[FSHNGRY]

My wife and I welcomed our first born (Baby Boy) at 3:47AM on July 8. What a time. I'd get into the ins and outs of the hospital rules now with COVID, but in an effort to not derail my topic, I wont.

PLEASE does anyone have any help, videos, links, articles on the proper steps needed to safely introduce my 2 year old French bulldog to my newborn son?

Note: Don't be that guy that says give the dog up, because that is not happening.

Dont say "let them smell him"

I'm a person of proper, methodical step taking- and I'm asking for help. I saved all of the original hospital caps and blankets and double sealed in a bag. I am picking up my pup tomorrow so any help WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!

My already VERY hormonal, exhausted wife is a wreck over this..

[1margarette]

https://www.rover.com/blog/introduce...%20your%20side.

I saw this online, maybe you may want to check it out since this blog is all about pets.

[chowser51]

Never had issues with the dogs or the cats. Just make sure to hold the baby a lot so the baby gets your scent on him and the pets will come around.

Never took long. My old german shepherd pretty much told me to gtfo once my youngest was born and bonded with him. lol

[DocL]

I brought twins home to two dogs. We just took the dogs into the garage to meet the kids and we kept the kids in their car seats in the house for a little while. This allowed the dogs to sniff and get close to the kids on their own. Of course my wife and I were right there in case one of the dogs became aggressive. When one of the kids was around two months old, one of the dogs lunged towards my daughter while she was on my lap. I've never hit a dog in my life, but I hit her on the head and she gave me the WTF look I felt so bad. After that we never had a problem.

I think it's great to have pets around with children.

BTW, congrats on becoming a dad.

One more thing. Don't let the dog lick the baby.

[Murf993]

Make sure you give the dog extra attention so he/she doesn't feel displaced by the baby. Most dogs seem to adjust pretty well.

Congratulations.

[MPOWER5266]

I have twins due soon and I am really worried my dog will be an issue. I keep joking with the wife that we might have to "give them away" if the dog doesn't like them. I have heard that if you can sneak a blanket or something that the babies have been wrapped up in home to the dog before they leave the hospital they will get the scent.

[DocL]

Originally Posted by MPOWER5266

I have twins due soon and I am really worried my dog will be an issue. I keep joking with the wife that we might have to "give them away" if the dog doesn't like them. I have heard that if you can sneak a blanket or something that the babies have been wrapped up in home to the dog before they leave the hospital they will get the scent.

My twins are almost 8yrs old and we still say that about the dogs.

Btw, it never gets easy with twins. Good luck lol.

[MPOWER5266]

Originally Posted by DocL

My twins are almost 8yrs old and we still say that about the dogs.

Btw, it never gets easy with twins. Good luck lol.

People keep saying that but these will be our first and only(Im getting neutered) so we wont know any different.

[plutnicki]

I can share with you what I did, but it's going to depend on your dog, it's personality and temperament. In my case, my first came home to a Shetland Sheepdog. The second came home to a Golden Retriever. Both of my dogs were exceptionally well trained and recognized my authority. Who is the dog's Alpha, you or your wife? Don't say both, because in my experience, dog's don't have 2 leaders. How well trained is your dog? Does he/she have the basics or advanced training.

When we came home, I attended to the dog, gave him attention, and did some tricks/training with him. We brought the baby into the house and I introduced the baby to the dog while the baby was in the car carrier. Both dogs, by MY saying these things were ok, immediately took to the baby. The sheepdog allowed my son into the pack and immediately took guard over him. The golden loves everyone and everything. Both got lots of praise for good behavior, I never really needed to correct either of them. You're looking for a positive experience, but making sure your dog knows who's the boss. Be sure to continue to pay attention to the dog.

Certainly they were never alone together AT ALL for a long time.

Good luck.

[shimmy23]

Good advice above^

It's important to remember that dogs are pack animals so be sure to include the dog as much as you always have. If you go to change the diaper, have the dog come with you. If the dog sleeps next to your bed normally, continue that too. Try to maintain the same routines as before that your had with your dog. They are essentially your babies new brother/sister. The dog may be curious about the baby so it is fine to let it sniff it whenever. The dog will establish a new pecking order with the baby. Since I'm the alpha, I made it a point to carry in the baby and greet my dog while carrying the baby too. Basically like bringing in a new pack dog.

As long as your dog respects the packing order and alpha you shouldn't have any issues. It has been a fun road watching my dog adapt to your kids and bond with my daughter. She is 6 now and he loves her as much as I do. It's really cute to watch them snuggle.

[EyeGuy]

Give the dog either the newborns hat or blanket before you Introduce them. Have them get used to their scent.

[Joekerr]

Yeah, all of the above, unless you have a really aggressive dog, you shouldn't need to worry, but you do need to be alpha with the dog (before, not now - if you weren't already alpha, then the dog will think he/she is and good luck to you lol).

My dog was pretty depressed for the first year because I don't think we did enough to make sure he was included, but he's fine now and lets the kids climb on him and everything - he's a super gentle lab, so I was never too worried. But I did the same, I went into the house first with the dog, then I brought my son in his car seat in and let my dog smell him (dog was sort of scared but curious, could tell because the tail went down, but was sort of wagging as he creeped up to get close), and then we just acclimatized him.

Only thing I would say is don't make the mistake I did by not giving your dog the same level of attention...it won't be exactly the same of course because you are going to have your hands full, but make a good effort to keep doing the same things with your dog as before as much as you can. We had a very difficult first year with our first where he barely ate, so there were complicating factors in our case.

[yco]

congrats on becoming a dad first of all..

never did such a thing, but making the dog getting used to baby's scent, commanding on distance between baby and the dog step by step closer and i believe most importantly, draining dogs energy first by a long walk or playing for keeping the dog calm before introducing and of course keep an eye on them both all the time until baby reaches a decent age in my opinion..

[flybigjet]

BBQ Sauce.

[UncleWede]

Dog gets to sniff EVERY diaper

[dogbone]

Just to add something about giving the dog attention-----we were provided with this advice that I thought was good: When the infant is around, make sure you give the dog a lot of attention. When the child is not around, don't give much attention to the animal. I know this can be a bit challenging and almost feel backwards, but it is very important. Dogs are pattern-based learners. They would DEFINITELY pick up on a pattern where, when the kid is around, they get ignored, and then when the kid is napping or whatever and not around, then the dog gets lots of attention. If they get ignored when the child is around, then the dog can learn to resent the kid, and you don't want that. But if they only get huge attention when the child is present, the dog will desire the child's presence. Again, I know this requires some extra effort and awareness, but we found it to work well for us.

As far as introducing the child to the animal, it wasn't complicated for us. Prior to the baby coming home, I would bring a skull cap in a Zip-Loc bag home and open it in front of the dog and let him examine it. He sniffed it fairly intently. I did that each day before the child arrived. Once we brought the baby home, he sniffed her and was on board. He was a pack oriented animal---a lab spaniel mix. Always loyal to the pack. Even with that loyalty, we still never left the dog and the baby in a room by themselves. I can't see why that would ever be a good idea.

hehe he learned to love meal times around the high chair. He would lay at the foot of that high chair patiently as long as necessary to get a shot at the high chair once she was removed. Sometimes food would rain down on him. He loved it. As we lifted her out of the high chair, his nose was almost pushing her legs out of the way so could lick that chair clean! Good times! (Geez.....that kid is going to be a senior in high school this Fall!!)

[FSHNGRY]

Originally Posted by yco

congrats on becoming a dad first of all..

never did such a thing, but making the dog getting used to baby's scent, commanding on distance between baby and the dog step by step closer and i believe most importantly, draining dogs energy first by a long walk or playing for keeping the dog calm before introducing and of course keep an eye on them both all the time until baby reaches a decent age in my opinion..

THIS. Picked up my dog (2 yr old French Bulldog/Female). Went ran her around in my yard and a near by area away from the house. She sniffed the hat and blanket to my son and started to lick it. She went back and did the same a moment later.

So far so good, she sniffs his baby carrier when hes not in it and looks "curious" but not aggressive at all. Seems like she's familiarizing the scent. I dont let her get close enough to pose any harm, i OVER praise her when she listens to a command and constantly lobbing her treats. The "share the love" tactic is crucial.

[eluded]

I put her in her crib and let them check her out. Some serious sniffing ensued. The dogs know. It's weird unless the dog is stupid (looking at you Chihuahua).

[Littlebear]

I can't help here. I'm very scared of those little hominid things.

Murf

PS: Congrats on the twins! Good advice above.

[flybigjet]

BBQ sauce.

[tranquility]

Cover newborn in peanut butter.

Leave room.







Saw that this is an old thread and OP probably already successfully did a meetup between their newborn and dog. OFC I was joking, DON'T do the above LOL.