Parson Russell Terrier

[Milou1]

Has anyone any experience of them with their baby?
I got the dog because it has such a good rep with children but i do find mine very easily excited (that's because she is a puppy) and just has the loudest bark that I'm scared will frighten the little one?

Anyone with experience?

[MagratGarlik]

So, you got a puppy and now you are pregnant and worried about Tue combination of the pup and the baby?

Is that what you are asking?

[MagratGarlik]

• the, not Tue, stupid predictive text

[Milou1]

No pregnant yet, wedding first in May :-)

[MagratGarlik]

Congratulations on the wedding. If you're not pregnant yet, the pup will obviously be older by the time you are.

Fwiw, babies can cope with quite a lot of background noise, otherwise no one would ever have more than one given the noise older siblings make around babies.

Socialise your pup around children make sure there are a couple of no go areas in the house for the dog so that you know if you've left baby sleeping in the bedroom the dog won't go in and try to sleep on the bed and if you haven't already, crate train the dog to give him his own quiet, safe place.

[HopeForTheBest]

I have a parson russell terrier, female, 7 years old.
We got her as a puppy, ds (now almost 6) came along a year later.

I don't think PRT would have been my first choice if I was specifically looking for a breed which is good with children; they are typical terriers, very feisty and stubborn, with a mind of their own, huge amount of energy, very intelligent and need quite a bit of activity and stimulation.

I have found that children (actually adults too) are often mistaken into thinking she is not proper dog-like because she looks very, very, VERY cute :o They are often surprised when she barks (which is, as you say, surprisingly loud).
Mine is obssessed with playing ball, which children think is great. She is not, however, keen on being stroked, which, as I say, people are often surprised about because (did I mention this) she is VERY CUTE.
A friend of mine's PRT, same age, is the opposite - not interested in balls, but will let you stroke her anywhere. Will also lick you to death :o

I agree your pup needs socialising around children and DEFINITELY needs a safe place that it can retreat to when things get too much.

Having said all that, I have found her independence to be really useful - she's not particularly routine-bound, so if we have an activity which means her walk gets postponed, she's completely not bothered about it.
She also doesn't suffer any separation anxiety, so again, if we're doing something which she can't come along to, it's no problem.
On the other hand, small size means that she can get taken to lots of things, and she doesn't take up much room in the car.

I was very aware when ds was born that my ddog might feel a bit jealous and so I went out of my way to reassure her - eg she sat right up next to me while I bf etc

She and ds have a good relationship (when they are not winding each other up), but she is very clearly MY dog.

[Milou1]

Thanks for the replies so far, very interesting :-)
@hopeforthebest - I think my PRT is just like your friends although recently she has started to want to play with a ball (only ones with big squeakers in!)

[Twattybollocks]

I was worried about my dog barking and waking/scaring the baby. So far so good, baby seems to think its background noise and doesn't bother her at all.

[HopeForTheBest]

Yes, meant to add that ds wasn't bothered by the barking at all!

[midastouch]

I found my babies got used to it while they were in my stomach i would feel them jump to start with but barking rarely wakes them.