A dog and a new little family member

Dog preparation for the child birth

When you find out that your family will grow, there is enough time to prepare the dog for the appearance of a new family member. Focus on a few key aspects:

• Dog connection with other kids

If there were no children in your home so far, then he should get used to being in their company. Let’s visit our friends who have children. Going for a daily walk, try to choose a route near the playground. That way doggy will easier understand who is the little creature appearing in your home some time soon.

• the smell of a newborn child

As you know, dogs have an excellent sense of smell. They quickly sense the appearance of a new, previously unknown fragrance in his territory. This can cause the dog to feel uncomfortable and uncertain. It is worth to familiarize the pooch with a new fragrance in advance. Even before the baby is brought home from the hospital, it is worth bringing a newborn baby blanket, so that your pet can calmly get acquainted with the completely new fragrance.

• crying baby at home is a total novelty for your dog

If so far the dog didn’t have opportunity to hear a  crying child, so he may be confused by a new, unknown stimulus. Therefore, it is good to adapt the pooch to new sounds in advance. For this purpose, you can play your child’s crying video. Of course, the recording will not reflect the actual sound or sensation but it will be a sensible foretaste of what the dog will encounter.

In this  way, you avoid some dog’s confusion in the moment of hearing the child’s real crying.

• your dog’s place is very important

It’s good that the pooch has its own, quiet and above all comfortable place at home. If so far he did not have at least one dog bed in a permanent place, it is worth thinking about it now. Such a place will be dog’s asylum, especially when he will feel uncomfortable due to the rapid appearance of a new family member. Convenient and exceptionally comfortable dog beds can be found in the proposals for dog bedding from Bowl & Bone Republic.

The very first meeting of a  new baby and dog is crucial

The moment of first contact between the pooch and the infant is crucial. If the pupil remembers him positively, he is more likely to accept a new family member without problems.

Before familiarizing the pooch with the newborn baby, it is good that the mother of the new family member first greets his pet. After that we can arrange the first contact of our pet with the new baby. Let the dog calmly sniff the baby. Let us not disturb him. Give him a moment to get used to the new situation. If you previously introduced him to the new fragrance, the pooch will feel much more comfortable.

Dogs usually feel that the child is very delicate and does not behave too abruptly towards him. Remember, however, to have a this situation under the total control just in case. This moment is very exciting for the pooch, so you must define the safe contact limits.

The less you get nervous about this happening the better. If the dog senses our anxiety, he can perceive it mistakenly.

The attention you pay to the dog is even more valuable now

Remember that the child’s appearance at home can’t be the reason for neglect and offset your pooch. It is obvious that the baby will absorb the vast majority of your attention. Nevertheless, the pet shouldn’t feel that he has become less important to you as his guardian.

Dogs are very attached to their guardians and therefore it will be extremely painful for them to be turned away. Therefore, let’s give your four-legged friend the same love and tenderness as before the appearance of a new family member in your life.