Dogs and Kids

Im asking for some advice for a friend (her laptop has died) she has recently discovered she is 15 weeks pregnant, she currently owns 2 rotties and is single, Now she has NO interest in rehoming the dogs BUT she is worried about how she will cope with a newborn and 2 large dogs.
Star is 8 and Rex is 4 so there not pups and they are very good dogs anyway, she has no family to help her and i think her main concerns are walking the dogs with a newborn or being 8/9 months pregnant.

I dont have kids so i cant really give her any advice so im hoping some on here can

I had a dog and horses when I was pregnant. I found no problems walking a dog when I was pregnant and I can list TENS of people who competed at the top level in Working Trials weeks (in one case one week) from giving birth.

After having a baby dog walking is very easy when the baby is tiny as you just stick it in a sling and you still have two hands free.

Again, many people I know train their dogs this way and just hand the baby over to a baby holder during competition.

I think the key things are:

1 organisation
2 remembering that we, babies and dogs are very adaptable

The following links may be of assistance.

http://www.petvideo.com/play.cgi?showId=32452
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/pr...t_for_baby.pdf
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/dogsandbabies.pdf

ooh your a good un thanks very much will print them off and send them to her x

agree dogs are really adaptable, and cope well with a slight change to things,

I enjoyed the first few months of actually having to get out the house to walk dog to make sure I got fresh air and didnt stay in jammies all day in the first few weeks of baby being born.

obviousy only difference would be is if she has to have a c-section as this will make the walkign far more complex.

BUt nothing nicer than than waljking doggy along side the buggy !! Just make sure you recommend her to get a 3 wheeler buggy much easier to push one handed !!!!

Well my son is 4 but still uses a stroller when out walking with the dogs as he cant walk far.
I have four dogs, they are all trained to walk along with the buggy quietly. I do use headcollars on them when walking with my son, purely so that if anything were to happen like them lunging (they have never done so and know that is not acceptable but i use as a precaution when the leads are just around my wrist when pushing buggy).

I would say she should get the pram sooner rather than later so as to accustom the dogs to walking alongside it. Mine quickly learned to move their feet otherwise they get run over!

When Oscar was born I still ahd mr last GSD, Jaikei. As we'd had work doen int he garden she styed at my Dad's for a while but she was hoem soon enough and I'd take Oscar and Jaikei out together.
She was also about 8-9 years old at the time and although she never had any practice before Oscar was born, she walked really well next to his pushchair.
I too used her as an excuse to getout into the fresh air moreso than I would have. Had it not been for Jaikei, I never would have gone out of the house after Oscar was born.

My parents always had dogs (GSDs, usually 2 at a time), despite my mum having 5 kids, and they had their own business so she was often stuck on her own with us all, so it's do-able!
Planning ahead now could definately make things easier - e.g. if she can get a pushchair/pram (even just a cheapy one off Freecycle to practice with), she can start training the dogs to walk alongside it way in advance.
Maybe getting the dogs used to having baby paraphernalia around the house too. If she doesn't use babygates, maybe buy some now and get the dog used to them (some don't like the noise they make), maybe look to see if they have a "baby sounds" CD for dogs (like the firework CDs and the "doggy sound socialisation" CDs) she could start playing to get them used to the noise of a crying baby etc.

Also she could look into dog walkers and maybe get the dogs used to a dog walker coming once in a while, so if she finds herself in the position where she feels too ill/back aches too much/she's stuck in hospital for a while for the labour, she doesn't have the rush of finding a dogwalker and the worry of the dogs not knowing who this stranger is.
Does she have somewhere she can drive the dogs to for off-lead exercise if she has a car? My brother's ex-girlfriend was driving right up to the day she went into labour! Might be easier for her when she's a bit bigger. Getting the dogs used to clicker training, if they aren't already, so some days walks could be substituted for a few "brain game" sessions, teaching them a "settle", etc.
Maybe point her this way once she gets her laptop back too, you never know, some local members may be willing to pitch in a hand with walking, dog sitting when she goes into labour, etc

Thanks ever so much guys, I've told her about this site when she's up and running again so hopefully she will get here sooner rather than later