Going to give birth to a new baby? Congrats! Surely, you and your husband have announced this good news to your family members and have started all the plannings and preparations for your new baby to arrive in this world. But, have you planned how to acquaint your dog with your baby and how to create a lifetime bonding between the two? Well, you must prioritize these plans over others if you have a dog in your house. For your assistance, here are some tips on how to introduce dog to baby:
1. Prepare Your Doggy for The Sounds & Smells of Your Newly Arriving Baby:
A dog always feels comfortable around them whom it sees and feels every day. If you do not rightly introduce your baby before your pet, it may feel somewhat anxious on seeing your baby suddenly and start barking loudly. By doing that, your baby may also cry out in fear. Instead of doing that, prepare your doggy for the situation first. What you can do is even before the arrival of your baby into this world, you can make your dog feel everything about a baby. For that, you may play a recorded voice of a baby’s cry or other sounds and make your dog hear that. Or, you may keep before your pet, baby powder and lotions that you have shopped for your baby so that your dog can make acquaintance with such smells. By doing these things, your baby will no more be a stranger to your dog. You may also train your dog not to bark harshly in front of any baby so that your baby doesn’t fear the dog.
2. Shower an Equal Amount of Love on Both Your Dog and Your Baby and Keep Both of Them Away from Jealousy:
If you are still wondering how to introduce dog to baby, then here’s another tip for you. Naturally, each living creature feels jealousy when he sees that someone else is suddenly taking his place and he is no more important to anyone. So, if either your doggy or your baby feels that the opposite member of the house is unexpectedly getting more love and attention than him from everyone in the house, an inferiority complex will develop in them and the result is jealousy. Hence, the suggestion is to give an equal amount of love and attention to both of them. Besides this, when you are making entry at your home with your baby for the first time, ask your partner to hold your baby, take your entry in the house before your partner, and shower a lot of love on your dog, so that instead of feeling jealous, your dog also celebrates the arrival of the new member of the family.
3. Don’t Try to Meet Your Dog and Your Baby Forcefully To Each Other:
The main mistake that people usually make while introducing their baby to their dog is that they force their pet to befriend their new member even when it dislikes to do so at that moment or force their baby to meet their pet even when the baby cries out in fear. But we hope that you will not repeat the same mistake in your case. You must always remember that every creature needs some time to adjust themselves to someone new. Friendship can never be forced. It comes from within. So, instead of forcing them, just give them some time and try to make them feel that they are not a foe to each other but friends or playmates. Just keep your doggy near your baby for a few minutes every day with proper protection so that your dog by no way can harm your baby out of jealousy or anything. And you will notice that within a few days, both of them have learned to live happily with each other. Love will gradually grow between the two.
4. Engage Your Doggy in Activities That Are Related to Your Baby:
Another opinion of how to introduce dog to baby is that try to involve your doggy in as many activities as possible related to your baby. For instance, when changing diapers, you may instruct your dog to fetch you a fresh diaper from the packet, or while bathing your baby, you may encourage it to bring the baby towel, soap, or hair oil to you. Your dog will not only love doing these things but also feel that you are giving it attention. Also, as your baby gradually grows up, he/she will love the fact that the doggy is doing something related to him/her and slowly a steady friendly relationship will ripen between them.
5. Teach Your Baby to Be Gentle Towards Your Pet:
As your baby somewhat matures and understands what you are talking about, try to explain to him/her that he/she should be gentle towards his/her friend cum playmate. Also, give your dog some chewing toys from the hand of your baby. This will make your pet realize that your baby is loving and your baby will also learn how to show friendly behavior towards the pets. As a result, both of them will learn to love and respect each other. They will never hurt one another. It will also turn your baby into an animal lover.
Conclusion
Yes, it’s true that to introduce your baby and your pet to each other for the first time may not be an easy job but, your patience, love, and proper training can make the difference. So, don’t take any tension for the first time meet-up with your dog and baby. Just follow the above tips on how to introduce dog to baby and half of your job is done.
Read More: How to Take Care of a Newborn Baby
