We’ve got a Westie, who’s 5ish and I’m 9 wks pregnant. Since we found out I’m pregnant he’s been going upstairs and weeing on our bed! Im convinced he is acting out because of this, though my husband disagrees! We had him done within days- he never was before as he was a rescue dog 2 yrs agao and as there was no reason to get him done it seemed unfair to put him through it ‘just because’. This has not prevented his marking upstairs- previously he never went upstairs at all- we had a cat and so had a baby gate for the first few months we got the dog and he just never was interested in going upstairs so we’re putting the baby gate up again, but I would rather be in control of his behaviour than his environment… he’s also a genreally anxious dog and we’ve started a crack down on discipline to reassert his position in the family, but what else can we do to prepare him- I’m worried it’s going to be a choice between the baby and the dog and I don’t want him to have to move again if at all possible.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing any advice you can offer.
Thank you!
speak to your vet he/she should beable to give you some advise
Tags: Westie
maybe there is a medical reason for his behavior. see your vet.
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Dogs adjust pretty well. Mine always have when a kid has come a long.
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speak to your vet he/she should beable to give you some advise
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retrain him put a gate up.but i suggest watching the dog whisperer from America Caesar Milan shows you basic training thats on sky3 trust me take control at the moment the dog is in charge. just watch the dog whisperer it would be hard to explain in type
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Well u should care about both, u should show the dog your baby, but be careful and never leave your baby with the dog, u dont know what the dog will do. let the baby and the dog get to know each other.
one more thing, Congratulations on having a baby
!
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If you never allowed him upstairs before he does not look at the upstairs as part of his home. Dogs will not go to the bathroom where they sleep/live. We had a problem with all four of our dogs once we let them go upstairs again, because they didn’t see it as part of their home. We just make sure they go outside before they are allowed upstairs and under no condition are they allowed on our bed if we are not in the room with them. (one of our females would urinate on our bed, the rest would go potty on the floor) After half an hour of being upstairs we let them back downstairs so they could go outside to go potty again and if they went outside there was TONS of praise. Our dogs no longer use the upstairs as a bathroom and we make sure they go up there often throughout the day so they can see it as part of their living space. I do not think it has anything to do with the fact that you are pregnant. It has to do with the fact that you kept the dog out of that part of the house and he is now not seeing the upstairs as part of the house. It could be the neighbors house with your smells for all he knows. Good Luck!!!
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my aunty had two dogs a german shepherd and a siberian husky, when my aunty was pegnant with ethan, he acted this way aswell, we thought nothing of it, but when the baby was born the husky kept getting in between my aunty and the baby, eventually we got so worried we sent marley ( the husky ) to a farm, but bud ( the german shepherd ) was fine and is still fine with ethan.
in my oipinoin it depends on the dogs personality, amrley didnt like the attention,
you should seek advice from maybe a vet
hope i could help. good luck xx
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Here’s a thought for you … you SMELL different now that you are pregnant and your M Westie recognizes it and is covering the scent as this is what male dogs do. This situation however will become a bad habit if it is allowed to continue so it is wise that you are keeping him away from the bedroom. It is also wise that you are working at re-establishing his pack ranking in the family.
You will also need to teach him to be gentle when he approaches you and you would be wise to get a doll and start doing Mommy stuff, like carrying the doll around and letting him near it only when he is being gentle, and giving him equal attention to that which you give baby.
Get a tape of sound effects that has a baby crying so he will be used to that as well by the time the baby is born and comes home.
Do let him in the Nursery when you get it set up so he gets used to baby smells like talcum powder and baby oil.
Once the baby is born, bring home items the baby has worn so he gets used to baby’s smell before baby comes home.
When you do bring baby home, doggy should be on a leash and controlled by someone other than Mommy. Mommy should sit and hold the baby. Bring doggy up to meet the baby only after he his calm and has been instructed to be gentle.
And of course, there’s the Cardinal Rule: Baby and doggy are NEVER left alone together. There should always be someone supervising the situation when it comes to children and dogs.
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First – the AKC has a good flyer on some preps to make with dog for baby arrival when it is closer to actual baby.
http://www.akc.org/pdfs/public_education/baby_makes_four.pdf
Second – I agree putting up the gate again is a good idea. Returning to some training is a good idea, maybe taking a few obedience type or fun type classes to add an activity with your dog – is a good idea. I’m sure that your thoughts are on the baby and you probably don’t realize the differences in your behaviors but they are there and the dog can sense it. While I am not one to attach human emotion and thought to a dog – I know that if you already had one child and were adding another – you would invest some time to prepare the first child for what was going to be happening. So reassure your anxious dog.
Also take your dog in for a quick vet check to make sure his health status has not changed.
Congratulations and enjoy baby and dog.
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if the weeing upstairs has coincided with him being neutered they may be related. its worth getting him checked by your vet to rule out any medical reason for the behaviour.
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