Puppy plus 5 month old kiddo

phedre

Jr Member
Hello :)

I am a week away from bringing home our little red boy from the breeders. I have had dogs before "aggressive" working types also and I feel like although there will be challenges I think I know what I am getting myself into lol.

That said my baby girl is my first child and I have never dealt with kiddos and a puppy before. This is new and will definitely up the difficulty level. So, if you all would kindly offer any advice, things you wish youd done sooner or things you wish youd never done, I am all ears. Just looking for general advice for someone about to take on the challenge of two babies one human one canine I would be very grateful.
 
Hi and welcome to DCF from Sarah in the United Kingdom :ntmy:


Congratulations on soon becoming a dobie Mum!! How exciting :)

When you've a youngster and a pup the key thing is to stay vigilant and Supervise AT ALL TIMES.
Try to teach the little one to be gentle when petting the dobe. Guide them on what's acceptable. Show them the correct way to interact with the pup and ALWAYS keep your eyes on them.
I would advise crate training. Trust me, it's worth the time and effort. Pups need their own space/chill out away from children and the crate is a great safe haven for them.

Baby gates are also a must. A pup will be extremely inquisitive and child's toy are a HUGE danger to them (small parts, detachable etc...) to the pup they are fair game. They will want to explore with their mouths and if digested can cause a blockage.
My boy dobe is 22 months old and still we have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. For his safety, foremost.

Lastly, in preparation of your new arrival I would have a good scan around your home and make sure it's fully puppy proofed (no dangling wires/leads, no small toys/balls/marbles lurking under the sofa etc!!)
Best way to puppy proof is to get down on your hands and knees (to get a good view from a puppy angle) and crawl around to see if you have a potential hazard that needs attention.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know :)
 
:welcome: from Missouri!

Wow, when you decided to jump into Motherhood you went ALL in. Buckle up and get ready, fun times are ahead. Seriously, there will be challenges but with preparation and a well thought out plan it's doable. It will probably be like having twins as far as demands in your time and energy. Babies and pups need a lot of your attention.
The only thing I can think of to add to what Sarah already said is when you see a chance to sleep, take it! :D
I would also reiterated the crate training. It will be a Godsend for you.
 
Hey there! I should have replied to this thread last night.

I agree very much with what the two ladies have written above, so I won't rewrite it. :)

I will say: This is your opportunity to get your young Dobe accustomed to children and set strict guidelines for the dog. Our current Doberman was brought home as a pup into our home with our three year old daughter. When the pup is quite young, of course, you can not expect much obedience from them, and they need to be able to bite things. As the pup ages, instill strict rules in the pup regarding being gentle with your child. I found that I started to institute a couple commands: "Leave her alone" and "Move away from her." My Dobe will literally walk away from the person when I give that last command. It will take some time of course, but the pup should learn that you mean business and will not take no for an answer. It works very well.

In conclusion I'll add: We do not allow rough-play of any kind, or any sort of hectic or hyper interaction between the Dobe and our child. I just see no need for it. It muddies the waters. I mostly do not let our Dobe be loose around our child if she is going to be running around. Of course it's kind of a no-brainer for us what with how small our daughter is and how high-energy, rough and ballistic our Dobe is.

I'm reminded of the unfortunate incident one evening when my daughter and wife were sitting on the backyard lawn having an evening picnic. I made the mistake of letting our Dobe out the back door of the house and he ran down the hill toward them. He jumped off the low hill near them and misjudged it. He impacted my wife's head with his body or head. I could tell it was a bad impact. My wife just slumped forward and started moaning in pain. We think she probably sustained a concussion that evening. It is horrible to imagine if he had instead collided with our little daughter.

Needless to say, I don't any longer let him run loose if they are sitting on the ground or floor. I also just constantly maintain a calm, no-nonsense atmosphere in the home with regard to our Dobe. It's like I've been working his whole life to keep him calm and controlled. He gets amped up so easily.

Wish you the best with your new arrival!
 
Thank you all for the advice! I have one super X large crate that will be his when he gets a little bigger and one medium sized one for when he comes home. Crates are a must have I totally agree. I love the idea of working on a Away command that sounds like it could be verrryyyy helpful.

Yes I certainly am jumping into motherhood lol but I have had dogs my whole life and we lost my rescued pittie (in my profile pic) about 6 months ago to cancer at 13, I had him since he was 2. Its been a lonngggg time since I have had a pup but its just strange not having a dog. My dream dog has always been a Doberman since I was a kid and my neighbor had one but I always ended up taking in rescues, they were awesome but now I am finally getting my dream :)

I work from home so I will be with him all day long with only short short away periods for grocery shopping that sorta thing. I need to get the baby weight off so exercise is must for me and for him lol. I am also fortunate enough to live in a community with lots of other dogs around so he can get some socialization while we walk walk walk.

Thank you guys for the advice .. integrating baby and pup will be a fun challenge for sure, thankfully my lil girl is only 5 months old so she will grow up with the rules of how to interact with a dog, hopefully that will make things easier as she will not ever know any other way to be and neither will the pup.

Please keep the examples coming though I am totally soaking in the potential problem areas and mentally coming up with solutions.
 
The only thing I would add is never leave them alone together they need to be constantly supervised. Remember they are both babies. Your new pup will want to explore and put things in its mouth just like your human child and you need to teach them what's right and wrong. Which will take lots of love and patience. and congrats on your new pup.
 
Congrats on your upcoming addition!
I am also fortunate enough to live in a community with lots of other dogs around so he can get some socialization while we walk walk walk.
One other thing I would add is not to take them to public places until he's had all of his shots (at about 16 weeks) or the risk of Parvo is too high. You can still socialize him but I just carry mine when I go to public places where dogs might have been.
 
Congrats! Having brought home new babies to grown dobies I think the best advise is to have a strict pack order. Humans (even ones smaller than him) are above him. Starting the rules as soon as he gets to you will make things easier as he gets older (doberteens) Being a very strong Alpha to him will make life bearable at, Oh...let's say 9 months when hormones are kicking in and they think they know EVERYTHING!! lol ALSO it is very important to teach your baby how to behave properly around dogs, no ear pulling, no climbing on them, respect...this in turn will make a strong unbreakable bond between the two as they grow together. IME There is no better "nanny/protector/best friend" than a dobie. Lot's of luck!
 

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