Tips for Introducing Your Dog to Your New Baby

If you're expecting a new baby and have a dog around the house they need to learn these tips for introducing your dog to your new baby. Dogs can be very dangerous around small children, especially babies, even if they're friendly due simply to the fact that they often do not know their own strength. Because of this it is essential that you properly introduce your dog to your new baby and set appropriate boundaries to ensure that nothing horrible happens. This article will provide you with some great tips on how to properly introduce your dog to your new baby.

The first thing that you must do, which is absolutely essential, is to ensure that your dog has the proper training in basic obedience. Your dog needs to be trained to the point where you can ask it to stay, stop, and of course go lay down. These are essential safety commands and you need to make sure that your dog is fully capable of following them immediately every time they are issued. The reasoning behind this should be obvious. If your dog is not already obedience trained be sure to do so before bringing home a new child. You may consider a class environment where a dog trainer teaches you how to train your own dog or you may work on each command individually, rewarding with praise and treats, by learning the commands through simple research on the Internet.

Crate training your dog is also an excellent idea. There are certain times where it is essential to your baby safety that your dog be in a secure location such as a crate. Dogs often become excited, especially if they've never been around a small child before, in many circumstances such as when a child begins crying or is the first learning to crawl, etc.; at certain times it is vital that you have a safe place to keep your dog.

You also need to establish some boundaries with your dog. Don't allow your dog to enter the child's room, even when you are there. If your dog knows that it is not allowed in your new baby's room this will help to deter it from entering the room when you are not present, which could be catastrophic. Furthermore, on this note, your dog should never be allowed unsupervised around your baby.