How To Prepare Shih Tzu For New Arrival?

[garro]

We have had a Shih Tzu for nearly three years and she has become very spoilt. She has the run of the house and sleeps with us at nights. The problem is that we have a baby on the way in August. I have heard that Shih Tzus can become very jealous of new babies. Any idea how to prepare her for our new arrival?

[bina]

all dogs can be jealous. u should start now now now to move her to her own bed; start to pull in the reins a bit...

and never leave a baby alone on the floor with any dog, of any size, or any breed....

remember quality and quantity time, stick to dog's regular routine as much as possible, when taking out for walk, take baby too. keep up dog play times. define off limit areas (baby area, baby toys, whatever. )

and dont let dog get away with nipping, snarling or any other aggressive activities around baby (of course dont allow baby to pull hair, hit or steal food from dog either).

if u have a ways to go with the pregnancy, then start today with slowly introducing new rules, areas, etc. do it slowly, steadily, when bringing baby home, take dog outside to meet and sniff baby, lots of petting and googoogaa gaaing , go in to house together, etc.

u've created a monster, now u have to undo it a bit. whatever changes u make, do them before the baby is born as much as possible so the dog already is on schedule and wont associate the changes with the baby too much.

[garro]

Thanks Bina for the good advice. I will try to begin straight away.

[leisurely]

Not trying to be confrontational here, but don't try to begin, BEGIN. I had a friend who owned a poodle when her baby came along (she had had 9 months to prepare for this) the poodle went mental. It growled everytime she picked babster up and it became clear that fluffykins was insanely jealous. Fluffykins is now rehomed. That should beyour back up plan. As I said, I am not trying to be alarmist or confontational. Good luck.

[leisurely]

I should clarify, the sillygirl did nothing to prepare the dog for the arrival of a usurper of dog's affection.

[Nienke]

We have had a Shih Tzu for nearly three years and she has become very spoilt. She has the run of the house and sleeps with us at nights. The problem is that we have a baby on the way in August. I have heard that Shih Tzus can become very jealous of new babies. Any idea how to prepare her for our new arrival?

baby and spoilt dog. let's have a look from the dog's point of view:

Untill the baby's arrival (or untill the pregancy is known) the dog gained all sorts of privileges: for example, it was allowed on high places, demand for food, barge through small doorway, demand attention (through barking, pawing, nipping jumpingup, on laps, sometimes even on table or computer). It had access to all places inside and outside the house/the den. All privileges that, in fact, are only privileges of a higher rank. Of course, the dog will climb the ladder of hierarchy untill it views it's care-takers as being lower in rank than he/she. In the dog's mind it has the right to correct the lower rank when necessary (according doggy rules and that's the only rules that a dog knows, unless it has been TAUGHT human rules) and does not need to obey. Similar in human society, a director will not obey a worker, however, a worker better obey the director or ... if the worker doesn't respect the director (doesn't believe in his skills of leading) then the worker will not obey, unless there are consequences of real punishemnt. But then the worker will obey out of fear not out of respect.

Then, the baby arrives. Suddenly all attention of the parents/care-takers will go to the baby (naturally). The baby moves in the parents bedroom (the most private place in the eyes of a dog {and humans} and only for the highest members of the pack). When visitors come, again, the baby is the mid-point of attention. And if the dog mis-behaves (behaves as it always did, but this time it's not tolerated anymore) the dog is removed to another room, a cage, the garden or anywhere where it is not close to its pack. And when the owners go out, it's not the dog that goes with them but the baby. Because, the care for the baby takes lots of time, the dog may end up being let only in the garden or for quick walks for releasing itself.

Sure enough, any dog won't be happy with the arrival of the new-comer. Also because the new-comer has, in the eyes of a dog, the lowest rank. All reason for the dog to defend it's rank and not wanting the baby around or the (crawling) toddler for (again in the eyes of a dog) impropriate behavior.

What you can do to prevent this kind of confrontation is to start already NOW with changing the dog's mind about it's rank.

* Obedience train your dog, using a training method that stresses a reward-based approach (correction-based traning methods can increase aggression). Practice giving the commands in any position: from a stand, sit or lying position. And be consistent with commands

Have the dog obey a command before you give the food or a treat. It does not obey, DON'T give the food/treat. It ignores you DON'T beg the dog to eat, but just put it away. Feed only during feeding times and allow the dog to finish in 20 minutes, then take the food away and give only again next mealtime.

* Socialize your dog with children in a positive and controlled environment.

* Know your dog('s breed characteristics) Is it sensitive for (sudden loud) noises, (sudden) movements, etc.

* learn about how a dogs communicate. Most dog bites occur within the household with family pets. And most of the time, the owners have seen the signals if only they would have understood them before.

* How does your dog seeks attention? One of the strongest tools you have is channelling the attention you give to your dog. Take back your lead! Do not give unconditional attention; for example, when it comes to you while you work behind the computer/table or whatever, ignore the dog. It jumps up immediately turn and walk away. It jumps all over you when you come home/from another room or toilet, turn and walk away while completely ignoring the dog. It barks for attention ignore or stand up and walk away.

* Let your dog get familair with the baby equipment and teach it how to behave around it. What it's allowed to do and what not.

Walk your dog with en empty stroller or when you are wearing a baby carrier.

* Crate or kennel train your dog, in such a way that it is not an unpleasant experience for it to stay for short periods of time in their.

* By means of a CD, let the dog get familiar with (loud) baby noises.

* Get a special lotion or parfum, that means for the dog "good time', and have this same lotion/parfum on you when you bring the baby home for the first time. And later you can put it on the baby's clothes, seat etc.

* Have daddy bring a blanket home with the baby's smell on it

* Do not have daddy bring baby's first poo home for the dog to eat! However, DO buy bin with a tied closing top for the diapers.

When arriving home with the baby, great the dog enthousiastically with the baby on your arm. toss it a treat. Then, sit down and call the dog over to introduce the new-comer to him. Allow the dog to sniff the baby and reward it for good behavior with a freidly word and pat (and possible a treat). Be confident and NEVER punish the dog when it sniffs the baby.

Once the baby has arrived make it enjoyable for the dog. For example, each time when you feed your baby, give your dog a delicious treat or when it is breakfast or dinner time have the dog eat it's meal close by, and give it once in a while a friendly pat for good behavior.

Do not put your dog away each time when you take your baby out of the crib, bed, box or whatever. This means 'bad time' in the mind of the dog. However, if the dog has been properly crate/kennel trained, you can put the dog for short periods of time in the crate when you are too busy with the baby or when you love to take a nap yourself.

Each time visitors arrive give also some attention to your dog.

NEVER EVER punish your dog when the baby is around, it can preceive this as baby-bad-news-better-get-rid-of-the-baby. In other words, punishment can increase aggressive behavior!

When you go out with your baby, take the dog along, if possible.

Reserve special playtime for your dog, while the baby is close by.

If you make the arrival pleasurable for your dog, it will receive the baby:

Yippy, baby comes out of bed/bath/room I can expect a delicious treat, some special playtime, some special attentoin, a nice walk outside, etc.

Of course, this can only work if you already start NOW. Prevention is better than the cure. And sure enough, with a little bit of effort and atarting in time it is absolutely not necessary to re-home your dog.

Last but definitely not the least:

NEVER LEAVE CHILDREN UNSUPERVISED WITH A DOG!!!

It can not be repeated enough.

I wish you good luck and congratulations with the extention of your family!

Nienke

Edited March 30, 2007 by Nienke

[garro]

Thanks for this good advice. It has actually really woken me up as I didn't realise how big a deal it is going to be. My wife's delivery date seems such a long way off. We do love our dog and I will follow the advice.

[Nienke]

Thanks for this good advice. It has actually really woken me up as I didn't realise how big a deal it is going to be. My wife's delivery date seems such a long way off. We do love our dog and I will follow the advice.

Glad to hear that. There is also a lot of advice you can find on the internet. Just google around, i.e. kids, children, baby, dogs, canines or something.

If you have any questions you're welcome to PM me,

Again wish you good luck, and with your positive attitude you will succeed

Nienke

Edited March 30, 2007 by Nienke

[bina]

nienke,

that is a great idea, the perfume.... never thought of that one.....

i always also handled my dogs all over, as if i was a child. of course i dont allow children to manhandle the dogs but u never know what a child might do when u arent looking...

all our zoo dogs can be handled this way; and they are large dogs. they differentiate between adult males (potential problem creators) and children who are meant to be wandering around the park.

btw, if u have a car, this is the time to get doggy used to a doggy seat belt, or crate/carrier... so room for baby and dog on field trips. (i hate dogs that clamber all over people in a car same as kids).

bina

[Nienke]

btw, if u have a car, this is the time to get doggy used to a doggy seat belt, or crate/carrier... so room for baby and dog on field trips. (i hate dogs that clamber all over people in a car same as kids).

bina

That's a great addition, Bina! Because how are you able to supervise you child and dog on the back seat while you are driving?

Another option is to build a net or wiring (do not know/forgot English word for that) in the back, where your dog can sit or lay down comfortably, without it being able to jump to the front. I know in Holland it's required by law, assume in the other EU countries as well. States and Oz, don't know.

Nienke

P.S. As this is such a highly important subject, I suggest to the moderators of this list to put it in the pinned subjects with a proper subject title: i.e. New arrival / baby and dog or something that's eye catching.

A while ago there was a thread about (young) children and dogs (and dog bite prevention), also that should be in the pinned subjects, at least in my opinion.

Although, dogs and people live together for thousands of years and for decennia there is lots of very good information available on dog bite prevention, still many many children are (severely) bitten by, usually family, dogs. This often could have been prevented if only the owners/care-takers would have known a little on dog behavior, dog language and would have had taken precautions.

[quiksilva]

Some really good advice here. I second the call for a sticky.