Tips On Introducing The Newborn Baby To Your Dog

Bringing your newborn baby home from the hospital, while being an exciting time for the new parents, can be a very stressful time for your dog. Dogs are extra sensitive and can feel the tension that the parents have when they first bring the baby home, this can cause anxiety for the dog as well. If you have a well-trained dog, that is attentive to all your voice commands, then you'll have fewer problems than if you've never formally taught him discipline. Whatever the case may be, there are some things you can do to help get your dog, and the newborn baby, accustomed to each other, so they eventually form a long-term, happy relationship.

When introducing baby, one of the first things you'll want to do, is get your dog acclimated to all the new smells that are going to be permeating the household for the next few years. The new baby is going to have a variety of odors that are different from anything that has ever lived in the home before, and the dog will need to learn all these new smells, sounds, and everything else that's involved with the baby. So, before you even bring the new baby into the home, the mother should come in with some articles of baby's clothing to have the dog smell them and attach that smell to mom as well. Once the dog has relaxed, only then should dad bring the new baby inside, then both mom and dad should talk in soft calming tones while petting the dog during the introduction.

Now that the original introduction is done, it's time to let the dog check out all the different parts of the baby, under strict supervision of course, continuing with the calming voices and reassuring pets and hugs. Your dog will intuitively absorb the emotions from you and learn that that's the way it should act around the baby too. Have the dog sniff the baby's hands, feet, diaper, and any other part that he's interested in, except for the face to begin with. After the first baby inspection, praise the top profusely and give him a couple of his favorite treats to let them know that he's still part of the family.

After everything has calmed down in the house, and your dog has laid down to relax in his normal spot, it's time to invite him over to lay down next to the baby. You or your spouse should remain close, constantly reassuring the dog with praise, combined with whatever command you normally use when you want your dog to be gentle. It's important that you spend several sessions in the first couple of days getting your dog to be comfortable around the baby, and non-aggressive. It doesn't hurt to give your dog a treat for being good when you're paying special attention to your baby, such as feeding time, play time, or changing a diaper, that way your dog won't feel like he's in competition with the baby, but instead will welcome feeding time.

Introducing a new baby to your dog can be a stressful task, but if handled correctly in a calm manner, there should be very few problems. Dogs naturally tend to like children, and end up being their best friend after just a short period of time, so it's important to remain relaxed and share attention anytime you can.

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