1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

Hi Ladies.
My husband and I have a yellow lab who will be 1 yr 1 month in March. March is also when we will be having our first baby.
Napoleon is a great dog but Im worried as to how he would be when the baby comes home.
How can we prepare him for it? He is a jumper- when you come home he jumps on you to give you kisses so that kind of worries me.
Some people were saying to get a doll and start carrying that around so that he gets used to it?
The plan so far is for my husband to bring the blanket or something that the baby was in home first for him to smell and get used to. then when we come home- I would go in first (since I would have been in the hosp and havent seen him) and spend time witht he dog, then my husband will come in with the baby afterwards.
Anyone have any other tips or advise they can offer me?

Thanks :)

Re: 1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

My neighbors dog is a yellow lab and is also a jumper. He is amazing with the baby! Your dog may surprise you...that being said I give you credit for thinking of this in advance. Have you considered speaking to a trainer? I know my cousin and friend did that when they knew a baby was on the way...

Re: 1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

I am sure your dog will do great. Labs are great with kids...

Bring home a baby blanket before you and baby get home. Have the dog see you/meet you without the baby first, since you have been gone and the dog will miss you.

Then bring the baby in. Let the dog sniff and see the baby but at a bit of a distance. Then take it from there.

Also beforehand put out the baby stuff, objects so the dog gets used to that before baby comes. Worked great for us.

Also we let our dogs into baby's room so they were used to that before DD came along.

And make sure to give doggie as much attention as possible, when baby is sleeping, walks as often as possible, etc....my DD is 1 and things are going great, since we do our best to keep doggies and baby happy.

Re: 1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

When he starts to jump, turn your body so he's not landing on your front. Say a command of your choice like "OFF!" when he does it and only when he stops do you pet him or pay attention to him.

He wants praise, attention and love and if he knows he won't get it when he jumps, and you are consistent, it will help break him of the habit.

In my experience, they don't jump on kids because they are not bigger than them. They can lick their faces just as well from regular height.

Definitely nip all training challenges in the bud before your baby comes along, and consider the ones you might not have right now but will in the future. Like removing toys from his mouth, petting him or interrupting while he's eating food. Make sure he knows how to tell you when he needs to go out in case you get sidetracked and miss his usual potty time. If he doesn't have a schedule, put him on one now.

You could stock up on interesting toys and chew items for him in preparation and if he seems particularly bored, just take one out of the closet. Look into running strollers so you can exercise together and multitask. Teach him new commands you're going to need in the future like "drop", "leave it".

Congratulations by the way!

Re: 1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

I agree that you need to get a handle on the jumping asap. The best thing to do is turn your body say Off in a stern voice, and then ignore the dog until he calms down. Try not to make a big deal when you come in, and ask others to do the same thing. Then once the dog has calmed down (may take a while when you first start) you can go over and pet and give attention. We did this with our yellow lab who is now four. When we come in he comes over wagging his tail a million miles a minute but he doesn't jump. He runs to find a toy and then comes over and rubs against your legs like a cat. He gets so excited he snorts b/c he is holding the toy. As long as you and your guests are consistent you shouldn't have any trouble training him not to jump.
I am also due in June and I plan to set up most of the baby things in advance so Flash can get over the curiosity. I know he will be either really interested in or terrified of things like the swing. I am going to have it set up and turn it on here and there before the baby comes. Also DH & I are going to start walking him with the stroller so he can get use to it. We are going to look like crazy ppl with an empty stroller but so be it.
The blanket idea is a great one that way the dog can get use to the smell. A doll I don't think will do much b/c it doesn't have the smell the baby will. Also buy some small treats/new toys that ppl can give the dog when they come to visit the baby. We plan to have people come in and pet the dog before coming over to the baby. They can give him a new toy or and old toy (you can hide some away now), or a treat. That way the dog will think the baby is the best thing that ever happen to them. Because you have a jumper I would have them come in ignore the dog until he is calm then reward him with a treat/toy/attention before coming over to the baby.
FM if you have any questions. I have been doing a ton of research on this since my BFP. Good luck with the training. We are here if you have more questions.

Re: 1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

I would suggest keeping him on-leash in the house so you can grab the leash when people enter.... this way you can tell him to sit, lie down, etc to get a greeting from someone.

Re: 1 year old yellow lab and newborn?

When we had DS, we brought home blankets from the hospital for Misty to sniff, she would take them to the couch and sleep on them!

As far as the jumping...curb it now. Misty has always been a jumper and DH actually would encourage it. One day a couple weeks ago, I was walking in with the baby in my arms and Misty jumped up to say hello and almost scratched the baby's face....that is the end of jumping. A few days of a sharp "NO" when she started to jump and she stopped. DH was also strongly warned that if I ever saw him encourage it again, he was dead meat!!

BTW, Misty is 5, spoiled rotten and very needy - her and DS get along great. And I am continually amazed at how protective of him she is.