Practicing with a doll (not rude!!)

Hi,

Me and my hubby are thinking of having a baby.
We have Louby who we found as a stray around 15 months ago. She wasn't well socialised when we got her, she didn't know what we were doing if we sneezed or laughed, or sang etc...she would jump all over us mouthing us. She has come on so much since we got her. But she is very clingy when in the house. I cannot sit on the sofa without her sitting on my knee. If im doing my course work on the laptop, she is fighting with me to push the laptop off so she can on my knee. If I come in from the kitchen and go to sit down, she is mid air to jump on my knee before my bum has even touched the sofa, not good if I have a cuppa in my hand.

It makes me cringe thinking what could happen if I had a baby in my arms, or even in my stomach as she plops herself down on me. We do try to stop her jumping up without an invitation but its not working.

I absolutely do not want to find her another home, but something needs to change with her as she cannot be around a baby as she is now.

We have tried training classes, one to one training, but they were rubbish to be honest.

Its my own fault as I have let her get away with it all this time, but of course it hasn't been a problem really until now.

Just wondered if anyone has any pointers or tips.
Thanks x

Phew, this is a hard one, Louby reminds me of Pixee, Pixee didnt know what toys were, or how to play either, and has come on since shes been with us, but she is clingy in the house too sometimes. When I am in the office, I work from home, she use to try and jump on my laps too, so I put her a mat on the floor, and brought another office chair, that she now sits on and is happy enough, by the window next to me, so she can look out, she will paw me for fuss, I will either say 'not now mummy is busy' or '5 mins' she has come to understand it means she will get her fuss later. I would try putting a soft blanket on the sofa, and teach Louby to lie or sit on that instead of your laps, and reward her. Do it little by little so its not a shock to her, and with time and patient it will work, it has with Pixee, now she will find a sun spot to lie in when I am in the office, be it sons bedroom or downstairs. A firm voice works wonders, if I dont want Pixee jumping up, I say 'calm' she calms down. We use to hold her on her shoulders saying calm, calm, without actually holding her down, just some pressure, she soon got the meaning of it. She still jumps up for fuss but nothing like she use to. Its just one jump, paws on us face pointed to us, once fussed she will happy run off to play with whatever. I am sure you will get maybe more and better advice off others. Remember time and patient.

Thanks for your advice. I could try the blanket on the floor...she doesn't have a bed as such as she would chew it up, but she has a crate to sleep in. I don't want to put her in there other than when its bed time. We don't have a rug neither or carpet neither as she rubs her stomach on the floor to itch it and makes herself sore.

if we can start by not having her on the sofa with us, then I can move on to the getting a doll and seeing what she is like having a 'baby' on my knee..

me and my hubby cant sit together on the sofa neither as she jumps all over us and mouths us.

She has been allowed to get away with so much.

That is one of the reasons why hubby wont have Pixee on the sofa, what she is allowed is one of the chairs in the lounge, spoiled dog   and I tend to sit on the sofa next to that chair, its her chair as such with a blanket on, as its leather. Another thing you can try if you dont want her on the sofa anymore is try sitting on the floor with her, your back resting against the sofa, then you try sitting on the sofa, with louby still on the blanket on the floor next to your feet, try it for a few mins, and increase the time each day. Give her a kong too if you do give her one. Once all this is sorted, move on to the doll. As long as Louby still feels loved she will be fine.

It can be very difficult to stop a dog from doing something you have
always allowed it to do.  So much easier to teach it to do 'something else
instead'

Time for you to train Louby to sit on a blanket or her own chair or whatever
before a new arrival.  Sure she will be fine with a baby, mine have always
been wonderful with grandchildren and they are really spoilt (dogs and
grandchildren   )

Lou is extremely giddy, so when the nieces and nephews come round we have to put her in her crate as she jumps up at them, her claws hurt and she would knock them over. If I had one of the kids on my knee im pretty sue she would jump right on top of the child. I don't believe she has a bad bone in her body, she just doesn't have manners and has been spoilt by us.
Its really not fair on her to allow her to do something for the last year, then all of a sudden she isn't allowed and its naughty.
So you are very right in that we need to show her an alternative.