Hi, I'm now 5 1/2 months pregnant, and expecting the new arrival in May. My sheltie will be  about 18 months old by then, and I'm hoping you can give me some tips on things I should consider and do to introduce the baby into the house, to ensure we don't get any jealousy from my boy.

Generally he's very affectionate, (especially since i've been pregnant) but he can be boisterous. I've been working on stopping him jumping at people (I'm worried he may knock the baby over), and i've also been trying to stop him yapping, but i don't seem to be having much success with this.

Are there other things I should be working on from now?
 

I would try to get your partner more involved with your dogs day to day routine.  He shoukld start to take him for walks, feed him etc, in other words cool your relationship a bit, as when the baby is born you will not be as available to him as you are now, and if he is already used to less of your time it will be easier for him.

By the time he could knock a baby over he will bea bout 3 years old, as of course for at leat 6 months a baby will be in arms and pretty safe from any accidental knocking.

Many people will bring home used items of the baby's clothing for the dog to smell befoe you bring aby home.  when you get home give him the oppriotunity to smell the baby but do not be too tense, and do not react one way or the other to his reactions which may vary from disinterest to OTT excitement, growling (anything unfamiliar and worrying will elicit this response, it soesn't mean he hates the baby).

Of course never leave a dog or any animal alkone with a baby, theya re only animals after all, and some will get distreessedexcited when a baby cries.

My freind whose baby is now 6 months has two young Dobermanns, one less than 18 months when baby born and the other a year older.  The male is a bit of a bull in the China shop and will no doubt have to be watched carefully while baby learns to walk etc, as even now he lays his heavy head on his lap.  Th bitch is very gentle only wanting to mother him and lick him if he dribbles or is sick :D  You have to play it by ear acting normal, but always sensibley avoiding any situatiuon that could cause a problem.

Once you have a toddler it is really protecting the dog from them and teaching the baby how to respect and not hurt the dog.

We try to walk him together every evening, and he has already learned to go to hubby to play games, as I'm finding it difficult to play tug with him, or even to bend down to pick up the toys :)

I will definately try the tip of bringing in used baby clothes first. Are there any other things I should consider trying? He loves children but he's never really been exposed to a baby before-so this will be a new experience for him. The one time he heard a neighbours baby crying he became very distressed- is there anything i can do about preparing him for this?

I believe there are tapes you can get of baby noises etc. May be worth looking into. :)

dont worry too much, a dobe makes a better babysitter than any human,

We had a baby 3 months ago, we have 2 labs and both are very good with her. It is funny if one of them barks (postman etc.) she does not even acknowledge it, she is obviously used to it from the womb!

When we came back from the hospital we made sure that no family came around for a while, our dogs were used to attention when people came in so we did not want them to see a new "thing" in their home taking attention away from them, just in case they reacted badly towards her. When people came in to start with we asked them to ignore the baby so things seemed normal to them.

One of out labs was very attentive for a few weeks, he seemed to sense when she was about to cry etc. but now both ignore her, we will never leave them unattended with her BUT we do feel they have accepted her are part of the family, her "helps" feed them so we are establishing her role as one of their owners.

Good luck, it will be hard initially as it is hard to walk the dogs so much to start with, make sure family help you it will all be OK