Dog and new born baby?worried first time mom

Why are you worried about the hair? I don't think a bit of dog hair ever hurt anyone!

We have a pekignese, who sheds hair horrendously- we just make sure that her hair is regularly cleaned up. It's easier now we have a full time helper who is always cleaning and so the hair is cleaned away almost as fast as it falls!

As for you dog biting, that is something you will have to work on with training. And training both your dog and baby to live with each other.
Our dogs, for example, only get tetchy with our baby if he goes for their food- so we keep him well away from them when they are eating and that takes away any potentially risk situation.

He is allowed to pet and touch them as he wishes ( we are patiently trying to teaching him how to do this gently..not easy with an 11 month old ) but I know when the dogs have had enough of him, and when I see that I take him or them away.
 
We have a 4 week old baby and a 1.5 year old retreiver. the dog has been fantastic with the baby, interested and wants to lick and sniff her, but not jealous or agressive at all. we ensure we still 'greet' the dog as we always did upon entering the house and make sure to pet her as much as possible while holding the baby (so she didn't associate the baby with getting less attention). The dog hair is envitable, but I'm sure there are much worse things to come in contact with a baby!
 
Meimei--Would you also scan the article to share with me? My personal email is [email protected] I also just brought home my newborn and we have two dogs in the house that we have raised for over 5 years. My parents and in-laws are asking us to get rid of them!
 
Hello everyone, just wanted to update about the progress of our dog. We hired a wonderful trainer for an intensive training of 4 weeks, an hour everyday. There are big improvement in the attitude of our dog these days towards outsider. still need to see her reaction when my baby is born in December. but all in all, there is hope for us as we are more confident with her manner now. Was watching Dog Whisperer DVD and find that extremely helpful too...
 
Hello, I now have a 10-month old baby and two labradors (one is now four and the other two-years old). Our dogs are friendly to pretty much everyone but didn't always come when called so we decided to get more training for the dogs. We had them in SPCA basic and intermediate classes, and we hired a private trainer "Mark" who was recommended by our vet, Dr. David Gething for more specific training like not pulling on the lead. Between SPCA and Mark (I can try and find his card if you need to get in touch with him), the dogs did much better. What we also did was before our baby, William, was brought home we took one of the blankets he was wrapped in for the dogs to smell. We also made sure the dogs were taken outside first before we brought the baby in the house so the dogs wouldn't think our little William was a visitor. The other major thing we did in the beginning was to only give attention to our dogs when William was around so they felt included, and they didn't think he was taking away from us paying attention to them (I read this in a dog training book). When William started to sit, we would let the dogs nearby to sniff and "play" but always supervised. Now William is crawling and loves to pet and play with the dogs, and they seem to enjoy his company. I think with training and planning ahead, you can probably make it work. However, I do agree there are many considerations, especially time and if you have help to take care of a new born and a dog. Fortunately for me I have a helper that helps with the dogs so we make it work.
 
It's really reassuring to hear many success story about new born babies with pets at home! Thank you for everyone's advise and sharing of experiences....
 
i have a maltese at home...wat about hygiene issues? When can we "safely" let the baby touch the dog? My PD back in Spore advised me to keep them separated at least until baby is fully vaccinated at 6mths old...is that right? My dog is sooo pitiful being neglected
 
my kids were always around dogs. i don't understand the "wait until they are vaccinated" as there are VERY FEW diseases that can pass from dog to child.
 
I have to agree with Cara....and the vaccinations a child recieves by 6 mnths are all for diseases spread by people not animals or dogs.

However our son paid very attention to our dogs until he was mobile, i.e. crawling, and they paid very little attention to him! They kept themselves seperated!
 
cara
i'm not talking about diseases but rather the general hygiene, that may cause general illness like diarrhoea..since for the 1st 6 months, we need to sterilize bottles and things for the baby, and my dog are always down for walks...
 
fennho... i can understand your concern, but just to let you know...we board dogs for a living. we often have over 12 dogs at a time. it would have been impossible to keep the dogs and the children separated. neither of my children have become sick from the dogs, in any way.

i find that many, including doctors and nurses, in hk have no clue what having a dog is actually like. i had nurses and doctors both ask me what i was going to do with my dogs once the first baby arrived.

if your dog is always out for a walk and you are concerned, then clean its feet when it comes home. it only takes a minute and you'll feel 'safer'.
 
some photos of my kids with the dogs.
 

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i couldn't attach all i wanted....as i realised they were not the right format. they are short videos of my first and a cocker spaniel, when my first was about 4 months(just learning to roll over.)

but of course, every one should do what they are comfortable with. if you are not comfortable with your little one and your dog interacting, then that's the way it should be in your house. it's just that it doesn't have to be that way if you don't want it to be.
 
I grew up with three huge dogs. My mom used to tell people that they were my babysitters. She'd put me on the grass when I was still a lap baby while hanging up the laundry. The dogs would roll around with me.

I love dogs and would always stop to say hello to one when taking my bub for walks. Sometimes, my husband goes berserk when they try to sniff her (none has tried to lick her so far!) I tried telling him that it's their way of saying hello but to him, it's a mental thing. He said that he's afraid that they would suddenly snap at her or something. He still doesn't trust my neighbours' dogs!
 
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