Preparing Our Dogs For Our Baby

As many of you know, Arlo and Daphne are our first and second-born children. For nearly two and a half years these two were our main priority other than ourselves to the point that our parents have started to call them their Grandchildren. They are such a part of our lives that we made sure that they were a part of our pregnancy announcement. 

You will also be aware that Arlo has anxiety and it can be tough. We have days where every little outside noise triggers him and we're constantly trying to get him to stop continuously barking at them. Whenever something new comes into the house it can take anywhere from a week to a month for him to get used to it. A good example was when we got a new fridge. He refused to walk past it for two weeks without one of us being with him and him skirting around it, which made toilet training him a bit difficult. 

So when we knew that AJ was on the way, we also knew that we were going to have to put a lot of early work in to ensure that Arlo was as calm and untriggered as possible. We also wanted to do the same with Daphne because even though she doesn't have anxiety, she still needed time to be able to adapt to the changes that were happening in our lives. 

I know there are a lot of new parents or even old parents who are in a similar situation as us, that have dogs and want to prepare them as much as possible for the new addition to the house. So I decided to write down everything that we did, what worked, and what didn't and talk about them. 

Getting Things Early

When I'm asked "when do you get big baby items" I usually respond with as close to the due date as possible. This is simply because of warranties. Many big baby items such as car seats, cots, and prams have warranties that start the moment you put them in your car, so if you're buying at 20 weeks your warranty can be half over by the time your baby gets home. However, with Arlo we knew that we needed the max amount of time possible for him to adjust to items that he was going to come in contact with. 

Items like the baby swing, our bassinet, and our cot were all bought from 20 to 25 weeks so both Arlo and Daphne had the max amount of time to sniff them, interact with them and get used to them in their world before AJ arrived. The one thing I do wish we had gotten a lot earlier was our pram simply because we got it the month before AJ arrived and Arlo was scared of it right up until AJ was 5 weeks old and we started to go out for walks. He wouldn't go near it, he wouldn't walk next to it and even Daphne was apprehensive of it. It wasn't until they actually saw AJ in it and realised that their favourite human was inside that first walk that they started to warm up to it. Now they deliberately step in front of it. 

Like I said, it's really a catch 22 when it comes to buying things and warranties but for us it worked and helped make the transition smoother. 

Playing Baby Noises

When you have a noise-sensitive dog-like Arlo, ensuring that they aren't triggered by everyday noises that your baby makes is important. From 30 weeks, we started playing baby sounds throughout the house to get both Arlo and Daphne used to them. At first, they were a little curious but as time went on they adjusted and went on with their lives. 

This worked really well in our favour purely because when AJ did come home they didn't react negatively to the sounds she made. They actually started to show an interest and every unpleased noise resulted in the two of them going to check on her to make sure that she is ok. Even now six months on, they will still come and check on their favourite human if she is upset. 

Bringing Her Scent Home

It's well known that dogs are huge on smells. It's why we use their noses when tracking down people who are lost. Arlo and Daphne are very big on scent and will often wind their way around you if you've gone out for thirty minutes to smell all the different smells that you have on you. 

We wanted to ensure that AJ's scent was something that they were familiar with, so while I was in the hospital with AJ, T was bringing clothes and things home to wash and they had the chance to familarise themselves with AJ's scent. It made the introduction process a lot easier when we were finally able to come home nearly a week later. 

Lots of Reassurance

With everything new that we brought into the house, with every change that was made, we did our best to make it a positive experience for Arlo and Daphne. For Daphne that meant being able to sniff everything the moment it came into the house and was put together, along with treats and loveys. For Arlo, who is not a food receptive dog when he's in flight or fight mode, it meant slowly giving him the time to approach when he was ready, reassuring him that it was ok and all the loveys.