Hi, hopefully posting in the right place! Henry is our 15month old black Lab who is a delightful member of our household! I am currently 33weeks pregnant with our first baby due on Dec 5th. Although I am not worried about Henry as he is so gentle and loving... he gets a lot of our attention at the moment! I am obviously a little apprehensive that he might feel a bit jealous...or left out! We already have clear boundaries i.e. He isn't allowed on the furniture or upstairs at all.. and in the main he is very obedient.(apart from bounding up to other dogs very excitedly!) He is a big dog. Already weighing 40Kg! I'm wondering if anyone has any advice or stories about preparing their labs for the arrival of a baby into the household! Are there any steps I should be taking now before it's arrival? Thankyou!
Congratulations on the upcoming baby It sounds like you have got good foundations in place such as furniture and not going upstairs. I don't have any personal experience (my daughter is 21), but do have lots of children around my house and I work with children. When Harley met my goddaughter I held the baby and let Harley have a sniff which she did about 5/6 times over a period of half an hour. She would run over if the baby cried and would just sit staring at me until the baby stopped crying. I think Harley just knew that she needed to be gentle and they are now both the best of friends (baby aged 4, Harley aged 3). The only other thing I can comment on is my neighbour who has a 3 year old lab and a 1 year old baby. The dog was a huge part of their family until the baby came along. He is now rarely taken for walks more than 10 minutes, is left outside in all weathers whining to be let back in the house which can be up to half an hour of constant whining and barking. It makes me mad how much they neglect him since the baby came along.
@Emily has recent experience of this, so hopefully she chimes in soon I think her lab Ella was a similar age, perhaps a few months younger.
Thanks Naya and Xena! Watching their relationship grow is one of things I'm most excited about and I hope Henry reacts the same way as Harley and feels protective. I can't believe the story about your neighbour...so sad to think that poor dog is so ignored now!
Awww, my sweet Dana, a lab mix, was four years old when our first came along. She was instinctively sweet and caring with the baby. We watched them carefully together, of course, but she was really the best. I have so many photos of her curled up next to our daughter on camping trips, protecting her, and one of her giving kisses to our toddler daughter. We made sure to have one on one time with Dana when the baby arrived, so she didn't feel neglected, and I think we dialed back a little on attention for her before the baby was born, to kind of prepare her a little for the transition. Always giving her what she needed! Just - she was our "first baby," so we needed to remove a little focus from her even before the birth, if that makes sense. Kind of retool our relationship to reflect what it would be *after* the baby came, but not associating the change with the baby's arrival.
Yep @Xena Dog Princess Ella was 9 months old when our son was born. We did a few things in the lead up, like have the pram out, let Ella check out the baby's room and all of the new stuff etc. When Nathan was born we tried to keep Ella involved in everything and not change things for her too much. So, for example, in the evening she would usually have a cuddle with me on the couch so we still continued to do that, even if I happened to be feeding the baby at the same time. We also allowed Ella to see and sniff when she liked so that she didn't see the baby as something 'forbidden'. She sat next to the bath when we bathed him (sometimes she was allowed to go in the bath afterwards too ) so she wasn't shut out of everything new. We also tried to make sure Ella had attention from us without the baby and, now that he's crawling, we make sure she can escape from him if she wants to. I think it's leading to a really nice relationship between them
This gives me so much hope! Thanks for your replies! Henry goes to work with my Husband every day so he'll still be getting a fair bit of 1-1 time. I also definitely like your approach of not shutting the dog out Emily! So that there no hostility toward the baby. I've been thinking more and more that the tiny baby stage will probably be easier than once the baby is moving around! Henry will probably tower over the baby until they're about 3 years old!!
