Preparing ahead with the entire family.

Preparing ahead for baby with your dogs really helps to avoid confusion and frustration for all once the real baby arrives. Allow dogs to be curious but teach them the boundaries that will be expected with your little one. Ex. here Windsor is sitting and sniffing feet of the baby doll. This is acceptable and comfortable. Sniffing the head and being pushy or jumpy is not. Allowing the dogs and you to role play makes the transition alot smoother.

Setting up swings, bouncer seats etc really helps these items loose their novelty in the dogs minds. It also allows you the chance to reward calm and appropriate behavior before the baby is in this equipment. Swings now have various sounds, objets, motions etc and some dogs need more time to adapt then others. Duke is pretty relaxed while the baby doll swings in my office in the swing.

We have three children to include in our preparation for dog and baby harmony. Here Kayleigh is working with Windsor and reminding him that calm behavior allows him to be included as she talks to the baby doll.
All family members should be included in the preparation of dog and baby harmony. This allows consistency as well as increases safety by providing education to older siblings about safety BEFORE baby arrives. This will make for an easier transition and success for all.

Prepare BEFORE third trimester

I am now 35 weeks along in our pregnancy and with 3 kids, 4 dogs and 5 cats I can say it has been a learning experience. I have revisited our Dogs & Storks program and am pleased to say that much will stay the same! Our program promotes planning and preparing ahead of time and I can not emphasize the importance of this. Really, this makes for an easier third trimester and a more relaxed Mom. Leaving things to the third trimester invites stress as there are many unknoowns that can happen along with the appointments, showers and exhaustion oh, and NESTING! For those that already have children there is an emotional component too as you near the arrival of your new baby. Thoughts I have had have ranged from panic to sadness and then back to joy. This is indeed a changing time and one that you need to be able to enjoy with your family as you know it now. So, if you are newly expecting and you have a dog/s then I encourage you to purchase our DVD and contact a presenter in your area to begin preparing well before your third trimester!