FACT:
This is probably the number one myth out there! When I was in the hospital after my daughter’s birth, the nurse asked me if I wanted to take home an article of clothing or a swaddle blanket with my daughter’s scent on it. Me, being the dog trainer, asked her why and her reply was “So that your dog will like your daughter and be familiar with her scent.” This makes no dog training sense and yet people have been telling parents this for decades. Even other trainers tell their clients this. The reason this makes no logic in dog training theory is because we have no way of telling how the dog registers and perceives the new odor of the newborn. This is no different than taking a complete strangers shirt from them and having your dog sniff it! What if the dog thinks of this odor as a threat?! The correct way to introduce your newborn’s odor to the dog that could have the highest possibility of a positive correlation is to pair it with an odor that the dog has a positive familiar relationship with. Here is a video that will show you the correct way to train this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSVe-9Du9e
