Info on introducing a new baby to a Samoyed - any advice

[CTSamfan]

My wife and I are expecting a baby boy. The due date is May 27th. Hubuki has been with us for 4 - 5 years now. His first owners did have kids and he was supposedly great with them. Any time that kids have come over he loves to be with them, especially giving the kids at his level some face kisses. But, none of these kids have ever been here for an extended amount of time. Does anyone have any suggestions for introducing the baby to a Samoyed OWNED house? I really don't expect any problems, but I'd like to make the transition as smooth as possible.

[Janet White]

Childproofing Your Dog by Brian Kilcommons is the book to get ASAP. :) It's excellent, easy to read and gives a lot of info on what you can do now to get your 4 legged kid ready for the 2 legged kid.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446670162/qid=1112800052/sr=8-3/ref=pd_csp_3/002-6616968-7219242?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[krazydog]

There are also a lot of online articles that you can start looking at while you're waiting to get the book.A couple of links I found are:
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/introducing_your_pet_and_new_baby.html
http://www.babyworld.co.uk/features/petsandbabies/petsandbabies.htm
Some clips from these URLs are included below, to give you a flavor of the articles.

From what you've said, it does sound doubtful that you will have a problem with Hukubi being hurtful toward the baby. But it is still possible he might get jealous of the lost attention and start acting out in other ways. So it's good you're looking now for ways to reduce his stress before this major change comes into his life. Dogs don't generally like changes and disruptions in their lives, so even good things can be stressful.

I'm sure time will be a rare commodity once the baby comes. But if you can, please send updates on how things are going with the introductions. Since I've never been through it, it would be helpful to hear what works and what doesn't work for you.

Good luck!
Beverley

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/introducing_your_pet_and_new_baby.html
"No matter how much you plan ahead, the addition of a new family member may be difficult for your pet. Remember, your dog or cat was your first "baby" and is used to being the center of your attention. So it's understandable that she may experience something akin to sibling rivalry when you introduce a new human baby into your household.

You can minimize this feeling by working with her before you bring home your baby. For example, because your new baby will demand a lot of your time and energy, gradually accustom your pet to spending less time with you. Drastically decreasing attention and frequently scolding, ignoring, or isolating your pet after the baby comes home will likely make your pet feel stressed. If your pet is particularly attached to the mother-to-be, another family member should develop a closer relationship with the animal. That way, the pet can still feel loved and provided for while mom is busy with the baby."


http://www.babyworld.co.uk/features/petsandbabies/petsandbabies.htm
"Dogs bond very strongly with their owners and a new baby usurps its place in the 'pack', with first claim on your attention. Most attacks on babies (and these are rare) happen within hours or days of the baby's homecoming, so it's vital that your dog's first impressions are good.

David McDowell, RSPCA vetinerary officer and animal behaviour expert, says: "Dogs can find it difficult to accept a younger animal coming into the house, because to a dog, that's what a baby is - an animal which suddenly gets all the attention. If you're not careful, your dog will quickly associate your baby with being booted out of the room and having its routine disrupted."

[CTSamfan]

Thank you for your input. The book you suggested (and others suggested also) came to the house yesterday.

[Janet White]

So glad to hear it...it's a small book, but it holds a wealth of info. I agree with Beverley...would LOVE to hear how things progress never having been through it myself either! Would be a great learning experience for many, I'm sure. :)

[Janet White]

How goes it with Hubuki & little precious one?

[CTSamfan]

So far Hubuki doesn't even show that the baby bothers him at all. Beckham Salvatore Alderucci was born on May 14th at 9:10 a.m. He came home 6 days later to a dog that looked like he hadn't seen his mommy in a year. I read the book and it has some excellent ideas. Soem of which we actually won't implement until the baby takes to crawling. As I said, Hubuki had been part of a family with babies but that was over 5 years ago so we werent' sure how he would adapt. Basically he's sniffed him a couple of times and snuck him some overzealous kisses. Hubuki sleeps through the crying so that hasn't effected him. He has curled up next to the pack-and-play a couple of times but nothing really noticeable has happened yet. I believe that we'll see more out of Hubuki once Beckham starts to invade his space (crawling, toys, etc.) I make sure that Hubuki is sticking with his routine of morning and evening walks and we are trying to be careful to not use the same terminology (like "good boy") for the baby that we do with Hubuki. That way he doesn't come running over and then we push him away. I'll keep you posted as we progress. If you have any specific questions I will be glad to answer them.

[krazydog]

Congratulations!!!

Sounds like things are going very well with the introductions. Anything new since your last post? (I've been terrible about checking for postings to the forum this summer. Sorry I missed the birth announcement.)

I don't have any children, but I've heard some really funny stories from folks that do, about interactions between kids and dogs, esp once the kids start crawling and walking.

One of my favorite anecdotes came from one of the members of our rescue group. She caught her son, Ethan, pooping out in the yard one day! The yard had open fencing and was visible to the world. She ran up to him, mortified, "what are you doing?" He couldn't understand why it was ok for the dogs to poop in the yard, but not him.

Looking forward to any interesting or funny stories you want to share with us.

Beverley