Baby fever has hit and I currently know 17 people who are expecting or have recently had a baby in the past couple months. (I know right?!) The best part is: I'm going to be an aunt for the first time! We're super thrilled and excited but since we have dogs, not children, my immediate thought was- what about the dogs?
I've always wondered how people introduced their dogs to the new babies, especially when the dogs WERE the babies beforehand. After some brief googling (yes it is a verb now), I found you can actually take courses in preparing your dog for baby. AWESOME. And I just thought that's what they made "baby gates" for...
It turns out there is whole list of things you should do before you bring home the kiddo to meet the dog. One site recommended that you BORROW DIRTY DIAPERS FROM FRIENDS so your dog gets used to the smell. Ew. That might be an awkward request to make: "Excuse me Jessica, can I borrow your baby's diaper? I want to take it home and have my dog to smell it". You might get the police called on you.
I also saw where you could record a tape of your friend's baby crying or babbling to get your dog used to the noise. If I were you, I'd ask a different friend than the one with the diaper- you've already made some pretty weird requests, she may not return your phone calls if she thinks you're stalking her baby.
One lady suggested watching reruns of The Baby Story on TLC since babies cry in that show all the time. I remember watching The Baby Story in college and thinking "OMG, I will never ever be that lame" but still watched with horrified fascination as these normal couples were transformed into hormonal, emotional, terrified, sobbing creatures. My favorite episode was where the lady wanted to do a natural birth and then the contractions were so painful she decided to do an epidural and her husband was like, "Baby, remember what we decided" and she was all, "I DON'T CARE THIS HURTS GET AWAY FROM ME YOU STUPID MAN". And then she got the epidural, put a flower in her hair, put on some red lipstick, smiled, pushed for a few minutes (without breaking a sweat) and had that baby. I remember thinking- "If I ever have a baby- I want it to be like that". Word.
My friend Meghan said she carried around a doll to train her lab when they were expecting her son and I got this great image of her carrying around a baby doll acting like a crazy person. I know quite a few people who didn't do anything at all and just went with it. Some turned out great- some not so great. What are some ways you prepared (or would prepare) your dog for baby?
1 comment:
These are questions I need answered as well! But then you think, wouldn't the dog just get used to the crying? And the diaper smell? I heard about introducing a baby blanket with the baby smell...I guess we will see in 7 short months about that!!!! ;)
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