How to Introduce Your Dog to Newborn Twins

Last updated on December 2nd, 2023 at 09:23 am

We Recently Asked:

“What tips do you have to introduce your dog to newborn twins?”

Here’s What Our Twiniversity Fans Had to Say:

He loved them since before they were born. We have a 120 lb mastiff. We let him lick them and nudge them as he saw fit. Now at 1 year old he runs and hides from them.
∼ SA

We walked in the door, put the car seats on the floor, and let our dog at it. She just sniffed, licked, etc. Picture from over a year ago when they were just little non-mobile babies.
∼ KG

We packed a new dog toy in the hospital bag and brought home a receiving blanket before bringing them home. Now the dogs love them very much.
∼ AMC

I brought laundry home for a few weeks before the girls came home. Then on homecoming day, I brought them into the house in their car seats and allowed the dogs to approach and sniff. I always made sure to include the dogs when caring for the girls – keeping an eye on things but not keeping them away (like petting a dog while feeding a baby, etc.) Never had any problems. They’ve all been best friends since.
∼ KMC

I squirted a little breast milk on their feet and introduced them feet first because I was waaay too scared to introduce their tiny little heads first. It turned out that I had nothing to worry about, he adored them from day 1 and was always super gentle.
∼ LM

We were in the hospital for a month so we came home to do laundry and brought some of their clothes for the dogs to smell. The day we came home both dogs were so excited and wanted to be involved in everything! Never had any problems luckily.
∼ LWM

Have someone bring home a receiving blanket from the hospital and let the dog get used to the scent. We kept our dog in her puppy pen the first week because I was still healing from my C-section and she’s an excitable jumper, but she was SO calm with the twins. I’ve never seen her that gentle with anyone.
∼ SM

Try to remember that it’s important to keep the dogs schedule, as much as possible. Keep up with daily walks and playing fetch – even if you are dog tired! My dog adjusted really well, even though he cried when they cried and it gets to be a bit much.
∼ CM

My twins were in the NICU so I would sleep with a receiving blanket so it smelled like me, then swaddle the babies in it, then bring it home for the dog to sniff. When they came home we cautiously introduced them, but the big turning point was all of us sitting on the floor cuddling. The dog felt included, and has ever since been very respectful and loving towards his new pack members. Now that they’re mobile, I’ve made sure to create a safe space for him that the babies can’t get to. It’s just a wooden box with a pad in his favorite window, but I keep reminding him when I can see him getting overwhelmed to “go to your place”. He’s very sweet with the babies, but he is an animal so I’m always cautious.
∼ JHA

My husband brought the hats they wore right after the c-section and their first blankets back to the house. He kept bringing back new ones each time he came home. We also waited until they ran around outside and gone for a walk before letting them smell the hats and blankets, so they’d be calm. They love our boys now.
∼ AL

My dogs stayed with my husband’s uncle for the first week we were home so we could get settled in. Then when they came home, both babies were where they could smell and see them. From then on they’ve been awesome big brothers!
∼ CF

When we came home (4 days after the c-section), I made sure I came in the door first by myself. I think that was a good idea because the dog was excited to see me and was jumpy. Being post-op, I also smelled different for obvious reasons. So we gave him a few minutes to calm down and then brought the babies in. Gave him treats for being very good and gentle with them for positive reinforcement. And one more thing – not to alarm anyone, but just FYI – I don’t know if anyone else experienced this, but our dog had never been exposed to crying babies before and the first night he would start howling every time they started crying hard. I assume he figured our ‘puppies’ were in distress and the situation called for a howl. He stopped doing that after the second day, but at the time it was just terrible. We were first time parents too, so we were in quite a state. We had two babies crying AND a dog howling at the same time. The two of us would start to cry from exhaustion and stress too. We nicknamed it ‘the chorus of hell’. It was short-lived and our dog is amazing with the twins now.
∼ MB