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![]() What kind of privileges and management techniques do you use with dog? Free run of house, sleep in bed with you, allowed on furniture, crate trained ? If these privileges will continue, that's fine. If not, you need to retrain immediately before the baby arrives. Remember that a dog jumping on the bed or furniture may be dangerous to a baby. At this point you need to establish the boundaries your dog will have to live by, questions like "Is the dog is allowed in the baby’s room?" should be considered. Prepare your pet by considering these points: *Your dog must be safe to take toys and chews from. Practice the give and take exercise! *Your dog must respond to basic commands properly, you can't be carrying a baby around and have a dog who completely ignores you and won't move out of your way. *A dog that jumps up at you could easily injure a carried baby, or knock it out of your arms. *Dogs must learn to "go away" on command so that they don't come up to you when you have a baby on your knee and put a paw straight on top of the baby or drop a toy on it. *There are times when you might need to leave a room with the baby and leave the dog behind. Make sure your dog already accepts being left in one room while you are elsewhere in the house. *Take your dog walking with the baby’s new stroller for a month before the baby arrives. *Practice lots of sit and down stays *Dogs are fascinated by new smells, so send something home from the hospital immediately that smells of the baby so that when the baby actually comes, it isn't so much of a novelty. *Getting up in the middle of the night and walking around with the doll. and last but not least... Introducing Your Pet to Baby |