Pets & New Babies

[sportsmom]

I have a 9 year old Rottweiler who has been around my children since he was a pup. He's a gentle giant and just a part of the family now. My children are now teenagers, however, I have a new baby on the way in August. He's very attached to me and I'm afraid that he may get angry with me giving my attention to the baby. Does anyone else have a large dog and a new baby? If so, how did the dog adjust?

[B00]

I had a small dog with a baby, sadly this didnt work out at all. He (the dog) ended up snapping and biting my 2yr old face and I was left wih no choice but to rehome him with my mum :-(

Obviously, without knowing your dog I couldn't say how your dog will be with your baby (congratulations by the way), but I personally would never ever leave a child, especially a curious toddler with a dog in a room again, the risks (IMO) are too great.

[andy-hughes]

Problems between dogs and children occur because dogs are pack animals, and respond to an established pecking order.

Your dog as a pup growing up with your children will have known his place - after them. Now they are older, and he has moved up the order accordingly, and you are about to introduce a new member to the pack.

The new member is going to enjoy disporoprtionate attention from the pack leaders - you and your husband / partner, and will usurp your dog's position iin the order.

Some dogs adapt to this, and shift back down the order, and accept that the new member has superior status. Some don'g they become resentful, and in extreme cases, can seek to remove the 'interloper' from the pack.

Your dog may adapt, he may not - but do you really want to find out the hard way that your rotweiller resents your baby?

I'd re-home him. Sad, but not as sad as the potential if your dog decides to take action.

[sportsmom]

Thanks for the comments and Andy, your comment was very informative. I've babysat young children (ages 2 and 5) for a week and my dog was good with them - however, he tires easily around them. They'd want to continue to play all day and he did not enjoy the constant attention and would give a slight growl to let them know to leave him alone - he wasn't interested and he'd walk away. When he sees me hug my older children, he comes and nudges his way in between us to get us to hug him too. I was once told that I shouldn't change the way I treat him when the baby comes so that he wouldn't have a reason to resent the new baby.

[kita1]

This is a good article that takes you through the days before and just after the birth of your baby:

http://www.familydogonline.com/Articles%20of%2 0Interest/Introducing%20a%20Dog%20to%20a%20New %20Baby.htm

The most important thing is remember your dog is getting on in years and make sure that he has a place to 'escape' to and make sure that the children around know that when he goes there that they MUST NOT disturb him in any way.

Don't forget that at 9 years old he is probably the equivalent of an 80 year old man - would you let a toddler jump all over an old man and pull his ears/hair etc?

A dog only has one way of saying he is not happy or in pain - that is with his teeth.

To be honest with the lifespan of a Rottie you will be extremely lucky if you still have him when the baby is toddling.

I would not rehome him (even if you could), it is difficult to rehome a young Rottie and you would find it impossible to find him a good home, unless you have VERY good friends or relatives that are willing to take him. If you feel you cannot cope or trust him then to be fair to him (I know this is not going to be popular), but to be honest I would have him quietly put to sleep whilst he has people around him who love him dearly, you owe him that much. To try and rehome him to strangers at this stage in his life would be very unkind.

Having said that I am sure that you will be OK if you follow the above articles advice and bear in mind the dogs age.

Good luck with your new arrival.

[raggies1]

Hi I lived with my parents until my daughter (now 20 months) was 10 months old, our 9 year old rottie having never really experienced kids was just marvellous. He would move out of the way if he saw me carrying her whereas usually he'd let us step over him, he would lie by her moses basket but never bothered her. obviously i never left them unattended but i wouldnt any dog. we see him a few times a week now and he just lets her pat or stroke him or throw a toy, he's so gentle. I dont know of one instance where he showed any resentment and he's never knocked her over but she has also been brought up to respect animals and knows what she can and cant do. But i stress id never leave any dog and child left unattended.

[sportsmom]

Thanks for your responses. Like Raggies' dog - my Rottie is extremely gentle. He's very protective of my teenage boys - he sleeps in between their rooms at night. I can see him having that same protective instinct over the baby when she gets here. Like any other mother with common sense - I would never leave my baby alone with him, no matter how gentle he is. I just wondered if the initial fact of having this new tiny human making funny noises would be an easy adjustment for him.

[claguey]

Going back a long long time (my baby is now 21!) the in-laws family pet was a Staffie (Roscoe) dog villains at the moment if you read the press, who had been treated as the baby of the family. On our first visit with the new baby he was ok until she cried - it was like a squeaky toy to him and he got over excited, desperate to get at the 'toy'. In-laws wanted to get rid of him but I insisted that everytime we came to the house with the baby we made a BIG fuss of him so he got used to attention whenever the baby was around and didn't feel left out. It worked and when Mum-in-Law started to mind baby when I went back to work, Roscoe would be waiting at the door for her each morning. He stayed by the pram or whatever she was in and if she cried he got upset. As she grew up he was always by her side despite what she called him. If he got too close adults would always say Ah-ah and put up a hand, so she thought his name was Ah-ah and would call him that. Bit confusing for Roscoe but he coped and they were best friends to the end. Give your Rottie a chance, make a fuss of him when baby is around but never leave them alone together, he can adjust. Good Luck with the new baby.

[lankeela]

How can you even consider getting rid of a dog you have had for nine years. If the dog is introduced properly to the new baby it will accept it as part of its pack and will be loving and protective towards it.

Common sense would tell you not to leave the baby in a situation where the dog could be hurt or frightened by it, and find itself in a situation that it doesn't know how to cope with. Use common sense and continue to give the dog the usual amount of attention he receives now, and I am sure he will be fine.

[B00]

Unfortunately Lankeela some of us HAD to get rid of the dog, I had mine for 8 years and it broke my heart to have to rehome him with my mum.

Yes, it's easy to say don't ever leave a dog alone with an inquisitive toddler, but that's hard to implement in reality. You simply cannot watch both every second of every day.

[ruby27]

I do not have the expeirnce of introducing a baby to an adult dog but I assume you use the same methods as you do when you introduce a puppy - a new creature taking up space and attention. See "Its me or the dog" book for helpful hints
PS - babies and dogs have been introduced since dogs were domesticated by humans- presumably on the whole it worked otherwise we would not have continued to keep dogs

[lankeela]

Exactly! Well put Ruby.

[ShadowC78]

Provided you pay equal attention to the dog and give him his space I'm sure he'll be fine. My parents placed me in the back of a landrover in a cot with 2 Alsatians laying beside and no harm ever came to me.

[sportsmom]

Thanks so much for all of your comments. We had a female cat that had kittens and whenever the mother cat wasn't home, we had 1 kitten that would take to my Rottie and try to nurse off him. He would allow it. When the kittens would cry (much like a newborn baby sound) he'd tilt his head in confusion trying to figure out what the sound was. The thought of even considering putting him down or giving him away and he's perfectly healthy and gentle breaks my heart. I like the comments on how to get him to adjust instead of the alternative.

[Kiwibird]

I hope everything work out for you. The most important thing is to do the introduction properly. My husband is head of the pack, me second and our Rottweiller last. Along comes baby.
With days old baby, we got the entire pack outside on the lawn together with me holding baby.
Husband, top dog knelt down, spoke to and patted Rotty, then standing up spoke to and patted/hugged me and baby. Baby was passed to top dog (husband). Then I knelt down, patted and spoke to Rotty then stood up. Then all of us, top dog & me and baby hugged each other, then all knelt down spoke together to Rotty and while petting her, let her sniff the baby at her leisure.
Naturally, no one with any sense leaves a dog alone with a newborn and children should not be near a feeding dog and all dogs need their space where they can get time out.
By the time our baby was todling, Rotty loved her so much we would often find them in her kennel together and where ever she was, she wasn't far away. Sadly Rotty has left us now, but we will never forget a wonderful dog.

[riapnash]

I hope that your Rottie accepts the new baby as he has done with the other children. I dont have a child but I do have a brother who has a baby (nearly 1) - he has 3 dogs - a large GSD, a mongrel and a Papillon; all were in the household before the baby arrived. They have all behaved impeccably around the baby, but they all know their places very well. The Papillon is getting on in years and had previously belonged to my Nan, when she passed away my brother took her on - she had never been around babies or in such a busy household and yet settled in with no problems. I have baby sat my nephew on many occasions and all the dogs will lie and sat at the other side of the lounge, unless they are called and show no interest in the baby whatsoever. I think moreover that they know who is boss and have behave well, adds to the positive. Mind you, I nor any of my family would leave the baby alone in the room with any of them for a second.