…And baby and dog make four

When Lady and the Tramp work in tandem to save Jim Dear and Darling’s baby from an evil rat, the animated film has a stereotypical happy ending. But many prospective parents think bringing home baby to a house that has long belonged to the dog will be more horror flick than Disney movie.

Reality lies somewhere in between. “There is this high expectation that your dog will become your baby’s best friend and guardian. That’s not a safe expectation,” says Jamie Damato, CPDT (that’s Certified Pet Dog Trainer) and owner of Chicago-based dog training and behavior specialists AnimalSense. “On the other hand, there are some people who are so worried about the dog’s ability to deal that they do not give the dog the credit that it will be okay.”

Enter “Bowser and the Baby,” a two-hour training class AnimalSense offers prospective and new parents who want to learn how their human and canine offspring can happily coexist. The class, held at Northwestern Memorial’s Prentice Women’s Hospital, is open to parents with or without infants (dogs should stay home). Most students are parents who expect to give birth at Prentice , but those delivering at other hospitals, adopting and with young kids are also welcome.

Most parents-to-be are anxious about how their pooch will react when the baby comes home, but Damato says those first weeks are easy. “An infant is harmless to a dog. It is between 6 to 24 months—when the baby becomes verbal and mobile and grabby—that people should be more attentive,” she says. Damato and her employee Cathy Theys, CPDT, answer questions on any sorts of dog-kid conundrums (some families sign up for one-on-one sessions after the basics class). The more families proactively socialize and train their dogs, the fewer incidences there are of dog bites and pets given up because they can’t cope with the new family structure.

“I’ve [attended] three times and each time I’ve learned something new about training my own dog,” says Jeff Zurlinden, R.N., clinical coordinator at Prentice. Either Zurlinden or another nurse is always in class to answer medical questions.

Class follows the direction of students’ questions, but one basic don’t and three do’s are always covered.

The don’t: Forget that old advice of bringing home a diaper or blanket from the hospital to acclimate Fido to Junior’s scent. “That’s kind of silly. Dogs can detect a half ounce of cocaine; they can detect a living thing in your gut,” Damato says. “They can smell the baby already.”

Among Damato’s do’s: (1) Skip the schedule. If your pup is used to being fed at 7am and 5pm on the dot, mix it up. Your schedule likely will vary once the baby arrives, and you don’t want your dog to become fearful when changes occur. (2) Hire a dog walker—especially if, Damato says, you’re planning to stay home with baby and dog. That way you won’t worry when you can’t make time for a good walk: You know there will be 30 minutes a day when the dog’s life isn’t about the baby and yours isn’t about the dog. Start the walker before the baby arrives. (3) Rearrange. Introduce Rover to any physical changes in the house, such as moving a crib into the nursery, so he’ll get used to the strange furniture. To accommodate some traditions, like Judaism, which frown on moving baby gear in before the birth, Damato suggests borrowing from a friend, or taking Rover to your sister’s house where he can sniff all the Bugaboo strollers his heart desires.

The next “Bowser and the Baby” class ($30) is Wednesday 18 at 6pm. (Repeats are July 25 and October 10.) Call 312-926-8400, or go to animalsense.com or nmh.org/nmh/events/viewevent2.htm?etid=1971 to register.