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Intro and help? (So so long... so so sorry)
Hi everyone. I didn't know this board even existed and I'm thrilled to have come across it. I'm hoping you can help me with a little problem we're having here.
I have a husband, a step daughter (9), I'm pregnant, and we have wonderful dogs. One dog is a mutt of some sort. They told us she was black lab/beagle. But as she has gotten a little older she clearly has some greyhound or wippet in her. She's only 27 lbs too. So a little on the small side. Our other dog is an Alaskan malamute. She's a little large for a female at around 85 lbs. Both dogs are almost 4.
The issue... Our dogs have grown up together. Haley, the lab mix is a little older and we had her for abour 3 months before we got the second, the Malamute, Dakota. They love each other and are good friends. However, like all siblings, they fight on occasion. We have been able to identify what causes fights, and been able to avoid it. Mostly it's when Dakota feels overwhelmed, or scared, she tends to go after Haley a little bit. Haley is so much smaller and it is scary sometimes. This started when they were about 2, and happens every 6 months or so. Haley has needed stitches once, however the vet did say if we hadn't brought her in she would have been fine (I was probably overreacting-it was the first fight and I was home alone).
Haley also has epilepsy. Also scary when that first came about! We had been putting off putting her on the medicine to prevent these for a number of reasons. 1. the vet said it was possible she would grow out of it. 2. they were only happening every 6 months or so. 3. we were trying to determine if it they were caused by an outside factor (the first 2 she had only a few hours after a big house cleaning), 4. We wanted to make sure it wasn't her heart, or something that could be fixed, and 5. We were told once she was on the medicine that was it. There was no taking her off (we've since been told this is untrue, it's just a process to take her off the medicine).
So, whenever Haley has a seizure, Dakota would attack her. Apparently this is somewhat common from what I've heard (?). The last seizure was by far the worst one. I was 3 months pregnant, and it did not stop, and I had to get her to the vet. Dakota started attacking her, and I was trying to break up a dog attacking another dog having a seizure while 3 months pregnant. It was horrifyingly scary!
We opted to put Haley on the medicine. She has DRASTICALLY changed. Her energy level is way up (I always just thought she was a somewhat lazy dog), her appetite is up, her weight is up to a healthier size now, and she seems to be less afraid of Dakota.
Anyway, with the fighting that has happened in the past, and the changes that our family is going through now (expecting a baby soon and all), we opted to have a trainer come in to speak with us about how to get the dogs prepared for a baby in the house without completely disrupting Dakota who is so senstive.
The trainer asked to see where the dogs go when we aren't home. We have a finsihed basement, and we use one room as "the dog room", the previous owners had a home office. The dog room has a window, and rubber flooring and 2 crates. Up until we moved into this house (1 year ago), Dakotas seperation anxiety was almost beyond control. She would break out of every crate we had. The only thing that calmed her was getting a larger crate and having both dogs in there together. Since the last seizure incident I've not felt comfortable having them share a crate because I was nervous about what might happen if Haley didhave a seizure and Dakota was scared in a confined space together. So they each now have their OWN crates right next to each other, and Dakota has had no incidents breakout out of her crate (although it's clipped together with rock climbing hooks and I'm sure she could if she tried.
The trainer was appalled that these dogs are almost 4 and crated. She said that if I couldn't trust my dogs when I was out then I shuoldn't have them, and that they're too old to be crated, and have clearly not been trained properly. While I'll admit I don't leave them out also because Haley is a stuffed animal chewer, and Dakota I know would sneak onto the furniture to sleep, the biggest reason I crate them is for their own safety. I opted not to use this woman again, and I'm now at some what of a loss here.
PHEW! Tha'ts my story.
I'm here because...
1. Should I be worried about getting them to the point wherethey can be left unattended in the home? (I work from home, so they're not even crated that often! Maybe 4 days a week for 4-5 hours if DH and I go out, run errands, have dinner, the usual)
2. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to acclimate a new baby to a household that has been primarily about the dogs for the last 4 years? We have all the baby things set up and on as often as possible, so that they get used to the noises and movements of things, and have also started paying less attention to them. (Step-Daughter is here Every Other Weekend, and loves them, and we have no problems with that, never have).
If anyone actually read all this... I thank you and would love your advice.
Re: Intro and help? (So so long... so so sorry)
Welcome PegLeg! Sorry to hear that Haley has health problems, but I commend you for taking steps to help her feel better and keep her safe.... ALOT of pregnant women in your situation would have made a very different decision.
About the crating: I am no dog expert, but I do have a beagle with severe separation anxiety, and it has taken us 10 years to realize he is not only safer in a crate, but much happier. If they aren't left in their for long hours at a time, then I see no problem with this, especially when you take into account the possibility for disaster should Haley have another episode.
In regards to the new baby, I think your dogs will be just fine. I worried how my dog would react when my son was born, and truth be told, he pays no attention to him really. Sure he would run over and check him out if he cried, or try to steal his food if he was walking around with something in his hand, but he's never been anything but gentle with him. Dogs are smart, and somehow they know that babies are little "people" and should be respected and protected.
The most important thing to do is pay attention to their body language and if you think the dogs are getting overwhelmed then maybe give them a break from baby for awhile. Give them some long-lasting bones to chew or something that is a pleasant distraction for them. Overall, they will adjust, and it's nice to see that you plan on making things work well, not only for yourself, but the fur babies as well
Some dogs are "lifers" in the crate, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's safer for your dog, and safer for your belongings.
We have some resources in our board FAQs about preparing pets for a new baby: https://sites.google.com/site/petsboardfaqs/home/training-and-behavior/preparing-your-pets-for-a-baby and American Humane recently published a free ebook on the subject, too: http://www.americanhumane.org/interaction/programs/humane-education/pet-meets-baby.html
I disagree with the PP who said that your dogs should be fine with no preparation and that dogs see them as little people. But definitely give them baby-free zones and long-lasting bones (Nylabones, antlers or bully sticks) and puzzle toys like Kongs, Tug-a-Jugs, etc.
It's so much better to prep your pets for a baby. We just had our second baby 2 weeks ago. Our dog is 2, so this is her first experience with a baby. Even though we did a lot of prepping, and she's a super easy dog, she's still adjusting. A baby is a BIG change. The tips PP posted are great.
Welcome! Sorry to hear about the health issues with your dog. But glad to hear that it seems to be under control.
First off, I'm surprised a trainer would tell you that 'why have a dog if you're going to keep it in a cage'. It doesn't sound like your dogs are in cages very often. We adopted a 2 yr old, who wasn't housebroken. Even though he's housebroken now, he absolutely adores his cage so we never took it out of the living room. He does get 'locked' inside his 'bedroom', as we have come to call it, if he doesn't poop before we leave the house. He goes in there on his own when we start to get ready, so if he hasn't pooped, we just close the door. It is a piece of mind for us knowing that he won't go in the house (even though I said he's housebroken, I guess I should say he's about 85%), and he loves it in there. So as long as your dog doesn't see the cage as punishment, there's absolutely nothing wrong with using a cage. We've asked our trainers (we work with 2), and they've both said the same thing.
Second, we're in the process of preparing our dogs for a baby on the way as well. I've read the advice on here, asked around, and there are definate steps you can take.
- We have a lot of stuff in our house already for the baby, and we let them smell everything.
-Our trainer had told us about this one, because we always get excited to come home and see the dogs, we pretty do the 'hi puppies!' in a high voice as soon as we come in the house and they get all excited. They do not jump, but just overwhelmed b/c mom and dad just came home. The trainer said to stop acknowledging them when we walk in, b/c eventually we'll be walking in with a carrier/baby stuff, and not able to pet them the instant we walk in the door, so this will get them used to that. This has by far been one of the hardest things, and I'll be honest we don't do it allll the time, but I'd say most of the time, we walk in, act normal, put our stuff down, let them outside to potty, then acknowledge them in our high voices that gets them excited!