How to acclimate a Maltese with twin babies?
I'm 33.5 weeks pregnant with twins and need help with training my beloved Maltese to accept our new additions.
Ike, the Maltese, is a very loving dog but has never been around children of any age. We have had a couple of friends over with their kids and he goes crazy. Jumping, barking, licking, all the "bad" behaviors that you don't want to become habits. I don't know how to train him for the arrival of his brother and sister, which is only a few weeks away. Any suggestions?
This will sound strange but a friend of mine had twins and she had a great dane.
Get a baby doll (or two) and start walking around the house with it, put the dog on a lead in the house and keep him with you calmly walking on his lead – Do all the things you will be doing with the real babies, taking softly to the doll and pretending to feed while sitting down etc etc. When you get your stroller put the doll into it and take the dog for a walk on lead next to the stroller to get used to the idea of walking with a stroller.
Is your dog crate trained? if yes, start putting him into it for short periods of time and give him a toy or treat so it isn’t seen as punishment – if not, go and buy a good sized crate and start giving the dog meals in it ans make it his happy place. That way when you need to crate him for short periods of time when the bubs come home he will be used to it already.
When you have had the bubs get your husband/partner to bring home items from the hospital so that the dog can get used to the baby smells.
When you get home with the babies keep the dog on a lead inside the house for the first month and watch it at all times when around the babies. Crate the dog when needed.
Try not to change the dogs routine too much and remember to give him lots of love when you can as he is already a member of your family and was there first
Good Luck with the bubs and getting your Ike ready!
Great to see you asked to question early enough to be able to put in some quality time with his training before problems occur.
you could either 1- find yourself a trainer who can come to your house 2- try it yourself you will have to bring small children in your house a lot because your dog will get used to them being there and treat your dog when he calms down and when he jumps etc you need to ignore him as much as you can this will make him bored and will start to understand that they are not that interesting. The best thing to do would be to get a trainer though.
good luck x