# Golden and New born baby Questions



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I guess the main thing to keep in mind is that unless your dog is obedient and knows "leave it", you need to have a leash on her at all times. And the baby and your dog are not going to be playmates for a few years. You and your wife need to make sure that your dog sees the baby as a human being - another human being she has to be polite in greeting. No jumping, mouthing, grabbing clothes, or harrassing. Polite doggy kisses and sniffing are FINE - and I'd encourage it.  

It's going to be a lot of work, but by the time your kiddo is three or four, you will love seeing your two babies loving each other. 

Congrats on your baby!!!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Congratulations on the anticipated arrival!  There is just no love like what you feel for your child.... 

I think you will be just fine, I'm sure someone here will have a few good suggestions and really other than good old fashioned common sense, there's not too much you need. If you allow your dog up on the bed and the furniture you will not be able to lay the baby down unattended (in case she accidentally landed on him when jumping up) and maybe bringing home a blanket from the hospital in advance with baby's smell on it could be a good idea. I honestly think you'll be fine. 

From now until the baby is born, I recommend working extra hard on your obedience work, a solid down/stay will be helpful. Congratulations!


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## Wagners Mom2 (Mar 20, 2012)

First, Congratulations to you and your wife. Babies are wonderful.  

When we had our son, our dogs were 7, 6 and 3--so a bit more settled, but still a worry. 

My suggestion is keeping doing what you are doing in working on the sit/no jump/ stay, etc. In fact, If I had a young dog and was expecting a baby, I may take advantage of the next few months and enroll in some obedience classes to help perfect those commands. It's also a great bonding tool, no matter the age, IMO.  

Also, now would be a good time to teach the dog to go to a spot to settle. Like a dog bed in the living room or somewhere where she can go to relax. Also, if you plan on using things like baby gates to keep them safely separated, now is the time to introduce those. You don't want the dog to feel like anything new is baby's fault. You want any and all changes (minus the baby being there of course!) to occur before baby comes.  

Are you crate training? They can be a wonderful tool, as well. 

Most importantly, be sure when the baby comes to give the dog an outlet. An exercised dog is a happy dog--and the happier the dog is, the easier the transition will be. Be sure to keep the walks going (maybe even more so) and perhaps some doggie daycare would help as well. Those things should start now, as well, IMO.

My golden LOVED our baby from the very beginning and our transition was quite uneventful. I was most worried about our 3 year old at the time (our lab) because she was still quite high strung, but she has turned out to be wonderful with him as well.

Best of luck and best wishes for a healthy, happy pregnancy and baby!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

Congratulations on your baby...and sounds like your Golden girl is a real peach.

Our Penny was raised without children...we are old and retired.  She met our grandson for the first time when he was 2 months old and she was 2 years old. They came to stay over the holidays for 10 days. There was never a problem. Nor when the whole family moved in with us for a month during a job transfer and house hunt. By then our grandson was 18 months old and his sister was just 6 months old. Penny has always treated them very carefully. 

In fact we never gave it a thought on preparation, just kept an eye on her and them.

Do your friends have small children that she's fine with? Maybe you can babysit and evaluate her behavior.

I should add that with us, we were fair game for all her excitement, she was a nutjob handful. But with the babies, she was gentle and very kind.

Again, congratulations!


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## Deber (Aug 23, 2011)

We had our second golden when baby #2 came and he was almost 2. He was wonderful with her but was never left alone for a second. His biggest problem was when she started crawling and he would go over to her and lay down, almost on her and would just watch her. She pulled a lot of lose fur from his coat and it always went into her mouth. Had to watch the baby much more than Fred! They became best buddies and crazy, but he was always a gentle giant when it came to the kids. None of the crazies and jumping he would do with adults. Amazing, but he was so gentle and never left their sides.

Just understand that she might be a bit lost when the new babe comes. I agree in giving her MORE love and attention at first until she is comfortable with the new smells and settles. A training class would be fantastic, even if you just go through a beginning class with her. It will reinforce what she already knows and bond her tighter to you. You want her to see the babe as an addition to your family, not as someone who made you forget about her.


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