Koda doesn't live with us as we're in a 1 bed apartment, we're relocating to the 3 bed bungalow with field out the back in 3 weeks time...Thats when we'll make the transition with him moving in with us, slowly but hopefully permanently by the time the baby is here.

No problem mark, after being on the forum a while you soon realise that some members will always write harsh posts without knowing you, your dog or the full circumstances of the situation. I know how much you love Oscar, and dont let people tell you otherwise. I hope you dont stay away from the forum after this experience. Its a great forum, and while some members will criticise and namecall, there are many more who are willing to help, and will other support and advice. Just be warned... It can become addictive

Hello

Am a wee bit late to this, cos have just had a baby !! LOL

Well I have a rescue staffie who was 5yrs old when we brought our son home, our dog had been with us nearly 3 years by that point, and there was never any question of us giving Bruno up - I should point out he is dog aggressive and a real handful on the lead, and I was worried that I would struggle to cope to walk him etc with buggy, however I was never concerned about him and the baby as he is the biggest softest lump ever.

We didnt do that much preperation as in fairness we are pretty relaxed when it comes to parenting etc, so things like no dogs on sofa etc didnt really come into it, and we didnt stop him from doing much.

We bought a great offroad buggy as we take the dog out loads in the fields etc.
We didnt do noisy baby dolls or anything.

When I was in the hospital, my hubby brought a babygro home for Bruno to smell, and then when we brought our son home we placed his car seat on the floor, and let Bruno lick him openly.

From that day onwards we have never had any issues, I can honestly say that my dog has lived up in every way to his Nanny dog reputation he is FAB with my son and they have a wonderful relationship.

I have just brought my daughter home yesterday and did exactly the same, and she had her head thoroughly washed by Bruno and he is perfectly happy !!

I think having a dog and a baby is of course hard work, as its a juggle but thats parenthood for you, and you took responsibility for the life of a dog just as you are doing with a child, so you must live up to that.
YOur dog may be the most boisterous dog, but I bet you it will calm down or be calm around the baby instinctively. - Thats exactly what happened with ours, our son can play tug with Bruno and he will be tugged about and can get the tug off the dog, If we do that the dog will rag away really violently and wont give up the tug !! - with our son he will willingly do it.
a few days old

6 months

a few years !


and new arrival:




so it totally can and SHOULD be done

hope this helps

should add i had the midwife come today with a student midwife and she let the student midwife do the baby and she at one point was on the floor with our dog rubbing his belly !! so they aint all bad !!!

Beautiful post, brundog

First of all congratulations if the Dr's confirm what you think
Ive been a mum 16 and half years and have dogs of different kinds in all that time. The main things I would say are purely practical.

When you get home from hospital you will be tired, make sure there is somewhere you can safely put your dog for a bit of time out if it all gets too much for you or the doglet. Ie a crate or a stair gate.

You will naturally be really protective over your baby but all the dogs Ive had have always been really gentle them, it obviously is common sense that if you have a shower or go to the toilet etc then you dont leave the dog alone with a baby. It just takes on good-intentioned paw to scratch them. I used to either put the dog in their bed (which was their crate anyway) or take the baby upstairs with me and lay them in their cot.

My dogs always had a bit of difficulty working out what were their toys and what were the babies, so that is something to be aware of.

I also found a large travel cot (the sort that folds down into a bag and has large mesh sides) was really useful once baby could sit up, it meant that my son could sit in there and play quite happily with his toys whilst I was cooking, and I didnt have to worry about my dogs licking his face or knocking him over.

Make sure you start routines that you can carry on just the same once baby is born. Its no good creating a routine where you take the dog for a walk at 7am and 10.30pm as you really wont want to be doing that with a tiny baby.

Its all do-able, and youve got nine months yet to sort it all out

I got my gsd when I was 6 months pregnant, so when my son arived she was 5 months old.
Its not something i would recommend, but i did know what i was letting myself in for. She stayed with my mum whilst i was in hospital and when i came home the first thing i did was phone my mum and say "i want my dog back now please" she came in and greeted my son gently, i gave her a big juicy bone and it was the start of a great friendship!!
She absolutely adores my son and is literally his best friend. He is 3 now and is autistic, she helps him through everyday life and they truly are best friends. Bringing my son up around dogs was the best decision i ever made....I now have 4 (dogs that is, not children!!)

Also my midwife did say to me "oh i didnt realise you had a dog and cat, you do know its quite dangerous dont you" and then every time she came round she would frown at them..i just let it pass over!

My sister had a baby at christmas and 2 GSD one 10 and one 8 so older, she was advised to get alice naked and let the dogs sniff her all over which she did, and has had no problems, its funny how dogs react to babys, mine have never been in contact with little uns, but their whole manner changed when Alice came, instead of being hyper bouncing monsters they waited while i had sat down with her and then very gently all came round for a look, i was amazed