I need some knowledge in what to say to some people considering getting rid of their dog(s) due to a pregnancy.

Honestly, I was raised around dogs, cats, farm animals, you name it we probably had it. We even had a rooster that used to chase us around the back yard. Anyways - when I moved out of my parent's home I wouldn't even consider a home without the landlord allowing pets. I've ALWAYS had a cat and adopted my first dog from a shelter, rest his soul he was a charm. Border Collie/Aussie mix. 3 years after adopting him was when I became pregnant with my 1st born and the thought never even crossed my mind about ridding myself of him, he was a part of our family. I took the advice of our Vet and Dr and succesfully introducted our newborn into the home with no problems at all. I have two children and am expecting my third in July 2007. I have a 6 month old GSD who's my life and a cat... again the thought of ridding myself of either of them is not acceptable. =0(

My point is overall... is it mainly saddens me to read about these new parents that have had these dogs for 2-5 years and all of sudden the pet needs to go. Now I can understand to a point because I'm a mom too... but what can I say to sway their view and see that it CAN work? I've reffered several people here to ask questions of concerns they may have in regards to introducing the baby and training, ect.

What are your thoughts?

 Quote: amanda chase

I need some knowledge in what to say to some people considering getting rid of their dog(s) due to a pregnancy.

Honestly, I was raised around dogs, cats, farm animals, you name it we probably had it. We even had a rooster that used to chase us around the back yard. Anyways - when I moved out of my parent's home I wouldn't even consider a home without the landlord allowing pets. I've ALWAYS had a cat and adopted my first dog from a shelter, rest his soul he was a charm. Border Collie/Aussie mix. 3 years after adopting him was when I became pregnant with my 1st born and the thought never even crossed my mind about ridding myself of him, he was a part of our family. I took the advice of our Vet and Dr and succesfully introducted our newborn into the home with no problems at all. I have two children and am expecting my third in July 2007. I have a 6 month old GSD who's my life and a cat... again the thought of ridding myself of either of them is not acceptable. =0(


My point is overall... is it mainly saddens me to read about these new parents that have had these dogs for 2-5 years and all of sudden the pet needs to go. Now I can understand to a point because I'm a mom too... but what can I say to sway their view and see that it CAN work? I've reffered several people here to ask questions of concerns they may have in regards to introducing the baby and training, ect.

What are your thoughts?

Hi,

We have a program over here (BBC3 I think) called Dog Borstal and it's all about "bad" dogs being "retrained" with their owners in 4 days or so. I know I know!

Anyway there was a pregnant woman (about 6 months) on the show with her man and dog who required "retraining" for various offences in the home, then they added that the dog HATED babies. I though how can they know that if this kid aint born yet and they dont have any others?

Well it seems they had been using a doll to see what the dog would do. The dog attacked the doll at every opportunity and was not listening to the owners AT ALL! Had this been a baby there would have been an unfortunate accident around the corner.

In the training for this dog they concentrated on the "Leave it" command so they could tell the dog to leave it. at the "end" of the training sessions for the few days they were there the dog could leave things and sit ing the same general area as the doll without lunging at it. Although it looked to me as if the dog was still "very interested" in the doll if not stalking.

Would you trust this dog around your child if you were there or not?

All through this NOT ONCE did the trainers make any reference to crate training this dog and seperation of dogs space and childs space etc. etc. etc.

In thought the message put accross was VERY irresponsible and that there will be people in a position where a dog may be a danger who now think that they can just use a rattle bottle to teach "Leave it" and their baby will be OK.

So to get to the point of all that!

I would NOT advise these people to keep their dog UNLESS:

1. You have seen the dog AND tested temperament.
2. You are competent to make that judgement on a dog (not saying you don't know what your talking about just don't know you)
3. The owners are people who you think can be trusted to have an animal and a child in the same house at the same time (think about that one for a minute! Most people are barely capable of having a low maintenance cat).
4. You are willing to take the blame for anything that goes wrong!

I'm not suggesting for one minute that every expectant family should get rid of their dog! Far from it. I'm simpy saying that it should be carefully evaluated on an individual basis and every step taken to ensure the safety of the newborn child.

Cheers

John

Very good point John and I appreciate you sharing your views. It helps me to see it from another perspective as well because you're right, there is always the "What If". However, I think my point to the post was... the owners that do the following:

"OMG we're pregnant... lets get rid of the dog." type of scenrio. Regardless of the dogs temperment, behaviors, training, how long they've had him, ect. It's just sort of an automatic response. That to me, is very sad because than - the animal is being displaced without even being given a chance or a "Doll" for that matter.

I suppose my viewpoint is coming from my own expierances with animals. I've always had well behaved, trained and happy dogs. So I guess I'm a bit bias and sad for the animal as well.

But thank you for your post, I read it throughly and agree with everything you said.

Just my opinion here, but I've never completely agreed with people expecting a baby using a doll as a "pretend baby" with dogs. A doll is a toy...it smells like a toy. If people start holding that doll and acting with the doll like they will with their real baby...there could be some confusion there.

If the toy doll = real baby to the dog, then the equals sign makes the reverse true: real baby = TOY doll.

Even if the dog learns to stay away from the "real doll," it may always look at it as a toy...and you know what can happen if you leave your toys lying around while you're looking elsewhere. Even if a real baby smells different, I wouldn't take the chance. If you think about it from a dog's point of view, it makes a certain kind of sense.

I know a well-meaning couple that did this with their toy-driven dog. This dog had never shown anything other than perfect manners and mild curiosity around babies. But when the concept of toy entered the picture, it got waaaaaaaay more curious.

Anyway, I agree that it totally depends on the dog. Some dogs that I have met I wouldn't allow around my 7 year old, let alone a newborn. But, I really believe that a lot can be done to test a dog, and teach a dog, that the baby is a new pack member. The BIG thing is that the dog has to already have a huge respect for the parents, aka pack leaders.

If I were you, I would first approach these new parents with understanding...I don't know if you have kids, but no matter how much you love your dogs, there is NO ONE (except complete slime balls) that would love their dogs enough to allow them to be a threat to their new baby. Also, new parents get PARANOID about every possible thing, and that's understandable.

I've done work with three couples that were having a baby and concerned about their dog's reaction. All of those dogs were good family members, and in all of those cases it worked out great. If you have a specific couple that you're talking too, I could PM you what we did in those cases.

Amanda,

I think I know what you are referring to. I often look on craigslist at animals trying to be adopted out or rehomed and the families usually imply they have "no time" to take care of the animal anymore because of a new family member. Whether it be a dog or a cat (eventhough cats are very independant), these animals still end up needing a home because the families weren't really ready for the obligation of being a responsible pet owner. Though I feel it is totally different if you feel the animal may injure the child or even worse, but that may be from poor training not temperment issues.

I also think it is wrong to get rid of an animal because your new apartment doesn't allow pets, shouldn't they be looking for a landlord who does if you own an animal.

I recently rescued a siamese cat on a highway by our home, when I finally got her in the carrier and the state trooper gave me a good tongue lashing about the dangers of walking along the highway and a ride back to our car, it turned out the cat was pregnant. I didn't want to give her to a shelter b/c the will often put a pregnant cat down so they won't have to find homes for the babies. Right now I am in the middle of finding homes for these little ones, but I am very reluctant about who I give them to because I don't want them to end up at a shelter one day.

All of this is very sad if you think about it : (

Kimberly

if people think they need to get rid of their pets because they are having a baby, then they are the kind of people who do not deserve to own pets, and their dog would be better off with a different family.

you can't change other people's values. the fact that they would consider this tells you these are not people who will go the distance for their pets.

so, i would say that unless the people in question are simply laboring under a false idea that it is necessary, and they really, really, really would rather keep their dog, then do not try to convince them of anything. get the dog out of their hands asap.

What Alice said....

Alice has a good point, and in most cases I would agree with her...but I also think there may be a population of mothers/fathers-to-be who just don't know any better...who heard somewhere that dog + baby = bad and just went with it. So maybe if you mention that it's possible to have babies AND dogs and there are alternatives to simply giving up, you can judge based on their interest whether or not the dog deserves or a better home or a chance to stay in their current home.

I think that people should be shown that, in most cases, it's okay to have your dog and your baby without anyone getting hurt. Some people just really get freaked out when it comes to a new baby! I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

BUT...If these people are really quick to just get rid of their dogs then it implies that they were just looking for an excuse. For a dog to have a serious, unfixable problem with a baby implies to me that the dog has other issues as well. Very rarely, IMO, does a baby have anything to fear from a well-behaved and trained dog. In fact, the dog usually has more to fear from a toddler!