Embarking on the journey of parenthood is an exhilarating whirlwind of emotions, but for many families, there’s another furry member eagerly awaiting their introduction to the newest addition: the family dog.
As a pet lover and a parent myself, I understand the mix of excitement and apprehension that comes with merging two worlds – the beloved canine companion and the sweet, precious newborn.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the delicate introduction between your dog and your newborn that enriches the bond between family members.
So, if you’re a pet parent on this adventure or soon-to-be parents pondering how to ensure harmony between your dog and your baby, join me as we look into the art of welcoming a dog into the world of newborn snuggles and diaper changes.
What is introducing a dog to a newborn?
There are a number of things to consider when you are introducing a newborn to your house, like your work schedule, your sleep schedule, your life, where the newborn will sleep and what they will eat etc.
I could list everything but I think the list would go on through this whole blog!
Well, I am sure one thing you are considering is how your pets will do with this new family member. Introducing a dog to a newborn can be tricky if you do not prepare your house (and yourself) for the new addition.
In this blog, I am going to talk about the steps to take when introducing a dog to a newborn from the beginning. I’ve gone through this process myself and am here to help you with what worked for us and what didn’t.
As always, consult veterinarian when you have concerns about your pets. Its very likely they can help!
Understanding Pet Behavior
When you have worked in the veterinary field as long as I have, you build a second nature understanding of how pets feel and how they are going to react. It kind of reminds me of cops.
Cops are able to read people and we are able to read pets. I have funnily gotten to the point where I can predict what pets will do on tv.
It would be hard for me to train all of you how to understand pet behavior to the extend I can through this article but I can give you some tips of things to look out for to help you when introducing a dog to a newborn. So let’s get started.
Dog Behavior
I am going to touch base on the behaviors that I feel are important to understand when introducing a dog to a newborn. One, big one, is anger in dogs. When considering dog behavior, it is important to look at the pet fully.
I have included a picture that most people would be able to understand is “anger” in dogs. This picture is actually very interesting because I am sure that most of you have looked at that picture and said yeah, that dog is angry.
Well, when I look at it, I see one of those dogs that smile. You’re all going to think I am crazy and I obviously cannot see the dogs body to get a full picture but this dog looks pretty relaxed and is baring their teeth.
Don’t get me wrong, if you do not know this dog, I would not recommend just walking up to them to pet them but I wanted to make the point that the full picture is important.
When introducing a dog to a newborn, take the next 9 months (or however long you have left) and take the time to really read your pet. Look closely, does their body look relaxed? Is their hand standing up?
Are they leaning away? Are they licking their lips? What is your dog doing?
If your dog looks pretty rigid, that could be an indication of stress or that your pet wants a way out. It could also mean that they are going to react to something.
If your pet is licking their lips consistently, it can also mean the same. Usually lip licking when it comes to behavior (and not considering nausea) means that your dog wants a way out.
Hair standing up on your dogs back also means that they need time away. You may truly believe that your pet will not hurt your newborn but we all want our pets to be happy and our babies to be safe when introducing a dog to a newborn.
So why not give your pet time away when they need it?
The name of the game is also to avoid the problems from taking place. So if you know your dog is food aggressive, its time to start feeding them in a room that they can eat alone.
Cat Behavior
Let’s talk about cat behavior when introducing pets to newborns. You may see this cat in the picture as being relaxed. They’re under the blankets looking comfortable.
Well, cats are actually really easy to read when they are going to attack or play. Their pupils get very big. I am betting this cat will probably try to swat the photographer.
Again, I would recommend reading your cats for the next months ahead and take in the whole picture but a lot of times, cats will look relaxed to you when they are ready to play. If your cat is backing themselves into an area or crouching down stiffly, I would avoid them and let them be.
Cat’s when stressed, sick or just need some time to themselves, will hide. It is important, if they are stressed, to let them have their space.
With dogs and cats, do not force your animals to be around you when introducing a dog to a newborn (or a cat). Let them take their own time to acclimate to these new surroundings.
Preparation
I understand how hard it can be to have a newborn and how little time you have. When introducing a dog to a newborn, the preparation is key.
Safe Space
You’re going to need to baby proof your house at one point or another anyway so why not add some areas where you can put your newborn away from your pets or areas your pets can go to escape if they would like. Playpens or pack and plays work well for this.
You can also use baby gates and if you have a cat crib and bassinet net like this one or this one. I have used both of these and they have seriously given me the peace of mind knowing my baby was safe and my cat would not sleep in the crib with her.
My cat sterling absolutely loves acting like he is the baby and sleeping in small areas like bassinets so we were really worried about that.
Schedule Change
Let’s face it, your schedule will not be the same for a long time. You now need to wrap your life around this little human. That means your pet’s schedules will change too.
You will probably need to feed your pets a little later and go to bed later. You may also not be able to take them on as many hikes or maybe your dog has noise phobias (like mine does) and a crying baby may trigger them.
In my situation, my dog, as I had mentioned has noise phobias and for a bit, we had to move her cage, where she absolutely loves to sleep, to another room while my newborn slept in our room because my dog, Brie, would need to wake up throughout the night with us every time the baby woke up.
Brie is extremely sensitive to noise and would be so stressed that she would pace and shake. If your pet is also extremely sensitive to noise, check out my blog about helping your pets during fireworks. Even if your pet does fine during fireworks, it can also help with other types of noise phobias.
Try to predict the way your schedule and your pet’s schedules will change before the newborn arrives. I know it is not easy to predict everything but taking a good look at what may change and making those changes ahead of time will help when introducing a dog to a newborn.
Set Time for Your Pets
This was actually a recommendation from Brie’s behaviorist that worked well for us in the beginning. It was mostly my husbands “job” to help with this because I have just too busy with breast feeding and trying to recover it was just very hard to remember.
I know that sounds bad but I ended up getting an infection from the tear and was the one waking up all night because I was breast feeding and our pediatrician had recommended against bottles and pumping in the beginning so it was not an easy task.
But, it may be easier for you!
Setting time aside for your pets when introducing a dog to a newborn is essential. You don’t want to forget about them and want them to feel just as loved and for us, it was just as easy as setting 5 minutes every night to just focus on them.
Introducing the New
There are going to be a lot of new things in your house. You will be building a lot of new things and bringing in a lot of gadgets and toys and your pets will need to be in on all of the change as well.
Let your pets sniff and be around those items when they come in. Pets are smart and will start to catch on that new things are happening.
Try to get as many things in your house for the newborn ahead of time so all they need to focus on is the actual baby when they arrive.
I would also recommend introducing your pets to a baby doll that you can use to acclimate them to a new member that has your attention.
Then, when the baby arrives and your introducing a dog to a newborn, have someone bring the babies clothes to your animals while the baby is still in the hospital.
When my husband and I did this, we took some ziplock bags to the hospital and put the clothes directly into the bag so we knew the scent would be as strong as possible.
Our pets were all over sniffing these things and it really helped them acclimate the actual day of bringing my daughter home.
Gradual Introduction
You’ve made it through the 9 months and you are finally here. Your baby is born. Now what do you do? Well, you’re going to have to bring them home eventually.
You’ve planned through your introduction with your pets and gave them everything they need ahead of time. Now is the big moment.
My husband and I, when bringing home our daughter, we had consulted my dog, Brie’s behaviorist to discuss which medications we should give her and what we should do the day of.
I was still nervous. I know Brie and I know she was not very good around children. She would get super anxious and bark at them. I didn’t know how my daughter would react to that. Well, it all worked out and here is what we did…
On the day my daughter and I came home from the hospital, I had my mother bring home some more of her clothes. I also asked my mom to give Brie her medication an hour and a half before we got home.
We wanted her medication to be well on board. I came through the door first. Brie and my cat Sterling had not seen me in about a week and they were able to sniff me (because I smelled like hospital and the baby) and get all of their energy out.
It gave them another sniff of the new before introducing my daughter. I then went outside and let my husband in to greet them and do the same. He then took Brie out back to go to the bathroom and had her on a leash in the far room from the entrance when I brought our daughter in.
We wanted to make sure she was controlled in some way. If you have a dog that you need to control gentle leaders like this one, work well. If you are using one of these when introducing a dog to a newborn and haven’t introduced it yet, do it ahead of time as well.
So, I came in and sat on the couch which was right inside the door when you first walk in. I then undid my daughters swaddle to make sure none of her scent was contained.
My husband kept Brie on the leash and walked her closer as we read her and let her come sniff the baby. If she would react, we would have my husband bring her back outside, have time to chill out and start again.
He would also at times, take her for another quick walk. Again see my post on calming pets during fireworks to see why exercise may help during stressful situations.
Once she was acclimated and we trusted her enough to be off leash, we let her roam and do what she wanted with the leash still attached. She did well with that so we were able to take her off leash but if she would show any signs of stress, we would start the process again.
It took a little for Brie to be fully comfortable but now she loves my daughter (because she throws food at her). They have a weird bond that I see growing into a loving friendship.
Positive reinforcement is key with these situations as well. If your dog is food motivated but not food aggressive consider having a very high impact snack on hand that they absolutely love.
If they are toy motivated, encourage them with that. Just pets and verbal encouragement work out well also!
Monitoring and Supervision
You’ve made it through the introduction. It is still important to monitor and always supervise your pets while they are around your baby.
You never know how they will react. We have used these crib and bassinet nets to deter our cat Sterling from getting into our daughters crib. It has been a gamechanger for my sleep because I knew my cat would not mess with it.
