Need advice… dog and baby related

SMammers816

Member
Nov 28, 2014
74
1
Pennsylvania
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Gunner, Cooper
Hi all… I’m a new first time mom to a 4 week old baby boy. I have two bullies - one is 8 (Gunner) and the other is 3 (Cooper). We are having some real issues with Cooper. When we brought baby home, Cooper immediately started jump and lungeing at me or my husband if we had baby in our arms. He would bark if baby started crying. I immediately called my vet and they prescribed trazadone (sp?) and he has been on it for a month. The jumping and lunging has stopped, but the barking is next level and I think Cooper is now used to the anxiety medication. Unfortunately I have been blessed with a colicky baby so he cries a lot and every time Cooper goes crazy with the barking. We brought in a trainer to do weekly sessions with him and I thought it was going well but we just can’t deal with the barking. We have tired long walks (when it’s not so crazy hot out), stimulation toys like treat calls, kings stuffed with food and licky mats. We are at a point where I’m always upstairs with the baby and Cooper is downstairs. My husband is starting to get resentful towards Cooper and I can’t say I don’t fully blame him… I’m slowly starting to feel that way too. He is suggesting a barking shock collar or us looking into rehoming him. Neither of which I want to do, but we just cannot live like this much longer. I love my dogs beyond imagination, but this baby comes first. As I said we are first time parents that are sleep deprived at the moment and something’s got to give. I was wondering if anyone had similar experiences with a baby? HELP!!!!
 

benny

Well-known member
Staff member
Jan 9, 2022
510
787
Country
united states
Bulldog(s) Names
millie vanilly, beth anne (guest member)
I had a Jack Russell many, many years ago that would bark non-stop, and it was causing an issue with our landlord. we tried a shock collar and all that did was terrify her to the point she would go tail between the legs and shiver when it was on her. The problem with the shock collar is that it was based on vibration, and things other than barking would cause enough vibration from time to time that it would go off. We eventually threw the collar out and moved. I realize you can't just move your way out of this situation...

More recently, but also many years ago when my daughter was born, my 6yr old bulldog started showing aggression. This actually started before she was born, after being attacked on a walk, but was only towards other animals until close to when the baby was born. When the baby was around 6 months old the bulldog lunged at her. The lunging made the decision very simple - I called the breeder up and arranged a time later that day to drop her off. We had an agreement when we purchased the dog that if anything would happen where we would be giving up ownership of the dog, we would first ask the breeder to take her, and the breeder did. I never saw that dog again, and it didn't affect me like the loss of other dogs has - I think that had something to do with parental instincts.

I realize neither of those stories are the same as the situation you are in, but maybe they provide some info to go by. Most of the time giving up our beloved pets is a near impossible decision to make. I wish you the best
 

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