Baby, A New Arrival

Most people treat their dog like a baby and often problems will occur when a real baby is brought home. You must plan for the new baby’s arrival.

1. Acquaint the dog with a friend’s children.
Let them feed it some of its favorite treats.
Stay calm and keep the dog on a lead. If at
this stage the dog is showing any signs of
aggression, then professional help is needed.

2. If the dog is used to sleeping in a bedroom
(which it should not be allowed to do), place
the dog bed outside the room in its basket or
on its blanket. If necessary, put the dog on
a lead and restrict it to an area.

3. Consider walking around with a stuffed doll.
Even talk to it in a baby voice as if it is a
real baby. When changing the baby’s nappy --
both the real one and the toy one -- always put
your dog in the Sit Stay command. Let it sniff
and watch, for this is the time to accustom it
to baby sounds and praise it for being good.

4. Use different phrases and voices for the dog
and the baby.

5. For safety reasons and hygiene dogs must not
be allowed on the furniture near the new baby.
Start the new house rules by taking the dog by
the collar and lead and taking it to its bed.
Move the bed around the home to every room
(except bedrooms) in the house. The dog must
learn to stay where it is put.

6. Start getting a little more removed from the
dog in three 20-minute intervals. First, go into
another room for 20 minutes. Close the door be-
hind you so that it cannot follow you. Then come
out for 20 minutes before returning for another
20 minutes. Stop all tug-of-war games, wrestling
and all games involving chasing.

7. Remember hygiene. Stop feeding the dog from
the table or from your hand.It should eat only
from its bowl. Babies have to be fed several
times a day so, to prevent jealousy, give the
dog four very small meals a day - the same amount
split into four.

8. Toys are a big headache. You don’t want a
dropped toy to be licked. No more shoes, socks,
slippers, and plastic or stuffed toys for the
dog. Now is the time to take away all its toys
from the floor. Train it to play with one at a
time. Paint the others with a mouthwash which
dogs do not like. If your dog goes for it,
pick up the toy and shout at the toy (not the
dog). Very soon the dog will keep away from
anything smelling of mouthwash.

9. Babies like to grab and pull but dogs don’t
like it at all. Start getting the dog used to
this treatment by gently pulling it and grabbing
its tail and then, within three seconds, hug it
and give plenty of praise.

10. When the baby is born, ask a maternity home
nurse for some bed sheets from the baby’s nursery.
Have these put in the new nursery at home and ar-
ound the area of the home where the baby will be
nursed. Let the dog sniff around the house at the
new smells and praise it.

11. Plan your homecoming and let the dog welcome
the baby by sniffing while on a lead.

12. Keep the lead trailing on the floor for the
first week so that it can be used to correct all
mouthing and jumping. Praise when the dog does not
jump or mouth.

13. Many dogs are interested in the smell of a
nappy. If you do not use disposable ones, keep the
used nappy in a special bin and put a touch of
Tabasco or Bitter-Bite around the top to keep the
dog away.

14. Your dog should now accept the new house rules
and the new arrival.

By David the Dogman

This article is extracted from David's book,
David the Dogman's A-Z Guide to Dogs
ISBN 84-89954-08-9, Copyright (c) 1999,
Santana Books. The book, an encyclopaedic
reference book, is a top seller in Europe and
contains facts about dogs, their training,
articles by world experts, a guide to Internet
sites and much more. It is available from
http://www.thedogman.net