Hi all

I have just found out I am pregnant!!!  First baby for my husband and I.   We have 2 Shar Pei who are wonderful but as I have never been in the situation before I wondered how would be the best way to prepare my canine babies for the arrival of their human baby brother or sister?  Pray for a girl - our house is full of men!

Thanks

Nicky

Congratulations!

Don't worry, you have plenty of time to make the necessary changes to your dogs' lifestyle. It's best to start as soon as you can though, so now's the time to get them used to sleeping where they'll be sleeping after the baby arrives - if they're used to being in the kitchen already, so much the better. Also start having them not with you quite so much - no big deal, just lying quietly out of the way while you watch TV is fine - they don't have to be out in the garage all the time! You want them to be used to the routine you'll be following when the new baby arrives, before you bring the baby home, so they don't associate too many changes with the baby ... if you see what I mean!

But as I say, there's plenty of time!

Congratulations :)

One of the things I found invaluable was to teach my dogs a 'bed' command.  This meant I could get them settled, out of the way while still being able to attend to the baby instead of having to leave the baby to sort the dog out.  Another handy hint is to take some clothing home that the baby has worn in hospital to get the dogs used to the scents of a baby, and if you can get a recording of 'baby noises' and play them to the dogs, especially screaming and crying, they won't be so worried when your new person starts to utter all sorts of strange noises ;)

Thank you.  Luckily they do sleep downstairs now (used to on our bed!)  I think they will be fine although I think the crying thing will do them in!   Might get a recording that's a good idea.

God only 8 weeks pregnant and giving up my daily glass of red wine is hell!!!!!!!!

hi, i have a 10 month old son, a 7yr old sheltie and an 8 wk old husky. when my little boy was born my sheltie was unsure of him,especially the crying.she started off constantly trying to get my attention and wouldnt leave me alone! it took about 4 months for her to settle and be comfortable around him.if my boy screams she will still go and hide but personally i dont blame her!!!!!!!! you just have to make sure that you share attention between the baby and your dogs..it will be hard .VERY HARD!!!!!!! but worth it in the end. its a nightmare with my baby who's currently teething and my puppy who has a touch of seperation anxiety and refuses to sleep at night or be left on her own(i get up at 4 every morning because she howls so loud it wakes the neighbours! i think it was easier with my baby than the puppy!!!!!!! good luck with your baby,they are hard work and change your life completely,but its when they say mum or dad and smile at you that makes it worth it.! :-)

ps, i had a couple of glasses of wine throughout my pregnany and all was fine.my  midwife said that a few glasses are perfectly ok.just as long as you stick to limits.i found giving up the few things i enjoyed made me feel really low.so i compramised by only having a  few glasses and it made pregnancy less stressfull!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he he - what's a few glasses????  I wish I didn't have to give up so many things- gave up smoking in Jan so that was already done, now having to give up vino, coffee and diet cokes - the only three things I drink.  I had terribly headaches giving them all up at the same time - by body must think I'm detoxing!

Hi Nic
Ah so pleased for you.
My sister just had a baby, Hes about 8 weeks old now and my shar-pei is great with him.
She sees the baby quite a bit.
She had a good sniff at his bum and feet lol.
Jane

i had about 3 glasses a week! i still drank diet coke.!!!although i think i wouldnt of liked giving up many of the things i enjoyed.to be honest i still dont!!!

Hi nic29, congratulations! i had a baby 11weeks ago i have 5yr old daughter, 3 cats and my springer spainiel is nearly 9 months, and out of everthing the hardest was not drinking especaily over xmas/newyear! Although i still had caffine and dietcoke couldnt live without dietcoke!! Getting back to the baby/dog i was told to let her smell everything that i brought into the house that was babystuff and that even ment clothes etc. And also making sure she would go to bed when told (as said above)  when feeding etc. But she was a young pup -still si a pup really even though she doesnt look it! But she absolutly adores the baby and my other child _ when baby is crying she starts to get this panicked look on her face and goes sits next to him if hes in his  bouncer! If only i had taken the trouble to get my cats to like the dog!

Hi
I hope it is okay to recommend this book here because I wrote it (under a previous name, last marriage) let me stress I do *NOT* make any money whatsoever out of any sales -so go get it from the library! :) I have had 3 kids (now 13, 10 and 5) and had dogs around every time -never less than 3. I wrote "the dog in your family" to explain how to go about introducing a baby to exisiting dogs, and also how to chose a dog when you already have kids. It's written by Marianne Mays, published by Kingdom.  Basically it'''s my own experiences.

Marianne

When I had my last daughter (now aged 11) one of my bitches took great delight in letting my husband (now ex) that he wasn't allowed anywhere near the baby. :D At the time we had 6 dogs in the house (one of them was very pregnant ;) ) and Kali was the only one who took notice. When I came home from the hospital ( I know you have a good few months to wait :) ) I went into the house first to say hello. My husband brought Claire into the house in her pram. The dogs sniffed and walked away. When Claire cried my husband went to pick her up and Kali went for him I've never moved so quick in my life (now why did I do that? :D ) She realised she was in the wrong and went skulking back to bed. Claire learned to walk using Kali as a walking frame, so there must have been a bond there from the beginning :)

How the dogs will react is something only you can judge. As the others have said, if you start now it won't make such a big effort, or shock to the dogs, when the baby arrives. Good luck in your forthcoming 'fun'. ;)