Preparing your dog for the arrival of a new baby

When my daughter arrived the dog we had at the time (Female Lab-new foundland mix) saw it as her primary job to watch over her from day one. She was super protective. We didnt do a lot of preparations but we did introduce the baby to the dog when she got home from the hospital and took all the usual precautions.

If my daughter was sleeping in the nursery Tessa would lie down right outside the door and if our daughter as much as cried out in her sleep, Tessa would come get us. The same would happen if she slept in her carriage in the garden. Tessa would stay right next to her at all times.

Even as she grew older, Tessa would still know where our daughter was at all times if she was in the house.

They had a special relationsship, unseparable until the day we had to put the dog to sleep because it got cancer and treatments weren't working any more. Tessa was 14 and our daughter was 10 so it was a very sad day.