This photo was taken nearly 10 years ago. First, how does time fly by so fast? Second and most importantly, this was Elsa’s first baby experience. This little baby is my second born Grandson who stayed at our home for about 2 weeks after being born. My first Grandson was born only two weeks earlier but didn’t stay with us. When Elsa first heard and smelled the baby, she was beyond excited. She was only 4 years old and a bundle of big energy.
So what did we do to help Elsa learn about babies? She was going to have a lot of them in her life so she needed some lessons on these little creatures.
First, she needed to calm down. Everytime the baby was in the room she had dilated pupils and wanted to play with him. At first she was only allowed to smell from afar. In her young days she was a lot of dog; high energy, high drive with a very strong maternal instinct. Elsa LOVED and still LOVES puppies. To her this was a new puppy in the house. She wanted us to put it on the floor so she could play with it. So boundaries were set in place; good boundaries and very positive.
The biggest mistake that new parents make when bringing a human baby home is banishing the dog. The dog’s life pre-baby was more than likely “the baby.” Let’s set something straight here first, I am a Mother of 3 and a Grandmother of 6. I am probably one of the most safety conscious people that I know. I see danger everywhere and protect my littles with everything in me.
There is a right and wrong way to introduce babies. Of course a huge part depends on the specific dog or dogs personalities. We knew that Elsa just wanted to play with the baby, not hurt it. There is a huge difference in dogs that mean harm and dogs that don’t. That said, things can still happen. Dogs are not humans and they have very different behaviors than we do. And, they all have a mouth with very large teeth. So…
Safety first. But, safety in a positive manner. What does that mean? That you don’t get mad at your dog for wanting to see the baby; for having interest in the baby. That when the baby is up (not sleeping) the dog is around and being rewarded for laying quietly in a “place.” New parents often banish the dog and only allow it in the room or near them when the baby is down (sleeping). They lavish love on the dog when the baby is not present. So what are you teaching your dog about the baby? When the baby is not around it’s great; when they are around life sucks. Each and everytime that your dog gets in “trouble” around the baby; the negative association grows.
We want our dogs to learn to acclimate to the new wriggling, squeaking, funny smelling litte creature in the house. We want them to learn to be calm in the baby’s presence. If your dog will lay calmly on the floor while you hold the baby on the couch; pass them a small reward or reach down and praise them. You might have to use a babygate in the beginning. You and baby on one side, dog on the other. You can get up with the baby and hand your dog treats and praise on the other side of the gate.
If you have couch dogs; teach them well in advance (before baby comes home) about life on the floor. You will not want your dogs up on the couch (especially if they are large) when the baby is up there. So teach them to lay quietly at your feet or in a nearby “place” before you bring the baby home. You don’t want them to be displaced when the baby comes home.
If you have a velcro dog; start teaching them about personal space before the baby comes home. Work on “place” and get some distance. Teach your dog what “watch out” means. This is one of the best things you will do if you have a dog that lays around a lot. You do not want to trip over your dog with the baby in your arms.
Teach your dog that the baby’s room is off limits. This is just a good safety step to put in place. Teach your dog to move out of rooms when asked. Teach them a solid “leave it,” and “off.” It is nice to be able to control your dog without needing to physically control them. Training needs to start way before the baby comes home. And it should all be fun. You do not want to put a negative association on your baby.
When you first bring your baby home, that’s the easy part. Your baby is not mobile, they are up and out of reach for most of the time. Things change completely when they start to wriggle, crawl and walk. Work on building their relationship now. Don’t create an environment when your baby = bad things. There is a lot to talk about with regard to moving babies and dogs. I’ve written about it before and there will be a follow up to this. Before I retired, I always got the frantic calls from parents about their dog and baby, once they were on the move.