First off, congratulations on your new baby! What an amazing new life you have ahead of you! And for your dog too! You have probably already gone over Preparing Your Dog For A Baby. So picking up where that left off, now you can move forward Introducing Your Dog To A Baby.
Before Coming Home
As discussed in Creating A Pregnancy Plan For Your Dog, you should have contacted your sitter to let them know when you will be coming home with the new baby. Either the day before or the morning before you get discharged, have the dad head home to see the dog.
While they are there saying hello, bring a baby blanket from the hospital that the baby has been using. Allow the dog to sniff it. This will have the baby’s scent all over it and be a more comfortable transition when the actual baby comes into the home.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of different scents that will be stuck in that blanket so the dogs may get a lot of information from that piece of fabric. The best practice is to have them sniff it and reward the dog with treats. This creates a positive association with those smells and yumminess.
There are a lot of couples whose hospital is quite a distance from their home. Instead of driving back and forth you can just stay outside for a minute or two while the dogs smell the blanket.
Introducing Your Dog To A Baby At Home
Entering
When you come into the home, make sure your baby is in their car seat and with dad. Mom hasn’t seen the dog in a while so go greet them! This way the excited behavior can get out of the way and the dog can properly say hi to its new family member. Now you can move forward introducing your dog to a baby.
You should have been training your dog to only approach when released to. So your dog should be giving you some space. If they are too excited. Make sure one adult is with the car seat and baby while the other is redirecting the dog to wait calmly.
Once the dog is calm, feel free to remove the baby from the car seat and transition them to wherever you want them to be. Allow your dog to sniff the car seat and follow along. Do not feel like you need to get on the dog’s level and show them the baby. Dogs have amazing senses and know that is their new human, without nose to nose interactions. But if you want to, go right ahead and let them politely sniff the newest addition.
Keep in mind that dogs can smell emotions. They know when someone is happy, sad, nervous, mad. So if you are nervous about the introduction, your dog is going to sense it and your introductions may not be as easy as you had hoped. Trust the training you have done and your dog and relax!
Day To Day
As you transition into your new routine, make sure to constantly praise your dog. Make sure they know that appropriate boundaries and positive sniffs are a good thing. They will fall right into the groove of all the new noises, smells, and activities.
Never correct your dog for fearful behavior! If your dog is showing signs that they are nervous around the new baby, work with them with positive reinforcement training. If you correct the behavior they are showing, you can cause more behavior issues in your dog. Get a trainer involved if you need help.
As long as you started the training found in Preparing Your Dog For A Baby, then this process should be flawless. But don’t forget everything you learned! Make sure your dog is respecting all the boundaries put in place. Also use that crate time! This will help give your dog a safe space to go when they feel overwhelmed or give mom and dad a break when everyone is being a little too needy.
As your baby grows, your dog will grow with them. The slow growth helps dogs transition from infant phase to toddler phase. Soon they’ll make the new little one their packmate. Worried about sharing your time with your baby and the dog? Check out Activities A Parent Can Do With Their Child and Dog.
