[Dailydrool] Preparing a basset for a new baby

[Lindsay Cravens]

Hello Droolers!

I've been on the drool for over a year now and this is the first time  
that I have posted (I hope this works).  My husband and I have a  
basset named Barney.  We adopted him last January and according to  
their estimates, he should be around 4 1/2.  He's been a great  
addition to our household.  He's loveable, goofy and pretty gentle.   
We take him on walks twice a day for 30-45 minutes and he loves doing  
the basset 500 around our house.

Well, the point of this post is to ask for advice - we are expecting  
our first baby in Sept. and were trying to figure out ways to prepare  
Barney for the new two-legger.  I don't think he'll be aggressive  
towards it, but I worry because he is very used to being the center  
of our little world.  We know that we won't have as much time or  
energy for him as we do now (especially when it comes to the routine  
walks in the morning and evening), so I'm worried that he will become  
jealous and start acting out.  Or that the baby's crying will somehow  
affect him in a negative way.  Since he is adopted, we have no idea  
what type of living situation he was in before and whether or not he  
had little ones around his previous house.

There are two specific things that worry me about the new situation.   
One, whenever we get visitors, he gets really excited and barks his  
noggin off.  Both when they arrive and when they leave.  I don't  
think that he's being territorial (especially because he barks when  
he thinks our company is leaving).  I just think he gets excited.  He  
doesn't bark at all however, whenever my husband and I leave or  
arrive.  Soon, there will be a lot more people over at our house, so  
how can we curb as much of the barking as we possibly can?

The second thing that worries me is that he also sometimes tugs/chews  
on socks and other fabrics if they are left out.  How do we keep him  
from doing this to our baby's booties or mittens (and possibly the  
little foot or hand inside of it)?  When he does this now, we correct  
him and take it away, but I'm hoping to prevent him from even getting  
to that point with our little baby.

I know that we aren't going to be able to "train" all of these traits  
out of him - we've had him long enough to know about Basset  
stubborness.  We're just hoping for a few tips that we can try out  
before the baby comes to better prepare him for sharing a house and  
parents with someone new.  We already plan on bringing something home  
of the baby's from the hospital to get him used to its' scent and we  
don't ever plan on letting them be alone in the same room together.   
Any other ideas or tips?

Thanks for your advice!

Lindsay, momma to Barney

http://www.dogster.com/dogs/488193


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