flweir Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 I have had two Oldie rescues, Milly and Sisco for a year and a half now. As a bit of background, Sisco has fear agression (although with the help of a behavioralist, it is now largely well managed and his confidence and relaxedness is the presence of strangers is growing month by month). His fear/aggression is directed mainly towards strange men and he's never shown any aggression towards children (presumably cause they are small). His fear aggression is thought by the behavioralist to be due to being a nervy type (collie cross) and poor socialisation as a puppy (as Milly, while a bossy confident type, is also a little shy of strangers), not due to poor treatment. His previous owner who got in touch through the Oldie's Club just recently confirmed that the dogs had always been very much loved, says they are both good with children and forsees no problem with the new baby. She also said that Milly was always more outgoing and confident, and Sisco held back, even when 10 wk old puppies, which confirms the behavioralist's assessment. I am now pregnant and expecting a baby end of February. In preparation for this we have done the following: We stop the dogs from jumping up both in excitement and for cuddles (previously the dogs would jump up on their hind legs when you were sitting down to get affection). Now the rule is all 4 legs on the floor at all times. The dogs have learnt this very quickly. We are trying to teach the dogs to take treats very gently (in fact totally gingerly with the softest of lip movements - if they snatch or gobble we take the treat off them and get them to do it again). They are much better than before, but only take it gently if you say the word 'gently' - I'm still a bit worried they would snatch from a baby's hand if it was trailing some food in a highchair, which is what we want to avoid (they are both very greedy!) Is there anything else we should be training them to do or not to do now to smooth the transition? We'll get them used to prams etc nearer the time (but I don't think they'll have an issue with that - they're not bothered by prams in the park or cyclists etc). Obviously we always keep the baby and dogs totally seperate when not supervised and our introductions to new people (such as visiting midwifes!) will be made in the way our behavioralist has recommended. Any advice, experience or reassurance would be very much appreciated! Thank you in advance Frances Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Congratulations Frances Dredging up my memories of going through this many years ago....... Perhaps have a think now about how the house is arranged, and whether you might want to restrict where the dogs can go when the baby arrives. If you are going to stop them going upstairs for instance do it as soon as possible so they don't connect any changes to the baby's arrival. A baby gate between the kitchen and living room (or whatever works in your house) is very useful so you can separate dogs and baby easily when you can't supervise, again get the dogs used to spending short times separated from you by a gate now, so they don't see it as a huge change connected with the baby. In terms of training, walking well on the lead is a huge bonus if you are trying to walk dogs + push a pushchair. 'No' and 'Leave it' are invaluable - though mainly for the child Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flweir Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Hi Fee Thanks for the advice! As you know, we're actually moving house in November (I don't do things by half!) so we'll be able to set boundaries on where the dogs are and are not allowed to go as soon as we move in, so that should simplify matters hugely, and as you say, they won't associate any change to be due to the baby. Good plan for practicing the walking on lead - they are both really bad at that (as where we are at the mo, all their walks are off-lead) so it is something that will need work, as soon as I get to the new house. I would also be interested to hear if anyone else has successfully integated a baby with a nervous dog (so to speak!). It is something I should be concerned about? I've been advised that I should ensure that the dogs know that the baby is 'top dog', but given their problem isn't one of dominance (and I'm not sure I follow all that pack leader stuff anyway) I'm not sure if this would help? F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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