Preparing Your Fur Baby for a Human Baby

I became a dog mom in October of 2018. I had never had a dog in my life before we got Nyssa and was very skeptical that I would become attached to her, but from the moment we picked her up, I was in love. She was such a sweet little fluff ball. Fast forward, I became a hardcore dog mom. Planned outings for the dog, monthly Bark boxes, and spoiling her like no other.

We found out in August of 2020 that we would be welcoming a baby in April of the next year. While this is what we wanted, I was also very concerned that our precious fur baby would not transition to being a sibling. So I did what any other person would do and began googling the best way to prepare your dog for a baby.

I’ve included the top 3 things we did that helped with the transition from a 3 to a family of 4.

About 2 months before I was due, we borrowed a baby doll from my siblings and carried it around periodically throughout the week. We would put the baby doll in the bassinet, swing, and car seat to familiarize Nyssa. If we weren’t carrying around the baby doll, we would “put the baby to bed” in his room and shut the door. (We don’t do that now with our actual baby, but it helped Nyssa know that the baby was sleeping.) We also started to take walks with the stroller to help train her not to walk in front of the stroller. Do as many mock activities that you want your fur baby and human baby to do. If you plan on changing the car routine or other routines, start those changes months before the baby arrives so that your fur baby doesn’t associate the change solely with the baby.

Next, after we had baby Reiner, my husband took the baby’s hat to our house. He let Nyssa get familiarized with the baby’s scent. My husband also spent some time just focusing on Nyssa and giving her all the belly rubs she could ask for. This was especially important since the first few weeks our attention would be on the baby and not only on her.

Lastly, when I was released from the hospital, I came into the house first and played with Nyssa for 10 minutes before bringing in the baby for the first meeting. This was also helpful because she didn’t have as much energy and could really be calm in her first meeting with the baby.

It is imperative to pay attention and give one on one attention to your fur baby in the first week that baby is home to help minimize jealousy.

Good luck with your new transition!