Let's talk about the pets

[aggiebug]

How are they doing with the new arrival? Any surprising behavior?

[aggiebug]

My big dog is kind of ignoring the situation. I am his whole world with H being a nice addition so he is sad that my time is consumed.

The little dog was afraid at first but is now the more curious one and the protector. She also needs more exercise which has been difficult to give her with the single digit temps but hope withal will improve now that the weather is better.

[dacora]

My cats have been mostly ignoring her. If they're laying on the bed when I put her down to change her, the two boys will typically jump down but my girl, Penny, will sort of sniff at her or just stay where she was. Yesterday while I was feeding DD, Penny jumped up next to us and rubbed against her feet, which was too cute. Sometimes when DD is crying or fussing Penny will come over and look at us, almost like she's saying "What are you doing to my baby?"

[mrszee]

Our dog seems annoyed and sad with the new arrival. She definitely is annoyed in the middle of the night when DD gets up and I think is sad bc she is no longer the center of attention. She ate two dirty diapers last week before I caught her (and before we got a trash can for DD's room) then dug a dirty diaper out of the trash on Sunday. I am not amused. The odd thing is that now that I am home all day she isn't hanging out with me and I would have thought she would be happy for the walks when it is nice out.

[dreemkin]

My dog Gatsby stopped eating his food when we first brought DD2 home. But then he got over it and is back to his old non caring self. He's already gone through it once. He takes a lot of shit from DD1; he's a good boy.

[mamabisme]

Our Chihuahua has BTDT (twice) on the whole baby thing so she's just like "yea, whatever." The one I was slightly worried about was our jack russell. She's a rescue and she's a bit wild. She's good with the bigger girls but I was worried about her being too rambunctious and hurting the baby. She wasn't around when our girls were born so we weren't sure how she'd react. Turns out she's pretty disinterested. She sniffed at him once when he was in the swing. That's the only attention she's given him.

[RedGiant]

Our male cat doesn't care much about the baby, just wants more attention then we can give him right now. The female cat is very protective of the baby. When DD is crying, the cat will run over to see what is wrong. She even climbed onto the changing table when DD was having a tough time with gas and crying a lot, to make sure DD was ok. She did the same thing when DS was a baby. I think her maternal instincts are showing ;-)

[angeldcf]

Our lab sniffed her & licked her head once. However, since pg, the dog is my shadow. She has to be near me at all times.

[mishka29]

I think my cat might commit suicide. But seriously I think she hates her life now. She stays in the basement and doesn't come around much. She doesn't care for the crying or dd1's pets. We aren't looking to get rid of her but if the opportunity presented where she could go live with someone we knew in an environment she would like we would probably consider it for her sake.

[junebugjam]

We were really nervous because our Sheltie is terrified of kids. Seriously terrified - runs away from them, pees in the floor, wants nothing to do with them. But she's taken to the baby really really well. She wants to lick him constantly and I think she's sad that he can't play with her yet. Hopefully as he grows up she'll get over her fear of kids.

I do think she's a little sad to not have as much attention, though.

[michelle142]

Our dog basically gives no fucks.

As long as he has food, water and gets his dinner time treat, he's a happy camper.

He's old, so nothing really phases him I guess.

[cloe111479]

zoey just sniffs her every now and then. When she's really fussy, zoey comes to investigate. I think to make sure no one is hurting her. But for the most part, she just leaves her alone.

[mle106]

Our dog has been doing surprisingly well. We were worried because he's a rescue and not typically great around small children. But he doesn't really seem phased by LO. When he cries or makes noise, sometimes the dog will perk up and look his way, but then he gets right back to what he was doing before. He does seem to get a little jealous when DH is holding LO- he gives the stink eye and a look like "Ugh, that thing's still here? Okaaayyyy."

[nomnomasaur0426]

My pup LOVES LO. He was so curious when we first got home and after getting to meet the baby, he was so excited. He's always trying to kiss him and will always lay near him or try to snuggle with him when we are on the couch. Pupper has been feeling a bit put out though since I haven't been able to play with him as much so he was acting up for a little bit, but we just started basic obedience classes last week and he seems to be back to his old self. Now that the weather is nicer and I'm healed up from the c-section we can go on our daily walks again.

[babycfeb2015]

My poor pup is depressed and feeling very neglected. Hes a big sweetheart and will be great when LO is bigger but for now hes just sad hes no longer the center of our world. He also gets super protective when LO is screaming and comes and checks on him or comes to get me as if to say hey mom pay attention to him!

[Mom2Ms]

We have two Boston Terriers. Lulu and Stella. Lulu is our tightly wound, crazy, out of control dog. Stella is our quiet, wants to be alone, and just cuddle..... Lulu is obsessed with Macallan. Just wants to be next to him. But is SUPER calm. It's bizarre. Stella wants nothing to do with him and just freaks out. All of a sudden Stella is shitting in her crate ect. and it's NOT solid. All of a sudden she's barking & had never been a barker. Vet says the baby & change may have caused her stress & anxiety. So it's super fun over here.....

[mels823]

I don't think my dogs or cat care too much. The big dog licked LO once which was pretty cute, but that's about it! The normal annoying things that they do are driving me even more crazy than usual though. The running up and down the halls at night and the barking in the middle of the night are getting real old.

[abb1701]

My cats are adjusting well. They will walk by and stare when we do tummy time but they don't have the courage touch him yet. Which is good because sometimes they forget they have claws.

[aggiebug]

I am glad to hear they are doing well for the most part.

I am sorry Stella is not taking it well Mom2Ms.

[boxerrrmama85]

Our poor pups are really neglected and I feel so bad. I need to master the stroller and two dogs and maybe then they will like me again. But they have been great with the baby and our girl pup will go inspect if lo is fussing or crying.

[mommadozer]

Our 8 month old lab, moose, was super curious at first and he loves Hank now. When Hank is fussing, he tries to make the situation better by coming up and licking hank's hands or feet. He tries to kick his face when I am not paying attention. These two will be BFF once LO starts eating solids and starts feeding the dog.

Moose loves that I am home. Since LO has been about 3 weeks, we walk to the park everyday and he gets to run thru the creek and pay fetch for an hour. It's much easier with moose though, he's fully trained to walk off leash.

[allonsy221b]

We have one cat and he's moved out of my room and in with dd. He used to run from her but the new baby makes her seem like a better choice I guess.

[flyster]

I was pretty worried about my cat and we put him on Prozac while I was pregnant to help with his agression/high stungness. he's actually been really good. He has sniffed LO a few times but mostly.ignores him even when he is on the ground waving his arms and legs which is what I was most worried about. He does feel ignored though and I need to do better paying attention to him.

[lilyelayne]

My dog loves DS. I used to get a kiss from her when I came home, but now she wants to sniff the car seat first. If he is making too much noise in his swing or pnp, she'll go to me or DH to make sure we know he needs attention. She mostly sniffs him but occasionally licks his head.

She's historically loved babies / toddlers, so I was only worried that she'd be jealous or sad that our attention isn't all on her, but she's doing great. It probably helps that she still sleeps in our bed & DS doesn't. Tho the three of us did take a nap in the big bed this afternoon - DS by my tummy and the dog chose to lay on my feet.

[lilyelayne]

Dog is on higher alert as far as trucks going down the road & feeling the need to bark / protect the house, but she has a doggie door to our fenced in back yard so she can go outside and bark as she chooses.

[2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)]

At first the older smaller male dog (my baby) was jealous and peed & pooped on the baby's carpet. The female was motherly - both as expected
Now they r warming up to him and both protective

[firelizard8367]

Dogs are both curious and sniff him when they can/are allowed to. They come running when he cries to see what's up. The cat mostly doesn't care except when he blocks her curling up in a lap. Also made her nights more difficult since we are up all the time, she can't cuddle as well!

Remember to call your vets if your pet is super stressed by this! There are lots of great natural and prescription remedies that can get them through this!