Guest blog -Introducing a new baby to your family dog by Amie Williams -Read
It's such a wonderful time becoming a parent and starting your own family unit together. If a dog is already a big part of your family it is natural to feel anxious and want them still to feel loved and not jealous of your new addition.
We first met Amie and her french bulldog Millie when she was running her website Spoilt Little Puppy , selling lovely things for pampered pooches. Millie has one of our harnesses and can be seen modelling it on our website . Amie became a Mum a few years ago and has started a new blog The Unruly Ones - a lifestyle and parenting blog. She has written about her experiences for Hettie of introducing a new baby to a family dog.
I grew up in the deep countryside of Suffolk. Nestled between the fields lies our little village one side of Ickworth Park and I was lucky to have grown up at the end of the quiet road just by the entrance to dog walking galore. (Much to the grumpy farmers annoyance).
When I came along I had two furry friends in the making waiting for mum to come home with her new baby. Florence and Poppy, two springer spaniels who quickly became my protectors, never leaving my side. These two cemented my love for animals and dogs in particular, and when the time came and we had to say goodbye to Poppy (Florence passed when I was too young to understand), we had a vet come to the house to put Poppy to sleep while she lay with her head in my lap and I stroked her as she drifted away.
Since then I rescued a German Pointer from the streets, after she had been dumped from a puppy farm once they had bred her until she couldn’t breed anymore, next we rescued aNorthern Inuit from Scotland, he lived with me at Uni while I worked with him on his issues and then found him, his perfect forever home. After this came My Chinese crested Powder Puff known as Mr Oliver North one heck of a cheeky chappy and finally our current dog, and my first with my hubby… our frenchie Millie aka Moo or Pooh
We brought Millie home almost 6 years ago now, she was our lives, and a daddy girl(still is) I’ve never met such a little clown, and contrary to popular belief they are veryintelligent little creatures whom know exactly how to play the system. We always knew she would be a great dog to have when we started our own family, and she was so well behaved with everyone’s children, sharing toys and lapping up all the cuddles and attention.
At 12am one September night, after being in hospital for a week, we arrived home with our new baby in tow. Millie, who would normally run at me like I’d left her for years after not seeing me for 5 minutes, came now the stairs calmly and quietly, like she knews he had to be careful.
We set the baby up in the lounge and Millie spent her night sat on the sofa watching him.Since that night they have been in separable (for the most time) We have been so lucky with Millie, she has always been nothing but kind to her human brother, and at times he really pushed his luck with her. When he was tiny and couldn’t move, Millie would be by his side from Morning to night. When he started crying however she would be outta there, and I don’t blame her, he had the nick name ‘The Lung’
As he grew, he became more mobile, at 8 months we left for a holiday with a little wriggler and returned 10 days later with a crawling machine, poor Millie wasn’t sure what was happening to begin with. While they still had lots of fun playing together, and Millie was enjoying food time with her new friend immensely I could tell she needed some time out every now and then, so I would put up his play pen, and turn it into a puppy chill outzone, which for us worked very well.
As Joshua grows they enjoy walks together, playing ball and most of all meal times,
Millie’s never far way at food times, and my son even likes to share Millies food!
He’s also loves her food bowl which has been fun and very messy, but since he started walking at 10 months he now also feeds her breakfast, this helps keep the bond between them.
He showers Millie with kisses and cuddles, which I’m aware dogs aren’t meant to like.Millie will actively seek out, I’m sure by growing up with a dog this is helping my son learn things about sharing, being kind and caring.
For me, I chose Millie because after a lot of research her breed suited us the best, this is not only important when bringing a new dog into the family, but more so when they will also have large changes happening. My hubby is desperate for a Labrador but I know that I couldn’t cope with a lab and two very small children, for me you have to get a breed that suits you, and while I’m very used to larger dogs, and they are also my preference, I don’t want a working dog unless I can give it the mental and physical stimulation it deserves. So Millie is perfect for us.
My son is now 17 months old and we are expecting number two very soon which will be another adjustment for her to deal with, she’s now 6 years old (or will be next month) so this time round after our move, we will make sure she has areas she can go to when she needs some space.
P.S
We are delighted to tell you that Amie had a baby boy Oliver on May 12th - everyone is doing well
#Hettie
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