chows and newborns

mochanike · Post by **mochanike** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:35 am

Hello,

I have a question for anyone who has the answer. I am currently 7 months pregnant with my first child and I have 2 dogs. One is a female chow/shepherd mix (mostly chow) and the other is a male chow/retriever mix (mostly retriever). I am a little worried about the new addition to the family coming home. I am not worried about my male but I am a little worried about the female because she is very attached to me. Does anyone have any advice on how to introduce my female to the new baby?

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:28 am

Hello there,

I think just careful preparation.

Let them see the baby's cot being prepared. Let them sniff the little clothes etc.

When you bring the baby home, make sure you can hand him/her to someone else so that you can welcome the dogs without the baby in the way. Then let them sniff the baby's feet. It is understandable not to want dogs licking the baby's face and hands but let them lick the feet if they want to - then just common sense vigilance.

We have a niece-in-law who is lovely with our chows. When her babies were born and she visited us when they were new, she would take the babies' little socks etc off and let Milly and Mabel sniff for as long as they liked and let them lick the little feet and gave them all the time they needed - now her little ones are walking round - indeed the elder of the two is now at school, Milly and Mabel come in to say hello and then clear off again.

So, just don't panic - they will sense your mood - just assume all will be well and act with confidence.

Remember you are the 'Mummy Person' to both baby and dogs!!

And what you say goes!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:30 pm

You can also have Dad bring home a used baby blanket from the hospital with your newborn's scent on it and let the dogs smell it.

mochanike · Post by **mochanike** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 3:23 am

Hey guys,
Thank you so much for the information. I will try all of the things that you suggested. I hope everything turns out alright. I am sure everything will be okay. I was just a little worried because Mocha has always been very attached to me. She is constantly in my face wanting attention. I did notice however that when I got pregnant her attitude towards me has changed a little. She like a LEACH!! She will not leave me alone. For example, if I let her outside in the backyard she will not use the bathroom until I go out there with her. If I don't go outside with her, she will sit at the back sliding glass door and keep looking in the house to see where I am at. If she can't see me, then she will bark until I finally come outside with her to use the bathroom. Any ideas on how to get her out of doing that? The problem is she is just so darn SPOILED!!! My male Nike could care less about where I am if he is outside using the bathroom. I admit that I let Mocha get away with alot of stuff when she was a puppy because I never had a dog growing up. I got Nike a year later and I knew that I did not want him out of control like Mocha, so I was a little harder on him when he was a puppy. He listens very well. Mocha pretty much does what she wants until I finally have to put my foot down and discipline her. Then she starts to listen to me.
Also, I forgot to mention this on the previous posting. My fiance has a 10 year old son. He stays with us every other weekend and both dogs get along fine with him. However, the first weekend that my fiance's son stayed with us, I guess Mocha was feeling very vindictive. We woke up one morning and Mocha had put two turds in front of Devin's door. It wasn't normal feces (a pile). It was just 1 turd next to another turd about 2 inches apart. I couldn't believe it. My fiance says that she is doing it because she is jealous. Now I have crazy dreams that Mocha is going to get in the baby's crib and poop in it (ha ha). Let me know if there is anything else I should know. Thanks

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:49 pm

Your baby will smell like you and you will smell like your baby, so your female may become very protective of the new baby, so I would be careful of watching her around strangers that try and touch your baby, ie: reaching into the baby's crib in the park.

Rogansmommy · Post by **Rogansmommy** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 4:18 pm

Hello. This is a very exciting time for you and your dogs! The only advice I can give is what I did five years ago when my son was born. We have two dogs as well, a female rottweiler (Nina) and a male chow (Rogan). At the time they were 2 and 2 1/2, both in obedience training and the center of attention in the house.

The first thing we did was set up the nursery early so that the dogs could get used to the furniture and the room. When I washed the clothing, I folded it in the nursery, and permitted the dogs to be in there with me. We also set up the playpen in the family room, the high chair in the kitchen and took them for walks with an empty stroller, so they could get used to having it there. I also slowly stopped being their primary caretaker and my husband transitioned into the roll.

When I went to the hospital and had the baby, we asked the nurses for a swaddling cloth. If you explain to them about the dogs, they will eagerly give you one. My husband took the cloth home and let the dogs sniff it, but not take it or carry it. When we came home, I walked in to the house alone, first, so that I could greet the dogs. This is important because you need to remember that they haven't seen you in a couple of days, and you will look and smell differently. Once the dogs calmed down, my husband came in with the baby. Again, highly supervised, we allowed them to sniff him.

Rogan, being male, sniffed him once, huffed and went back to lay down, completely uninterested. Nina was immediately interested, and followed the baby where ever he went. She didn't growl, she didn't make any aggressive moves. It was purely protective - she viewed him as her puppy. For four nights, she sat up, staring at him in his bassinet, making sure he was all right. She did not sleep. By day five, we had to crate her in the basement and force her to sleep.

We have always monitored the contact between the dogs and our son. There were times where they were separated (our son did time in an X-pen) and we had gates all over our house. But, as everything else, if you want to make it work, you will succeed. Good luck!