When you're having a baby, or planning on bringing new addition into your family, you've got to plan for your dog too. You can get too carried away on the baby, that you forget about your animal companion that's been here the entire time. But you owe them a good plan to make things easy for them as well. Follow the advice of SPCA International and you'll be fine.
What you're going to find with your dog, is that they can really end up feeling displaced when you have a new baby, because you end up reducing the frequency of your walks with them, as well as long play sessions outside.
Usually dogs are used to getting all of the attention, and that can really hurt them emotionally if you end up switching things. That's why you have to move them into a gradual transition.
This way when the baby comes and you're not able to take them on as many walks, you don't have to worry about them feeling like they are left out, or that you are ignoring them. That will really pay off later.
Stopping your dog from barking, but also jumping up on people is another important thing that you'll have to stop when you're going to be introducing a baby into the family. While it's not exactly a risk for a rat terrier to jump up on a human, that can be a horrible thing to risk when it comes to a baby. You don't want to lose your dog and place it in the hands of SPCAI or some other organization; keep him at your own home as you work through this situation.
That's why you have to get them out of the habit before the baby comes. That means scolding and getting them to stop jumping up so that you don't have to worry about them knocking your toddler down unintentionally.
If the dog goes for baby toys, keep one of theirs on hand. You tell them no and then you can get them to play with the dog toy instead. This is positive reinforcement, and it's much more effective than negative reinforcement and just yelling at them.
The SPCA international website can actually give you plenty of advice on how this can be accomplished. That includes real info for dogs, and how you can help to take care of them and prepare for your new baby.
What you're going to find with your dog, is that they can really end up feeling displaced when you have a new baby, because you end up reducing the frequency of your walks with them, as well as long play sessions outside.
Usually dogs are used to getting all of the attention, and that can really hurt them emotionally if you end up switching things. That's why you have to move them into a gradual transition.
This way when the baby comes and you're not able to take them on as many walks, you don't have to worry about them feeling like they are left out, or that you are ignoring them. That will really pay off later.
Stopping your dog from barking, but also jumping up on people is another important thing that you'll have to stop when you're going to be introducing a baby into the family. While it's not exactly a risk for a rat terrier to jump up on a human, that can be a horrible thing to risk when it comes to a baby. You don't want to lose your dog and place it in the hands of SPCAI or some other organization; keep him at your own home as you work through this situation.
That's why you have to get them out of the habit before the baby comes. That means scolding and getting them to stop jumping up so that you don't have to worry about them knocking your toddler down unintentionally.
If the dog goes for baby toys, keep one of theirs on hand. You tell them no and then you can get them to play with the dog toy instead. This is positive reinforcement, and it's much more effective than negative reinforcement and just yelling at them.
The SPCA international website can actually give you plenty of advice on how this can be accomplished. That includes real info for dogs, and how you can help to take care of them and prepare for your new baby.
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