Baby Theo has arrived!!
Safety First
They are also never left unsupervised with baby Theo, not even to get a class of water. This is where baby gates come in really handy!
Ditching the routine
- We make sure they have some form of physical activity, this doesn’t have to be high energy, it could be a bit of search and find food or toy.
- We weigh out their daily food allowance so we can use it to reward good choices and make positive pairings.
- Sometimes they are behind a baby gate, or in a puppy pen or cued to stay on their bed. They will not always have free access of the house as I will need my hands free for feeding or changing Theo!
- Growing calmness is key so we prepare frozen kongs and long lasting safe chews for them to have in their crate or pen.
- Building confidence alone as there are plenty of emergency trips to the doctors and hospital we didn’t plan for!
- Think about easy wins and short little training sessions. While you boil the kettle, have a little play with your dog!
Getting the dogs involved
We want to make sure Pixel and Rocket don’t feel left out so we get them to help out!
Pixel is small enough to help push Theo’s bouncy chair. It is great because it’s not too high energy and she doesn’t need to interact with Theo. We had fun with this one!
Family time, here we are all together and getting them used to Theo being on the floor and teaching them he is none of their business.
It is about getting the right balance and level of involvement without being too full on and over excited which has been Rocket’s struggle in the past. If you have an overly bouncy or boisterous dog then have a baby pen around your baby’s play area.
Expect lots of visitors
As soon as Theo was home and before he even had a name we had visitors almost every week. This was a challenge for Rocket as he loves to give big over excited cuddles and not everyone likes this. He is also not used to having people around because we were shielding during pregnancy.
We had to use the crate with a chew to calm him as people arrived, then out on his bed, rewarding good choices. We also advised people not to fuss him if he jumped up as we didn’t want this rewarded.
Cuddle time
Building calm relationships is so important and where appropriate we had Pixel sleeping nearby. At the moment Theo doesn’t grab ears or tails but this is something we will need to make sure we protect the dogs from. When Theo is older we won’t have him cuddling the dogs as most dogs find this worrying and could result in a bite. But even with management in place Theo may still get his hands on the dogs so we work on positive handling skills for the dogs so they are not worried should they accidentally get grabbed.
If you need extra support and guidance on how to get your dog ready for a baby then book in some 121 training with me.
