There's A Baby in the House: Preparing your Dog for the Arrival of your Child [Paperback]

I am the author of this book and feel I need to respond to several of the reviews below. As you will see, there are two types of reviews here: extremely positive and extremely negative. This reflects a split in the training world between trainers who feel that the only way to train is "positive only" and trainers like myself who emphasize positive reinforcement and use some compulsion where necessary. In the positive only training world one is NEVER allowed to use any kind of aversives whatsoever and squirting a dog with a little jet of water (which is about as aversive as it gets in this book) from a squirt bottle is equated with kicking it across the room. As anyone who is raising children knows, one has to set behavior boundaries and generally speaking this is not possible when one is not even allowed to say "no."

The fact is that the approaches advised in this book focus heavily on positive reinforcement and treat based training but are also realistic when it comes to setting absolute behavior boundaries. The fact is also that I've received hundreds of letters from around the country from parents thanking me for this book because it helped them in a simple and humane way.

Personally, I will never bow down to the politically correct "positive only" movement at the expense of dog owners who need simple and realistic solutions now.

The behavior you tolerate from your dog before your baby is born may become intolerable after your baby is born. Does your dog sleep on your bed? Bark at passerbys? Run through the house? Beg for food? Pull on the leash? Refuse to come at the park when he finds something more interesting than you? Each of these behaviors take on a whole new dimension when you have a baby in the house.

Imagine cuddling in bed with your sleeping baby only to have your dog jump on the bed and start rolling around. Imagine spending an hour getting your baby to fall asleep only to have him awoken by your dog barking at your neighbor's cat walking down the sidewalk. Imagine your dog barreling through the house while your little one is toddling about. Imagine walking down the street with your baby in your arms or in a stroller and having your dog pull you all over the place. This is not a pretty place to be. You love your dog. But you will love your baby more. If you don't have a baby yet, it is hard to imagine loving anyone more than you love your dog. But, it happens. And, you will grow to resent your dog when he/she interferes with the quality of your baby's life. I know because I have three dogs and a ten month old baby.

Wombacher's book has restored sanity in our lives and taught us how ALL of us (my husband and me, our baby, and our dogs) could co-exist in a way that works for everyone. In particular, if you follow his Doggie Twelve-Step Program you will effectively teach your dog that you are in control, not him/her. You will be able to keep your dog quiet while your baby is sleeping. You will be able to take your baby AND your dog for a walk. You will be able to have your dog in the same room as your baby without worrying about your dog running your baby over.

Some other reviewers have objected to Wombacher's advice because he suggests the use of some aversives like a squirt bottle. If you are lucky enough to have a dog who responds to positive reinforcement only, lucky you! But, not all dogs are so compliant. I learned this the hard way with my dog who became more and more dominant and headstrong despite endless "good boys" and treats. Positive reinforcement is great for teaching the nuts and bolts of obedience, but it doesn't allow you to exert control over a dominant dog. I worked at a humane society that only employed positive reinforcement techniques. Unfortunately, I watched several beautiful, intelligent, fun-loving dogs get euthanized because they were out of control and positive-reinforcement-only training didn't address their underlying dominance issues. They could sit, down, stay, shake hands, and speak on command; but when it came to barking or chasing squirrels or resource guarding, the positive-reinforcement folks failed and the dogs were euthanized for being "unadoptable." I realized that I would rather squirt my dog with a spray bottle and put a citronella bark collar on him than have to take him to the vet to be euthanized after he hurt my child.

A must for anyone with a baby (or a baby on the way)!

I wish someone could have told me the info I really wanted begins on page 95! I have a very obedient and well trained Doberman but I KNOW the temptation baby toys are going to pose to him! I wanted a book that would tell me how to get him to "understand" what are his toys and what are not and to learn to be careful around the baby.

The fist 94 pages of the book went over what I would consider basic training that any in-house family dog would need to know. It was boring for me to read and my dog already does all of it and more. (We have even taught him the difficult, intangible command of "other". This is not in very many books because there are only a handful of dog breeds that could comprehend such a vague idea but I don't know how we would live without it! Commands like "other side", "other paw" and "other bone" are SO helpful!)

It wasn't until page 95 that I felt my $11 had been well spent. First, the author tells you to get rid of all dog toys that look like baby toys, such as plush toys, etc. Then he says to use a teensy drop of Listerine on some BABY toys and place them in a pile with dog toys and not allow your dog to touch any of the baby toys. This is very clever - the mint scent would easily designate what is the baby's and my dog would very clearly understand this. (He was recently crushed when a toy plush monkey arrived as a gift for the baby and it got put in the nursery closet instead of being given to him. I have known that when the baby is born and the monkey comes out, there is a Doberman death sentance waiting for that little chimp! The Listerine trick will work perfectly, I'm going to put a dab on the tag and add monkey to the pile of toys he's not allowed to touch!)

Next I was worried about the dog sniffing at the baby too hard and for too long. (You Doberman owners know what I am talking about - they can really shove that slender nose into you!) The book, like other websites I have seen, mentions you should carry around a baby doll wrapped in a baby blanket and train the dog to not go near where you set the baby down. The author encourages as much realism as possible.

In addition to this, the author gives very good reasons why the dog should not be allowed anywhere near where you feed the baby or around the high chair. Yes, I am looking forward to having my dog do most of the food pick-up off the floor, but he is only allowed to do that AFTER everyone eats. While you are all eating, the dog must stay far back so that he doesn't view the child as a source of food and steal snacks from him later. (I KNOW my dog would do this because I have seen him weasel goldfish crackers out of neighbor children's hands while they were standing in curious silence, in awe of his licking their hands.)

We have already been practicing not letting the dog into the baby's room, as the author suggests, mostly to avoid getting dog hair on all the new baby stuff! We will continue this practice and make sure he understands he's not to ever enter without us. (The author promises this will be handy some day when the child is rolling on the floor, either laughing or screaming in a temper tantrum, and the dog wants to play "the new game".)

This book DID have the information I was looking for at the end of the book and I am happy that I bought it. I think this book has the potential to be the ONLY dog training book you need if you are getting a dog and will some day add a baby. The steps you are given are very easy to do and will be fun for you both!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 29 reviews  4.2 out of 5 stars