Friday, June 29, 2018

Preparing dogs for a newborn

Ok so I believe this is highly important
when a newborn is about to be 
introduced into the family. 
Especially when it has only been 
you and the pup(s) for years.




I have two dogs--Xena and Diesel.
They are Blue Heelers. 
Xena is mixed with Australian Shepard
and Diesel is mixed with Red Heeler. 
They are seriously the sweetest dogs you will every meet.
Xena's personality is more laid back and easy going.
While Diesel can't sit still, and loves constant attention.





That being said, we wanted to prepare them
ahead of time before the new baby comes. 
They are literally my whole world 
and I could not imagine having to get rid of them
or something happening to them.
So I wanted to make sure they were well 
prepared ahead of time, 

We have had Xena since she was like 8 weeks old,
and Diesel since she was 1.5 years old. 
I honestly wasn't worried about how they would act around
the new baby
but I know my husband was
so I made sure to prepare them. 

My due date was in late May,
so in April I started implementing changes.
I started with having the pups sleep in the bonus 
room rather than with us.
Yes our dogs slept with us in the bed.
I think it was honestly harder on me than them 
with that change haha!
But we knew we didn't want the dogs to sleep with 
us anymore once the baby got here. 

I read an article suggesting to make all the changes
prior to the baby coming so the dogs
don't associate it with the baby.
So after a couple of days of changing sleeping
locations, I also added a baby gate
at the bottom of the stairs so they couldn't freely roam upstairs during the day. 

I then started playing cries of a baby off my phone,
and of course they weren't even phased by it haha!
I also started letting the mamaroo run by itself
so they can get use to the movement and noises it makes.
After a week,
they weren't phased by
it at all. 

The last thing we did was when Luca was finally born.
While John, Luca, and I were still at the hospital
my mom took a blanket he was wrapped in 
and let them smell it. 

And that was literally all we did. 
It is what worked for ours dogs.
When we brought him home
they were over the moon excited.
And Xena became his little protector.
It was the cutest thing I have ever seen.









For a good 4 weeks I believe,
I only took Luca downstairs for a couple hours,
and then we would spend most of  the time in our bedroom.
Each week that past I upped the time more.
To eventually spending the whole evening until bedtime
downstairs with the dogs.



Now being almost 8 weeks of being home
with the pups,
everything is completely normal.
Meaning, 
the dogs aren't phased by him at all.
Neither do they get jealous.






I truly hope it continues this way.


OTHER TIPS & TRICKS
#1..Once you have received everything from your baby showers
or purchased everything you need, 
start setting it all up.
In our case we had all the big items set up by
26-28 weeks of being pregnant. 
I would let the dogs go in his room and 
sniff the new furniture and just get familiar with it.
{Key is to introduce everything way early
like I stated above so they don't associate it with the baby}

#2...Our dogs are no longer crate trained and are free to roam the house
so like I stated above we started putting a baby gate
at the end of the stairs so all day they aren't allowed upstairs. 

So if your dog is crate trained,
or you want to create a designated spot for them
please start this early not after the baby arrives.
Place all of their belongings in one area, 
for us all their toys and beds are downstairs now in the living room.
And we actually kept their food and water in the same spot
which is in the kitchen by the garage door. 

Now even though their beds are downstairs they sleep 
on the couch in the bonus room
{they are still a little spoiled haha!}

#3.. If you don't want your fur babies on the furniture 
anymore at all just make sure to set the rules early on.
I couldn't stress anymore how important this is to do it early. 
Like I stated above I have read some many articles that if you change
everything too late, the animals can associate it with the baby
and become jealous and act out. 

I hope this was helpful
xoxo
Megan





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