Introducing the family dog..

Bringing a baby home is a huge step for the parents, but its also a huge step and adjustment for the family pet. Before Carter was born, Rylee was the queen of the house. She had access to every room, but mainly stayed on our bed during the day (enjoying the sunlight) or was in the living room watching out the back door. We had a routine with her that consisted of daily walks and/or runs at the park & she slept with us every night.

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I tried to walk her as much as I could, but it was getting tough, so we resorted to just park runs. I noticed that she knew something was going on, because on the days we couldn’t make it to the park or go for a walk, she didn’t mind. Actually, she snuggled up next to me all the time- barely ever leaving my side. I laugh because it started to get annoying at some points. But because I was getting tired more and more at the end of my pregnancy, I soaked up these moments as I knew they were only going to last for so long.

The day I went into labor, my in-laws took Rylee to their house. She’s been there so often that she considers it her second home! My biggest concern was introducing Rylee to Carter and how we were going to do it. There are a lot of resources out there that will help with questions and concerns; this is just what worked for us.

I’ve read that bringing a baby INTO the home where the dog is, could make the dog protective of the home and defend the home which may or may not result in aggression. At the same time, bringing a dog back to it’s home where the baby is currently IN, could bring out the same feelings. I wanted to do the introduction on neutral grounds; outside of our apartment.

When my husband and I pulled into our complex, my mother and sister in law were there letting Rylee run around outside. My husband got out of the car first to say hi to her, while I stayed with Carter and once he was done, he got in the car and I got out to do the same. I was in shock when Rylee came up to me. She normally comes up wagging her tail and basically doing circles by your legs, and at times she would jump up (we’ve been trying to correct that) – but that didn’t happen. When I got out of the car, she came over to me all excited and I put my hands out to pet her. The second she smelled my hands, her attitude completely changed and she sat down in front of me, looking up at me, all calm and content. It was like turning on a light switch. It had to have been the scent on my hands because I was holding Carter’s head and hand on our ride home (we didn’t have the restraints yet).

The days previous, Rylee was given the hat that Carter wore the first day after he was born. This had his scent on him, as well as mine, and was all hers to do whatever with. From what my mother in law tells me Rylee never chewed up the hat, instead she would carry it into each room she went, never leaving it. Rylee must have put two and two together when we came home- she isn’t a dumb dog!

After my husband and I said hi to Rylee, we then took Carter out of the car (kept him in the carrier though) and let Rylee smell him. I was so relieved when I saw her wagging her tail and being very gentle with him. I knew it was going to be okay 🙂

The days and weeks following, Rylee was still adjusting to having a baby in the house. She was already okay with his stuff around the house, but now it was him and the attention. We never forced her to be around him, we had to let her do it on her own time and her own terms. For a few weeks, she would distance herself from the baby and leave the room if she didn’t feel comfortable with him or us. We still gave her attention with walks and playing outside and sleeping with us, but I knew that it would only be time until it was really going to be okay.

8 weeks later, she is now walking up to him and smelling him. She needs to be in every room with him. She now understands that he isn’t here to hurt her or us; but to join her pack. She loves him just as much as he loves her.

What we learned when introducing Rylee to Carter was:

• Time, Patience & Reward is all you need. Giving a treat or positive gestures (like petting and belly rubs) is a good way to reward your dog when he/she. We would always say ‘good girl’ to her when she would sniff him and walk away. That way she knew that was okay to do. But we also had to correct her on things such as her wanting to play with his toys. But we treated that just the same as if she was to go after a dish clothe or our sock.
• Even though I know Rylee would never hurt Carter, she is still a dog. Her only means of communication is barking or growing – the same as a babies only means of communication is crying. Never push a dog onto a baby; let him/her learn on their own but show them it is okay. Also never leave a dog in the same room as a child, regardless how well you think the dog will handle the baby.
• Try hard not to single out your dog or neglect your dog because of the baby. This could cause depression or aggression. We would let Rylee onto the bed with us, even if we had Carter on there too, because it was her’s to begin with. We made sure that we were in between them – we just wanted to make sure she understood that he was okay; he wasn’t going to hurt us or her, and he wasn’t going to take anything away from her.
• Alone time – we made sure that we still made time for her with just us. My husband would take her outside and just give her the attention, or I would take her to Petco and get her a toy, just us. This also helped with her confidence, as if we were not going to forget about her.

As I said previously, there are many resources out there for tips on how to introduce a baby and dog in the household.

This worked for Rylee. I hope it works for your family too!