Board and train before a baby arrives

Which program fits a dog with a baby on the way

For a dog who needs the basics, the one-week Foundation stay covers place, stay, leash skills, impulse control and crate manners, which is most of the list above. For a dog who already knows its cues at home but pulls hard on busy streets or gets over-excited around people, the two-week Advanced stay adds distraction proofing, real-world outings and a second coaching lesson after you have practiced.

If your dog shows any worrying behavior around children now, such as growling, stiffening, guarding toys or snapping, say so in the enquiry. That needs an assessment first, and some dogs are better served by Dogtown’s six-to-ten-week behavior-modification programs or a veterinary behaviorist than by a short stay.

What you need to do at home, before and after the stay

The stay teaches the skills; your weeks at home teach your dog that they apply in the new life. Start rehearsing the baby routine early. Walk the empty stroller around the block. Sit in the feeding chair holding a doll while your dog practices place, and reward calm generously.

Introduce baby sounds gradually. Play recordings of crying and fussing at a very low volume while your dog eats or chews something it loves, and raise the volume only as long as your dog stays relaxed. Set up gates and the nursery layout weeks ahead so the changes are old news by the time the baby comes home.

• Shift your dog’s walk and feeding times toward the schedule you expect after the birth
• Decide which rooms will be dog-free and gate them now
• Practice the go-home lesson cues daily, in short sessions
• Plan who walks the dog for the first two weeks after the birth

The first meeting and the first months

When you come home from the hospital, greet your dog first without the baby, then let it sniff the baby calmly from a distance, on leash if you are unsure. Keep the meeting short and reward relaxed behavior. Many families send a blanket the baby has used home ahead of time so the scent is familiar.

After that, active supervision is the rule every single time the dog and baby are in the same room, however gentle the dog is. When you cannot watch, use a gate, a crate or a closed door. The nonprofit Family Paws Parent Education has practical resources on dogs and babies that are worth reading before the due date.

Expect your dog to find the change hard for a while. Keep some one-to-one time with it each day, even ten minutes of sniffing on a walk, so the baby predicts good things rather than less attention.