Introducing dog to newborn baby, what did you do?

Question

So I have a 3 year old beagle who is very sweet and loving but very energetic. The baby isn't due until November and I'm trying to figure out a game plan to get her used to having a baby around.  She did fairly well with my boyfriend's niece when she was around a year old, but that was her only interaction with a baby. Does anyone have any tips to better prepare her for the new arrival?

Answer

I pretty much just put the car seat with baby down on the floor and our dog came right up and sniffed her. You have to know your dog to know how to do it. He was pretty indifferent until she started eating real food and she became his snack source. She’s 16 months now and they’re best buddies 🥰

Answer

We have a sweet, but high-energy, Yorkie. We were very nervous about this. I agree about letting the dog sniff everything. We even gave her a little bed to sit in in the nursery so she felt she had a place there. We played crying sounds throughout the day and sometimes at night if we were up for whatever reason (bathroom breaks!). When baby was born my husband brought a blanket back to the house that had the baby’s scent on it and gave it to the dog to play with. When baby finally came home, the dog did freak out a little. My husband took him on the floor with him and let our dog sniff her to say hi. After that it was fine! Now that baby is 10 months and is moving around and making lots of noise, the puppy senses the baby taking more of our attention and has been acting out a bit. We just make a point of giving her extra love and attention.
Here’s Daphne meeting her new brother Joey ❤️

Answer

I’ve heard of people actually playing baby noises (crying, cooing, squealing) for their dog on a regular basis to get them used to noises they aren’t familiar with.  I can see how this would keep them from startling if baby screams or squeals.

Answer

I have two Shiba-Inus. Im excited to see how they react.  My male Shiba is 8 yrs old which is actually my son's dog.  He's not going to care at all. My 2yr old female shiba, we already know she's going to be the one taking the snacks from the baby.  Good luck and just keep a watchful eye.

Answer

When I was in labor I had my parents go pick up my dog. They took her to their house and when they visited us at the hospital I sent a baby hat that my son wore home with them so that way they could let the dog sniff it to become familiar with the scent. My sister actually pulled out a doll and put the hat on it and laid it around for her to sniff 😅. We had a golden retriever who, at the time when our son was born, was 10 but still a very energetic dog. She had never really been around babies at all. And toddlers/little kids she was very skittish around because it wasn’t a common thing for her and i don’t think she quite understood why there was a little human at her eye level. She was always so good with our son though. She honestly kind of stayed away from him for a long time though. She didn’t really want anything to do with him. Crawling stage was the hardest because she wasn’t used to being “attacked” by a ferocious little human. She was never mean but she would just jump up and walk away from him 🤣. She’s 12 now and our son is 2. She still sometimes just gets up and walks away from him but she’s so much better with him now. He can go give her hugs and kisses and sit with her and she just lays there. He gives her treats and toys all the time. So basically the newborn stage won’t be too bad because the baby will just be laying around mainly. But definitely get the dog used to the smell and the baby as early as you can.

Answer

Let your dog sniff and check out all the babystuff when you get it. When baby comes have someone bring a blanket/burp rag/a used onsie for dog to snif at. When baby comes home with you, let your dog come to baby and sniff(of course with you within arm's reach) my mum put me and my brother on a blanket on the floor and let all the five huge dogs say hi. Never a problem.

Answer

Thank you all, I'll definitely try all this stuff out. I will get her started with the baby sounds and maybe pick up a baby doll to simulate a real baby when doing it.

Introducing dog to newborn baby, what did you do?

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