture of them together.

The cat is a completely different story LOL....he is totally jealous. UGH.

 

[Wworm]

Charlotte-- congrats on getting a new sibling soon! be nice to the baby, tho, k? he/she might yank on your tail and make strange noises and screech & scream at times, but do try to be patient. that's my 2 cents.
--your pal, Worm

 

[DroopyandZippy]

Congratulations! My little girl is almost 8 months old now. We have a lot of gates up in the house. The dogs have limited and very supervised contact with her. Droopy gets to spend more time with her because his obedience is good and he has a rock solid down stay. Zippy smells her so hard that I think he is going to inhale her, so he doesn't get as much contact. They are both curious about her. They like to sniff her and watch her. We have them gated out of the living room most of the time, but we keep a dog bed just outside the gate, so they can still see us and the baby. When they are invited in, it is usually one at a time.

I have to admit that my poor pups do not get nearly as much attention as they did before the baby. I try to do my best, but it is really hard to juggle work, the baby, the house, and the dogs. The dogs used to go places several times a week and training class and long walks. I just don't have enough hands or energy for everything. I think that has been our biggest adjustment and the hardest part for the dogs.

 

[houndmomma]

Can’t give any advice as my only daughter is 28 and I can’t remember that long ago anymore – just wanted to say “Congratulations”!!!!

And sleep as much as you can now, because the day will come you’ll get so little of it you’ll forget what it is.

 

[charady2]

No clue how bassets respond to a baby. But when I had my son, my rottweiler was very protective of him. It was funny. We were very careful having Taz around the baby because of his size and it really wasn't needed. If anyone else held Daniel and he happened to cry, our rottie would look from that person to me and whine-he had NEVER whined prior to that. I will say we did have issues once Daniel became mobile. Taz had to be gated out of the room and before that he had free roam of the house. He did not like Daniel at all at that point. Once he was finally walking good and able to be around taz more, taz would hide from him. He wouldn't even let Daniel pet him.

That was also when we had our first dog fight. My neighbor was holding Daniel (maybe 6 months old?) outside. I had always let taz off the leash, told him to go inside and he would. Well, neighbor's dogs were by her and my son-taz did not approve. he had never gone into her yard before, even when called. Neither dog made any teeth contact on the other but it sounded horrible (honestly, they both did this horrible growling noise and seemed to be putting their head above the other dog's head-that was the "fight"-whose head was on top I guess lol).

It did seem to change Taz's personality a bit, having to adjust to a new kid (and we have an older son, he was 5 when daniel was born). But I have to say, overall I was very impressed on his behavior with the newborn.

Congrats on the baby, btw! Hope everything goes well for you-and goes by quickly.

 

[Boomer's Mom]

Congratulations! Names picked out yet?

I agree with the advice to do it gradual. Furbabies are going to get less attention, and will probably be a little jealous.

 

[LottesMama]

Thanks for the congrats and the advice everyone!
I feel bad for poor Lotte and the bachelor cats, I wish they understood when I try explaining to them whats coming up. I am worried of giving her less attention since she has been the center of our universe for the last 1 & 1/2yrs. At least she is already crate trained and used to being baby gated out of some rooms (to give that cats a break). I guess we will just take it slow and feel our way through it.


PS-
Our top boy name right now is Nicholas John (after my husbands father).