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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
How to train your dog for baby's arrival
I was wondering if any of you had any tips for how to train your dogs before the baby came. Or any books you could recommend?
My dog is great with the neighbor kids he LOVES playing with them however he has become territorial over the baby room. Hes marked his territory in there 3 times and I'm really starting to get pissed. I don't want to keep the door closed at all times because once the baby comes the door wont be closed. I need tips for training him on how to prepare him for when the baby gets here.
Thanks in advance for any tips!
Re: How to train your dog for baby's arrival
ugh, dude. ?i hope someone can help you with this, because our dog is STILL immensely jealous of the bean. ?we've got a play mat set up in the living room (where she hangs out - molly's an indoor-only dog), and we've come home several times to find that she's pissed on it.?
I can't speak from experience, but I do recall the topic came up in the Infant Safety and CPR class we took at the hospital. All I can remember is that the safety instructor even went so far to mention having dirty diapers brought home from the hospital for the dog to "sense"...if that makes any sense to you.
I really hope that some of the other ladies can help!
Maybe for now, use a baby gate in the baby's room so he can, see, hear and smell everything that's going on in there, but not go in, unless he's invited. If he goes in with you and doesn't mark, then praise him. He's probably already sensing the upcoming shift in the totem pole..you'll have to remind him that even the baby is dominant to him.
We've done the same thing with different areas in our house. (The dog still "asks" to come up on the couch, or step out the front door) I plan on doing the same thing with the baby's room because he loves to lay down right at your heels. Kind of dangerous with an armful of infant!
Last year we got an Akita puppy and we'll be getting our second one in a week. The dog/kids issue was a big time concern when considering getting a dog. What our breeder told us is to make sure the dog is allowed in the room prior to the baby coming home so that he/she can indeed smell everything and investigate. She said the worst thing we could do was block off the room as that will just create frustration and curiousity in the dog. If you allow the dog to sniff around (and even the baby when he/she comes home) the dog's curiosity will subside much quicker.
In terms of getting the dog to stop peeing in there...maybe put some of his/her toys or bed. Hopefully the dog won't pee on its own things. You could try giving the dog a bone in the room too. Might divert the dogs attention from marking to creating another room where the dog can just relax. Also, we do the same as K's Kitsch....inviting the dog outside, or into the kitchen when we are preparing dinner, etc. Getting the dog in that habit might be good.
I got a book called Childproofing your dog. It is only available on Amazon, but it's only 5 bucks or so. It was really helpful. We basically, followed the book. We also played audio of a crying baby whenever we could. We would also wrap up stuffed animals in blankets and pretend to hold it. We would tell the dogs it was the baby. They would get really excited.
Now that DS is here the dogs have adapted very well to him. They seem really protective. Whenever someone holds him they go over and check them out. It's really cute! We never leave the dogs alone in the room with the baby and we let them smell him. It's still new, but so far so good. Good luck!
We had a 1 year old German Shephard before Rj was born and we did the carrying a doll wrapped in a blanket, had him sniff it, brought him into the room only with permission. Some how Dh was able to train him to sit in front of the door before he was permitted to go in. Lucky for us his favorite place in the house was the kitchen and he never peed or pooed in the house. When Rj was born, DH brought home a shirt that Rj had used in the hospital and had Mightydog smell it each time DH came home from the hospital. We also got into the habit of greeting him first after entering through the door with or without baby just let him know that we were acknowledging him.
Best of luck.
?
When I worked for the Pasadena Humane Society, the dog trainer was working on a book and did consultations with people. I see that the book is out now - And Baby Makes Four: A Trimester-by-Trimester Guide to a Baby-Friendly Dog by Penny Scott-Fox.
good luck!
We played cds of baby noises to get the animals accustomed to the sounds. We also wrapped the babies in blankets and the hospital and had dh bring home the blanket for them to investigate prior to bringing home baby. I ditto the use of a baby gate so that he can see what's going on in the room but not enter. He senses that a change is coming but doesn't quite know what it is yet.
Also, if you aren't already using it, get some Nature's Miracle at the pet store to clean up the spots he's marking. It's an enzyme cleaner that completely destroys the smell rather than just covering it up.