Customer Reviews

And Baby Makes Four: A Trimester-By-Trimester Guide to a Baby-Friendly Dog

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We have two large dogs that live in the house and we're expecting our first child in a few months. I was a little concerned about how to help our dogs adjust to the new arrival. I bought this book with high hopes. It is not bad, but the suggestions are very basic and I didn't agree with all of the suggestions. The author says you should not let your dogs sleep in the bedroom with you and, if they are accustomed to sleeping there now, you should move them out before the baby arrives. It seems like this would just further upset a dog who has been used to sleeping nearby all its life. Our dogs sleep in their crates in our room at night and I see no need to change that arrangement once the baby arrives. The book also includes a large section on basic obedience commands. This is useful if you have never done obedience training, but we've taken our dogs through advanced obedience training and this part was completely unnecessary. I really wanted more tips on how to handle the inevitable baby-dog dilemmas (dogs taking baby's food, dogs licking baby's face, etc.) but I didn't really find the tips I was looking for.

Written by dog behavior specialist Penny-Scott Fox, And Baby Makes Four: A Trimester-by-Trimester Guide to a Baby-Friendly Dog is a practical, easy-to-use guide to dog training written especially for expectant parents. The first trimester covers a health check and status reduction program; after ensuring that one's dog is healthy, one must acclimate the dog to accepting a lower rank in the family and not getting its own way - not sleeping in the human bedroom, not feeding the dog before anyone else in the house, teaching him to respond to commands always, and not just when he feels like it, etc. The second trimester involves professional training if needed, teaching the dog not to destroy or bury baby toys, desensitizing the dog to baby sounds, and modifying problem behavior, particularly aggression, jumping up, or fear of strangers. The third trimester involves acclimating the dog to baby smells, leash training, and jumbling the dog's routine so that it doesn't expect or demand to be fed/walked/etc. on a precisely specific schedule (a schedule that the coming of a new baby will be likely to sporadically mix up). Written in plain terms, with professional techniques spelled out in easy-to-follow steps, And Baby Makes Four is a "must-have" for any dog owners who plan on becoming parents.

As a small animal veterinarian who has a passionate interest in companion animal behavior, I didn't want to assume that I already knew everything I needed to know about preparing my dogs for the arrival of my first baby, but after reading this book, I guess I feel like I'm doing everything the way I should. The information is practical, common-sense, and easy to apply. Also very important!! I think the author covers all the main points well. Might be nice if it included a CD of baby sounds, but I already bought one from Dogwise:
<a href="http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB865"> Sounds Good CD - Babies</A> by Terry Ryan.

A simple google search turns up the same information for the most part. Like another poster I found the suggestions very basic, and not worth it for a dog who is already obiedent (for the most part). And the moving the dog out of the bedroom completely seems extreme - I get the no sleeping on the bed, but out of the room seems excessive.

This book is very easy to read and follow along with the train of thought. Guidelines are basic for getting your dog used to the idea of a new baby. I think it needs to be a good start for dog owners and not the only book on the subject that they consult and I should agree that consulting a professional should always happen first and continue if a problem behavior is noted or the dog owners are especially nervous about dealing with dog and baby.

This book is short and sweet, provides cute pictures and stories, and most importantly, provides basic, easy to understand activities you can do with your dog to prepare him or her for your new baby.

I was concerned about the reaction of the dog to my baby. Ofcourse, the baby would win in a contest between the dog and the child but I didn't want to have to give up my dog of 5 years; one that had helped me through my fair share of ups and downs over the years. I wanted out threesome family to become a foursome and as the name suggests, this book actually did make life a little easier!

There were some invaluable tips in this book that actually helped me to introduce my dog to my new baby, as our dog behaved rather well with our new addition. I had heard so many scare stories on the internet about dogs rejecting new babies and worse so the first thing I did when I found out I was pregnant was to buy this book. And boy, am I glad that I did! The only drawback that I did find about this book was that alot of the tips and hints that it came up with were fairly common sense and basic in nature but as an expectant mother - any little bit helps!

In almost all of our group training classes we have young couples that are expecting. This book is simple and practical and makes 'preparing' their dog very achievable without a great deal of extra time.

And Baby Makes Four is a great book for expecting parents who have 4 legged children living at their house. It is an easy to follow book with practical recommendations for preparing your dog for baby's presence. Most training can be easily implemented into your daily routine with a few simple changes (changing when you feed your dog or changing expectations of your dog). It also include advice about cats. I feel more confident about the exciting day when my baby meets my dog and cat.

This book gives excellent, clear instruction on how to prepare your fur-kids for the new baby. I didn't get it until my 3rd trimester, but it's still working tremendously well. I highly recommend it!