Hi All

Hope your all well! :-)

I dont get a chance to post as much as I would like but I do have a very important question so I'm hoping someone can help us :-)

My fiance who I have been with for 10 years are planning to start a family :-) (Yay!! lol)

We have 2 Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Our boy who is 5 years old and very people friendly but dog aggressive (Due to have 10 shades knocked out of him when he was young by 2 bigger dogs grrr!) and our bitch who is friendly with everyone and everything!

We would like some tips on how to get our dogs ready for a baby coming into the 'pack' as it were....

We have always given our dogs lots of cuddles and affection and they love nothing more then snuggling up with us at night and this includes in our bedroom to sleep but they have their own beds!!

They are well trained and very obedient (Bar the dog troubles for our boy when out but we always have him on lead when other dogs around).

They have never shown an ounce of aggression towards people or children but some advice from you guys would put our minds at rest and we can start preparing!! :-)

Hope to hear from you soon....
xxxxxx

Hi and congrats!! A new baba!awww.
Well, you are doing the right thing by getting prepared. 

Things I found out(and wouldn't be without!);
Move the dogs downstairs.  When you are up with nightfeeds/nappy changes, you don't want to be worrying about where the dogs are while you nip out the room.
Buy babygates.  These are a god-send in my house.  Dogs go behind the gate if I am going to leave the baby alone or the kids are eating.  I don't need them now as the dogs are trained and kids older but I still use them sometimes.

DO NOT try and get your dogs used to a doll!! They know it's a doll and think you've went mad.  Can you imagine, my bitch took the doll off the seat where I'd left it and her and my dog had a great game with it.  When I came back into the room, the doll was in bits!! I was horrified and thought my dogs were going to eat the baby when it came!!  They knew it was a doll and just wanted to play with my 'toy'.
Send your washing home from the hospital with your OH so the dogs can get used to the new scent before you come home.  This helps soooo much.  And when you do come home, make sure the dogs get to have a good, ole sniff at the baby(unwrap the blanket so it's not just a head in a blanket!!). 

And, lastly, relax.  My dogs were terrible with kids but once ours came along, I wouldn't trust any dogs more!! They love the new additions to the pack.

Also, If you are the Main feeder/walker/groomer in your house, start sharing the duties now.  That way, all the routines don't go to pot and confuse the dogs.
And(I shouldn't need to tell You), think of them as just dogs, not the breed.  Just because your dog is dog- aggressive, doesn't mean he will bother about a baby, mine didn't!

Thank you sooo much for your response Cracar :-)

All of the points you made make so much sense and I will start using what I can now and do the rest when the baba is here :-)
(This is our first baby and I cant wait!!)

With the moving the dogs downstairs, should I start doing this gradually now? They have been upstairs all of their life and I think they may put up a fight to stay upstairs! lol

And you say washing from hospital like gowns and stuff? So they can smell the hospital and the new baby do you mean?

Babygates! How could I have forgot them??? :-o

Any more advice welcome!! :-)

I think that you need to get as many changes in place early as you can - dogs downstairs etc, so that the dogs are used to the new regime and don't associate it with the arrival of the baby.

I had similar concerns when my baby came along, especially with my doberman as she is so big.

I did get one of those cd's with babies crying on it but my lot paid it no attention so I don't think it was any help.

If you are getting the pram early on push it up and down the house and walk them with it empty, there is nothing more embarrassing than pushing a pram down the street with a large dog out in front facing you and backward bunny hopping all the way (this was cured with just a shorter lead, stopped her trying to get in front and then panicking).

I asked my husband to stay in the car with the baby until I had gone in and said hello to everyone, they hadn't seen me for 2 days so were very excited, I brought in some clothing the baby had worn so they could all have a sniff.  When we did bring the baby in they were very interested and all were allowed a sniff, the novelty did wear off after about 15 minutes but with every noise he made they came rushing over to check him out.

The best thing I bought was a large metal baby pen with a babygate in it, I had the baby's bouncer in it so I could just pop him down if I had to leave the room or answer the door and not have to worry about him being licked or pawed.  Now he has just started walking I've opened the pen into one long barrier with a gate, I have it splitting my lounge in two, dogs are still included in family life but are protected from a now grabby baby.

TBH the biggest poblem I have had is keeping the dog toys away from the baby and the baby toys away from the dogs!

Good luck with your plans

>The best thing I bought was a large metal baby pen with a babygate in it, I had the baby's bouncer in it so I could just pop him down if I had to leave the room or answer the door and not have to worry about him being licked or pawed.  Now he has just started walking I've opened the pen into one long barrier with a gate, I have it splitting my lounge in two, dogs are still included in family life but are protected from a now grabby baby.

Aaah....thank you for this.  You have just solved the biggest dilemma I was having.  I just couldn't figure out how I could leave the baby in a bouncer on the floor without having to usher the dogs out or pick him/her up everytime I need to leave the room for a minute.  Problem now solved :-) 

*adds play pen to the ever growing shopping list*.

A puppy pen with a gate may do just as well.

>adds play pen to the ever growing shopping list

I got mine from amazon for about £80 about a year and a half ago.  It also made a good pen for the pup when he was small and I had to go out!

You can't pay my dogs to go near the baby!!haha.  Not a chance.  They always look at me if I stand up without the baby as if I've just asked them to babysit for a year while I travel!!  If I leave the room without the baby, all my dogs run out too!!

I mean all your dirty laundry that you send home.  Your PJs and babys clothes and stuff that has been worn.  Your baby will have your scent on it(not that we would know) so the dog will recognise that he/she is part of the family.  Watch out for sicky bibs though.  My dogs love eating these!!

Also, those baby rug/playthings with the little mirrors and stuff? My dogs love them(baby was bored with it and played with the dog instead!!).

Never had dogs when my son was newborn but did have a 4yr old cat called Josie, she adored the baby, if he was crying upstairs she would go nuts drawing my attention till I went and got him.

She enjoyed this mothering so much she decided to produce herself[I thought she was sterile as she hadn't got pregnant before] when my son was about 5 months old, he loved the kittens and I have pics of him trying to put ones head in his mouth, as lovely as they were I decided to get her spayed and rehomed the kittens. I got rushed into hospital and my neighbour was looking after the cat and Mum had my son, it was decided I needed my gallbladder out so was reffered to L'pool where my son was, so I went home packed all I needed into my sons big pram and put the cat in the carrier on the bottom and got the train to Liverpool.

As the weeks went past Josies waist line was getting bigger, she hadn't been out bar for on an extended lead, I contacted my neighbour to be told she escaped one night and returned next morning. Mum was eager to get me home before the kittens arrived to make transport easier, the day my son was going for his 10 month hearing test Josie went into labour, so dashed to clinic not far away, explained the situation and were rushed through and back home 20 minutes later, she had 4 that time,all different colours,Mum and I kept one each,my brothers girlfriends friend had one and my health visitor the last one.

I think dogs need more preparation than cats who are more independant.

Good Luck with your preparation

Yay exciting times ahead for you!  I'm expecting a baby soon and have 3 large breed dogs at home, luckily their routine will not be changing bar the fact that I will actually be home with them everyday so they should be getting more free time outside to play and on walks.  They are used to being fed at some point before 8am and again before 7pm at night - that won't be difficult to stick to.  They are walked everyday but only in the winter week nights we go out at a certain time because of the dark evenings.  I already have baby gates in the house and my dogs don't roam free, they have a huge conservatory as 'their' room and throughout the day and evenings they are then allowed in the front room to sleep at my feet.

So basically if you are going to change their routine or where they sleep or put baby gates up I would start at least 3 months before baby arrives.  As everyone has said, send home your washing and let the dogs sniff it.  I intend on having my OH carry baby in the house in the car seat when we return from hospital whilst I go and greet my dogs, then i will give them the opportunity to (one by one) come in and sniff the baby.  I think another thing I may do is have the baby in their pram in the front room so the dogs can come in and get used to the noises and smells without worrying they are going to bump into him/her.

I am finishing work soon and have a good couple of months with my dogs at home before baby arrives so will be putting in extra training just to brush up on their manners so that's always another thought for something to do.

And enjoy....I was bought up with GSD's and spent all my spare time walking with them, training them etc :)

My baby is coming up to one and I was concerned how my dog would take to a new addtition as he has been the 'baby' for almost 5 years.  I dont want to repeat what others have said but something else to consider is keeping your dogs in their routine so things like trying not to disturb them if you are up during the night feeding.
My parents were having my dog when i was in labour as he has stayed there many times and i thought he would be fine, HOWEVER when my contractions started and i was up during the night i thought it would be ok to bring the dog upstairs for a cuddle in bed with me....BIG MISTAKE he instantly knew something was up, wouldnt settle with me and subsequently wouldnt relax at my parents house while i was in hospital. In hindsight, i should have left him in his own bed downstairs and done exactly what i would do on a 'normal' day so he wasnt alarmed. He had a bit of a sniff at the baby when i brought her home but he was much more interested in seeing me and my partner so we made a huge fuss of him.
To be honest, as long as you use common sense and dont push the dogs out because of the new baby im sure things will be absolutely fine. COngratulations by the way. Enjoy the 'trying' :-)

> I got mine from amazon for about £80 about a year and a half ago. 

Brand new they are a lot, the Lindam and Babydan ones are the best and you can get them second hand off ebay for about £40, thankfully I had a colleague selling theirs for that price - No I don't have a baby stashed away anywhere nor am I pregnant!!! lol

Good tip, Sue.  Just had a quick look on ebay and Gumtree and looks like I should be able to pick up a second hand one quite reasonably :)