Dogs + New Baby Worries

[dronkeygal]

Is anyone else worried about how their dogs are going to react to having a new baby in the house?  

I have two small beagles who are great with kids, so I'm not worried about their interaction with baby.  What I'm freaking out about is their feeding/walking/sleeping routine.  My dogs currently sleep downstairs in their crate.  In the morning (around 5am) when they hear me open our bedroom door (or sometimes flush the toilet) they start howling to be fed and let outside.  I'm worried that when baby is here and crying in the middle of the night that they will think it's time to wake up and be fed and start all their howling nonsense.  I am considering moving their crate into our garage to sleep at night, but then I am worried about them being too cold or hot.  We live in NC, so we have typical seasonal temperatures.  Thoughts?  

[maddscientist]

We basically trained our dog like Pavlov - that when my alarm goes off it is time to eat/go out. Anytime in the night that I get up before then (to pee or whatever) I just say 'it's still bedtime' and, while he does get up if he is in the room (I have to step over him to get out of bed and to the bathroom), he goes back to sleep/doesn't clamor to go out. This might be a solution for you, but likely not one that will be fixed in the next 2 weeks...

Do yours get up/howl when you get up to pee at like 2am or randomly in the middle of the night now? (which would be like the baby crying) or is it only when it is close to their normal waking time?

[dronkeygal]

When I pee in the middle of the night I'm super quiet and don't flush the toilet. Haha. I've heard them shake (their collars jingle) sometimes when I get up to pee. But the howling usually doesn't start until I open our bedroom door or start walking down the stairs.

[kricha2010]

Maybe see what happens in the MOTN if you get up and do something out of the ordinary.
We have a Boston and she sleeps with us. When we brought DS home and we were just starting our breastfeeding and pumping and didn't know how she would be with him in our bed, we kicked her out of the room while i was up and then she came back when i was done. That ended at about 2 weeks and we were fine. It will just take some getting used to. I'm not worried this time and she'll stay in bed with us while i nurse.

[mom2xover2002]

I thought our dachshund would have a problem but he's been great! Every time she cries or makes any noise he's right there making noise trying to calm her down or if she's kicked off her socks he's licking her feet. It's actually quite cute

[dronkeygal]

Jan 28, 2015 15:54:06 GMT -5 kricha2010 said:

Maybe see what happens in the MOTN if you get up and do something out of the ordinary.
We have a Boston and she sleeps with us. When we brought DS home and we were just starting our breastfeeding and pumping and didn't know how she would be with him in our bed, we kicked her out of the room while i was up and then she came back when i was done. That ended at about 2 weeks and we were fine. It will just take some getting used to. I'm not worried this time and she'll stay in bed with us while i nurse.

Good idea.  I'll try peeing downstairs during one of my million wake-ups tonight and see how they react.  

[firelizard8367]

You could also try playing some recordings of babies crying in the middle of the night. Either way, as long as you are firm and set in how you act towards them in the new routine, they will adjust pretty quick.

[reneamac313]

I'm mainly concerned about barking when it comes to my dog. She will be a year in February so she is still very much a puppy. We live in an apartment so she will bark at the noises of others. It has gotten worse throughout my pregnancy as she became more and more protective of me. She absolutely LOVES babies so I think it's going to get even worse out of her protectiveness of the baby.

Edit: As I type this she is half on top of me, barking and staring at the door.

[MommyOfAMiracle]

Jan 28, 2015 16:33:53 GMT -5 reneamac313 said:

I'm mainly concerned about barking when it comes to my dog. She will be a year in February so she is still very much a puppy. We live in an apartment so she will bark at the noises of others. It has gotten worse throughout my pregnancy as she became more and more protective of me. She absolutely LOVES babies so I think it's going to get even worse out of her protectiveness of the baby.

Edit: As I type this she is half on top of me, barking and staring at the door.

My border collie barks a lot at noises outside. I'm already planning on him waking the baby. But from what I've been told, it's ok to have loud noises when baby is sleeping. There isn't much else I can do. But I totally feel your concern. 

[hernsy]

I'm only worried about LO waking up when they bark, but I plan on letting them bark, running the vacuum, shutting cabinets, and clanking plates so she'll learn to just sleep through it. We do have a great dane that I'm worried is just too dumb and clumsy to watch out for a baby. We'll have to keep an eye on him for that.

[kcrosem]

Jan 28, 2015 19:25:13 GMT -5 hernsy said:

I'm only worried about LO waking up when they bark, but I plan on letting them bark, running the vacuum, shutting cabinets, and clanking plates so she'll learn to just sleep through it. We do have a great dane that I'm worried is just too dumb and clumsy to watch out for a baby. We'll have to keep an eye on him for that.

This is what we did with DS and it was fine. I have a one year old chihuahua mix and am worried about nighttime because she growls if i bump her getting out of bed to pee and I think she is going to hate night disruptions, but it will work itself out somehow. I had a lot more issues with our older dog and the baby last time once he was walking then as an infant. Hoping to walk them more while I am on leave.

[missys]

Jan 28, 2015 15:55:03 GMT -5 mom2xover2002 said:

I thought our dachshund would have a problem but he's been great! Every time she cries or makes any noise he's right there making noise trying to calm her down or if she's kicked off her socks he's licking her feet. It's actually quite cute

I have a miniature dachshund and have a question for you! I am very worried because my little guy is very protective and aside from family he does not like other people. I know this is a common trait among the breed and I'm not sure if your pup is similar at all but did you do anything to make the transition better you think? I'm glad everything is going well for you!

[firelizard8367]

Jan 28, 2015 21:14:34 GMT -5 badw0lf said:

Anyone have cats? We have two and while one is terrified of everything the other behaves like a dog (I know it's cliche to say that but it's true). He also has a bad habit of snuggling (smothering) your face. We are planning on keep them locked out baby's room (or whenever he is sleeping) when we can't watch.

most of the advice for dogs is the same for cats. they will generally adjust on their own in their own time. Of course, never leave any kid, of any age alone/unattended with any animal.

[nomnomasaur0426]

Definitely not worried about my puppy anymore (6month old German Shepherd/St. Bernard mix). He's generally very quiet - will only bark/playfully growl when playing, or if he gets spooked by someone wearing a hood (or santa hat - he hates hoods and santa hats...). Lately when he was sleeping in his crate, if he heard myself or DH get up to pee in the middle of the night, he would whine in his crate (in our living room downstairs) and start carrying on, would do that as well when I'd get up in the morning to get ready for work. It only was getting bad that past couple of weeks so I don't know what made him hate his crate all of a sudden, so we let him stay out of his cage starting this past weekend and he's been so much better (has chosen the couch as his bed - we keep a gate up to block off the steps so he won't come wondering in to our room to say hi in the middle of the night). He now sleeps through the night and won't even wake up when I come down the steps in the morning - just lifts his head off the couch and gives me a little tail wag. I've also played a few baby crying recordings for him to see how he'd react, and he was fine - seemed very concerned when he heard it. Also when DH set up the crib this past weekend, pup kept checking out the nursery and when the crib was finished, he decided to take a nap under it - I guess it's the protective german shepherd side coming out? Definitely much less worried now about having a puppy and a baby now! Good luck with your pups! I hope some of the tips PPs gave will work!

[mom2xover2002]

Jan 28, 2015 19:58:45 GMT -5 missys said:

Jan 28, 2015 15:55:03 GMT -5 mom2xover2002 said:

I thought our dachshund would have a problem but he's been great! Every time she cries or makes any noise he's right there making noise trying to calm her down or if she's kicked off her socks he's licking her feet. It's actually quite cute

I have a miniature dachshund and have a question for you! I am very worried because my little guy is very protective and aside from family he does not like other people. I know this is a common trait among the breed and I'm not sure if your pup is similar at all but did you do anything to make the transition better you think? I'm glad everything is going well for you!

Honestly we really didn't anything to adjust him. My oldest two are 12 & 13 so we've always had other kids over. I wish I could be of more help though.

[ambz06060]

I'm worried about our one year old Dalmatian. He is very attached to my husband, where he tries to kick my off when DH and I snuggle. I'm just worried he will try this when DH is holding LO. Plus the pup is STUBBORN!

badw0lf I have two cats too. They LOVE the baby's room. I don't want to keep them out completely, but will monitor when LO finally sleeps in a crib.

[mels823]

My dogs (german shepherd and aussie) bark like crazy at night sometimes, and while it is driving me insane so far LO (2 weeks) has yet to wake up. I'm sure once she is out of this constantly sleeping stage that will change, and I'm not sure what I will do then. They have been way better than I thought they were going to be when it comes to me getting up to feed the baby a few times a night, but I think it may be because they had gotten so used to me getting up so many times a night to pee while I was pregnant!

ambz06060 I also worry about my cat in the babies room. He is SO overly friendly and just wants to snuggle. I'm so scared he will try to jump in the crib to snuggle her. Granted, he is a fat beast of a cat and I am 99% sure could not make that jump, but I keep the monitor on when she is in the crib just in case. We had cats when I was a newborn and my mom says I'm just being paranoid, but this cat really just wants to snuggle! Luckily he really shows 0 interest in LO and I am hoping it stays like that!

[racheltherose]

Our nurse suggested we bring home the hat they put on LO right after he was born to the dogs before the baby came home. My husband had to make several trips home to let them out, so they got to sniff it and honestly they've been wonderful. I was worried about barking too, and we invested in a training collar that has a vibrate and shock option. The vibrate freaks ours out enough that it stopped their barking when we let them out, and they've actually been very patient in their crate while I tend to the baby in the middle of the night

[firelizard8367]

Dogs and cat have been great so far. Very clingy and concerned about the whole baby situation, but in a good way. The cat has enjoyed a spot under the crib where we keep blankets. She has surprisingly not run away at all!
Animals do a pretty good job of reading your anxieties and emotions (while not fully understanding them). As long as you don't make a big deal out of it, they will be fine!

[trin42]

It ended up being a non issue for us thankfully.
Our dog is high strung due to his previous owners abuse yet the cries and everything else of a newborn didn't seem to bother him as long as he had his safe place to go (the basement) if he needed a break