Will you rehome your dog(s) once you have a baby?

Am I planning on it?

No.

Do I judge people who dump their dog at animal control because they have a baby and don't have much more reason than that?

Sure do.

Do I think about the fact that I might have a dog that becomes aggressive towards my baby? Or that I might have a super-high energy dog that needs tons of time, energy, etc. and end up having triplets or a special needs child and the dog would do better in a home that could put more focus on him/her? Or that my baby might be highly allergic to dogs?

Yes.

That means I'd try to train the dog as best as possible to respect the baby, and I'd keep them separate or very closely supervised. But, if I had a large or potentially dangerous small dog who had a vendetta against my baby and wanted to do serious bodily harm, I'd rehome the dog.

Or I'd, if affordable, hire a dog-walker, put the dog in day care if possible, find ways to entertain the dog while I was dealing with my children like interactive toys, get even less sleep in order to exercise the dog, and toss away my new-mom dignity to ask family to help. If in the end, the dog still wasn't getting enough exercise and stimulation and I had no possible way to give them more, I would rehome them.

This means if my child is allergic, the dog will only have limited access to the house, be bathed every few days, we'd get rid of carpets, keep the place cleaner...but if my kid still can't breathe or is breaking out in hives, then yeah, he'd have to go.

We didn't have dogs when our son was born, we too, like Eddie, had cats and never would have thought of to rehome them. We lived in a small apartment with 3 cats and a baby. My sister kept telling me while I was pregnant that I'll feel differently about the love of my cats once the baby was born. I felt the same love for them when the baby came, it's just the love I have for my son was unimaginable...but I still loved and would never get rid of my kitties.

As for dogs, I did want to wait until my son was old enough in order to get them. I always knew I wanted small dogs and was afraid that my son would accidentally hurt them. When he turned 7 I knew how gently he was with our cats and knew he's be great with a small dog.

I agree with this.

there ARE legitimate reasons to rehome pets when it comes to kids.

I will judge those who are just like "well I'm pregnant so you're out" but not everyone who rehomes their pet due to kids does it just because

some people do have a REAL reason

Also... I notice no one is just dying to take Beezer off my hands lol just belle... the GOOD one :rofl1:

Plan to? Of course not. That absurd. I grew up with dogs coming out of the woodwork, including my mother's elderly poodle, who hated me (though she never hurt me).

Would I if there was some really serious problem (serious allergies, major aggression on the part of the dog, etc)? Yes, that's common sense. If nothing else, if the dog and the kid can't live with each other, you can't, as a general rule, rehome the kid.

I have no idea where people get this idea that they have to get rid of the dog when the baby comes . . . its just completely absurd, and all too common. Heck, they often do it without even trying, totally unaware that dogs and babies have coexisted for millennia.

I am not planning on rehoming any of my animals if/when I have a baby.

However, I really, really don't know what I am going to do with both Apollo and Chloe if they are around at that point in time. I'll be 30 when Chloe is 14 and Apollo is 11, so it is possible that they're still with me when I have kids. Both of them are NOT good with children. Chloe is okay with kids, but she has aggression issues and she would SO not tolerate a toddler getting in her bubble. I don't even think I'd be able to have them out together supervised.

But, I figure she would be a senior then and be okay with being gated away from the human baby.

Apollo is a bigger worry. He's only ever met one toddler and he was very, very hesitant around him. Apollo is stupid and likes to attack people, and I could easily see him launching himself at a baby laying on the floor. He doesn't do damage (I think he thinks he's playing...? He does the same thing with the dogs and then they wrestle), but a 12 pound cat with claws and teeth that likes to latch on to legs and chew on shoulders? Nuh uh, not around a baby/toddler of mine.
If he hasn't mellowed out by that time (he is, after all, not even a year old yet) and couldn't be trusted to not hurt a very young child he'd probably go back home to live with Mom. Because you can gate a dog off and keep them separate...you can't gate a cat off.

Junior will be 13 by the time I'm 30, but he's so much like Rush was I have no worries about him around children. I was two when we adopted Rush, and he not only survived me, but twins and another baby girl there after. LOL He was super tolerant and would give off tons of warning before he'd swipe at us - if he scratched us, we deserved it. I loved that cat.

Any future additions will hopefully not have touchy-feely aggression issues like Chloe does, and will be socialized to children and be well adjusted enough that when the day comes, they can accept a new two legged member into the household. (Adult) Labs and Spanish Mastiffs both are typically tolerant gentle with children anyways, so that helps.

What really drives me crazy is when people adopted a puppy, and then six months later want to rehome it because "they have a new baby". WTF? You obviously new you were pregnant when you adopted the puppy. Why in the world would you get a puppy knowing you wouldn't want it around when the baby is born?

some people think you're just supposed to get rid of your dog when you have a baby.

The same way some people think if a dog kills a cat it's going to turn on their children next.

The same way most people think rubbing your puppy's nose in it's pee will make it housebroken.

The same way people think it's normal to give your older dog up because you want a puppy again.

The same way people think that if they adopt a 5 month old lab puppy and it knocks down their 3 year old and scratches it, there's something wrong with the puppy and they should bring it back to the shelter and go to the petstore because those puppies don't have anything wrong with them.

I guess it's good to know that my mom isn't the only one that does this. Of course she also starts asking me questions like "Is Matt ok with it? Did you talk about it? He doesn't like dogs as much as you do you know!" Gah. Mothers are so annoying sometimes. :lol-sign: And ftr Matt does like dogs as much as me....he's just not into training and he's a giant pushover so the dogs always get their way with him LOL.

During the 9 months I was pregnant with Katie, I did receive many "suggestions" from friends & family members about rehoming the 3Ms. A few people actually asked me if they can have them lol. My answer was always "Thanks but no thanks. The 3Ms will not be going anywhere." Eventually, they all got tired and dropped the subject.

I admit that since having Katie, I didn't have as much time to spend with the dogs as I did before & now that Katie's crawling, when she's on the floor, the 3Ms will have to go somewhere else (mostly, they retreat to their room). The reason is because they're at the same level, and the 3Ms will "attack" Katie with kisses, plus when they circle around her, their tails sweep accross her face & got in her eyes! She didn't really like it

Aside from that, Katie LOVES the 3Ms. No one can make her laugh harder than the dogs. Katie's favorite game right now is chasing Missy with her walker & laughing like mad the entire time. Only Missy enjoys this game, Mocha & Muffin will run away the minute they see me put Katie in her walker lol

I think it is a lot easier to have dogs, then baby than the other way around. If I hadn't already have the 3Ms, I don't think I'd go out of my way to get 3 dogs now that I have an infant at home.

I love the 3Ms. Still do with all my heart.. but having a baby does change your priority A LOT. They are now second to Katie, in every aspects.

"Probably not" but I definitely care.

If my kid is allergic and medication won't help, I'm not going to have my kid feeling like they have a cold whenever they're in the house.

If I feel the dog is a risk to the baby then I'm not keeping the dog.

But as far as "no time" or "the dog/cat will smother the baby" or anything like that... of course not.

As to what I'd do with the dog if the kid is allergic, well it depends. If I'm living in an apartment or on city lot, the dog would have to be rehomed. If I'm on a farm, then I would see how the dog adapts to living outside.

I know some people are against outside dogs no matter what, but I've seen outside dogs on farms that have other dogs to play and snuggle with, vermin to hunt and keep them occupied, acres to run around, outbuildings to explore/hunt in... and they seem happy. So that's what I'd do.

Ditto ^^

Call me crazy. But when Darien was three months old I adopted a three month old JRT pup! (their birthday's were one day apart) They were awesome together! So umm no

(I miss Toby.. he was hit by a car)

Mmmm....taters. Ewwwww....babies.

I'm not having kids, but if I was...nope. No way, no how.

This probably has to do with how my mom raised us. Her cats were here before us, so we had to adjust to them rather than the other way around.

Before everyone says how my mom was a horrible parent, it obviously didn't hurt or traumatize us, as we've carried over the same mindset I honestly think that's why I think of my pets as my equals, because that what we were always taught. If the cats hissed or swatted at us, it was because we were doing something wrong, and we were the ones who got in trouble, not them.

Of course, my family is the rare, insane minority, and I'm not expecting anyone on here to agree

I've been trying to get rid of Middie for a while now (with no takers), but thanks to this thread I've figured out how.

I'm going to get pregnant! And insist that I have to get rid of him! IT WILL BE PERFECT.

The only problem I see with this plan is that I'd have a spare fetus laying around. Not sure what I'd want to do with that. Maybe Christopher Reeve would want it.

What about a spiritual pregnancy? I mean if it's anything like Spiritual Marriage, it's pretty much the real thing! Except with no fetus laying around.

BWAHAHAHA! You guys just made my day a little bit better.

The problem with spiritual pregnancies is that people will judge me and belittle me because they wont believe that my pregnancy is real. I just don't think I can handle that.

Just shove a balloon under your shirt... Or work on a food baby.

You could go steal one of the prego harnesses from the maternity store models!

Bwahahaa.

Are you suggesting I eat my own baby?

:yikes:

Wait a second. I guess they might be good with ketchup. . .