Our dog Oliver is a huge part of our lives. We got him as a little puppy soon after Lauren and I moved in together. He learned to swim chasing ducks on the Ohio River. He went to puppy training classes and passed with flying colors. He scares the evil mailman away on a daily basis. He’s super loyal and loved as much as any dog has ever been loved. You can tell we’re serious dog people, right?

But with a baby on the way, an expectant parent has serious questions. Will Oliver get along with the baby? How will he transition to being the #2 adorable creature in the household? Can he handle less activity/attention?

But really, the only question is: What can we do to ensure Ollie loves our future child?

So we’ve come up with a 5 point plan.

As an avid Casey Neistat fan, I distinctly remember watching his daily Vlog and finding out that they had to give up their family dog due to of aggression related to their newborn. I’m not judging them, and I totally understand why, but I really dont want to be in that situation. It’s just sad.

So, I’ve done a decent amount of research so far on the topic. Naturally, my first stop was the library. Good Dog Happy Baby (GDHB) was my introduction into what’s commonly called Dominance Training. If you’re not familiar with this term, consider yourself lucky. It’s like obedience training, but no fun for anyone. At first GDHB felt like ‘Treat your Dog like Garbage’ 101. I had to remind myself that getting rid of your dog is still worse than putting him through training. So we struggled forward, uncomfortably.

It wasn’t going well. Lauren didn’t really buy the whole dominance thing. Ollie and I recently took a routine trip to his vet, where I asked Dr. Neltner his thoughts on how to train your dog for a new baby. He doubled down on some of the dominance training tactics I had learned from GDHB and gave me some more specific advice. For some reason, it just felt better coming from him than it did from a book. After discussing with Lauren, we’ve come up with our grand master plan!

The Grand Master Plan: Dominance Edition

Command

Ollie needs reminders that we are in control AKA dominant. This means more consistent obedience commands for him. Some of this we already do (waiting for ‘OK’ before eating). What we’re adding are things that probably should be in place for any dog: Making him wait to follow us through doorways, stairs, hallways. Making him sit before petting. Long down stays. He’s a good dog, this stuff really hasn’t been bad.

Ignore

This one is the hardest. We have to pay less attention to the big guy. He needs to get used to being ignored because that is exactly what is going to happen to him when the baby comes. But Dr. Neltner also advised us to give him 15-30 minutes of daily intense attention, and continue this after the baby comes. This fits perfectly with my goal to walk him every day, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Smells

We’ve heard this one before, but we need to let Ollie get used to new smells. I’ve heard people say to bring home the baby blanket first and let the dog smell it. Dr. Nelter advised starting earlier. Open up diapers for him. Put baby powder on tissue and leave them around the house. Keeping smells somewhat consistent will lower stress levels for the boy when the baby comes.

Response to Aggression

When/if Ollie elicits aggressive behavior that we dont like, he needs to be put in his place. At the very minimum he should be made to respond to a down stay command immediately and sternly. But if behavior continues, we’ll have to experiment with water/bitter sprays. I want to avoid physical punishment unless all other options are exhausted.

Child Interaction

This is purely from Dr. Neltner, but Lauren and I both love the idea. Once the baby starts eating solid foods, sitting in a high chair, Oliver will have a new best friend. All the food scraps and licks he’s going to get he’ll love. Let him do it! I don’t think it’s standard advice, but Dr. Neltner encourages letting Oliver eat scraps from the child. For the first time, an interactive bond starts to form.

It’s going to be a lot of work/stress, but at the end of the day, I know that it’ll pay off in the end. Oliver is gonna do just fine.