Preparing your dog for a baby

GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - Animal behaviourists often get messages saying a new baby has arrived and the family dog is growling at the infant, or that the family dog has been misbehaving since the baby has been brought home.

Local animal behaviourist George van Huyssteen explains:

A new baby in the house might be very stressful for a dog. Dogs don't like a change in routine and a sudden change might cause severe stress.

However, every individual dog will react differently to this sudden change in routine, but you should always keep in mind that a drastic decrease of attention, suddenly ignoring, isolating, or even punishing your dog for misbehaving, is very stressful to your dog.

This might contribute to your amiable dog suddenly growling or even nipping at your new baby.

Prepare your dog

You can prevent this from happening by preparing your dog for your new family member a long time before you actually bring baby home.

• You know that everything around the house will change once the baby is home. For instance, you might not get the time to play or walk with your dog as much. Start preparing the dog for this long in advance. Gradually change your schedules so your dog won't associate all the sudden changes with your baby. You might want to shift some of the responsibilities for the dog to other family members or even a pet sitter or dog walker. Get into the new routine as much as possible before bringing the baby home.

• Start setting your new boundaries. If your dog is allowed anywhere in the house, but you think some areas would be out of bounds once the baby is there, teach him before the baby is home that these are areas where he is not allowed. The same goes for sleeping areas and play areas.

• Another good idea would be to introduce objects like strollers and other baby necessities before the baby is there. It would also be a good idea to use a doll and start practising as if the baby is home. You can mimic feeding the baby, going for a walk with the stroller, bathing the "baby" etc. Get the dog used to the new routine.

• Once your baby is born, familiarise your dog with the baby's smells and sounds. For example, bring a baby blanket with your baby's scent and let the dog sniff or even sleep on it. You might repeat this daily until the child comes home. You can also help by introducing all the sounds a baby makes. There are loads of recordings available online for this purpose. In short, you can desensitise your dog to all the sounds and smells before the baby actually arrives home.

When your baby arrives home, your dog will be used to the new routine, the smell and sounds babies make. So although he might still react negatively, it will not be as drastic as a sudden change in his routine, and he will be more capable of handling the stressful situation.

Photos: Unsplash