in December 2022 Babies 🇺🇸

I started hating my dog after having a baby

I know this is controversial but I just need to vent because it’s affecting my relationship with my partner. I have a 4 month old boy and an 8 year old dog that we’ve had for 5 years. Before my baby was born, I loved my dog very much. Whenever people talked about their kids, I would talk about her like she was my child. But I started feeling differently about her once I became pregnant and those feelings became more negative shortly after giving birth. She was always an anxious dog so she would bark and lunge at other dogs during walks, and she’s very strong so walking her is not pleasant at all. Despite all that, I still loved her. Now that I have a baby, having her around has been annoying. Granted, my partner does everything for her - the walking and feeding. But her barking has been frustrating, especially when I have such a difficult time getting my baby to sleep with hours of holding him in the dark, only to be undone by her barking. And we recently purchased a $200 rug that my partner insisted we get for the kitchen. Not long after putting it down, the dog (who is supposed to be house-trained) started peeing all over it. It’s one of those stain resistant rugs so you can’t see the pee without a UV light. My partner couldn’t smell anything but I could. Because he couldn’t smell it, he kept saying he didn’t believe me, which offended me. With all the barking and treating our house like it’s her bathroom, I just want to get rid of her. But my partner is appalled by how I’m feeling. I just keep picturing my baby learning to walk and crawl with dog pee everywhere and it frustrates me. I wonder if this feeling of resentment for my dog is just a postpartum thing that’s temporary or if it’s permanent. But this has become a point of contention, where I feel like having this dog prevents me from making a perfect, safe home for my baby. It also doesn’t help that my partner keeps calling my baby a mistake and resents him for being demanding. So I don’t know- now I’m wondering where our relationship is going, especially since he proposed to me last summer but we don’t have a wedding date set, which is why it feels weird to call him my fiancé. It also feels weird that he’s siding with the dog and calls our baby a mistake. But I digress- I just want the dog to stop barking while the baby is sleeping and stop peeing inside the house 😭

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I totally understand! At the end of my pregnancy I was just really annoyed with my dogs all the time. Since having my baby I just am annoyed with every little thing with them, I find dog hair on my daughter and her toys all the time and it makes me so mad. We are in an apartment and they wrestle in the living room while my baby is laying down and jump around. When she’s sleeping they are making loud playing noises and knocking into things making a mess and waking her up. I am so over it and keep telling my boyfriend I want to get rid of them.

So hard dealing with a dog while having a baby - our girl is such a barker, and it always seems like just when I put the baby to bed she’ll start barking over something. We taught her the command “no barking”, where when she starts to bark we would crate train for fifteen minutes, until she got the hint and it’s helped immensely. What I would say is that this is a huge transition for your dog as well, and you’re the only mommy he knows. This craziness will pass, and your baby is going to have so much fun growing up with his fur baby. Patience mama, look up techniques for training a dog to not bark, and give it a go. Know that this will pass - you’re just exhausted. We’re all trying our best, and it’s okay to feel your feelings.

Girl it’s been rough and I also have felt the same way you do. For months I didn’t care about my dog but my mom and husband s convinced me that one day I will wake up and regret it and it will past. Plus we are getting her trained. Things should get better soon , so hang in there!

I can't read all of that at the moment but I wanted to comment on here that way I don't lose your post and will be reading it soon. I did however kind of scroll through and I seen something about your dog peeing I have a similar situation with my cat who I know hate since having My baby. I've gone through my whole life not knowing that female cats sprayed until now we even got her fixed and she still keeps peeing on everything. I feel bad to get rid of her but the first time she pees on anything that belongs to my baby she's a goner.

I am totally in the same boat as you 100%. I can't stand my dog and she is a wiener dog but her bark is so high pitched and she barks soon as I put my son to sleep and she doesn't listen to me showing me listens to my husband. So I know exactly how you feel...

Your baby is your priority. It makes sense to feel frustrated by your dog who is impacting your quality of life and possibly your baby’s. If I were you, I would rehome the animal.

Pretty sad animals always get pushed to the side. I would never do that regardless of the issues that my dog is having. That means me as its owner needs to do more training because obviously I lacked somewhere and now the dog is paying for it.

This is exactly why so many animals end up in shelters. I’ll be that unpopular opinion. I’m not gonna sugarcoat

The resentment is common and hopefully temporary. These classes and blogs with training pointers helped me get more comfortable with having my dog around the baby. https://www.dogmeetsbaby.expert/links I was so protective and worried about germs before this. Also, babies are naturally demanding. I would have an open and honest conversation with partner to ensure you and baby have the support you need during the fourth trimester and beyond. If you feel emotionally abused or are physically abused at any time, I urge you to contact the national domestic violence helpline at 800-799-7233. Good luck with navigating your new family during this brand new chapter of life mama. You got this!

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