# Getting Vizsla ready for a baby in the house



## jjohnson

Well, it's happened a little sooner than we expected, but my husband and I are expecting our first baby in October! We are excited, and it is still very early, but we are already thinking about what this will mean for our Vizsla puppy, Gus. He is 9 months old now, so by that time he will be ~16 months old and probably a handful 

Gus is terrified of children in general, but the behaviorist we saw thinks he will acclimate to a child in our house and be fine (gosh I hope he is right!). Anyway, we have 7 months to prepare Gus for having a newborn infant in the house. Right now he craves ALL of our attention and he thinks he is "the baby" so I know it will be a shock for him. Has anybody else prepared a V for a new baby? Any advice?


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## DougAndKate

Congratulations jjohnson! Your post is very timely, as we recently found out that we are expecting in September as well and were going to post something similar. Our V-mix Elroy just turned a year old last week, and a handful is an extreme understatement! Whereas your Gus is terrified of children, Elroy is just overly hyper around them, pulling on the leash and lunging. He whines like crazy if we have a toddler in the house, guess he thinks they are there to be his playmate. With his size and strength we are extremely concerned and have recently talked to a few different trainers to start a plan now so we're hopefully prepared. I'm looking forward to others responses on the matter as well...

Doug


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## harrigab

congratulations to both couples ;D ;D ;D, I'm sure V's and Jr's will gel harmoniously. I've two very boisterous boys aged 5 and 6, yet we all manage to get along just fine as I'm sure you all will. ;D


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## SteelCityDozer

Do either of you live near pittsburgh pa? My cousin is due next month and has two pit bulls so she recommended the classes "baby ready pets" by thinkingoutsidethecage.org


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## jld640

Congratulations! 

Savannah was not 'easy' at 16 months, but she was much, much better than she was at 9 months.


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## jjohnson

Thanks everybody, and thanks jld640, I feel a little better  I am mostly worried about Gus not being able to handle not getting as much attention. Right now I can't even hug my husband or pet my cats without him getting crazy with jealousy!


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## DougAndKate

Congratulations jjohnson!!! (it's Kate of "DougAndKate") I am right there with you on the jealousy part, we've been training and actually getting better at the "Hi honey, I'm home" and going to give you a hug/kiss and "NO" Elroy you're not going to jump on either of us. It's def taking some time. 

SteelCityDozer - we live outside of Philly, but thanks for the recommendation. We're visiting a trainer/boarding facility this weekend so fingers crossed! We've already invested so much time and energy into helping him through his issues - he was a rescue and denied so much the first (critical) 4 months of his life. So we're hoping that this exciting time for us, also turns out to be an easy transition for him. 

Thanks everyone, keep posting! I'm interested in hearing how you handle the energy/exercise aspect while handling the kids as well. I'm eager for the challenge, but not naive in thinking it's going to be easy. 

Kate


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## Ozkar

Wow...........something in the water over there guys and girls????  You naughty little people!! Congratulations to you both. 

As for preparing................ I would prepare the kids with peanut butter. I find my dogs, while they love kids, couldn't eat a whole one without peanut butter. 

I think you may be surprised about how your V reacts to a baby. I have friends with a 4 year old V now and they had a baby when Jasper the V was about 12 months old. Jasper took on a role of protector and alert dog. If the baby was stirring, Jasper would be at the door of the bedroom, tail wagging, letting mum or dad know that bubs was just about to wake up. Jasper would also position himself in between guests and the baby. He was very protective. 

The important thing is that you try to minimise any interruptions to your V's routine when baby comes home. Otherwise, he/she may link the two.


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## meganwynalek

Congrats to you both! I too just found out I am having a baby in October. My V, Casey, is 8 months old now. I am a bit worried how I will get enough exercise in for her with the baby. I work from home so am the dominant care giver in the household. I've read that you need to have the other partner take more control so the pup understands that both people will love her equally, even with the baby. You also need to set up a baby room early so the dog can get used to the scents before the baby arrives. I am currently trying to work on restricting Casey from jumping on my lap on the furniture when not invited and I am really glad I still have months for that. I don't think it will be easy but since V's are such loving dogs as long as you continue to make her feel that she is part of the pack there should be no issues. Good luck with it all!


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## VictoriaW

Congratulations to all! 

I've been giving this one some thought. I wouldn't worry too much about how the dog is going to "feel" about the baby. I would focus on strengthening basic training and -- VERY KEY -- logistics.

I have never juggled dog & baby...but I have juggled babies and toddlers, and I have juggled a puppy and three young kids. So that gives you some sense of my perspective.

Here are some ideas on logistics:

(1) Get your V used to sometimes pottying outside on his own. Now would be a great time to install a fence! There are going to be times when the dog needs to pee and your hands are very full. You will be sooooo glad to open the door and let him out into a safe environment.

(2) Get a comfy glider where you can sit, rock, & feed the baby. Train your dog to lie on a dog bed or mat within your reach while you sit in the glider and read a book or whatever. The dog should LOVE having you sit in the glider not paying too much attention to him (because you are very occasionally handing him great treats!).

(3) Let your V spend time in his crate while you are home. Don't be a wimp about this. It is good for both of you. Keep frozen kongs or chewies on hand and work on a rock solid "kennel up" command. You will sometimes need to get the dog out of the way in a safe place -- immediately and without fuss. Get everyone used to it now. 

(4) Have some chats with your spouse about where everyone is going to sleep. Does the dog sleep in your bed? Is he in your bed because you *want* him there or because you couldn't bear to have him cry in his crate? FYI, many babies do NOT happily drift off to sleep alone in a crib.  Work it out now before you are too tired to think straight....

(5) Partition the house with baby gates now, so that you can easily either separate dog from baby OR keep dog with you when you are stuck somewhere caring for the baby. You don't want him in the upstairs garbage while you are bathing baby in the downstairs sink or swiping things off the counter while you are putting baby down for a nap. My guess is that a V will be as smart as a toddler in terms of sensing (and seizing!) opportunities to misbehave. :

I'm sure that there are plenty of others...but that's a start. Maybe others have even better ideas to add.

Good luck!!!!!!

Victoria


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## DougAndKate

Hello! I haven't posted anything in a long time, but I've still been lurking around every few days. Just wanted to touch base with everyone from this post and see how their pregnancies, and V's, are progressing! 

It has been an absolute whirlwind for us. Shortly after this post, my mother suffered a brain aneurysm on Easter Sunday. It came without any warning whatsoever, and after a week in the hospital, my family had to make the hardest decision of our lives. Thankfully, we knew my mom's wishes, and completely respected them, but it's still a decision that I hope no one will ever have to make. It made our pregnancy somewhat bittersweet, as my mom was SO excited to finally have another grandchild (my sister has 2 teenage boys). And once we found out we were having a girl, it was even more emotional, as she always thought we'd be the one's to have it. We know that our baby will have the best guardian angel ever watching over her, and my mom's memories will last forever, and we will tell our daughter everything there is to know about her Nauna.

So, on to Elroy, who is now about 1 1/2. Obviously, his schedule and routine were thrown WAY off for a few weeks. I basically lived at the hospital, or ran back and forth, with a few hikes and runs thrown in just to get some fresh air, for both of us. Add in the fact that we also had our upstairs hardwood floors refinished right after, which meant we were living downstairs, bed on the floor, it looked like we were squatting in our own home. And of course the renovations took longer than expected, they always do! So that didn't help with our routine either.

When the floors were being polyurethaned, we sent Elroy off to a trainer for 8 days. He evaluated him within a pack of other dogs, and started the foundation of our training regimen. He came home and slept for 3 straight days  We've been to a few other trainers, mostly just general obedience stuff and puppy training, so in a way it felt like we were starting over. But the improvement was noticeable almost immediately. Now we go back every Sunday for a 1 hour lesson, for as long as we want. Elroy has come a long way in just a few short months. He rarely jumps up on anyone anymore, he is MUCH better with house guests, we brought him down the shore for a party and he did wonderful (and loved the ocean), and just this past Saturday we had a BBQ at our house, which we didn't think was possible just a few short months ago. He still is hyper around toddlers or running kids, so that is still a big work in progress.

As for introducing the baby, due to arrive in late September, the nursery is finished, and whenever Elroy goes in there, we make him lay down immediately. We've been using the word "baby" in a gentle tone whenever we get a new baby item, letting him sniff it. We've really been working on his manners as far as jumping up on the couch uninvited as well, and he is getting much better. 

On another note, next week we are starting our off leash e-collar training. Our trainer will only use a certain model of collar, and alas, it's not the one we purchased at the beginning of the year, which we never really got around to using anyway. Ours had the vibrate function, and not the tone/beep. So, if anyone has any interest, we have a barely used Dogtra IQ collar for sale. We paid $167 on Amazon for it, and we'd be willing to sell it for $100, with free shipping, if anyone is interested. *(Note: If posting this is against the forum rules, just let me know and I'll edit the post to remove this).*

Sorry for the long rant. I has been a crazy 2 1/2 months. But I think we're on our way to having a healthy, and happy, home/puppy/baby relationship  Good luck to everyone the rest of the way...

Doug


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## harrigab

DougAndkate, so very sorry to hear of your loss, I had a similar experience 3 weeks before my eldest son was born, my mum suffered a massive stroke that left her totally blind, amnesic, and dementia(ed). Terrible situation as she needed 24/7 care for the next 5 years before she finally died.
On a happier note like yourselves, I've also found a HPR trainer who is within 5 miles of us and he's happy to take Ruby on 1 hour one on one sessions to bring her up to scratch on time for the pheasant shooting season in October.
I hope everything goes well with your new baby girl and let us know as soon as she arrives ;D


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## DougAndKate

Harrigab, thanks so much for your reply, and I'm sorry for what you had to go through as well...


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## jjohnson

Sorry to hear about your mom, DougAndKate. 

As far as preparing our V for our baby (girl due in late October), we are mostly working on walking well on the leash (since I plan on walking baby and dog a lot) and spending some time in his crate or outside alone when we are home. 

I am mostly worried though about aggressive behavior towards the baby and others- our Gus isn't a "normal" dog, he suffers from pretty bad fear aggression and can be downright mean towards strangers sometimes. We have worked on this, and it has improved a little, but he will most likley always be this way. So sending him away to a trainer, or having someone babysit him, etc. is not really an option for us because he will NOT go with strangers, and most likley try to bite. It takes at least 7-10 vists to our house for him to finally learn to accept a stranger, and even then, he sometimes will not let them pet him. 

We had a friend come over with a new baby- I had Gus on a leash. He had little interest in the baby until he noticed him moving, and then he growled at him. Kind of alarming having your puppy growl at a newborn baby, but I've learned its Gus's way of saying "I'm nervous about this." I am praying that eventually he will adjust and get used to the baby, and I think he will, but I also know of some cases where dogs never get used to the baby and become dangerous  I'm praying this isn't the case for us! 

One thing I will be doing is replacing the door on the baby's nursery with a screen door (an idea I found online). This is mostly to keep my two cats out of the baby's crib, but will also work to keep Gus out when we are not supervising. I think this is a great idea, and the screen doors can even look cute if you find a nice one


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## flynnandlunasmom

Congrats to those expecting babies and Dougandkate, I am very sorry to read about your mom. 

Thank you all for posting some great tips in this thread. I am 13 weeks pregnant today and our 2 V's are in for a real shock. We did attend a class a couple fo years ago at the Isis Maternity Center in MA about getting your dog ready for a baby. We basically learned how much work we really need to do! And that was when we only had one vizsla. 

Our biggest challenge is that the current guest room (which will be the baby's room) has pretty much been the dog's room. They usually sleep in there - both of them on the queen bed. We've started having them sleep in their crates in another room and they've done ok. But truthfully, we're not very good about enforcing this. we need to get better. 

I fear Flynn won't like the idea of the baby at all (at first) and may even growl at it when we're holding it (he did this when we got the puppy). Luna will probably be fine in that she won't display any aggressive signs but she'll be devastated at no longer being the baby - and having less lap time. 

It's still early for us but I'm going to plan to check back on this talk thread often. especially when those of you who are due before me have your babies!


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## jjohnson

flynnandlunasmom - Congrats to you! I would actually be interested to know in the future if you think it was easier having two dogs or not. We were going to get another dog, but once we found we were preganant, we decided to hold off until later. I don't know if having two would be a lot harder, or easier since they would tend to entertain each other more and theoretically need less attention?


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## flynnandlunasmom

jjohnson, our dogs do entertain each other but their age difference is pretty big (Luna's 1, Flynn's 7). So, while they do play together often Flynn get tired/bored of it much more quickly than Luna does. She sill has crazy puppy energy and always wants more play! If we did it all over again, we would have gotten Luna when Flynn was around 3 instead of 6. In many ways though, I do think having 2 is easier - but that's the "pre-baby" me talking.


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## hotmischief

Congratulations to all of you that are expecting -wow that is so exciting   

KateandDoug - I am so sorry for your loss, it must have been a very stressful time for you and your family. I am sure your baby girl will bring a bright light of joy and happieness to your family when she arrives.

I am looking forward to hearing of all the happy baby events and PICTURES    when they all arrive later in the year.


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## jld640

Congratulations those who are expecting!

KateandDoug - sorry to hear about your loss. 

Jjohnson - I think someone on this forum tried a screen door. You may want to search to see if they posted how it went.

And for what it's worth...I don't have kids, but wanted Savannah to be ok around little ones. Every once in a while in the local pet store we will see people with a baby (or baby in a car seat) in the shopping cart. I always ask if Savannah can smell the baby's feet just so she knows the smell of 'baby'. None of the parents have minded. It seems to be working. When we meet a baby on the street (strollers, mom's arms, etc.), she doesn't try to jump or smell them.


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## kiki

You might also try some practice training with dolls as the time gets closer. That way the dogs will be used to having to sit next to you while you feed a "baby" or do other baby related things. One of those lifelike crying babies would be great!


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## DougAndKate

kiki said:


> You might also try some practice training with dolls as the time gets closer. That way the dogs will be used to having to sit next to you while you feed a "baby" or do other baby related things. One of those lifelike crying babies would be great!


Great idea, and that's our next step Kiki. We already have some toys and a baby swing laying around, and Elroy will smell it and leave it alone. Also, I found a great pdf through the aspca, which I seemed to have misplaced, but here's the link to the info...

http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/152/Preparing-Your-Dog-for-a-New-Baby.aspx


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## DougAndKate

Just wanted to see how everyone was making out with their pregnancies. We have a month to go and Elroy has come a long way I think. Still working on the "bed" command everyday trying to really lock it down...


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## flynnandlunasmom

DougandKate, good for you!

We're not due until Jan 2 and we've been a bit lax lately, but we really need to step it up. My guys are good at the "go to bed command" but my biggest concern is the jumping! We never really trained the "excited jump" out of Flynn (it only happens with us) and I'm a bit nervous about it. We could be gone all day or 15 minutes and when we come home he goes into his bouncy Tigger routine, leaping for joy and often bouncing right off us. I know it's not ok, but I'm not exactly sure how to stop it, short of putting him in the crate every time we go out. But, he's well behaved when he's home alone and doesn't need to be crated so it doesn't seem right. Luna has picked up jumping now too, but she's much lighter and smaller so it's not as powerful. 

We are going to try walking them with a stroller when it gets closer - and carrying a baby doll.


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## DougAndKate

flynnandlunasmom said:


> We are going to try walking them with a stroller when it gets closer - and carrying a baby doll.


That's a good idea on the stroller, may have to try that this weekend. We've had a baby doll in the carseat on our dining room floor for a few weeks now, Elroy barely pays attention to it any more. As for the jumping, Elroy kind of just grew out of it, unless he gets really excited when new people are in the house, but it's usually just one time and we make him sit to get any more attention. Good luck the rest of the way!


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## jjohnson

We have two more months - we were a little reassured this weekend when our friends brought their 4-month old girl over. Gus did really well, he seemed to notice the baby, but didn't react, and was interested in sniffing her, although I kept him on his leash as I don't totally trust him. (And it's just not worth it with someone else's baby!) The baby even cried and squirmed, and when he looked at her, I clicked and treated. He didn't growl or bark at her at all, in fact he grabbed his ball and wanted to play despite that scary baby in the room! It went really well. 

Of course, he was afraid of the baby's daddy, who is 6' 4" 350-pound dude, and he did have one bark/lunge incident at him as he was leaving out the door, so that kind of ruined it, but up until that point, Gus was really good with our friends and the baby! (We have more to deal with in terms of fear/aggression than jumping and stuff).

I have my stroller now and plan to start practicing soon too! We also have been working on Gus spending time in his crate- which has been super-easy since he suddenly decided that he loves being in there. I don't even have to shut the door, I just tell him to go in there, and he'll lie in there quietly until he is "released". He'll even open the door and go in himself! He's so smart


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## andy.kuns

Thanks for posting all of this information. My wife and I may have a bit of a 180. We may be preparing ourselves and a new baby for a Vizsla. We haven't decided yet and are waiting until our soon to be born son arrives and we have a few months under our belt.


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## threefsh

andy.kuns: 

You should be aware that these people have full-grown, adult dogs. We just adopted a 6 month old re-home off Craigslist because a family with two tiny kids couldn't give him the exercise he needed & he was knocking over their children as he ran through the house.

Please read this article "I read they were good with kids...":

http://www.vccne.net/files/Articles/goodwkids.pdf


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## jjohnson

She is right! We will have a baby and a 16-month Vizsla, but thank goodness by the time the baby is toddling around the dog will be a little older. Love my dog, love Vizslas, but I wouldn't reccommend them for a young family. We will make it work because we love our dog and are crazy dog people; but if you are not willing to really spend a lot of time training, etc., then I would not get a Vizsla. 

If you are set on Vizsla, I would really suggest finding an older rescue that has a well-known history and temperment.


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## jjohnson

By the way, threefsh, that is a really good article. Wish we had read ita year ago. I was told by the breeder and internet (great source, I know) that Vizslas were great with kids. I also figured that as long as we got a puppy and socialized it plenty, fear or aggression wouldn't be an issue. WRONG! I'd say the list of issues in that article that are the biggest deal are resource guarding and fear reactivity, of which we experience both. While I think our dog will learn to love the baby and accept her as a member of our family, I will constantly have to be watching the interactions of the two for the next what? 10 years? Luckily, we do keep in contact with our breeder, who is a really nice guy, and he will take Gus back if we have any problems with him being aggressive towards the baby...but that would break my heart I try not to even think about it!


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## andy.kuns

Thanks everyone.

I had read the article before, and it really helped me to better understand the Vizsla breed and what impact having one would have on my family. Everything that I have read or watched online has only furthered my interest in understanding more about these dogs. I would never make a decision without being informed and eventually meeting a few dogs of the breed.

We are not set on a specific breed yet. We have a few in mind with the Vizsla, German Shorthaired Pointer, Golden Retriever and Irish Setter as our favorites. We are without doubt dog people and are willing and able to make it work, even if the dog can be a handful. We are in a discovery mode now and learning about these breeds to see how well they will work with us. We are preferential to sporting breeds. We already understand the GR, and would have no problem having one as part of our family. I raised our GR from a pup and my wife met him when he was around 4. She wasn't too sure about dogs then, but has become a dog-loving person, helping to train and exercise him.

The Vizsla breed came up as my neighbor knows a breeder in our local area. This is good for us for another source of information and a place for a Vizsla to visit and play with other Vizslas as well.

We would prefer to get a puppy instead of an older dog, even with the time requirements needed for a puppy. We also would not get a dog until our baby is out of infancy. It is important to us to have a dog as part of our family.

I swear our Golden had some Vizsla in him.  He was a puppy his whole life, needed 1-2 hours of exercise every day, very velcro-y, could not have been happier to see us home and slept in our bed, but not always under the covers.


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## andy.kuns

Also, I think it is really great that there is a community like this that is passionate about their dogs and concerned for their well-being as well as the people they own.


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## redbirddog

Andy,
Good plan to wait. In the mean time there is nothing wrong with OPV (Other People's Vizslas) in your life. Heck, some might let you dog sit. :

One thing I love to do is walk the hills with folks that are thinking about getting a Hungarian Pointer. They see Bailey and Chloe run and the energy they have up close and personal. Even yesterday night on our walk it was complete chaos for a few minutes as Bailey, Chloe and another Vizsla went tearing after a flock of wild turkeys in someone's yard next to the trail we walk. Thirty turkeys taking to the sky and the home owner yelling at us that our dogs were terrible for chasing the poor birds.

And mine are "trained."

Rod


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## andy.kuns

All I can say is that story is one of many I've read for my attraction to any sporting dog. I love energetic, sporting dogs, that is what makes a dog a dog.

The small toy breeds that yip at their shadow and tremble with fear at a mosquito while snuggled in a "purse" just aren't my kind of dog. Not that I'm biased or anything...


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## flynnandlunasmom

andy.kunds, I do think it makes sense to wait until the child is a bit older to get the dog, but if you're set on a vizlsa and are committed to it, you can make it work when the time is right. VictoriaW on the forum has 3 young kids (though all past the toddler age) and they are an excellent vizsla family! 

We have 2 vizslas (age 7 and 15 months) and our first baby is due on Jan 2. We're nervous about what an adjustment it's going to be for the dogs but we'll make it work. 

To be honest, part of the reason we got Luna (the young one) last year was because we had given up on our plans to have a baby. We tried for several years and had decided we were just meant to be "vizlsa parents" only. Not anymore. 

We wouldn't have chosen to have what will be an 18 month old vizsla (sweet but insanely energetic) and a 7.5 year old (sweet but temperamental) vizsla AND a brand new infant all at the same time, but that's the way it's going to work out for us. 

We are extremely committed to our dogs and we are not going to let that change when we have the baby. We'll take family hikes (with a baby carrier) and I've already been practicing walking & jogging with the dogs on a waste belt, while I push a stroller. I once had someone tell me "when a baby arrives, you don't have to adjust to fit into it's life. Just make it adjust to fit into yours". I'm sure that's easier said than done, but we're going to try.


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## DougAndKate

Well, you can plan and plan but I guess when it's time for it to happen it will. 10 days early, 3 days of labor, but our beautiful baby girl has arrived!

Gia Marie
Born 9/15/12 @ 1:07 PM
6 Lbs Even
19.5" 

Mom and baby are both healthy and happy. I dropped Elroy off at the trainers in a huge panic on Thursday night, and we will pick him up tomorrow so he can meet his little 2 legged sister. I'm a bit nervous, but we're both confident that all of the training and preparation will pay off. I will post more pics of the whole family hopefully sometime this weekend. Thanks again to the forum for all of your support and advice along the way...

Doug


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## threefsh

CONGRATS! She is just gorgeous! <3 Elroy is going to be a proud big brother.


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## OttosMama

Wow! Congratulations! I'm very happy for you all  Poor mom, three days of labor! yikes! Best of luck to you all with the transition! 

She is beautiful!


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## BlueandMac

Congratulations Kate and Doug (and Elroy too ;D)! Gia is just beautiful! So happy for you all!


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## RubyRoo

Congrats! Look at the head of hair on little Gia. Glad to hear baby and Mom are doing well.


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## VictoriaW

Welcome, Gia Marie! What a beautiful name. Congratulations to all!


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## hotmischief

Congratulations Doug and Kate, Gia looks beautiful. Hope Kate has recovered - 3 days wow, I am sure it was all worth it.

Heather


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## flynnandlunasmom

Congratulations! She is beautiful. Welcome to the world, Gia Marie!


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## mswhipple

Gia Marie is beautiful!! Congratulations to Mom and Dad!! ;D ;D

I'm sure Elroy will be a good "big brother"!


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## jjohnson

congratulations!


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## DougAndKate

Thank you everyone! Just an update, Elroy has been doing way better than I ever could of imagined! Not that he's a bad dog in general, but he is really high energy and his prey drive is super intense. He came home exhausted from the trainers, but even with less than ideal exercise for the last few days he's been great. He likes to smell Gia, but has only licked her hand once. He gets fairly alert and starts to whine a bit when she gets fussy and when we're changing her diaper, but I'm guessing that shouldn't last too long. I'm glad all of the training and preparation seems to be paying off. I dropped him off at the trainers this morning, we're going to do daycare every Wednesday to give everyone a midweek break, and wouldn't you know it there was a woman dropping off a V! Hopefully they're having fun today!

Thanks again for the kind words...
Doug


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## flynnandlunasmom

great news and great picture!


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## AKGInspiration

awwww she is beautiful! Glad things are going well so far sounds like you have good plans in order. 

I got Luna before I even got married in hopes that she would be nice and mature by the time kids rolled along (she should be about 6 or 7 when kids get here maybe)... but as luck would have it our first nearly year was spent under the same roof as my sisters daughter (1yo) so she is quite babyproof already. Since then she has been exposed and around quite a few other babies and infants and kids old enough to play with her too. She loves them, and they love her... even if she knocks them down sometimes or kisses too much. Thankfully she is fully grown at 36lbs. 

Keep us posted on how it's going, hoping it continues to go smoothly for you all.


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## jjohnson

Hello everyone! We welcomed our new addition, Rory Christine, last weekend. She is absolutely gorgeous and doing well! Gus is adjusting much better than we thought he would. He only growled at her once when we first brought her home, but now he curiously watches everything we do with her and likes to sniff her, and he even drops his toys under her little swing thinking she will throw them for him! I think he is going to make a great "big brother", and he somehow seems to instinctively know he needs to be calmer and gentler around the baby. 

I am trying not to post a ton of pictures of her on the internet, but here is one of my husband changing her diaper and the furry "big brothers" watching.


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## hotmischief

Congratulations - so pleased all is going well. Couldn't see much of Rory from the photo, but Gus was behaving well and looked very interested.


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## flynnandlunasmom

Aw, great news. Congratulations to you and thanks for posting!

I'm sincerely hoping to be able to share a similar success story soon (I'm due Jan 2).


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## SteelCityDozer

Good boy Gus. I have to admit having two of these crazies makes me worry a bit about my sanity when the day comes. So relieving to know you guys are doing well. 

Ps. We are NOT expecting at this time so my worries are under control as if yet.


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## DougAndKate

Congrats jjohnson! 

Elroy has been pretty much the same and we're 1 month in. He's only licked her face twice, and you're right, he knows to be calmer around her. Also, he seems to be relaxing a little more independently, going out on the porch to nap by himself, and last night he went upstairs and put himself to bed for the first time ever.


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## adrino

Congratulation jjohnson! 

That's brilliant! Good to hear things going well for you and your expanded family! ;D


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