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April 2011 Moms
RunningGal900
member
Dog toy vs baby toy
RunningGal900
member
Besides supervising the two of them, keeping their toys generally separate, and picking up after the two of them, any tips for helping the dog understand which toys are his and which are baby's? Luckily our dog is not very possessive, so I don't foresee any major run-ins and I've already accepted that those two are going to swap some spit at some point, but just curious if anyone had any tips of making it easier for him to differentiate.
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Re: Dog toy vs baby toy
That is adorable. We have a toy box for ours too, but unfortunately, he is still interested in anything stray left on the ground (I just found him with a bib I had tossed on the stairs to take upstairs). I recognize this is something that I need to work on.
lol sorry when i read this i just pictured a dog with his toys laid out with a clipboard calling out each toy and marking it off... i know im a dork... i've been watching way to much kid shows with the boys...lol
Our dog trainer recommended this approach-- keeping a dog toy box and a baby toy box. Both baby and dog will need be trained to only take toys from their respective box, but eventually they will both be able to recognize what is theirs and what isn't. While I'm not convinced we will need/want to enforce this, I do understand the importance of setting boundaries and structure. We've never had toy boxes before, so we are setting them up now so that our dog starts getting used to the idea.
I'm curious to see what others are doing.
Eww ok lots of peoples posts grossed me out. I would freak out if my dog (and i dont own one right now so that makes a difference) was chewing on my baby's toy or the other way around. Don't give me the whole "dogs have cleaner mouths than humans" thing. They lick their butt and get into the garbage. I don't believe for one second that somehow their mouth doesnt have poo particles and garbage bacteria in it.
I guess the same thing goes for those that let their dog lick the inside of their mouth and eat their ice cream with them. Gross.
Haha! That's SO cute. My dog listens well so some toys will be off limits and he has his own toybox so we'll try that too (separate toyboxes). Otherwise, with stuffed animals I think I'll just be washing them often. Is that gross?
my dog has gotten into Haden's toy stash a couple times...it's pretty funny to me.
Like a PP said , i'm not going to even try. I hope that Oliver (dog) and Haden will be best buds and i'm sure that will involve sharing toys.
I think he has an internal clipboard to be honest. If anything is missing he does a re-check and then he'll go to everyroom of the house until he finds it. Then he'll bring it from where ever it was into the family room (where his box is) and lay with it. My dog has OCD.
We've also trained him to only chew on things that are presented to him. When he gets a new toy he's made to sit and then we hand it to him. He waits until he gets a "good boy" and then runs off to shred it. We can leave ANYTHING on the floor and he won't touch it because it wasn't given to him and it isn't in his box.
That's impressive. We worked really hard with our dog so that he doesn't chew up things that are on the floor, but he will still take them and stash them someplace. I think we were too laid back when it was just the three of us. Maybe in the next 6 weeks, we can do some training to get him to be better about only picking up his toys and not a stray sock.
My dog has always been pretty good about not getting my son's toys. The big issue is my son playing with the dog's toys!
I have no intention of letting our dog play with or chew on the baby's toys (and vice versa) - that's where close supervision comes in. But I also have to accept that at some point the baby is going to pick up a dog toy and stick it in his mouth and vice versa - and it won't kill him. We've worked with our dog and a plastic baby doll and taught him that licking faces and hands are off limits. I've never shared food with my dog and I would throw up if he tried to lick the inside of my mouth. But if I go crazy trying to prevent the dog and the baby from ever sharing anything, that's all I'd be able to do with my life.
As for the bacteria thing, my guess is that they have less bacteria in their mouths than we do, it's just different. And yes, my dog licks his butt and I certainly don't want that on my face.
Ok maybe my wording wasn't clear. I wasn't commenting about your post. i was commenting about some peoples responses to your post. In your post you seemed to be concerned with the idea that your dog and baby will share toys. I noticed a few others who said they didn't care and actally expect that "spit will be swapped" That is what grosses me out.
I just find it strange that so many people are paranoid about their kids touching things and not washing their hands but yet they are fine with their baby putting something in their mouth that their dog just had in their mouth (especially when they lick their butt).
Also, this was supose to be quoted... idk why that didn't happen.
My dog has a toy box too and he's pretty good about not picking up things that aren't his.
That said, I'm seriously not overly concerned if there is some spit swapping. I'll do my best to keep things separate and I'll clean the babies toys fairly regular, but whatever. My child will survive worse things than a little dog spit.
Huh - my dog has a toy box but it was implemented as a way for me to put them away. I'm glad now that he has it and hope it will help, because I'm also afraid of this issue.
Our dog loves to steal socks and dish towels. So I'm sure baby blankets and toys are going to be very tempting. He has been around my sister's kids and quickly learned to leave their things alone, so I'm hoping with some time and supervision that he will get it.
And yeah, the dog is going to lick its butt and then lick the kid. Did you know research shows that kids who grow up in homes with dogs have fewer allergies? As long as you keep an eye on things, your kid is going to be fine. Kids will have plenty of "ew" moments without dogs around.
My Ovulation Chart
Generally speaking, dogs can't make humans sick (I recognize there are exceptions to this, but as a rule our viruses don't make them sick and vice-versa). Even with a mouth full of bacteria, they aren't passing human illnesses to us. So, I can see being a little more paranoid about touching something in public which is covered with the flu, RSV, cold germs, etc than a little dog spit. I've seen little kids put far worse things in their mouths than a dog toy.
I wash my hands after I play with the dog a lot and would do the same with the baby. I'm going to clean the baby's toys regularly and monitor the two of them. But if the baby sticks a dog toy in his mouth, it's life. It won't kill him. My big concern is just making sure the dog doesn't think that all these new fun toys are his.