Introducing your Cobberdog to your new baby
If your family is getting ready to welcome a new human baby, congratulations! But, you may be apprehensive about what to expect from your Cobberdog as he/she senses the change of family dynamics. Babies are very demanding of parents attention and time. Good dog owners may be concerned that the dog, who is already a well loved part of the family, may feel neglected and become jealous of the baby. This is a legitimate concern, and if addressed properly will ensure your Cobberdog learns to accept and eventually bond with your new baby.
We have been able to successfully introduce all five of our youngsters to our Australian Cobberdog family with no bad experiences. I will share a few of the methods we used. When you first come around with your precious new bundle, your dog will be very curious, as they are very sensitive to social change. Assuming your dog already has basic obedience commands down, get him to sit where you can comfortably sit, or crouch with your new baby. At this point you will likely feel the nervousness of a new parent, but we don’t want the protection of our new baby being translated by the dog as shutting them out. Praise your dog quietly for his obedience to your asking him to sit, keep talking to him in a relaxed way, perhaps explaining to him about the new family member. Your Cobberdog is likely to be fixated on the baby, and at this point it is important your tone of voice and the emotion you feel creates a reassuring energy around you and the dog.
While introducing your Cobberdog to your new baby, talk gently to him, slowly expose the babies feet or a hand, slowly crouch down to the dogs level, stay well tuned to the dogs action or reaction, at the same time trying not to make unnecessary protective gestures. Using this method, your dog will most likely start to gently lick the new baby, and will become the beginning of a new family bond. After this initial brief meeting and the baby is safely sleeping in its crib, its best if the dog is then played with and treated. We want him to know from the beginning that that he is not being excluded and some exercise and a game will help him process what just happened.
In the weeks and days ahead, its important to keep the dogs routine as normal as possible, being careful not to send the dog away when attending to the baby. Your dog will feel included and learn to love being close to and watching over the baby. With your supervision your baby also will benefit from the positive interaction and will learn how to have a healthy relationship with an animal.
Luke Erb