I have been asked how our dogs have adjusted to the baby... this has been a topic of anxiety for me as our youngest (and largest) furbaby, Zeus is NOT kid friendly (he likes to play and chase kiddos but usually gets so excited he has occasionally nipped in mid play).I had many long heart to heart conversations with him before Aliyah was born - pleading with him to accept her as part of our pack. To help us prepare, Tyler and I read a few articles online - the main take away for us was that it’s important to ensure that our dogs never had a negative connotation to Aliyah. This meant allowing them to explore her nursery, smell her and be close to her when she was brand new, and most importantly - continue to include them as part of all family activities after she arrived. Of course, allowing them to be that close also meant being very diligent about protecting her and teaching the dogs boundaries around her personal space - and we learned that no dog, no matter how trustworthy, should be left alone with an infant.
Nova was never a worry for us. She loves everyone and has never once in her entire life displayed signs of aggression towards people. Our biggest challenge with her has been getting her to recognize that the baby actually exists. She likes to pretend like she isn’t there and that all of the soft blankets and little beds we were making were actually for her and not a new baby. A few times when Aliyah was sleeping next to me, Nova would come up and almost step on the baby (if not for my hand shielding her) in order to get close to me. Every time we scooped Aliyah up off a blanket - Nova would try to get in it. Teaching Nova that she can lay next to, but not IN the baby’s space has been our biggest challenge (and one we’re still working on).
As for Zeus, he’s exceeded my expectations so far. He was incredibly nervous around Ali J for the first two days she was home and would whine and bark in a nervous way whenever the baby would cry. We encouraged him to look at her and sniff her and would always praise him when he did so. Since then, he has shown concern for her several times when she has cried. I probably will never fully trust him based on his past history but I am encouraged by his current temperament around her. I still worry that this arrangement might change when she becomes mobile and “grabby” but we’re going to take it a day at a time.
I love my dogs to my core. Pets can enrich the lives of a child in so many ways. The ONLY thing that would make me give up either of my dogs would be an aggression towards Aliyah. I am just not willing to take that risk. I’ve let the dogs lick the top of Aliyah's head and there are many afternoons where all five of us have been snuggled in our room together. And yes, I’ll even admit to pulling a dog hair out of her mouth once or twice (ewww… there goes my mother of the year award).
Having our child and dogs co-habitate peacefully has not been a perfect science. We are learning as we go… but we continue to teach all three of them how to respect boundaries and we are hopeful that we will remain a happy little pack for many years to come.
** Wondering about the cat? She really loves people and is doing great with the baby continuing to share that love with Aliyah.
We had the same "lessons" w/ our dog. We were worried about him being aggressive, playing w/ the baby's toys, and barking at him. We read articles that said to bring a blanket the baby was wrapped in after birth home to let the dog smell it and to put mouthwash on the baby's toys to help the dog distinguish between his toys and the baby's. Well we solved that problem by taking away all of Eddie's toys except one. As for the baby's smell, he could care less about the blanket Eric brought home. We even had a fake baby we would lay on the floor and put in the crib to "practice." Every time Eddie would ignore it. The only trouble we had was when Eddie would get excited he would forget where Carsen was. We had at least one stepping incident but nothing else.
ReplyDeleteNow he and Carsen are best friends. Carsen has learned if he throws Eddie's ball, Eddie will chase it which makes him laugh. Carsen knows not to be rough w/ Eddie but there is the occasional hair pulling. In the car is especially hard b/c Carsen will pull Eddie's hair or ear and b/c of the limited space Eddie will cry. The only thing Eddie does we don't approve of is lick the poor boy to death but he does that w/ everyone.
I'm glad your dogs have taken to Aliyah so well. I'm sure once she starts moving around it will go just as smoothly.