(human) Pregnancy and the Ridgeback

[KEMPS]

I have had a bunch of people write me on the subject and there's a few things that shine though.

1. Remember that you will go through fun hormonal changes, dont blame your poor dog for them but do give them lots of hugs (they wont mind)

2. Dont get too worked up about the whole situation. If you can keep a level head your dogs will follow suit.

3. Not everything turns out fairy tale perfect. Some things you may need to work with for them to turn out right.

4. Throw away all diapers in something with a heavy lid

If you've socialized your dogs pretty well with small children then this shouldnt be that much of a shock to them. If you havent socialized them well then you might want to get them out there so they know what the little dwarfs are before they come.

Congrats to you as well, you're due a few months before I am.

We're planning to use cloth diapers, so it should be an interesting trying to keep the RR's away from them...  Wish us luck!

Our dogs have been socialized pretty well... My baby will be my parents 10th grandchild and we've had family stay with us (for 4 months) with kids between the ages of 6 months and 4 years and we've been pretty happy with the way they've handled it...  Except that Jackson is a growler (and was when we adopted him when he was 3) and Autumn still thinks she's a puppy...

Thanks for the great advise!  I may be due before you, but it still seems like YEARS until August!   

[melissap]

Do you remember having one of those Diaper Genies? That was the WORST thing ever, as it filled up at least twice a day any way. I just ended up keeping a trash can by the back door to the garage and tossed them out immediately any way. The dog used the back door to the yard so he never broke into the stash of diaper trash...

That would work with either disposable or cloth   

I store the dog food in sealed plastic tubs too  works great! Just remember to seal them up 

Melissa

[re]

We're planning to use cloth diapers, so it should be an interesting trying to keep the RR's away from them...  Wish us luck!

I had such a giggle reading that. I used cloth diapers for my daughter (now six) and although I didnt have a dog at the time, my parents and their puppy practically lived with us then. They have a english staffordshire terrior name Deisal, (now my RR's best friend who we call 'brother dog' to our RR Copper).

Diesal was just a pup and would try to grab onto the back of my daughters diaper covers and hold on, (not the diaper, the cover) and she would walk around the house with him dragging behind her. That sounds awful if you think into it, but he was really the gentlest puppy, she just kept on walking anyway, him hanging off that big pad of cloth on her butt. and If that diaper had to be changed he would sit staring at her like she was tv and we couldnt pull him away. once we changed her, he went off and did his own thing.

I had a routine though, where diapers went directly into the washer so any dogs (we had alot of visiting ones) were not tempted. we tried a 'laundry can (lidded laundry basket) ' for a bit but one friends dog once knocked it over and rolled in it......ugg.

but cloth saves you ALOT of money - and you take out way less garbage, if you care about that sort of thing.

[melissap]

That is the SWEETEST story about the baby and the attached pup to the bottom of her diapers!!!

I imagine they are MUCH better for the environment as well.

M

[TracyCrane]

Congratulations!

As I mentioned in my introduction, I have two RR's (8 and 4) and a 16 month old little boy.  My dogs have done great with the new addition.  I think the key for us was continuing to include them in everything.  We have pictures on the first day home from the hospital of me nursing Sam in our bed with a dog cuddled up on each side with a head on my leg.  The dogs also each have a bed in Sam's room and are always welcome in there (although we do try to keep them from wrestling in his room!).  Whenever I did anything with Sam when he was a newborn, I always invited the dogs along. Jumangi was very gentle with him from the start, Whiskey was very curious and had to be reminded that the baby was little and he had to be careful, but he caught on quickly.

We also set up all of the baby stuff - swing, bassinet, pack-n-play, nursery, etc - prior to the baby coming home so that the dogs were used to it.

The dogs had a bit of an adjustment with not getting 100% of the attention anymore, but they adjusted well.  For the first month of so poor Whiskey would empty out his toy box onto any visitors hoping they were there to visit him instead of the baby!!     (Oh, and I also tried to make sure any visitors said hi to the dogs before paying all the attention to the baby.)

When Sam started getting moblie, Jumangi was a little unsure of him, but she is doing pretty well now, although she will not let him crawl all over her like Whiskey does. Whiskey thinks Sam is great now and they are great buddies. Both dogs will stay in Sam's room with him until he falls asleep. 

I will post some pics of Whiskey & Sam (as soon as I figure out how!), they are adorable together!

Oh, and as far as them noticing me being pregnant, they didn't act much different. Although Whiskey was a little put out when my belly started to interfere with him sitting in my lap!

Anyway, hope this helps a little to at least reassure you.  I am sure your dogs will love the new addition!

Tracy