How to Prepare for Different Phases of Life with Your Family Pet: Advice from a Pet Behavior Expert

Welcoming a new baby to the family can be an exciting (albeit stressful) phase of life. When you add a dog to the mix, these already overwhelming changes can be even more difficult to manage. In this lecture, we’ll talk about how to safely manage your dogs while you or your partner is pregnant, preparing dogs for a new baby (including ideas for setting up your home), how to set up your dog for success when baby comes home, and how to realistically manage the “fourth trimester’ – those first three wild months postpartum – with baby and dogs. Your class instructor has been through this phase of life twice in the last two years, so you’ll be getting a truly realistic view into what life looks like with dogs and a baby, and how to set up your entire family for success.

Children of all ages can participate in the care and training of the family dog. In this class, we’ll go over specific age-appropriate activities and exercises that toddlers, older children, and teenagers can do with their dogs. Using these tools, you’ll be able to strengthen the bond between your children and your dogs and help ensure that your kids know how to interact safely with dogs. We’ll talk extensively about dog bite prevention and how to read your dog’s body language to prevent aggression.

The process of acquiring a new dog should begin well before the dog enters your home. In this class, we’ll talk about different breeds and how to determine which breed/breed mixes might be a good fit for your lifestyle and family. We’ll also talk about how to select the right breeder or rescue, how to choose a puppy from a litter, and red flags to look out for when looking at dogs and puppies. We’ll also give you our professional secrets on how to best handle those first few weeks with a new dog, the most important things to work on with your new dog, and how to prevent behavior problems from developing.