Baby on the Way? Here’s How to Prep Your Dog

Having a baby is one of life’s most exciting adventures – right up there with teaching your dog not to eat your favorite shoes (and arguably more rewarding). With all the nursery planning, baby-proofing, and figuring out how to fold those impossibly complicated strollers, there’s a million things on your prep list. But here’s one that deserves a top spot: getting your pup ready to welcome their new tiny human sibling.

I actually worked with three different clients this year who all happened to be pregnant at the same time, and I got to help them plan and prep all the way through to when their babies arrived – one each month this past spring! There's something truly magical about watching these relationships develop – from nervous first-time dog parents wondering if their pup will adjust, to getting those adorable photos months later of baby and dog peacefully coexisting (or better yet, becoming best friends). Dogs and babies make for some of my absolute favorite training projects because the outcomes are always so heartwarming.

When it comes to training your dog to accept a new family member, a proactive approach isn’t just best practice – it’s your sanity-saving secret weapon. Trust me, you don’t want to be frantically googling “emergency dog trainer” at 2 AM when your three-week-old is finally sleeping and your pup decides that every visitor is a potential threat. We’ve all heard those stories, and nobody wants to be that parent juggling a crying baby while their dog auditions for the role of overzealous bouncer.

The good news? We’re going to walk through some practical steps you can take to prep your dog before baby arrives. And here’s the beautiful thing about dog training – there’s literally no such thing as “too early” to start. Whether you’re in the “maybe someday” phase, actively trying, currently expecting, or even if that due date is creeping up faster than your dog can destroy a squeaky toy, now is the perfect time to begin. Sure, earlier is ideal (kind of like starting a college fund), but even if you’re reading this while timing contractions, there’s still plenty you can do to set everyone up for success.

The Foundation First: Don’t Skip the Basics

Here’s the real talk: ideally, before you even start dreaming about tiny onesies and sleepless nights, your dog’s basic training and behavior foundation should already be rock solid. Think of it like baby-proofing your house – you wouldn’t wait until your toddler is mobile to put safety locks on the cabinets, right? Same principle applies here.

Do not – and I cannot stress this enough – wait until you’re sporting a bump to tackle your dog’s reactivity toward visitors, leash pulling episodes that could double as CrossFit workouts, noise sensitivity that makes your pup lose it every time a leaf falls, or other behavioral quirks that seemed “manageable” in your pre-baby life. These behaviors don’t magically improve when you add a crying infant to the mix. In fact, they typically get worse faster than your sleep schedule.

Now, this article isn’t going to dive into addressing these foundational behavior issues – that’s a whole other conversation (and probably several training sessions). What we’re focusing on here are the baby-specific prep steps that’ll make your life infinitely easier once your little human arrives. But if you’re reading this and thinking, “Oh crap, my dog definitely has some of those issues,” don’t panic – just reach out to a professional trainer for personalized help before family planning gets serious. Your future sleep-deprived self will thank you.

Mapping Out Your New Reality: The Management Game Plan

Now comes the fun part – playing household Tetris! You need to think about everyone’s needs: yours, your future baby’s, and your dog’s. Then it’s time to assess your environment and figure out what changes you might need to make. Think of management as setting up your home like a well-designed baby swing – everything works smoothly because it’s engineered for success.

Just like you'll manage your newborn's environment (swaddling for better sleep, dimming lights for naptime, keeping baby wipes within arm's reach because blowouts always happen at the worst moments), you'll want to strategically manage your dog's space and access too.

Start by walking through your daily routines and asking the big questions: Do you want a separate nursery, and if so, will your dog be allowed in that sacred space? Are there areas where paws should be off-limits? Should you install baby gates now and let your dog get used to these new boundaries? Would it be helpful to teach your dog to chill out in a designated quiet space when things get hectic?

Think practically about the nitty-gritty moments: Where will you change diapers, and where will your dog be during those inevitable blowout emergencies? How are you planning to feed baby, and what’s your pup’s role in that routine? These might seem like tiny details now, but trust me, when you’re running on three hours of sleep and trying to figure out why your baby is crying while your dog is underfoot, you’ll be grateful for the game plan.

Consider adding some management tools to your arsenal. Maybe you’ll want to set up a comfortable tether spot where your enthusiastic greeter can relax on their bed while you handle visitors or tend to baby’s needs without worrying about overzealous “help.” The sooner you can get these environmental changes in place – the baby gates, the designated dog spaces, the new boundaries – the more time your dog has to adjust to the new normal before baby arrives and turns everything upside down (in the best possible way, of course).

The DIY Baby Bootcamp: Desensitization Training

Here’s where we get creative with some Oscar-worthy acting and a little tech magic. I love introducing what I call the “smartphone baby” – and yes, it’s exactly as adorable and slightly ridiculous as it sounds. Take your phone, wrap it up in a small pillow and blanket so it looks like a tiny swaddled newborn, then head to YouTube and find some baby sound effects. Crying, giggling, those little newborn squeaks that somehow sound like tiny pterodactyls – whatever you can find. Now you’ve got yourself a high-tech baby simulator that would make any parenting class jealous.

Your smartphone baby (let’s call it the iBaby for maximum tech-parent vibes) opens up a world of training possibilities. Start by asking your dog to lie down on their designated mat and practice the “stay put while humans do mysterious baby things” skill. Walk around, talk to your iBaby in that ridiculous voice we all inevitably use with infants, rock it gently, and intermittently reward your dog for staying calm and relaxed in their spot. You can practice soothing a “crying” baby, passing the iBaby back and forth between partners, and all those other parenting moves you’ll be doing constantly – all while your dog learns that baby-related activities mean good things happen when they chill out.

For sound desensitization, start with your iBaby on silent mode. If your dog is doing well with the visual baby routine, gradually introduce the audio. Play some baby sounds, immediately feed your dog a few high-value treats, then make the baby quiet again. Repeat this sequence: baby noises = treats, quiet = pause. Do this several times per session to help your dog develop positive associations with baby sounds instead of viewing them as the soundtrack to chaos.

Red flag behaviors that mean it’s time to call in a pro: If your dog starts leaping up and showing signs of hyper-arousal when they hear baby sounds, gets over-excited by your baby interactions (causing them to rush over or jump up), shows outright reactivity like barking, or demonstrates avoidance behavior by getting up and leaving the room entirely. These responses tell you that DIY desensitization isn’t cutting it, and you need personalized help to address what’s going on.

The Art of “Leave It”: Teaching Your Dog That Baby Stuff Isn’t Dog Stuff

Here’s another essential skill to nail down in advance: teaching your dog that baby-related items are permanently off-limits. And trust me, there will be a LOT of tempting baby items scattered around your house. We’re talking about poop, baby food, spilled milk, mysterious sticky substances, slobber, spit-up – basically a smorgasbord of everything dogs think is absolutely delicious. From your dog’s perspective, babies are like little vending machines dispensing the world’s most interesting snacks.

I love teaching what I call “an environmentally cued leave it” – the idea that when I place something on a coffee table, changing table, or any designated surface, it’s automatically in the “do not touch” zone. This creates clear boundaries without you having to micromanage every single interaction. Think of it like teaching your dog that certain surfaces have invisible force fields around them.

Start by teaching your dog basic leave it with food items (you can check out my video guide for the step-by-step process), then gradually work your way up the excitement ladder. Begin with boring stuff – a pen, a book, random household items. Once they’ve mastered the art of ignoring mundane objects on tables, slowly introduce more tempting items: human food, baby toys, anything that might end up in baby’s orbit.

The beauty of this approach is that by the time your little one arrives, your dog will already understand that table surfaces are off-limits zones, regardless of what delicious-smelling treasures might land there. Because let’s be real – there’s going to be a lot of delicious-smelling treasures.

Baby Gear Boot Camp: Making the Strange Familiar

Here’s one last super simple prep step that’ll save you some stress down the road: set up your baby gear as soon as you get it. I’m talking about assembling that stroller, putting together the crib, setting up the high chair – basically everything you’ll eventually be using – and giving your dog time to adjust to these foreign objects invading their territory before baby arrives to make things even more interesting.

This is especially crucial if you’ve got a dog that’s sensitive to environmental changes or gets suspicious about things with wheels (because let’s face it, strollers can look pretty intimidating when they suddenly appear in your living room like some kind of baby transport robot).

The trick is introducing these items like they’re the best thing that ever happened to your house. Put together your stroller, plop it down in the middle of the room, scatter some high-value treats around and on it, then release your dog to go explore their new treasure hunt setup. Let them investigate, sniff, and discover that this weird wheeled contraption actually dispenses good things. Do the same with the crib, high chair, bouncy seat – whatever gear you’ve got.

By the time baby comes home, your dog will already see all this equipment as just part of the furniture instead of strange new objects that appeared overnight along with that tiny, noisy human. It’s like giving them a preview of coming attractions, but with treats.

Setting Everyone Up for Success

The bottom line? A little prep work now can save you a lot of stress later. Whether you’re in the early dreaming stages or counting down the weeks until your due date, taking time to address your dog’s foundation training, set up smart management systems, practice with your trusty iBaby, nail down that “leave it” cue, and introduce baby gear gradually will pay dividends when your real baby arrives.

Remember, babies might start as little sacks of meat (as charmingly put as that sounds), but they grow fast, and having a well-prepared dog makes every stage easier – from those first sleepless weeks to when your little one becomes mobile and starts exploring their world alongside their four-legged sibling. The goal isn't perfection; it's creating a foundation where everyone can thrive together.

This prep will get you through those first six months beautifully, but then things change in a big way – suddenly your baby starts moving, crawling, and grabbing everything in sight (including dog tails and ears). Want to learn how to handle the dog-baby dynamic during that wild mobile stage? Drop a comment below and I might be persuaded to write a future blog covering that adventure.

Trust me, there's nothing quite like watching a beautiful friendship blossom between your dog and your baby – and these prep steps help make that magic happen.

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Ready to build your dog's confidence and adaptability? Check out my Game of Bones course – a four-week interactive training adventure that helps dogs navigate environmental changes with confidence through fun mini-games. Perfect for building the resilience your dog will need when baby changes everything about their world.

Expecting and want personalized guidance through this journey? I offer one-on-one coaching specifically for pregnant families preparing their dogs for baby. Let's create a custom plan that works for your unique situation – because every dog and every family is different. Book a consultation and let's get your pack ready for your newest member.