Help Your Dog Be Your Baby’s Best Friend
July 28th, 2010
I don’t mean to poach on my K9Cuisine colleague Sharon Ann Waldrop’s turf—and if I have, I apologize. But People magazine’s People Pets website contains an article on my favorite of Bravo’s “real housewives”—the inimitable Bethenny Frankel—and I simply can’t resist blogging about it.
Frankel’s life has changed a lot since her daughter, Bryn Hoppy, was born nearly three months ago. One of her biggest worries in her process of becoming a new mom has been over her 11-year-old, sometimes fiercely protective dog, Cookie. But, as the article makes clear, Frankel needn’t have worried. Cookie accepts baby Bryn as a member of her pack, and is probably way more tolerant than Frankel expected. That said, I also suspect that Cookie’s benign attitude toward baby Bryn didn’t happen all by itself. Frankel consulted a dog trainer to help alleviate some of Cookie’s behavioral issues and also solicited help from her followers on Twitter.
Not all of us have the means to hire a dog trainer to work with us one-on-one (although a future post will discuss when you ought to find a way to cough up the bucks to do so). However, we can all exercise a little common sense when we prepare our dogs for the arrival of a new human family member. Trainer Colleen Pelar, who also is the mother of three boys, outlines some specifics on new-baby prep for dogs in her wonderful book, Living with Kids and Dogs … Without Losing Your Mind. Here are some of her suggestions:
Train your dog before the baby is born. Frankel did this, and Pelar notes that teaching your dog his behavioral basics is far easier to do before the baby is born than after. An especially good cue is “place,” which you can essentially teach your dog by choosing a cue word (“nighty-night” works well for my dog, Allie), saying the cue word, then luring the dog to his bed, crate or other designated area with a treat.
Implement new routines before the baby comes home. Put your dog’s bed where you want it to be, use baby gates occasionally to block access to rooms, and vary his walking and eating patterns so that he doesn’t expect to perform those activities at the same time every day. Babies are notoriously uncooperative when it comes to adhering to parental and doggie schedules.
Introduce the baby’s scent. While Mom and baby are still in the hospital, send home a garment or other item(s) that carry the scent of both and introduce them to the dog. “This exercise will help [the dog] to recognize [the baby] when she comes home,” Pelar explains.
Work as a team. When Mom and baby come home from the hospital, Mom should come in and greet the dog, while Dad carries in the baby. After the dog and Mom have their little reunion, Dad can bring the baby over to meet the new family member. After the dog sniffs the baby for a minute or two, Mom or Dad should give the dog a stuffed Kong or a chew toy.
Keep it positive. To help keep your dog feeling good about the baby, give him some pre-stuffed Kongs whenever your baby wakes up from a nap. That way, he’ll associate the baby’s presence with scoring so goodies.
In addition to Pelar’s wonderful ideas, I’ve got one of my own: try, whenever possible, not to exclude your dog from your time with your baby. Even inviting your dog to come lie near the rocking chair and petting him occasionally while you nurse your baby can help him feel that he’s still an important part of your family.
Full disclosure: Pelar is a friend of mine, I edited her manuscript and I was given a copy of the book. However, I do not profit in any way from sales of the book.
Related Posts
Posted in K9 Care, K9 News, K9 Training | Comments Off
Susan McCullough has been a professional writer for 30-plus years, but didn't start focusing on dogs until 1996, when an overzealous Sheltie attacked and shredded a message that had been faxed to Susan's office. Instead of merely telling the sender "My dog ate your fax," Susan decided to see seek expert advice about how to share an office with one's animal companion. She turned that advice into an article for a national pet magazine, and she's been writing about dog behavior and care ever since.
