At this stage of your pregnancy, you now have nine months or less to change your dog's behavior, to keep his world spinning on its axis, but to graduate him from number one spoiled brat to the loving, happy, welcoming family pet, you surely want.

Begin teaching your dog not to touch, destroy or bury baby toys. You begin by selecting toys for your dog that look and feel no different from your babies toys. This is important, because a dog would find it difficult to differentiate between his own, squeaky toys and the squishy toys you picked out for your son or daughter. Spend a few minutes playing with the dog and his favorite toy. When he is fairly excited at the toy, throw it away, but keep it directly in his view. Then, put a couple of baby toys on the floor and tosses into their midst. Encourage him to go get his toy, and then go nuts when he consistently chooses baby toys instead of the dog toy. Trade the right toy for a treat. Try training as often as you can, at least once a week for a month and slowly increase the number of baby toys each time.

If your dog had never been around a baby, it's a very good idea to teach them not to get excited or scared by the crying, screaming, or gurgling he's likely to experience. You can desensitize your dog to baby sounds by placing your dog in a room with a CD player, or a tape of baby noises. Sit down and relax before turning on the player. Then put one hand on the volume control and watch the dog closely. Slowly raise the vitamin to up and watch this recognition from him, typically a dog will turn his head from one side to the other or prick up one or both ears. Let the tape play for the longest possible. 24 hours will be ideal but if it is not possible, then the first exposure must be in excess of four hours. The more the tapes play over the first two days the better this works. This is the desensitization process in which a dog learns to accept the sounds.

A professional dog trainer should deal with dogs who are truly aggressive toward people and or dogs and other animals. Don't let him become obsessed with the ball or toy. A run in the mornings is a good idea, or the park might work, because dogs who exercise makes far more relaxed and happy companions who are likely to sleep the rest of the day.

Dogs learn that they can get considerable attention by jumping up and grabbing a hand or clothing. Even negative attention such as shouting or pushing a dog away. This can be dangerous when the baby is around because it would be considered playing too rough if the dog is jumping on the baby. To help the dog learn not to jump, keep a container of dog treats just outside your front door. When visitors come to your home they should each put a few treats in their pocket before coming in. Everyone should ignore all of your dog's attempts to gain attention. No looking, no talking, and no touching! Eventually fed up with being ignored, your dog will sit down or wander off. At this time, you or your visitors can quietly call for him and ask him to sit. Then, he can and get treats, but only when he stays calm.

Think about the impact on the baby smells are going to have on your dog. I suggest you get your doggies used to as many smells as you can, including baby powder, the lotion, diaper rash cream, and so on. Put a smell on a cloth, and leave it in your dogs resting area for a day. After substituting in different smells, your dog will come accustomed to normal baby smells.

One of the traditional ways to introduce the newborns to the resident dog is to let him sniff a blanket that your baby has slept on. Certainly there is no harm in doing this, and it will be the first real exposure to your baby. Leave the blanket with your dog overnight.

Source
PregnancyWeekly.com