Interacting with the child

[Jylly18]

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice for me. My husband and I found out I am due with our first child in January. Everything is going great so far, and we are very excited! Anyway, we have had our basenji, Tosca, for about 2 1/2 years now. She is definitely a typical basenji, but is very sweet. She does growl at other dogs, and has never growled at children, except for a couple of times when they tried to take something from her. Even then, it was just a small growl, more of a warning noise, no nipping, and she stopped immediately when I intervened. Overall, though, she does LOVE kids and the attention they give her, I'm just curious how she'll do with a baby. She is generally not destructive, but will definitely steal socks, small toys, paper, etc. Like I said...a typical basenji! She is very affectionate and loves to cuddle whenever she gets the chance.
I am just trying to think ahead and prepare myself...is there anything I should know to do/expect once this child arrives? Any advice on how to keep her away from all the small toys that are going to be everywhere? When my small nieces/nephews come over and bring all their toys I usually have to distract her with kongs/rawhides or keep her outside a lot...which is manageable for a short time, but obviously won't work once the child arrives!
Also, is there anything I should do/expect on Tosca interacting with the child? I described her behavior above, so I am not too worried, but is there anything I can do to make the transaction go more smoothly? She has never been a jealous dog, but we've never had a situation like this before, and she does love cuddling, is there anything I can do to avoid her getting jealous and acting out if this does occur?
Any advice would be wonderful...I just want to make all of this go as smoothly as possible...once we got Tosca and learned what a basenji was all about I loved her but always thought to myself "I wonder how we'll manage once we have kids" :P Now is the time to start figuring that out, and any help would be great...thank you so much!

[Buana]

First of all: Congrats!

My due date is Octobere 2th!
With three dogs (two Basenji's) we thought a lot about this issue, the dogs are very mucht the most important babys in the world to us and we want to make sure we do everyting we can to make it work.
We learned you have to make sure, you connect the dog(s) with everything!
The won't be jealous when it only becomes more fun for them!
Our Basenji's are crazy about kids and when they see a baby or a little kid, they have to go there to see it...


We also learned small things like don't put them in the crate when you are to busy with the baby (it's important they don't get the feeling that THEY have to make room for the new one)
See it as a new puppy, it's a bit new and exciting but you just have to make sure, the dog(s) won't become less important, or getting less attention.

We connected the dogs with everyting, they are all used with the Baby-room, they all wanted to smell the little clothes and all the other stuff of the baby.
From the start, they want to be close to my tummy.
They will put their heads were the baby is, and wait 'till "it" reacts to them.
Our Ibizan, (it's a she) whe she don't get a fast reaction, she swings her head slowly and then YES it reacts and she will listen and feel the baby. (very cute)

And make sure, the baby won't take toys from the dogs and the dogs won't take toys from the baby (you probably have to say that a million times but they will know the difference)

Our doctor says, when we come home with the baby when it's born, let them smell him/her out. (one dog a time of course) Exciting but they have to know what you brought home.
We already planned my parents will come to our place, so the dogs don't have to be in their crate when I have to go to the hospital.
It has to be a big party for them as it has to be for us!

[Basenjimamma]

I second what Buana said and wrote. Very good advise. We did exactly that when our daughter was born 9 years ago, we didn't have any B's then but two dogs none the less. It is important o show the dog attention still, and not "forget it" as well as setting the rules on who's toy is whom's, for the babies sake as well as for the dogs sake.
When Sofia was born our Dr told us to have my husband carry her in and me to walk in first. I gave them all the hugs and kisses and had them have time to smell me, before we let them smell and welcome Sofia into the family. It worked beautifully. They didn't really pay attention to her until one day a stranger came up top the stroller to peak in and boy, they went nuts, very protective and in my eyes sweet..after that we taught them it was OK for people to look at the baby, but not reach in to the stroller until I said it was Ok, and they kept their calm.

Congrats on your big news, so exciting..

[Rita Jean]

Congrats on the new baby. I am with Buana and Basenjimamma. We also did not have a Basenji when our daughter came home but we did have Schnauzer that was ever much my baby and Bud cat. My husband carried Ashley in and I also went in first here came the two what we called B boy's for Bud the cat and Bandit. I loved them both and then Steve sat Ashley down in the carrier on the sofa and Bud was first one there.
Bud stood on carrier and looked Ashley eye to eye and we took pictures so very cute. We then put carrier on floor and Bandit looked at her like what did you drag home now. The three were great together but we watched over them and Ashley was not allowed to hit or pull hair or take toys. B boys had to leave her toys alone. It will work itself out and all will be good with love and time. Lots of great pictures ahead.

What I did not tell you was about a week after we had been home our akita at 130 lbs sleep uner the baby bed no one could lok at Ashley without him. Never once did he ever hurt her but neither did any one else.

Rita Jean

[agilebasenji]

Congrats. Lots of people have babies and dogs, and I'm sure you will find lots of good advice here. Personally, I'd encourage you to call around and see if anyone has Dog and New Baby classes. I know some hospitals even have all sorts of new baby classes.

[Quercus]

Lots of good advice so far. I agree with making the dog/s part of the babiy's every day life. I think the more you stress about it, the more the dogs associate the new baby with your stress, and they resent it. Our Bs really liked to curl up next to me while I was nursing a baby on the couch or bed...I think it really helped them bond with the baby. And I agree with working on a strong 'leave-it' command...

Most people don't have issues with dog/baby until baby starts to walk...especially towards the dog!! So be proactive, and start thinking of ways that the dog will be able to take refuge from the baby when he or she starts to toddle.

The only thing that I did differently than what has been said above, is I *did put dogs in their crates if I needed a break, and I did so with no guilt. I gave them something fun and tasty to do in their crates, and we all took a break from each other. But I wouldn't recommend that if Tosca already dislikes her crate...this would be for dogs that are totally cool with spending time in their crates.

Good luck, and congratulations!!! You are going to love being a human mom!...or a mom to humans

[agilebasenji]

Does she not like crates? I missed that. Get a copy of Crate Games (dvd); it's available from dogwise.com

[Quercus]

Does she not like crates? I missed that. Get a copy of Crate Games (dvd); it's available from dogwise.com

I don't know..I can't remember if she was one of the crate-o-phobes...but I just wanted to clarify that, although I used crate time for my dogs when I was overwhelmed as a new mom...that might not be the best answer if your dog is cratephobic...talk about adding more stress!!!

I really need to find the time to watch Crate Games...it sounds so awesome!

[Jylly18]

Thank you so much for the advice! I'm sure I'll refer back to it many times as the due date gets closer and after:P No, Tosca is not crate phobic, she is great about going in there when we need to leave, although she does not like to be in there when we are in the room. However, if this needs to be the case, she will usually just whine/put up a fuss for a bit, then gives in and settles down. And of course, if there is a kong or something to do, then she probably wouldn't mind at all. I really hope she is able to bond with this baby, she has been generally very good with kids so far, so I am thinking it should be fine, just want to do whatever I can to make it easier!
Thanks again, everyone, for all your help...if you have any additional suggestions/words of advice, throw them my way, I'd love to hear all of it!

Oh! And whoever changed my topic title...thanks! I had a normal one, and I must have hit a key or something (probably back tab) and made it the !. Then once i posted, I didn't know how to edit that part, just the main text here:P

[lvoss]

I totally forgot about this website until it was brought up on another list. Here is a good resource for adding a baby in a house with dogs.

http://dogsandstorks.com/