Never heard of it, but it can't hurt. I know my dogs would never fall for it, though.

Sounds like a good idea.

I've heard of the blanket part--in fact, my DS and DIL plan to do this with their cats. I hadn't heard about carrying the doll, though. And these days moms and babies don't spend much time in the hospital.

We had three dogs when our first baby was born. I got them used to the idea by having a long talk with them at 5:00 a.m. when I went into labor. :-)

the kids have friend who has this huge dog ..they went all the way to penn, (from mi) for training it...new baby for them, too...

i let my cats explore everything before we brought home dd1..they jumped in the crib. ect...only took 5 mins of her crying when we got home, they never went near her bed again...lol...

The doll will smell like plastic, not like a baby. Dogs' noses are far more sensitive than we give them credit for.

It can't hurt, but I doubt it will help.

Interesting! I would have never thought of it, but it makes sense - thanks very much.

When DD & SIL brought DGS home, they laid a blanket and the car seat on the floor for the 3 cats and 2 dogs to smell them. They made sure for the first couple of days that whenever one of the animals was near the baby, there was one of them with the pet and one with the baby. I was there for the first 2 weeks, I am a cat person and still don't trust the dogs with the baby (now almost 5 months old! LOL). They have all been really good with Jackson and only once was one of the cats caught in the crib...but they made it almost impossible for that to happen again.

I don't remember having to acclimate my dog when bringing home our first baby. I knew she sniffed at it but didn't seem upset at all. My MIL knew we had a cat abd said I must give the cat away, because cats will smell the milk on babies breath and kill them. Not so. The cat was my pal, had absolutely no interest in the baby. As long as I fed and petted and brushed her and gave her a little attention, she was cool with a baby in the house. And when my daughter got a little older, I would put her outdoors in the back yard and let the dog out with her. The dog guarded her and let me know by barking if anyone else came around.

Most of the fears of animals with babies is utter nonsense. The idea of a blanket, towel or whatever rubbed on the baby, possibly also on one of the parents might be OK but animals will know the difference between a baby and a doll so that part doesn't make any sense.

Animals sense change and some don't like it. They'll all react differently to change too. Some will run and hide, some will investigate. Keep their food and water dishes full, their outdoor/litter box routine consistent and you'll go a long way toward having a happy pet.

Could be the breed also. When my grandkids came to visit the first time we put the Husky in the back yard, then let him come in for awhile, but ended putting him in the kennels. He did show some aggression. Not worth taking a chance. My DD had a German Shepard/Rottweiler mix and she was excellent with a new baby and oh so protective with the family. I don't know if they did anything special or not, but he was about 10 months old when GD was born.
You might check on the Pet forum also

Just a thought, allow one dog at a time around the new one. We just had a real bad case here involving 3 dogs who attacked the baby sitter. One yes, 3 are a "pack", no matter how well you think you know them.

I think the dog will sense the parents apprehension if anything. I wasn't apprehensive at all when I brought my youngest son home and we had a two year old Irish Setter. Frankly the dog wasn't that interested. If they continue to give plenty of attention to the dog just as one would other children if they have them, the dog or the other children won't feel displaced.

We didn't acclimate the dog to our DD before we brought her home and he did fine. This was the dog everyone was afraid of, yet never in the 10+ years we had him after our DD was born, he never once hurt or acted aggressively towards her. He knew instinctively that she belonged to out family.

Doing the blanket thing makes good "scents". The lady that my daughter bought my "Christmas" doxie from sent home a blanket that had been rubbed all over her litter mates and mama to be sent home and not to be washed for awhile. The breeder said it would comfort my puppy for awhile. I guess it did. Along with an alarm clock and that blanket she was perfectly satisfied that nite in our home.
Walking around with a plastic doll, I cannot see much of that working, but if you think it is worth a try, do it. Anything to help with the adjustment is worth a try. Right?

The only thing my sister did many, many years ago when she brought her firstborn home was to put him on the floor (she was right next to him) and let the dog sniff him, investigate a bit. A minute or two, that's all it took for the dog to get acclimated to him, realize he's a human and probably there to stay! No problems whatsoever from then on. This dog (a female) was very protective of the boy, I recall, when I took my nephew out in the carriage for a walk. The dog walked right in front of us, and if I stopped to adjust a blanket or something, the dog came back to us and was very concerned! But cairn terriers are very smart, protective dogs anyway!

Well, I only had a dog when I had my 2 kids years and years ago. This is what we did and it worked very well. He was a black lab mix dog.

I came in with baby, he was itching to see what I had. Sat down on the sofa with the baby, DH was right next to the dog and talked to him the whole time. I took off the blanket and pulled up the baby bunting I brought him home in so his legs were bare. We then told the dog to be gentle, he knew what that meant and he sniffed the baby all over the legs and blanket and licked him a little too. He was very calm about it and very gentle. After that all was fine. My MIL was with us as this was the first grandchild for her and she was appalled. She thought we were crazy to let the dog sniff and slobber all over the baby, but we washed off the baby and that was that. They were best buds after that. When the baby lay on the floor the dog wouldn't lay on the blanket but near by and would watch him. All very calm. Was very protective of him. Did the same thing 3 years later when we brought home DD. Same thing, never worried about the dog with the kids. When the kids were a bit older, around 4 months or so, I never worried about leaving them alone together. The kids learned to roll over and walk by pulling up on the dog. If he had enough of them, he walked away. Never growled, never snapped. NEVER. Could be just our dog though.

Didn't have cats till all the kids were out of the house. Just worked out that way.

I have heard of it but don't know that it would make a lot of difference one way or the other.If it eases your mind then why not.
We had dogs and cats when all of our kids were babies and they all seemed to adjust to the new presence in the house.Never had one to snap or bite.Cat's never bothered them either.One cat liked to curl up in the crib but only when the baby wasn't in there.Dog were never allowed to lick the little ones(or anyone for that matter)on the face.In fact I have never allowed my dogs to lick.If any of them acted inappropriately around little ones they were reprimanded and removed from the room.They soon learned what they could do and what they were not allowed to do.I would never allow the dog to be in the same room alone with a baby.I think a lot depends on the temperament of the dog as well.Many people spoil their pets and treat them like children so I could see a possible problem in that case.
We have a big dog here.She is a Boxer/Dalmatian mix and weighs about 70 lbs. They got her when she was 4 months old and she had obviously been abused at some point.She was a little babied by DIL and DS for 2 years before the twins arrived and I was a little nervous about how she would react to a baby in the house,much less 2! LOL She sniffed and licked and was very aware of new sounds and such but never showed anything but love for these babies.They love her to death and she loves them and is very protective of them when strangers are around.They can do just about anything to her and she just sits there like if she ignores them they will go away.LOL The only problem she has is that killer tail! When she wags it they had better get out of the way.LOL

DS brought home a blanket with the baby's scent on it for their boxers to smell the day before Mom and Baby came home. I don't know that it helped, but it didn't hurt.

Our first Westie was completely tolerant (even indulgent) of our DS as an infant and throughout the crawling stage. Once DS started walking, the dog would give a warning Grrr when at his limits and would retreat to under our bed. I've seen the same behaviors from our present Westie with our DGS. However this dog steals socks -- DH's out of the laundry and the baby's off his feet (very *carefully*).

Hi Chisue,

I never heard of a Westie/collie ... herding ... socks!

Well ... they're soundless, at least ... not like sheep or cows, that let you in on their opinions.

Something new every day: it's a poor day that one doesn't learn something!

ole joyful