I know this might sound silly, especially to non-pet owners. My husband and I adopted our first pet together 1.5 years ago. She’s a beautiful, wonderful little frenchie who was neglected, abused, and used for breeding. Since we’ve adopted her, she has been the center of our lives! Everything we do revolves around her (in the good way - she’s incredibly easy, but we WANT to be home with her all the time, so you bet there are nights we choose to stay in all together, for example). Since I found out I’m newly pregnant with our first child, I keep feeling guilt towards my dog. She is my first baby. I’m worried that a new (human) baby will not only take my attention off of her, but will make her feel sidelined.
Again, I know this sounds silly - just wondering if anyone else has experienced this or has any tips. I will likely look into some research, if there is any, regarding how to ensure my 4-legged girl knows she’s still just as important when our 2-legged baby comes around!
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1 thing is walks! So make sure your dog is okay with a stroller because walks are good for you PP, your baby to see the world, and your dog to get exercise while helping a dog and baby bond in a neutral environment!
This is wild because I just found out i’m pregnant and I had the same thought/feeling! I hope others who have been in our shoes before have any advice because I can’t imagine not giving the same amount of attention to our pup 😭 congrats!! 🎉
I hysterically cried about it twice today. Still getting used to new pregnancy hormones and anything about my dog just makes me sooo sensitive and emotional. This is gonna be a long ride lol
Omg same for me. I found out last week and I have been worried sick about my 2 year old toy poodle. He is my whole world and I feel like he we will be so so upset :( he gets so sad if he doesn't get attention :(((
Just wanted to tell you that you're not alone in feeling this way!!! I am graduating from dog mom to human mom in 5 months and when you're an animal lover, it's easy to feel like your love dwindle or be replaced by your little human.
I feel like we already have big hearts that allow us to care for creatures that are so unlike us and come from all manners of situations, there will surely be room in our hearts to love our littles and our pets equally. I think walking together, and just making sure the dog is around/included in just hanging out will be more than enough to keep them feeling loved. I'm personally going to start walking mine with a stroller soon, just to get them used to it!
I don't know how your pup is with kids, but one thing I can't wait for it's watching mine bond with my baby. My chihuahua mix hopefully has at least 10+ years left with us and I am constantly imagining how many special memories they will make together.
***edited to add - kid and dog will be supervised entirely forever which should be common knowledge lol.
It’s hard. I have an almost 7 week old now, and she is very much so a fussy Velcro baby. There’s hardly a time where she’s not being held by me or I’m baby wearing. We have two golden retrievers and they are our world. I am wracked with guilt because I can’t do what they’re used to right now.
It helps that we have a lot of family nearby who can give them attention. I still feel so guilty when they stare at me sadly, I know they want to play and I can’t. Walks are hard as we don’t have an easy baby and it’s winter. My husband does as much as he can with them.
What helps me is knowing we won’t be in the newborn trenches forever and they both love my nephews who can walk and play with them.
My dog loves my baby, but his behavior has gotten a bit worse. I think it's because I used to walk him twice a day and now I only walk him once a day. If I had been able to walk him twice throughout the pregnancy I think he'd be exactly the same.
We have two big dogs and three cats and they’re all great around baby! One of the dogs also came from a rough background so I totally understand that! We did very slow and limited introductions with the dogs at first, gated rooms off, stroller walks, only being allowed to approach baby with permission, keeping dog treats in the nursery. We taught a back-up command for months while I was pregnant to ensure they’d back off when needed. My husky LOVES his baby, my husband’s malinois is a bit more apprehensive but has warmed up more and more. They both love getting more walkies bc of all the stroller walks too. I highly recommend walking with an empty stroller first to desensitize!
Another thing we did was special treats that I’d give them while holding baby. And the “swaddle home from hospital” before bringing baby in to introduce smell!
This is a legit fear. I won't sugar coat things, my almost COVID puppy has really struggled since our first showed up 2 years ago. One of the hardest things is she moseys instead of walking. My post partum emotion had no tolerance for that so walks tampered off a lot. If you can afford it, a dog walker for like the first 3 months could be a really helpful thing to make sure they are still getting consistent love.