This post is for young families that include a dog. As an expecting parent, will it help your dog to accept your newborn baby if you bring home the baby blanket for your dog to sniff – in advance? Here are some parenting tips to consider when it comes to minimizing family dog stress, dog and baby safety, and dog training for new parents.
“Bring home the baby blanket for your dog to sniff” is one of the most common pieces of advice expecting parents may receive. Hospital nurses even sometimes give parents baby blankets to take home to their dog, before bringing home their baby.
I certainly can understand where that line of thinking comes from. As a trainer who works on many behavior cases, I am very familiar with the words desensitization and habituation. The thought is that with positive exposure comes feel good emotions and acceptance.
It is why we talk about the importance of socializing puppies. However, there is a lot more to puppy socialization than simply giving the puppy exposure to things. It is about being diligent to ensure that interactions with your puppy’s environment are fun, positive, and not overwhelming. I could go on and on about this but that is for another time.
Considerations When It Comes To Bringing Home The Baby Blanket For Your Dog To Sniff
While exposure to the baby blanket alone may not be harmful when it comes to preparations with your dog, I encourage you to be careful about building too much expectation for success around any one strategy. That will keep you from practicing so many other strategies can play a role in successfully welcoming your baby into your home with safety and minimizing stress in mind.
Another consideration is that probably you will not simply bring the blanket home, set it on a counter and ignore it. You may instead tend to use language and actions to draw attention to the blanket, and thus your newborn baby. That homecoming phase (coined by Jen Shryock of Family Paws) of bringing your baby home (those first three months) should be calm and relaxed for your dog. Intentionally getting your dog interested in your newborn can increase the likelihood of your dog becoming more aroused and confused in the presence of your baby. Instead of habituating to your baby, your dog can sensitive to him/her. In other words, your dog can learn a bigger response. (See my post on habituation vs sensitization by clicking here.)
To teach an animal a different association with something (like from a negative feeling to a positive feeling), you will have more success with a plan. Chances are you may be tired, happy, maybe anxious and stressed. This is not a time for you to feel pressured to develop a behavior modification plan. During homecoming, think about your expectations as you would when your dog experiences any other new and novel people, dogs, sights, or sounds. Look for calm, safe interactions and the ability to respond to cues. Management using success stations can be extremely helpful. And always, ALWAYS, make sure there is ACTIVE ADULT SUPERVISION anytime your dog and baby are in a room or area together.
Here is another consideration. If you brought the blanket home thinking it can be a quick and easy solution, I encourage you to rethink that. Remember, minimizing stress and practicing safety, is a process, not a quick fix. If you do bring home the blanket and it all goes well with your dog – your dog sniffs it and then ignores it – this could cause you to be less pro-active in managing your home once your baby is there. And, if the blanket sniffing goes bad, that could result in increased stress for you. It could be demoralizing.
Additionally, during a mother’s third trimester, her breasts create scents of amniotic fluid, so your dog has already smelled those ‘new baby scents’. The blanket, on the other hand, may also contain scents from other people and babies, the car, the hospital, and anything else it was in contact with.
In closing, if you would like to bring home your baby blanket for your dog to sniff, go ahead and do it. Just bring it home, lay it down and ignore it. There are many other things you can focus on to help minimize stress and maximize safety during your baby’s homecoming. If you are reading this as an expecting or new parent, don’t hesitate to reach out for support!
