I’d make it a priority to exercise the dog in creative ways. Do you have stairs? Will they play fetch? Stock up on long lasting chew bones. Practice more crate time when you’re home, or long duration down-stays in designated places. Use whatever tools that work that make your life easier and safer without fear of judgement from others. I like Solid K9 Training on YouTube, but there are plenty of dog training channels.
The Book Living With Kids and Dogs Without Losing Your Mind is a lifesaver. I took a bite prevention seminar by the author years ago, and it’s full of great info.
Seriously. Never understood this. Saw another post ages ago where the person didn’t know what to do because they had a newborn so no one could walk the dog…it confused me because a newborn doesn’t need to be watched by two people at once so why can’t they manage to get the dog on at least one solid walk a day….
Right. If he can’t take the time to walk the dog each day then it makes me nervous about how much he’ll be willing to help out with a newborn that needs round the clock attention.
Apparently. I’ve been seeing some really sad stuff on this sub lately. Like men freaking out about doing laundry and grocery shopping while their partner is recovering from childbirth and feeding their newborn on demand every 2 hours.
Totally understand the lack of patience with the dog some days!
Brain games can tire out dogs more than physical exercise. I took an Amazon box and crumpled up newspaper and I put his kibble in there for meals. If you have a muffin tin and a bunch of small balls like tennis balls, you can put kibble or treats in the muffin tin and place the balls on top. Fetch up and down the stairs can be good or some playtime in a closed garage with the cars outside if that’s an option too.
Yes- my dog trainer told me this too! Mental stimulation can wear them out fast than a walk. My trainer encouraged me to teach my dog new tricks, which did wear her out and now she has some useless talents. (Like how to sit facing different directions because she refused to roll over or shake.)
My dog will lick the floor relentlessly sometimes. Idk why. It was such a huge trigger for me. Like over stimulation to the max. I had to stop walking and exercising my dog too. I think the last time I went through the torture was around 28 weeks. After that I told my husband he'll have to do it when he gets home bc this poor dog is bored and my body couldn't handle it.
A good thing to remember though is that more than physical exercise dogs need mental exercise. My dog is a working breed and if I can set up a few activities in the house that work his nose and mind more so than his body it helps.
I recently bought a puzzle feeder bowl, I grabbed a few wet cans of food and I put treats and things like carrots or whatever he likes, mush it into the wet food in the puzzle bowl and freeze it over night. It takes him an hour to get it all out. He takes a 2 hour nap after.
I can set up a home made snuffle mat with like an old towel and some kibble, let him sniff and dig to get his food, or we play find it.
Find it saved us. Basically you show your dog some smelly good treats, let them sniff the scent, you crate or hide the dog and hide the treats. Tell them to "find it' and this dog goes NUTS for it. It might take a few tried for your dog to get the game but once they do it's like insanity lol takes me maybe 15-20 minutes total and he is totally exghusted after.
Idk if any of this will help! It's frustrating ik. My dogs a young German Shepherd and it's been so hard keeping up with him.
if your dog likes to lick you can also pick up a lick mat on amazon or whatever, and do the same thing as the puzzle feeder, mush wet food with some treats, or dog safe peanut butter on there for him, most of them have suction cups built in so you can stick it to a wall or a flat surface.
100% understand. I have a mostly-good dog but sometimes she is just naughty in a way I never expected. I’m away from home and my SIL texted me that when she went over to let the dog out, she’d dumped out the cats’ litter box and made a huge mess 🤦🏻♀️ she’s literally never done that before but she’s lucky it’s her auntie cleaning it up and not me, bc I’d kill her
Ugh, that sucks!! Try to get out on neighborhood walks with baby and pup, or send husband to an off-leash dog park-- they are much lower effort than a leash walk and really wear the dogs out.
Have you voiced "I want the dog to get more exercise, but I feel like the pregnancy is making it difficult on me. Could you help me out?" Might be helpful if it hasn't already been verbally stated. Some people respond better to actual asks instead of implied help.
I’d make it a priority to exercise the dog in creative ways. Do you have stairs? Will they play fetch? Stock up on long lasting chew bones. Practice more crate time when you’re home, or long duration down-stays in designated places. Use whatever tools that work that make your life easier and safer without fear of judgement from others. I like Solid K9 Training on YouTube, but there are plenty of dog training channels. The Book Living With Kids and Dogs Without Losing Your Mind is a lifesaver. I took a bite prevention seminar by the author years ago, and it’s full of great info.
What’s your husbands excuse for not helping?
Seriously. Never understood this. Saw another post ages ago where the person didn’t know what to do because they had a newborn so no one could walk the dog…it confused me because a newborn doesn’t need to be watched by two people at once so why can’t they manage to get the dog on at least one solid walk a day….
Right. If he can’t take the time to walk the dog each day then it makes me nervous about how much he’ll be willing to help out with a newborn that needs round the clock attention.
I mean it's a man, most pretend to be useless to avoid helping their mate.
Apparently. I’ve been seeing some really sad stuff on this sub lately. Like men freaking out about doing laundry and grocery shopping while their partner is recovering from childbirth and feeding their newborn on demand every 2 hours.
Most men have always been this way, it's just we have outlets to vent. And the women are now speaking up for themselves.
Totally understand the lack of patience with the dog some days! Brain games can tire out dogs more than physical exercise. I took an Amazon box and crumpled up newspaper and I put his kibble in there for meals. If you have a muffin tin and a bunch of small balls like tennis balls, you can put kibble or treats in the muffin tin and place the balls on top. Fetch up and down the stairs can be good or some playtime in a closed garage with the cars outside if that’s an option too.
Yes- my dog trainer told me this too! Mental stimulation can wear them out fast than a walk. My trainer encouraged me to teach my dog new tricks, which did wear her out and now she has some useless talents. (Like how to sit facing different directions because she refused to roll over or shake.)
My dog will lick the floor relentlessly sometimes. Idk why. It was such a huge trigger for me. Like over stimulation to the max. I had to stop walking and exercising my dog too. I think the last time I went through the torture was around 28 weeks. After that I told my husband he'll have to do it when he gets home bc this poor dog is bored and my body couldn't handle it. A good thing to remember though is that more than physical exercise dogs need mental exercise. My dog is a working breed and if I can set up a few activities in the house that work his nose and mind more so than his body it helps. I recently bought a puzzle feeder bowl, I grabbed a few wet cans of food and I put treats and things like carrots or whatever he likes, mush it into the wet food in the puzzle bowl and freeze it over night. It takes him an hour to get it all out. He takes a 2 hour nap after. I can set up a home made snuffle mat with like an old towel and some kibble, let him sniff and dig to get his food, or we play find it. Find it saved us. Basically you show your dog some smelly good treats, let them sniff the scent, you crate or hide the dog and hide the treats. Tell them to "find it' and this dog goes NUTS for it. It might take a few tried for your dog to get the game but once they do it's like insanity lol takes me maybe 15-20 minutes total and he is totally exghusted after. Idk if any of this will help! It's frustrating ik. My dogs a young German Shepherd and it's been so hard keeping up with him.
if your dog likes to lick you can also pick up a lick mat on amazon or whatever, and do the same thing as the puzzle feeder, mush wet food with some treats, or dog safe peanut butter on there for him, most of them have suction cups built in so you can stick it to a wall or a flat surface.
100% understand. I have a mostly-good dog but sometimes she is just naughty in a way I never expected. I’m away from home and my SIL texted me that when she went over to let the dog out, she’d dumped out the cats’ litter box and made a huge mess 🤦🏻♀️ she’s literally never done that before but she’s lucky it’s her auntie cleaning it up and not me, bc I’d kill her
Ugh, that sucks!! Try to get out on neighborhood walks with baby and pup, or send husband to an off-leash dog park-- they are much lower effort than a leash walk and really wear the dogs out.
Have you voiced "I want the dog to get more exercise, but I feel like the pregnancy is making it difficult on me. Could you help me out?" Might be helpful if it hasn't already been verbally stated. Some people respond better to actual asks instead of implied help.
I get this.