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Yay... Posting to subscribe! Let me find a pic too!

@highwire: ooh I like that tip. We also have to work on one of our dogs jumping up.... oh and ur doggy is cuuuuuute!

Yea, jumping was a big one we worked on. She's pretty much a bull in a china shop so we worked hard on her being more gentle. And overall we just said baby a lot to get her used to it.
One big thing I wish we worked harder on was the barking. There's nothing more frustrating than spending 30+ minutes getting baby down for a nap to only be woken up by the dog barking...at nothing.

I'm nervous my dog won't take kindly to having someone take away attention from DH. That girl is ridiculously possessive over DH, like she gets mad and howls/barks when I even touch him. A hug? Forget about it haha. I'm not worried about myself with a baby, but DH won't be able to hold our LO without the dog being put away. I don't know how to fix it?!

Here is Maya (she'll be a year old tomorrow- eek!!):

@regberadaisy: Our dog isn't a huge barker, but sometimes she will bark just at random stuff she hears outside. But she also barks when people come to the door and we know we can rely on her to bark if there is an intruder or something else going on. Our problem is, how do we train against barking in some circumstances and not in others? We don't want to train her not to be a good watchdog. Any ideas?

I think it's a good idea to start training before LO arrives. Start breaking any bad habits you wouldn't like if the baby was around. So far all we've done is trained her to not enter the nursery. I think once we get more baby items like a swing or bouncy seat, we'll train her to keep distance from them.

@regberadaisy: @ladyfingers: We have a sheltie...notorious barking breed. He barks ALL THE TIME...if he thinks DH & I are fighting he flips out. He's started barking from his bed I our bedroom when we are in bed if we are play fighting or tickling or whatever. I bought a citronella spray collar, and we use that when there are times I know he will bark and doesn't need to...for instance right before FIL gets home in his diesel truck (they live next door). He has learned the collar by sight, and when it's on him (even when it's off) he barks much quieter. We followed its instructions to only use during periods of nuisance barking, though. But other times (for instance, if I'm in the bedroom w him, door closed for ac, and DH slams frOnt door he will flip) I just have to get up and kind of put my body over him and do quiet/good boy. The collar = miracles, quiet = not working, so I'm not really full of great answers here :T

She has in past been the ruler of the house, but as we get closer to baby we have really started to inforce rules. Big one is not walking on top of hte couch (like a cat) because she will then just jump down on whoever is sitting there!

We also have started to play the swing so she's used to the movemnt, as well as the rock n play.

She is very spoiled (see picture) so she is going to struggle a bit, but she has been around my nieces enough to know what is okay and not okay!

We worked on no jumping on the couch before lo was born. We bought them special soft beds in a cozy corner. They've done well with a few slip ups, but I'm proud of them! Now excessive barking is another story, wish we could have gotten a better handle on that!

@regberadaisy: lol, that is when I will be using the barking collar!

@Mrs.M57: HAHAHHA that would totally be my dog.

@Mrs.M57: lol!! My dog hates the sound and smell thank god.

@purrpletulips: we had the same concern for ours as well. She's a 65lb pit bull mix of pure muscle! But she really is a sweetheart, she just thinks she's a lap dog! It's funny watching her extend her head as far as she can to sniff the baby! hehe

Honestly, at this point she's indifferent about the baby. But she is a little protector of her. If she hears M crying she comes running! We'll see how things change once M is mobile!

Oh, I thought of a big one!! NO LICKING THE BABY! hahah Our pup wants to lick her all the time and we always say "hey, if you want to lick her it's simple. stop licking your butt! Butt or baby. You decide"

@Lozza: OMG YES the leash training. Our dog sitter was telling us about something called a Haltie that pulls their head back anytime they pull or stop when you keep going. She is the best dog ever really, requires very little discipline if any, but she is TERRIBLE on a leash. As it is, I will never walk her along with the stroller. I'll baby-wear if I need to walk her when I'm home alone.

@oliviaoblivia: Amazingly enough our pup knows not to touch her toys. I don't know how, but she does! She usually will sniff them the first time she sees them but we'll say "no, baby's" and she'll leave them alone.

@ladyfingers: we have tried the haltie but settled on the "gentle leader"... Similar idea. Sophie (60 lb black lab) was the worst puller and we had tried everything... Regular collar, harness, choke chain (I hated the choke chain because she still pulled just as hard and it seemed painful!) The Gentle Leader turned her into an entirely different dog...

I am worried about Sophie eating toys... She likes to steal things... Socks, bras, shoes, napkins... She's eaten not 1, not 2, but 4 TV remotes... She also ate the better part of a window sill in our old house, the day before we had an Open House (maybe she didn't want to move?) Soph will be 2 in October and we have heard that they settle down after that. I'm not worried about her around babies or children - we have little cousins who she adores! She loves their hugs and returns the affection with kisses and snuggles.

@Ocean girl: wow! She's quite a eater! hehe
Also, love the gentle leader. Hate it when people ask if we use it because she bites. No, she doesn't bite!

@regberadaisy: haha, she is settling down a bit now! Less eating/destruction, more "keep-a-way" with things that do not belong to her!

And YES - another fur-mom asked me at the vet if the gentle leader was a muzzle to keep Soph from biting! So annoying!

As a house of two veterinary professionals- we did next to nothing to prepare our pets... a little embarrassing! It turned out just fine anyway!!

We played some baby cries off the internet a few times, and brought home some baby clothes for the cats and dog to smell.

We have an 11 year old neurotic Heeler mix, we mostly banked on that babies are immobile for the first several months, and it would give everyone time to adjust. The dog is a better mom than I am, he adores the baby- and follows him everywhere especially now that the baby drops food. One cat loves the baby, the other two are indifferent.

@Ocean girl: Why? Our pup still sleeps on the bed with us. In the early weeks we had planned on our LO sleeping in a By Your Side Sleeper which is a "bassinet" with a structured frame that you place on your bed. So before her arrival we had that in our bed with us to get the dog acclimated to it. She did fine with it.

Unless you're planning on co-sleeping?