You may or may not know that 15 weeks ago my husband Brad and I welcomed our little baby boy Jackson into this world.  He was born on November 3^rd and I am so blessed to say that he is happy and healthy.  The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming and I can’t even begin to express our gratitude.   

I affectionately refer to Jackson as my “First without Fur”…  Is that wrong?  I hope not because I mean it will all love and respect.  So many people during my pregnancy would ask Brad or I if this was our first baby and I would respond with saying it was our “first without fur”.  If you have ever been to Audrey’s or even seen Brad and I out on the street the first thing you would probably notice was our goofy, playful beautiful girl Kendall.  Yes, Kendall our baby girl just happens to be a dog.  And, you may not see us walking them around the streets but back at home are our beautiful little kitties Tess and Yogi.  Who could also forget our store mascot Bella the Chinchilla?  Yes, we are a packed household and we love every minute of it.  But now that we have both fur babies and Jackson people are constantly asking me how to integrate all the “kids”.  

I believe there are several different ways to prepare and introduce your new baby
to your current pets.  Just remember that every animal will respond differently so what worked for us may not work for you.  At the end of the day just remember
that any behavioral changes in your pets are simply because they are nervous, scared, or jealous.  You can’t get mad.  You just have to put yourselves in the pets head and think “I was once the center of my human’s universe… now I am second fiddle”.  This is not easy for some humans to understand, never mind an animal. 

We were actually very lucky because our next door neighbor has a 2 year old little
girl and Kendall LOVES her!  Boxers are very family oriented dogs so I wasn't too worried about her “liking” the new baby but was mostly worried about her sheer size (she is a big female weighing in at 72lbs) and energy level.   I don’t know how many times I have said "she just don't know her own strength"!  I have never once thought for a second that Kendall would hurt Jackson but have worried that her jumpy, licky, butt wagging self will just over power the baby. 

So I identified that my biggest challenge would be to introduce Kendall to the new
baby and not have him seem like the new and coolest thing ever!  I need her to keep calm and stay gentle when interacting with him.   

Here are a few tips that we did that I think have worked very well for us.  But
again, you need to do what you feel most comfortable with and identify what you
think your dog will struggle with the most about the new baby. 

Before the baby arrives:

We tried to put out Jackson's things before he was born just so she was not seeing his bouncy chair for the first time WITH an actual baby in it!  We set up
his crib and bassinette and let her have free range to smell, sniff, examine,
etc.  Now, when ever Kendall see’s Jackson in his bouncy chair it’s not all that exciting because she has already had time to sniff the chair for several months. 

We also tried to let Kendall play with our neighbor’s baby that I mentioned before
as much as possible before our son was born and start using the word “gentle”.  This is our word with Kendall now around all children.  It is much easier (and less nerve wracking) to train her around a 2 year old than a 2 day old!  This way she is used to our training words and not looking at us like we are speaking Greek to her.  Now, every time she goes over to the baby we say gentle… gentle… gentle… and keep our hands on her collar so if we need to pull back we can.  For us personally it is not because we think she would ever hurt him we just need to protect him because of the size difference. 

If you have a dog that you think might nip a soft muzzle might be necessary until they become acquainted.  Once your dog realizes this small little bundle of joy is not a threat it should calm down quite nicely.  If you are worried because your dog “does not like children it meets on the street” that is often because children that are out and about have a tendency to pull dogs ears, tails, fur, etc. because they don’t know any better. A small tiny swaddled new born will not have the same threatening tendency that a strangers child might hold. 

After the baby was born:

I did have my Mom bring home a blanket from the hospital before we got home to give it to Kendall but to be honest I personally don’t know how much it helped.  I actually think it just confused her.  It’s not like she has weeks to smell it – she
only had about 12 hours with the blanket before we came home.  Because Kendall couldn’t see what that new smell was I don’t know if it helped her. However, this is one of the more recommended tips so I guess it can’t hurt! 

I think the best advice I can give is that when we would come home, Brad, would
always enter the house first and greet Kendall like he hadn't seen her in a year!  That way she felt special, loved, and not "jipped". He would let her jump all over him, give him kisses, and then reward her with a treat.  That way when I entered the apartment with the baby in my arms and couldn’t greet her it wasn’t like she was being totally ignored. 

You never want to walk in and have your dog greet you at the door and just say “go away, no, get down” if your dog is used to being greeted with love and
affection. 

Stocking up on your dogs favorite treats and toys will be a great idea.  Stock up and then you can pull out something new and exciting from the closet when you need your dog to leave you alone for a little bit.  Always use positive rewards
and enforce good behavior around the baby with yummy training treats or just
loving words.  Unfortunately at the end of the day there will be times that a new baby will be way cooler than anything you could buy at Audrey’s (not that Audrey’s doesn’t have super cool things)!

As far as Kendall’s energy level to be honest we have just had to monitor
it.  Kendall is in LOVE with her little brother and just wants to be where
he is.  We really try to let her be as close to him as possible and since Jackson is still so young he is not just on the floor so it’s a bit easier to control their interactions.  We will for example lie Jackson down on the couch and let Kendall come up to him and lick his head.  I have seen over the past few weeks she is less and less interested in RUNNING over to him as soon as she sees him because she is getting more and more used to him.  I won't lie… I am sure crawling will
be a whole other chapter I will have to write but for now it has been
great. 

All in all it will be an adjustment for everyone including the household pets! 
It will be amazing to see your new baby and your current fur babies grow up
together it might just take some additional training.  Dogs are incredibly smart and they know that a baby is a baby… with or without fur! 

If you believe that you need expert help there are several classes to help you
further.  Please let me know if you are interested in some recommendations.  Brittany@audreysboston.com