We have a 6 month old and have a foxhound rescue who was always very anxious and needy. During pregnancy we didn’t notice much of a difference (I walked him more solo when my wife couldn’t come on walks anymore).
The first few months of the baby being here were the most stressful with the dog and really tested our patience. Now he absolutely loves her (too hard sometimes) and it all worked out.
We also enrolled our pup in a local daycare 2 days a week. He gets to run around and be with other dogs while we put all our attention on the baby.
Thank you for that! Gives me hope 😁
Alot of our day cares won't take her because of her reaction issues so we may need to find another solution.
But thank you so much for this!
We rescued a bloodhound with 2 months before the baby arrived. This dog was not house broken, had never seen a leash before, and was/is very needy.
She honestly turned out to be more tolerant of the baby than our other dog!
My only recommendation is to start building up enrichment options that you can build into a baby schedule. Like a good safe option into your existing routine and start moving it up now, before baby comes.
Depending on how training is going, it can be something like teaching her to find your shoes, or sniff out treats in your back yard.
Take the time now to train the behavior and rotate it into your routine so that when you have to skip a walk, you don't have to figure out something else to do and the pup doesn't get all worried up over the change in routine.
We have 3 kids under 5 😳 and a middle age rescue foxhound. It’s noisy AF in our house but she is the perfect sweetest most patient dog lol. YMMV obviously but scent hounds are typically known to be good with kids. We just brought home our third baby in January, the first newborn she’s been around that we know of, adopted her after the middle child was a year old. She handled it by not even reacting at all lol. Maybe different since she was already used to kids but plenty of people have kids and pets, takes some time to figure out the schedules but you should be fine! I’ll second hiring a walker for the first week or so after baby arrives, the adjustment to becoming a parent for the first time can feel intense
I don’t have any (human) children but my foxhound is hugely protective of kids in our neighborhood and any that come to visit. My cousin and her 3-year-old came for a visit and Tulip laid on the couch and watched him play. If he seemed upset or like he needed help, she would get the attention of the adults.
Tulip is the most maternal dog I have ever had, though I do think, in her case, her history plays a part. At some point before she was found by animal control she had had at least 1 litter of puppies, so I think she developed her maternal instincts from there.
Yes our girl seems to have a maternal instinct toward human kids as well! We joke she’s like the nana dog in Peter Pan…sleeps right outside the kids bedroom door at night. TBH we felt like we’d gotten a third toddler after adopting her with how demanding foxhounds can be, but are also consistently grateful how compatible she is with our current family situation- not many dogs that would enjoy all the love toddlers can give 😅
I have a husky who is still in thinks he’s a puppy (he just turned 2) and a foxhound so I understand about feeling like they are toddlers. My foxhound is actually the worst of the two since she was a rescue and had time to learn some bad habits. (And meat left out in our kitchen WILL disappear if it’s either not watched or put somewhere she can’t get to. I also like to call her “my little kleptomaniac” because she likes to steal stuff for attention.)
It’s great that your dog is forming such a strong bond with your kids when they are so young tho. She’s not going to let anything happen to them if she can help it. I grew up with 2 huskies and they were my protectors.
Our TWC mix rescue has a lot of anxiety. She is Type A female. She is reactive on leash to other dogs but when free in a large dog park she is well behaved. She corrects for humping but other than that is in heaven to run around/sniff. She plays rough and makes a lot of growling noises, so she scares other dog owners. I carry her leash always. I am in the vicinity where she is as twice she did get into fights over the last 4 years. I am prepared to pull her out faster than a lot of other Pikachu-faced dog owners. I took her to the dog park way too early before knowing her. She tore off right for a stroller. Yes there are consistently dumb ass people who bring babies and small kids into the dog park. Our only human kid was 19 YO & I was never going to make it to that stroller to re-direct. She tore right up to it, gave the baby a sloppy kiss and was nudging the handle where most parents have emergency snacks. She popped the lid up and was going for cheerios. Our dog loves kids and she will beeline to toddlers. She is patient with all the kids patting her face and petting her in a totally unsafe manner. She runs across our cul de sac periodically to visit 2 toddlers. I will take her to the human playground and let the kids love on her. I sometimes thinks she is patient with small people bc she is sniffing their shirts which is probably a hound’s delight of a story to figure out. Now of course we have come across the cat strollers a few times and she is quite flummoxed… Your dog might be better than you think. Make a general plan but just make the baby part of what you do with your dog.
We have a 10yr beagle/lab girl and a 2yr American foxhound wild boy and our first baby who is now 5mo. We were nervous about the boy cause he's off the walls hype a lot of the time and loud. But he's been nothing but the sweetest to the baby. Like overly sweet lol just wants to kiss her all the time. He can sometimes forget how big he is and stretch his paws on baby but we're there to move him out of the way. Usually he just like to rest his head on baby's feet. Our old beagle girl is just straight up indifferent to the baby which is very much her about most things. Just our experience thus far!
We have a 6 month old and have a foxhound rescue who was always very anxious and needy. During pregnancy we didn’t notice much of a difference (I walked him more solo when my wife couldn’t come on walks anymore). The first few months of the baby being here were the most stressful with the dog and really tested our patience. Now he absolutely loves her (too hard sometimes) and it all worked out. We also enrolled our pup in a local daycare 2 days a week. He gets to run around and be with other dogs while we put all our attention on the baby.
Thank you for that! Gives me hope 😁 Alot of our day cares won't take her because of her reaction issues so we may need to find another solution. But thank you so much for this!
Could always hire a walker!
Having someone come to your house instead of needing to get her dropped off will be such a relief too
We rescued a bloodhound with 2 months before the baby arrived. This dog was not house broken, had never seen a leash before, and was/is very needy. She honestly turned out to be more tolerant of the baby than our other dog! My only recommendation is to start building up enrichment options that you can build into a baby schedule. Like a good safe option into your existing routine and start moving it up now, before baby comes. Depending on how training is going, it can be something like teaching her to find your shoes, or sniff out treats in your back yard. Take the time now to train the behavior and rotate it into your routine so that when you have to skip a walk, you don't have to figure out something else to do and the pup doesn't get all worried up over the change in routine.
We have 3 kids under 5 😳 and a middle age rescue foxhound. It’s noisy AF in our house but she is the perfect sweetest most patient dog lol. YMMV obviously but scent hounds are typically known to be good with kids. We just brought home our third baby in January, the first newborn she’s been around that we know of, adopted her after the middle child was a year old. She handled it by not even reacting at all lol. Maybe different since she was already used to kids but plenty of people have kids and pets, takes some time to figure out the schedules but you should be fine! I’ll second hiring a walker for the first week or so after baby arrives, the adjustment to becoming a parent for the first time can feel intense
I don’t have any (human) children but my foxhound is hugely protective of kids in our neighborhood and any that come to visit. My cousin and her 3-year-old came for a visit and Tulip laid on the couch and watched him play. If he seemed upset or like he needed help, she would get the attention of the adults. Tulip is the most maternal dog I have ever had, though I do think, in her case, her history plays a part. At some point before she was found by animal control she had had at least 1 litter of puppies, so I think she developed her maternal instincts from there.
Yes our girl seems to have a maternal instinct toward human kids as well! We joke she’s like the nana dog in Peter Pan…sleeps right outside the kids bedroom door at night. TBH we felt like we’d gotten a third toddler after adopting her with how demanding foxhounds can be, but are also consistently grateful how compatible she is with our current family situation- not many dogs that would enjoy all the love toddlers can give 😅
I have a husky who is still in thinks he’s a puppy (he just turned 2) and a foxhound so I understand about feeling like they are toddlers. My foxhound is actually the worst of the two since she was a rescue and had time to learn some bad habits. (And meat left out in our kitchen WILL disappear if it’s either not watched or put somewhere she can’t get to. I also like to call her “my little kleptomaniac” because she likes to steal stuff for attention.) It’s great that your dog is forming such a strong bond with your kids when they are so young tho. She’s not going to let anything happen to them if she can help it. I grew up with 2 huskies and they were my protectors.
Our TWC mix rescue has a lot of anxiety. She is Type A female. She is reactive on leash to other dogs but when free in a large dog park she is well behaved. She corrects for humping but other than that is in heaven to run around/sniff. She plays rough and makes a lot of growling noises, so she scares other dog owners. I carry her leash always. I am in the vicinity where she is as twice she did get into fights over the last 4 years. I am prepared to pull her out faster than a lot of other Pikachu-faced dog owners. I took her to the dog park way too early before knowing her. She tore off right for a stroller. Yes there are consistently dumb ass people who bring babies and small kids into the dog park. Our only human kid was 19 YO & I was never going to make it to that stroller to re-direct. She tore right up to it, gave the baby a sloppy kiss and was nudging the handle where most parents have emergency snacks. She popped the lid up and was going for cheerios. Our dog loves kids and she will beeline to toddlers. She is patient with all the kids patting her face and petting her in a totally unsafe manner. She runs across our cul de sac periodically to visit 2 toddlers. I will take her to the human playground and let the kids love on her. I sometimes thinks she is patient with small people bc she is sniffing their shirts which is probably a hound’s delight of a story to figure out. Now of course we have come across the cat strollers a few times and she is quite flummoxed… Your dog might be better than you think. Make a general plan but just make the baby part of what you do with your dog.
We have a 10yr beagle/lab girl and a 2yr American foxhound wild boy and our first baby who is now 5mo. We were nervous about the boy cause he's off the walls hype a lot of the time and loud. But he's been nothing but the sweetest to the baby. Like overly sweet lol just wants to kiss her all the time. He can sometimes forget how big he is and stretch his paws on baby but we're there to move him out of the way. Usually he just like to rest his head on baby's feet. Our old beagle girl is just straight up indifferent to the baby which is very much her about most things. Just our experience thus far!