Young dog + baby on the way
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vtgirl1993
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I would definitely invest in some training if your puppy isn't already trained. We adopted a 40lb puggle right before I got pregnant and he's a sweet dog, but can very annoying since he isn't properly trained. I HATE walking him w/ the baby b/c he's all over the place. My DH has tried training him, but he's a very stubborn dog and will go right back to his old routine in a day or two.
Are there any dog parks around you? I would ask the dog walker to come in the morning when you're tired and trying to get the baby together. If there's a nearby dog park, then you can walk the baby and dog to the park midday for a long bout of exercise. That and a Kong/doggie puzzles should keep him happy until the evening, when you can take him and the baby for at quick stroll/pee break around the block before bed. You might even plan a stroll around your baby's early evening breakdown - the "witching hour" - since sometimes a change in scenery or noise helps calm the baby, and the sounds outside will help you keep your sanity since you won't hear the baby as much. I agree w/ others that you should have the walker come more frequently when the baby first arrives, then taper down as you recover. Doggie day care once or twice a week will be very helpful, as well. |
Anonymous
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I've been there, done that with a hyper young dog who has *not* mellowed at nearly 3 years old AND has a strong prey drive when it comes to small mammals. We have backdeck which we can let her out on but no yard for getting her real exercise. Your dog is *likely* to mellow a lot by the time baby comes around. she'll certainly be able to hold her bladder longer than a couple hours. In the meantime, take the training seriously.
- the basics (sit stay come down and preferably heel) should be second nature by the time baby shows up. - i LOVED taking the dog out when i was pregnant. it was hard sometimes but it inevitably made me feel better and gave me a chance to work on the training stuff that she needed so badly. YMMV, of course, depending on how your pregnancy goes, but i took the dog on 45 minute walks almost every morning through month 8 and then dialed it back to a quick spin around the block. - there are several books/resources on "babyproofing" your dog that include teaching the dog to recognize toys that aren't "his". we never really mastered that trick. it hasn't been a problem yet with a 7-month-old - don't roughhouse with the dog in the house. or restrict it to a particular room/time. it's best if dog NEVER tries to roughhouse with your child! (our only "roughhousing" is tugofwar, which we only play with one toy and only when we initiate it) - socialize the dog with other dogs and children. you're probably doing this anyway, but if you have agreeable friends or family with small kids try to let them be around your dog (heavily supervised, on a leash at first, lots of treats for the dog, keep it calm and brief at first) - the books on babyproofing your dog have a lot of tips for the first introduction, which we followed religiously. it ended up not being a big deal at all. the dog was superexcited to see us when we came home from the hospital but had learned not to jump on us. she sniffed curiously around the newcomer, got a new toy and lots of treats. no biggie. i kept her on a leash when in the same room with baby for a week, in what was probably a gross excess of caution. she's fine with baby now. - dogwalker! seriously, especially if you're going to be on your own much in the first few weeks. - doggie daycare. i find that doing this just 2-3 times/month gives the dog a completely exhausting day and she's better behaved for the next few days. - after the first few weeks, you may find that taking a well-behaved dog out for a walk is fine. my dog never really mastered "heel" and she accordingly requires *a LOT* of attention on walks to prevent mishaps. even so, by the time baby was 2 months, i was comfortable enough to pop baby in the ergo and spin around the block for a short walk. - puzzle toys, etc, let the dog practice being on its own more now so that its not a total surprise when baby comes. even if you're home, let pup spend a few hours in a room by itself with dim lighting, a bed, and a puzzle toy - the resources i read recommended getting the dog on a "baby" schedule starting a month or so before baby's predicted arrival. since i didn't have any real notion what our "schedule" would be like when baby arrived, we didn't do this, but i did make a point of paying the dog less attention/giving her more alone time in the weeks preceding the birth. - my DH travels a lot too. we got him to not travel at all for the first couple of months, which helped enormously and he picked up a lot of the dog duties while i recovered physically. by the time he started travelling again, i was in better physical shape and had more confidence about handling baby in general. if that's not possible for you, lean heavily on the dog walker option! how has all this worked out for me and my crazy dog? OK. she definitely needs more exercise than she is getting and some of her training has gone to hell. at 7 months in, i'm hoping to get back into a jogging routine which should solve that problem. if it doesn't happen, i'll probably start taking her to doggie daycare more often. but she and baby get along GREAT. as baby has gotten more mobile, the dog is more hesitant about her, probably because baby managed to get ahold of her squeeze a couple of times. dog just backed slowly away. but the dog has showed no signs whatsoever of aggression or jealousy. just wants to lick her all over, which i discourage. |
Anonymous
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OP, we adopted a dog, got married a month later, then got pregnant after that. Talk about irresponsible! But, we have no regrets. Our dog is NUTS, he's never been a good walker, so this was part of what's so darn hard about things. WAlking him was a true chore to begin with, and then when pregnant, and he got heavier (about 50 lbs) it became almost impossible for me to walk him because he jerked us around so much. We do have a yard, which helped a good deal, because at least I didn't have to walk him for bathroom duty. We hired three different trainers to help us with his jumping and walking, and they all said they've never dealt with a nuttier dog. One even recommended prozac! But, you know what, we love our crazy dude.
The most important thing I had to do was take it easy on myself a bit. If you read all of the dog books, you'll feel like you are imprisoning your dog and keeping him an unhappy captive, and how grossly unfair it is not to give him long walks through the mountains, etc. Okay.... I do feel guilty but our dog doesn't get a walk every day. Yeah, that's right, I said it. We have a cat, and they play together, and a big yard, but he does not get a walk every day. I'm pregnant again and just can't do it! He would pull me into the street, and add in a three year old who I have to manage during the walks, it's not happening. (We've tried everything from the trainers to harnesses and gentle leaders, etc - he's just a bad walker, period). But, we have found ways to do things as a family that he can be part of. For example, while he's bad at walking on streets, he is good on hikes. So we try to do weekend trips and long hikes where he can come to make up for his boring weekdays. As for the weekdays, we try to get him activity in the house. For example, we will throw a ball for him for a half an hour a day, or play tug of war, we've invested in some chew toys, and we do a lot of mental stuff with him (sit and stay activities). Sometimes my kid will have a "parade" with him, and walk through the house (dog will follow anyone around closely). If you aim for "good" and forget about "perfect" you may find the demands of having a dog relax some. Yeah, our dog doesn't get a walk every day, but I still believe he's happy with our family, and although it's a lot of work to have him, I have no regrets and cannot imagine our family without him! |
Anonymous
I have 850 sq feet and no yard. I used to have 500sq feet and no yard and a twice deployed husband so all dog duty was on me. However, if you adopt a dog you are taking on a responsibility to that pet. The adoption organization should have maybe done a better job vetting the match between this family and the dogs personality, but it really isn't that difficult to find resources to help you manage. My husband does the last walk of the night, I do the first of the morning and we do them together as much as possible the rest of the time and have a mid day dog walker. If you can give away a dog, they aren't a part of your family. Otherwise, you adapt and use the tons of resources we are Lucy enough to have around here. I relied on doggie day care when my husband was first deployed because my dog needed interaction I couldn't provide enough of. I knew I'd need help. OP needs help and to spend time before baby preparing. Otherwise, she owes it to the adoption organization to give the dog back to them (not to someone else) and then not get another dog again. It's a commitment not to be taken lightly. Just don't rehire yourself because you have no idea who the dog is going to. But it should be a last resort - it isn't good forms dog to bunce around from home to home at the convenience of humans. |
Anonymous
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My husband and I have two young dogs (they just turned 2 in August), I'm due with our first in December, and he travels frequently for work. So, while I can't give you BTDT experience, I can tell you what we're planning to do . . .
First, in the beginning of the pregnancy I had ZERO energy and the dogs were walked far less frequently as a result. But, my energy sky rocketed come the 2nd trimester and it feels really good to take them out for walks again, which both I and they appreciate. As some other posters mentioned, I wouldn't be surprised if your dog toned his energy down a bit in the next few months - we saw a really big difference in ours between a year and a half and two years! One of the dogs is still pretty high energy, but at least the other has mellowed out quite a bit! I also have to repeat what some folks said about increasing the time between the walks, as well as looking into a dog walker and/or doggy day care. We have someone in the neighborhood that I plan to rely on to help me walk the dogs more towards the end of the pregnancy if my husband ends up traveling for work. Also, my husband is going to take 4-6 weeks off after the baby comes to make sure that the dogs are taken care of, help me recover, etc., etc. I think training classes are a great idea, and you should probably get some additional ideas from the classes with regards to activities to keep the dog busy/interested while in the home with you. There are all sorts of puzzle toys out there that can keep them occupied. And, we've also resorted to tossing a toy or tennis ball or something in the basement when there was just no way we were going outside with the dogs - it helped to get a little bit of energy out. The puzzle toys, while they don't necessarily get physical energy out, definitely help the dogs expend some mental energy, which normally helps them to simmer down as well. |
Anonymous
| I'm due in November, so I can't speak to what it's like after the baby comes, but a few thoughts. Like others have said, our dog really calmed down around a year and a half. He's still high energy, just the nature of his breed, but he's much better behaved and not just flat out hyper like he used to be. We've worked a lot on leash manners so he does not pull at all, which has made walks great. It gets me out of the house and some exercise, and I'm totally confident that once the baby comes it won't be hard to walk the dog with the baby, which I was worried about before when he pulled a lot. We also ordered this book, which has been helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Baby-House-Preparing-Arrival/dp/0971303304 maybe something to check out. The biggest thing for us has been general obedience, which got a lot easier as he calmed down. He knows that he's not the boss, we are, and we can now tell him to go to his bed, leave things, etc. and he always listens. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| I would increase the number of dog walker visits or find a dog walker who will take your dog for a longer walk/time period. We have a great dog walker who usually has our dog out of the house most of the day. I would also find a good doggie day care and budget in 1-2 days a week spent there. We had a younger dog when our first was born and it was just really helpful to have someone take over some of those responsibilities for the first few months. Plus, the dog was so worn out that he wasnt' nearly as needy with us. |
Anonymous
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OP here - thanks for all the great suggestions! I am glad to hear that some people have gone through this transition and come out ok. Additional walks and daycare seems like a no-brainer I know, but honestly those things are expensive! With trying to anticipate baby expenses (we still don't really have any idea how much extra we are going to be spending each month) it is hard to imagine planning in another 100+ on top of what we already spend on the pup. But I realize that there just might not be other options.
The nearest dog parks are a few miles in each direction, so a trip to the dog park will involve a 10-15 minute car ride. There also aren't other off leash options nearby. We haven't had much success finding a good puzzle toy to keep her busy. She just wants to chew everything up. Suggestions would be great! Also, any tips on getting her to wait longer between trips outside? This is something that surprised us as well because what we heard from people was that by 1 year she should be able to hold it a few hours. We know she can because she is fine during the day (with a walk) and over night, but when we are home she runs to the door every hour to hour and a half. We have tried ignoring her a couple times and ended up with accidents after too long. Luckily she is not a barker or much of a whiner, but its still hard to know if she really needs to go or just wants to play. 8:38 - You said that you see people going through this and getting rid of their dogs a lot. What do you mean? Do you work at a shelter? |
Anonymous
My nosy little beast goes through them pretty quickly. i haven't found one that delays her very long. Much more effective was stuffing a kong toy with treats, kibble and peanut butter and freezing it solid. it takes her FOREVER to lick that thing clean and if there is peanut butter involved, she WILL NOT give up. |
Anonymous
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Agree with previous posters on investing in doggy daycare and/or dog walkers, practicing good hygiene, socializing dog around kids, and keeping your pet as a member of the family.
Our dog is exactly 1 year older than our dd#1 (age 2.5) and they are the best of pals. He sleeps by her bed at night and plays with her during the day. She tells him she loves him all the time and calls him her "Good boy buddy." Their special bond warms our hearts. |
Anonymous
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Easy: dog walker and/or doggie daycare as others have said.
The only unknown is, will your dog be good with children? That's the bigger concern, but not really one you can do anything about, except maybe have DH bring the dog to some obedience classes if he needs it. Don't worry, we did a similar thing and it it working out fine!! Our dog is very gentle but of course we never leave him alone with baby...he is an animal after all |
Anonymous
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Do you crate train her? If not, start.
Also, I'm not 0838 bu. I spent years volunteering at whs and yes, people give up dogs because they can't handle it. Too much money, too much time, too much commitment. This is what you undertake when you get a dog. I don't get it but it happens often. |
Anonymous
Yes, she is crate trained and all in all is a good dog. Just strong and energetic. I knew the commitment I made when I got her and don't plan to even consider getting rid of her unless she is aggressive to baby. So far she has been exposed to kids and loves them (and everyone else). |
Anonymous
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When my dog was younger and full of enery, we fed her dinner in the tricky treat ball. She loved pushing it around and it kept her occupied. I still use it occasionally now that she's older and sometimes I add treats or peanut butter Cheerios:
http://www.amazon.com/Omega-Paw-Tricky-Treat-Large/dp/B0002DK26M Nina Ottosson toys are also great. They are expensive but worth the investment. We have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Company-Animals-Ottosson-Brick-Interactive/dp/B001KZ4WJE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1377223132&sr=1-1&keywords=nina+ottoson Also as PPs said, a frozen peanut butter kong will last a long time. We've also used bully sticks. Some of these tricks plus doggie daycare and some extra walks should help. Have you done obedience classes? If not, I would highly recommend them. Even if your dog already knows commands, it's great for trust building and just freshening up before baby comes. |
Anonymous
| Also forgot to add that the hard nylabones are great for heavier chewers! |