Whether you’re a parent that wants to adopt a dog, or a dog owner who’s thinking of having a baby, raising a child alongside pets can be challenging at times. Which doesn’t mean that you should avoid doing it – especially when here are tons of benefits to it – but that you should be well-prepared.
Fortunately, there are tons of advice and tricks that you can familiarize yourself with to help in this matter. There are also plenty of modern tools, books, apps and products every dog owner with kids can utilize. Here are our 12 must-have options.
ALSO READ: 16 Ways Alexa Skills Can Help You Become a Better Dog Owner
Apps for Parents with Pets
Rover + Bambino
Raising children takes a lot of your time daily, especially when they are very young. That’s why many dog owners are often deprived of that time and can’t always provide their dogs with enough training, playtime and walking.
While we definitely recommend walking your dogs and kids together, as that strengthens the bond between them, for those extreme situations when you just can’t make it work, an app like Rover can help you find a pet sitter or a dog walker to help you out, and similarly, an app like Bambino will make babysitting easy.
Pet First Aid + Baby and Child First Aid
Pet First Aid is an app that’s recommended for all pet owners, but is especially important if you have dogs and kids at home. Some parents with dogs are worried that their children may get hurt by the animal if they're not playing safely, but the opposite is also quite possible if you’re not careful.
Considering how hectic your day-to-day life can be when you're raising children and pets at the same time, an app like Pet First Aid paired with Baby and Child First Aid app can be of great assistance in quickly getting the answers you need about your dog’s and child's health and well-being.
ASPCA + Kid Care
Similarly to the above apps, the ASPCA app paired with Kid Care app also provide an endless source of information regarding your pets and children. These are great tools when you want to take proper care of your pets and kids while you’re strapped for time. They can help you if your dog’s lost, if there’s been an accident between a child and a dog, if you need health advice for either, and in plenty of other situations.
PetCoach
The most important thing you must do to ensure that your canine companion and your child are getting along is to train your dog properly and teach a kid how to behave around dogs. A lot of people leave their pets untrained because they don’t want to bother with that, but it becomes important when you add kids to the family.
Apps like PetCoach can be an invaluable resource when preparing your pooch for life with a baby or a kid and vice versa.
Tractive GPS Dog & Cat Finder
Losing your dog is something that’s much easier when you have a kid or two on your hands as well. It’s one thing to just walk in the park with your pooch, but it’s a completely different situation if you’re also pushing a stroller and walking another kid by hand. With a Tractive GPS Dog Finder app, you’ll have much more peace of mind when it comes to losing your animals, and a much greater chance at finding them.
Tools and Products for Parents with Pets
Pet Gates
Pet gates have plenty of useful functions for any home, but become a must-have when you’re raising a baby or a toddler alongside pets. Keeping the nursery off-limits for your dog is very important for the baby’s safety, as well as for your own peace of mind. Even if your dog is well-trained, very well-mannered and loves your baby, it’s sometimes essential to prevent the dog from going to the nursery without your presence.
Baby Monitor + Pet Camera
Baby monitors are a common choice among new parents for obvious reasons. However, if you have a dog too, a baby monitor becomes even more of a must and is even better when paired with a pet camera. A lot of dogs are quite skillful climbers and jumpers, so if the pet gate fails to do its job, you need to have your eyes and ears in the nursery at all times through the use of both baby monitors and pet cameras.
Appropriate Dog Leash
Dog leashes are something that most dog owners have, but a specific type of training leash is the one you'll need if you have kids at home. It’s particularly essential in the first few days of the dog’s and baby’s / toddler’s / child’s interactions. Accidents happen with even the nicest dogs, so a training dog leash is a must-have.
Special Dog Toys
One common problem when looking after dogs and kids at the same time is that dogs tend to “borrow” the child’s toys and play with them. This isn’t usually something you’d want, so it’s important that your dogs have plenty of their toys to play with.
Better yet, make those interactive toys so that your pooch is mentally stimulated and doesn't seek that mental stimulation elsewhere or through other means. Competition over toys between the child and the dog is the last thing you want to deal with.
Blanket, Beds, Cribs, Kennels
Similarly to the toys issue, it’s crucial to ensure that your pet has every accommodation that he needs. Dogs are known to be fond of stealing the kids’ blankets, pillows and clothes to both play with and use for sleeping and snuggling. When the kid comes back to take his or her belongings back, this could result in an unpleasant confrontation.
These issues are especially common when the dog feels deprived of attention and jealous of the love and affection the child is getting. You should obviously not let your pooch feel that way, but you should also make sure that he has everything he needs.
Dog Training Treats
Making sure that your child and pet co-exist peacefully involves quite a bit of dog training, especially prior to introducing the child and the dog to one another. There are a lot of useful commands you will want to teach your pooch, as well as general behaviors around the house. That typically means that you’ll need training treats. And lots of them.
Fur Cleaning Tools
Dog and cat owners have learned to ignore the hair and fur that’s constantly on the floor and on the furniture. For some of them it’s just a sort of permanent mantle that covers their homes. That’s quite obviously ill-advised when you’re having a kid, however, so you’ll need enough good grooming products and pet hair remover tools.
READ NEXT: Your Dog Doesn’t Like Kids? 5 Things You Can Do
