Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

We have 2 really sweet, loving, affectionate dogs, who are both around 60 lbs. I'm not at all worried about them being aggressive or jealous towards the baby, but I AM worried about them getting too rambunctious (they are both young- 1 and 3- and LOVE to wrestle and such) around the baby and also about chewing up the baby's things when we aren't home. We have a trainer that we have been using for a few months now to work with them on obeying us and looking to us for permission to do things or to go somewhere, etc. They have definitely improved, but I'm so worried about just those 2 things. Anyone else???

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

You are on the right track. You need to just keep up with your hard work. It will keep getting better. As for chewing the baby's things the larger items I would set up early like the swing, crib, etc.. So they have to to get use to it, and you can train them to leave them alone. As for toys and things, make sure everything is put away before you leave the house. We have a 4 year old lab, and he is so good, we are very lucky. However, I know it is going to be hard for him to tell between the baby's toys & his toys. I know they will end up stealing from each other down the road.
The most important thing is to set boundaries & have the dog trained to respect them. We just put up our Christmas tree which is real, and over 6 feet tall. I said to DH we are so lucky Flash doesn't bother the tree. (He is also an unneutred male). DH said we aren't lucky, we just trained him. He doesn't go near the tree unless you invite him over to it. We set it all up last night, and then I called him over to come sniff it. He was excited for a minute or two, sniffed it all, and is over it. You can do the same thing with the baby stuff. Good luck. Keep up the great work!

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

yes I've thought about this too. We have a 7yr old bassett hound who's more active than other bassetts his age. So yes I do worry about him getting too rambunctious around the baby but I have a feeling it will work itself out and he'll be fine. But I do worry about his hair shedding and stuff. He's always on my furniture and bed and stuff so I worry about how unsanitary that is especially once the baby comes. As a matter of fact we have to get news couches b/c of this. I'm even trying to get him to stay out of our bedroom....I wanna break him of certain habits but I dont know how successful I'll be.

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

We have a very active/hyper brussels griffen (sp?) He's about 9 years old and about 20lbs. Hes calm when it just me at home bc he knows I dont like when he's wild. But when we have company, adults, kids, babies, he acts like a puppy and drives me absolutely crazy. I'm very worried about it. Not that he would do anything on purpose but I just hate that hes so rambunctious. He has such a high pitched bark whenever he hears something outside or the door opening I'm afraid hes going to wake the baby. We have a gate blocking our babys room too but Idk, I guess we'll see how it goes. We really cant afford a trainer right now so its really just us.

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

We have a 1&1/2 year old Yorkie. She's a handful, but she's wonderful with kids. We saw my friend with her one year old this weekend and my dog just went up to her and sniffed her. The little girl started crying, so my dog ran away. Then she tried a little later and the little girl didn't cry, but fussed a little. My dog had no interest in the little girl anymore. She loves kids, but also doesn't like if they cry too much or torture her by squeezing, etc. She'll just walk away and hide from them. If they know how to handle dogs, she loves them.
I'm sure she will be stealing baby toys, but I will just wash them. I am actually hoping her and our little princess become best friends.

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

we have two retrievers and took some very basic steps to avoid issues when ds was born and have had such minimal issues.... one thing we did was take away stuffed dogs toys very far in advance.... this helped prevent the taking of baby toys and they have only touched one item once but ds had gotten food remenants on it and he did hand it to the dog.... we had the swing set up for a few weeks prior to the baby being born... we have gates everywhere and have always had gates everywhere so the dogs are typically locked out when ds is playing (not because of aggression but because of their size)..... when ds was born dh took home the blankets from ds every night.... when we came home dh carried the baby carrier and i went in first and everytime one of us was feeding ds the other was petting the dogs.. and that is really about it...we did very well with the dogs and ds and i hope to have an even better transition this time (they dont even touch ds's sippy when it gets thrown on the floor)

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

I am also worried... we have a 7 month old German Shepherd (will be 11 months when baby arrives) and she has soooooo much energy.. She has her appt tomorrow to get fixed so we'll see if that calms her down. We have been working with a trainer since she was 3 months old and she is the sweetest 80 pound puppy but she is just starting to jump more (which i'm not sure where that came from lately and we will work on that) and she is so big that that is making me a little more nervous but i'm sure she'll be fine. German Shepherds are supposed to be excellent with children, so I hear. I'm actually more worried how she'll act to family coming over to see the baby rather than to the baby itself.

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

Here is a helpful post I had saved to my notebook:

Pet Link

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

I have two cats, so my issue is having them jump in her crib and all over her stuff. I think training them before baby is best. We are going to put tin foil on her stuff so if they jump on it, the sound will frighten them.

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

I have a 70 pound lab who is very sweet and affectionate (she's a licker ), but very hyper around everyone except me and DH. I'm a little worried about her being crazy when the baby comes, but we've started working on things with her since I go PG. She is no longer allowed in our bedroom, on our bed or the couch (we'll be getting a new leather one before baby comes b/c more sanitary I think and dog ruined ours). She has her own bed now in the living room that she sleeps on. We've kept the bedroom door to the future nursery closed for the most part, and will work on keeping it open and keeping her out of it once we start working on the nursery. Now we just have to work on getting her to be not so hyper with new people!

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??

ME! ME!

Our cat is very loving, but i feel he is not the typical cat. He fears nothing, i yell at him and he does hide or stop what he is doing, does whatever he wants and bites (doesnt scratch at all). oh and he steals garbage and stuffed animals lol

DH and I are going to have to keep the cat in the basement especially at night. I fear he will be in the babies crib while s/he sleeps.

Re: Anyone else worried about pets when baby arrives??