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pellegrina January 29 2012, 16:25:15 UTC
I fundamentally despise people who get rid of dogs because they had a baby.

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parrot_knight January 29 2012, 16:27:01 UTC
I have strong objections to such people too. I'm not sure I'd trust them to be parents.

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bunn January 29 2012, 18:31:09 UTC
An oddity, that - I think dogs are much less work than babies, but since it is not possible to DIY them, the checks are often much more rigorous...

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seasight January 29 2012, 19:39:40 UTC
But what if the dog was being aggressive towards the baby?

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bunn January 29 2012, 19:48:31 UTC
He wasn't.

But if he had been, then retraining and managing a small dog of a breed that learns fast really should not be beyond the wit of two adult human beings. If your family included a toddler that tried to hurt your baby, you would not react to that by demanding a children's charity come and take the toddler away!

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helflaed January 30 2012, 12:28:02 UTC
You wouldn' believe how many people asked us what we were going to do about the cats whilst I was pregnant.

Did we have any problems? No. The cats adapted almost immediately and were much better with the children than vice versa. Before long, one would turn up when I was breasfeeding because he knew I wasn't going anywhere for a while, and he would get a nice long fussing session.

People planning a family need to take everything into account, including what to do about existing pets. Even with unplanned pregnancies there is still usually a period of several months in which to work out how you will deal with the new arrival.

Got a dog which likes nice long walks? Get a sling or all terrain pushchair and take the baby with you. If nothing else, getting out of the house when you are at home with a young baby and cabin fever is a great idea.

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bunn January 30 2012, 14:26:39 UTC
That's what I would have thought (about the dog). And he's really ball-focussed, so if they didn't want to walk miles, they could take dog and baby somewhere and just fling balls, too.

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helflaed January 30 2012, 22:22:26 UTC
Yup. Kid in pushchari, chuck some balls, kid can chuck balls themself when they are older.

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