Any dog owners?

pensparade · September 2011

I had a cat when DD was born but sadly he is no longer with us. This time around we have a dog and to be honest I'm a little nervous about bringing home a baby with the dog. Only because I don't know how he'll react and he wasn't too fond of our friends infant when they visited a few months back.

I have a different mind set since DD was born that animals are not people. I know not everyone feels this way but once I became a parent I realized that my child(ren) will always come first. I don't want to jeapordize their safety (ex: dog has a habit of tackling dd when we get home each night). I'm not about to get rid of my dog, just wondering if anyone else has thought about as a delicate situation like I have?

chasbride07 · September 2011

We have a dog and although she has always been hyper, she has been surprisingly careful and gentle with the boys. Really she would just act annoyed and inconvenienced when they were babies and interrupt her sleep Smile

Is your dog crate trained? Maybe that could help the coming in the door aspect. Just a thought!

CAMbaby · September 2011

We have a 70 lbs dog and we were a bit worried to before having DD. Our dog is a rescue and have always had issues with new people and did not react well when my 2-year-old nephew came to visit.

However, we didn't need to worry - our dog LOVES DD and has from the minute we brought her home from the hospital. He is pretty young so he can get wild when he plays but he is always calm when he is around her and seems to be careful not to hurt her. DH did bring some of DD's clothes home from the hospital so the dog could sniff it before we brought DD home - I am not sure if it helped or not but we never had any issues with the dog and baby.

pensparade · September 2011

I keep him on the front porch during the day since he had severe anxiety in his crate. He does well out there but as soon as I open the door to let him into the house he runs straight for DD. She has gotten so used to it that she immediately cries, "MAMA PICK ME UP!" I feel bad

I try to keep him from jumping on her but I'm not always sucessful.

biochembelle · September 2011

We have 2 dogs. One is great with kids (my dog of course!), and the other is terrified of them (DH's dog). He literally leapt over a small wall when our nieces and nephew went after him to pet him. However, our dog trainer said transition him early by letting him smell baby powder and clothes and wipes and all the other strange scents of baby. I think he'll be just fine because he'll be used to the baby by the time s/he is mobile, which seems to be the thing that frightens the dog the most.

Of note, my dog seems more protective of me since I got pregnant. If DH's dog gets excited around me and starts jumping around, my dog goes crazy and barks at him until he stops. Do they know???

adamstodrake · September 2011

softskate31:
I have 2. They are my first babies. The boy dog has competitive agression (diagnosed by a behaviorist, basically a type of small man syndrome ) and he will bite DH and I if we aren't careful with how WE interact with him. We have taken responsibility as pet parents to work with him and also keep our baby safe. It takes daily practice, monitoring ALL baby/dog interactions, and training the dog to walk away instead of growl. You need to talk to your vet, get a real dog trainer/behaviorist to work with you, and prepare your dog for his future life with baby. A visiting baby is different from a live-in baby and the dog will react differently over time once he realizes baby is now a part of his pack. YOU need to train your dog not to tackle your toddler, or prevent access to the toddler when the dog is so excited. I don't know what you are looking for here. You chose to be a pet parent and you need to take responsibility for your babies and your animals.

Couldn't have said this better. You are in charge, not the dog. It is up to you to have the dog trained before baby comes home. We were very lucky as our dog (18lb Yorkie, so small) was very accepting of DS as soon as he came home. But he is not a jumper or hyperactive or anything like that. Our issue is his barking and licking. But these are issues that are not harmful like jumping could be. If we'd had an issue like this we'd have been looking into a trainer. Not only will this help you keep your sanity once the new baby comes, it will hopefully allow your DD to not be fearful of being run over.

pensparade · September 2011

adamstodrake:

softskate31:
I have 2. They are my first babies. The boy dog has competitive agression (diagnosed by a behaviorist, basically a type of small man syndrome ) and he will bite DH and I if we aren't careful with how WE interact with him. We have taken responsibility as pet parents to work with him and also keep our baby safe. It takes daily practice, monitoring ALL baby/dog interactions, and training the dog to walk away instead of growl. You need to talk to your vet, get a real dog trainer/behaviorist to work with you, and prepare your dog for his future life with baby. A visiting baby is different from a live-in baby and the dog will react differently over time once he realizes baby is now a part of his pack. YOU need to train your dog not to tackle your toddler, or prevent access to the toddler when the dog is so excited. I don't know what you are looking for here. You chose to be a pet parent and you need to take responsibility for your babies and your animals.

Couldn't have said this better. You are in charge, not the dog. It is up to you to have the dog trained before baby comes home. We were very lucky as our dog (18lb Yorkie, so small) was very accepting of DS as soon as he came home. But he is not a jumper or hyperactive or anything like that. Our issue is his barking and licking. But these are issues that are not harmful like jumping could be. If we'd had an issue like this we'd have been looking into a trainer. Not only will this help you keep your sanity once the new baby comes, it will hopefully allow your DD to not be fearful of being run over.

I'm working on it ladies. I'm not suggesting getting rid of the dog!

pensparade · September 2011

CAMbaby:

We have a 70 lbs dog and we were a bit worried to before having DD. Our dog is a rescue and have always had issues with new people and did not react well when my 2-year-old nephew came to visit.

However, we didn't need to worry - our dog LOVES DD and has from the minute we brought her home from the hospital. He is pretty young so he can get wild when he plays but he is always calm when he is around her and seems to be careful not to hurt her. DH did bring some of DD's clothes home from the hospital so the dog could sniff it before we brought DD home - I am not sure if it helped or not but we never had any issues with the dog and baby.

Thanks for the tip about bringing clothes from the hospital! Sounds like you were in a similar situation to what I'm in now. My dog doesn't mind kids but once growled at a friends baby. Just kind of worries me. I'm glad to hear you had such a happy ending! Hoping things turn out well for us too

adamstodrake · September 2011

I apologize if my comment came off as harsh, I didn't mean it to be that way. It's just that when you know you've got the issue, you have to do something about it. As I said, we were really lucky with our dog since we didn't have anything too worrisome to begin with.

DH and I took this approach when we brought DS home: DH brought home a hat DS had worn at the hospital before we all came home from the hospital for dog to sniff. DH went and picked up the dog at his sister's house while I brought DS inside and got things settled. He took the dog for a good walk and gave him lots of attention before bringing him home. He called when he got here and I brought baby outside (neutral territory) so they could meet and the dog could smell DS. Once dog was comfortable, we brought them both inside together. Max (dog) pretty much ignored DS once we all got inside and was pretty blase about him until he could crawl. Then we had to be a lot more careful about monitoring interactions, but even then it was minimal as far as teaching DS not to take toys from the dog and vice versa. Hopefully it will go as easily for you with new baby too.

Jessica&Bobby · September 2011

I know I'm probably the unpopular opinion here and will probably upset some people, but if my dog showed any signs of aggression towards my kids, I would start looking for another home for it immediately. I wouldn't dump them off at the shelter or anything, but I would definitely not keep it (I would probably start with calling the rescue that I got her at).

I just couldn't deal with constantly monitoring all dog/children interactions, it would be too overwhelming. I would be worried all the time that there might be an incident where the kids got hurt. I would definitely blame myself for keeping the dog and putting it before the needs of my kids.

Plus, I wouldn't be able to let the dog stay inside if they had aggression issues with my kids. I'm a strong believer that the dogs should be inside with their family. I think it would be unfair to the dog to keep it when it would be better off somewhere without small children. Maybe some dogs might respond to training, but I think some dogs are just not good with children.

wildermom · September 2011

We have two LARGE dogs (a chocolate lab and a Great Pyrenees). They are both super happy active dogs and still young (2 and 1) but so far have been pretty easy to train. There really aren't any little children in our family so they haven't had a lot of interactions with kids.

But in the past month I've had two friends come over with small children and I was amazed! They're mostly disinterested in the kids. I don't know if it has to do with the size of the kid or the fact that the LO's couldn't play chase or anything with them like an adult or older child can. My friends daughter kept trying to chase them (she's one, not very fast, haha) around and they completely ignored her.

We've also taken them walking in the park. Every time we pass the playground little kids come up asking to pet them (they think my Pyrenees is a polar bear, haha). Instead of jumping, licking like crazy or getting excited, they both just stand there. Like they're old dogs or something. I'm still surprised by it.

I knew they wouldn't be aggressive at all, but I was worried about them being too hyper or jumping occasionally, which is terrifying when its a 100lb dog versus a toddler. I guess I say all this to support the idea that I think the smart dogs know who they're dealing with. They have great senses and know that these little kiddos don't mean any harm and probably aren't even that exciting. We'll definitely be introducing our LO in a special way, but as of now, I'm not forseeing any problems.

Thank goodness, I love my pups!

Christina_Diane · September 2011

We have a dog. In fact, we have a pit bull and I am not the slightest bit concerned about introducing her to the baby because she is well trained and socialized.

Visit the Pets board on the nest. They have a ton of advice about introducing baby to dog. Also, read PittieBoo's blog. It is loaded with helpful info about babies and dogs. We are already preparing Zoey for a baby and we fully plan on teaching our future child and children to respect the dog (not to take the dogs things, to stay away from the dog's area in the house, no tail pulling or ear pulling or pestering the dog). Your friend's infant was brought in as a suprise to your dog. If you gradually ease him into the idea of an infant, he should respond much better. Also, if you haven't done any type of obedience training yet, now is the time. He should know sit, stay, down, back, on your blanket, wait, etc.

pensparade · September 2011

Thanks. I'll be honest I was worried you were all hating on me for what I wrote. I have had pets my whole life and I certainly don't plan on allowing my dog to walk all over my children, nor do I think getting rid of him is any sort of solution. I'm just hesitant about how to go about this. I have spoken to our vet about his behavior. He has come a LONG way since we rescued him last winter. He used to bark at everyone who came over and would growl at men because he was TERRIFIED. He is like a completely different dog now from what he was when we first got him. The growling at a friends infant incident happened back when he still wasn't comfortable with visitors so I am hoping that since he has been better all these months, maybe he is better all around (babies too). Also we've got a fair amount of time to continue working on this.

He is mostly a very mello dog except for when I come home from work in the evenings, then he gets very excited that we are home and if given the opportunity will jump up on DD. I have tried really hard to find ways to prevent this and use it as an opportunity to train him otherwise but it's slow going.

I appreciate everyone's feedback and it's nice to know I'm not alone in wondering how things will turn out.

Christina_Diane · September 2011

Jessica&Bobby:

I know I'm probably the unpopular opinion here and will probably upset some people, but if my dog showed any signs of aggression towards my kids, I would start looking for another home for it immediately. I wouldn't dump them off at the shelter or anything, but I would definitely not keep it (I would probably start with calling the rescue that I got her at).

I just couldn't deal with constantly monitoring all dog/children interactions, it would be too overwhelming. I would be worried all the time that there might be an incident where the kids got hurt. I would definitely blame myself for keeping the dog and putting it before the needs of my kids.

Plus, I wouldn't be able to let the dog stay inside if they had aggression issues with my kids. I'm a strong believer that the dogs should be inside with their family. I think it would be unfair to the dog to keep it when it would be better off somewhere without small children. Maybe some dogs might respond to training, but I think some dogs are just not good with children.

All dog/children interactions need to be monitored. It is extremely irresponsible to let a young child and a dog be alone together.

Adopting a dog is a decision that should last for the dog's entire life. If your child becomes aggressive with another one of your children, will you try to rehome it as well?

I hope that you realize that growling does NOT equal aggression. It is a warning sign.

jesbeth · September 2011

biochembelle:
We have 2 dogs. One is great with kids (my dog of course!), and the other is terrified of them (DH's dog). He literally leapt over a small wall when our nieces and nephew went after him to pet him. However, our dog trainer said transition him early by letting him smell baby powder and clothes and wipes and all the other strange scents of baby. I think he'll be just fine because he'll be used to the baby by the time s/he is mobile, which seems to be the thing that frightens the dog the most.
Of note, my dog seems more protective of me since I got pregnant. If DH's dog gets excited around me and starts jumping around, my dog goes crazy and barks at him until he stops. Do they know???

I've been wondering the same thing. My one dog seems a lot more interested in my tummy and wants to lick it!

cosmodawlitan · September 2011

softskate31:
I have 2. They are my first babies. The boy dog has competitive agression (diagnosed by a behaviorist, basically a type of small man syndrome ) and he will bite DH and I if we aren't careful with how WE interact with him. We have taken responsibility as pet parents to work with him and also keep our baby safe. It takes daily practice, monitoring ALL baby/dog interactions, and training the dog to walk away instead of growl. You need to talk to your vet, get a real dog trainer/behaviorist to work with you, and prepare your dog for his future life with baby. A visiting baby is different from a live-in baby and the dog will react differently over time once he realizes baby is now a part of his pack. YOU need to train your dog not to tackle your toddler, or prevent access to the toddler when the dog is so excited. I don't know what you are looking for here. You chose to be a pet parent and you need to take responsibility for your babies and your animals.

This, totally. Great post.

Hannibee · September 2011

adamstodrake:

softskate31:
I have 2. They are my first babies. The boy dog has competitive agression (diagnosed by a behaviorist, basically a type of small man syndrome ) and he will bite DH and I if we aren't careful with how WE interact with him. We have taken responsibility as pet parents to work with him and also keep our baby safe. It takes daily practice, monitoring ALL baby/dog interactions, and training the dog to walk away instead of growl. You need to talk to your vet, get a real dog trainer/behaviorist to work with you, and prepare your dog for his future life with baby. A visiting baby is different from a live-in baby and the dog will react differently over time once he realizes baby is now a part of his pack. YOU need to train your dog not to tackle your toddler, or prevent access to the toddler when the dog is so excited. I don't know what you are looking for here. You chose to be a pet parent and you need to take responsibility for your babies and your animals.

Couldn't have said this better. You are in charge, not the dog. It is up to you to have the dog trained before baby comes home. We were very lucky as our dog (18lb Yorkie, so small) was very accepting of DS as soon as he came home. But he is not a jumper or hyperactive or anything like that. Our issue is his barking and licking. But these are issues that are not harmful like jumping could be. If we'd had an issue like this we'd have been looking into a trainer. Not only will this help you keep your sanity once the new baby comes, it will hopefully allow your DD to not be fearful of being run over.

This exactly. Our dogs are fantastic with LO, and they both have been so since Day One. We worked hard with them to have them prepared because we couldn't take any chances with two extra large German Shepherds (who each weigh about 120lbs.) When we came home with Q they just fell into the new pack order. Q adores them and we are now working with her to really respect their space and them, in general.

It takes work, but it pays off to be consistent and responsible pet owners.

izzyj04 · September 2011

We have a hyper 2 1/2 old boxer. I'm not concerned about how he will react when we bring our baby home. We got him as a puppy when my niece who lived right down the street was just 5 months old so they kind of grew up together. We never left my dog & niece alone, my niece had a habit of pulling his ears and opening his mouth to put her hands inside but he never cared. When he got fed up with her he would just walk away.

We did take our puppy to a professional trainer (best decision) b/c I was worried about how he would act once they both got older. We were trained how to deal w/ him and he was trained to know we are all above him in our pack. My dog is great with kids but once the baby is here I know we will have to make sure we continue with our training. I will not leave my dog & child unattended even though he?s good with kids.

Tambcat · September 2011

Just make sure you supervise them together and teach your kid not to mess with the dog (as he/she gets older).

I have a dog, but he's toothless and super calm (old), so I'm not that worried. I'm more concerned about H's assshole cat.

sobelleus · September 2011

Christina_Diane:
We have a dog. In fact, we have a pit bull and I am not the slightest bit concerned about introducing her to the baby because she is well trained and socialized.

I'm sorry, but this sounds like what every Pit Bull owner says...AFTER it attacks a child

cattynine · September 2011

sobelleus:
Christina_Diane:
We have a dog. In fact, we have a pit bull and I am not the slightest bit concerned about introducing her to the baby because she is well trained and socialized.

I'm sorry, but this sounds like what every Pit Bull owner says...AFTER it attacks a child

Really? You're really going to go there? How about you do a little research before you go making blanket statements like that. My sister was mauled by a dog as a toddler and it was a LAB! Dog bites occur from ALL types of dogs and its usually because the dogs are not properly socialized and there was a lack of supervision. The poster above who said she can't be bother to monitor all dog/children interactions is the reason that children are bit.

And as a side note- I own a pitbull who growled at my nephew last month and it was because my nephew was grabbing my dogs and trying to shake his head, even though we repeatedly told him not to. My dog did exactly what she was supposed to do. She gave a warning growl to say "I don't like that". We immediately separated them and my dog was able to retreat to kennel for some alone time. I never once blamed her. I blame my SIL for not teaching her son how to treat dogs.

Hannibee · September 2011

cattynine:
sobelleus:
Christina_Diane:

We have a dog. In fact, we have a pit bull and I am not the slightest bit concerned about introducing her to the baby because she is well trained and socialized.

I'm sorry, but this sounds like what every Pit Bull owner says...AFTER it attacks a child

Really? You're really going to go there? How about you do a little research before you go making blanket statements like that. My sister was mauled by a dog as a toddler and it was a LAB! Dog bites occur from ALL types of dogs and its usually because the dogs are not properly socialized and there was a lack of supervision. The poster above who said she can't be bother to monitor all dog/children interactions is the reason that children are bit.

And as a side note- I own a pitbull who growled at my nephew last month and it was because my nephew was grabbing my dogs and trying to shake his head, even though we repeatedly told him not to. My dog did exactly what she was supposed to do. She gave a warning growl to say "I don't like that". We immediately separated them and my dog was able to retreat to kennel for some alone time. I never once blamed her. I blame my SIL for not teaching her son how to treat dogs.

This.

Pit bulls are actually really great with children. It's unfortunate that they have such a bad reputation because they generally make great family pets. There are several pitties in my neighborhood who are extremely kid and dog friendly.

In situations that I can recall it's little dogs who aren't socialized that have a tendency to attack.

Christina_Diane · September 2011

sobelleus:
Christina_Diane:

We have a dog. In fact, we have a pit bull and I am not the slightest bit concerned about introducing her to the baby because she is well trained and socialized.

I'm sorry, but this sounds like what every Pit Bull owner says...AFTER it attacks a child

And your quote sounds like what every ignorant person who doesn't do their research says.

Yes, I own a dog that has a bad reputation and yes, I am aware that there are bad owners out there who use these type of dogs for the wrong reason, but my girl has successfully completed two obedience courses and is in training for her CGC.

Maybe, instead thinking bad things about a breed, you might want to change your negative thoughts to people who keep their dogs as resident dogs. Dogs that are resident dogs, according to the National Canine Research Council, count for the vast majority of dog bites. The breed doesn't matter; it is all in how they are trained, socialized, handled, and loved.

https://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/uploaded_files/tinymce/Family_v_Resident[1].pdf

https://nationalcanineresearchcouncil.com/

Christina_Diane · September 2011

cattynine:
sobelleus:
Christina_Diane:

We have a dog. In fact, we have a pit bull and I am not the slightest bit concerned about introducing her to the baby because she is well trained and socialized.

I'm sorry, but this sounds like what every Pit Bull owner says...AFTER it attacks a child

Really? You're really going to go there? How about you do a little research before you go making blanket statements like that. My sister was mauled by a dog as a toddler and it was a LAB! Dog bites occur from ALL types of dogs and its usually because the dogs are not properly socialized and there was a lack of supervision. The poster above who said she can't be bother to monitor all dog/children interactions is the reason that children are bit.

And as a side note- I own a pitbull who growled at my nephew last month and it was because my nephew was grabbing my dogs and trying to shake his head, even though we repeatedly told him not to. My dog did exactly what she was supposed to do. She gave a warning growl to say "I don't like that". We immediately separated them and my dog was able to retreat to kennel for some alone time. I never once blamed her. I blame my SIL for not teaching her son how to treat dogs.

EXACTLY! Growling is good. It is a warning sign that the dog doesn't like something. Growling is good. The problem is when dogs get scolded for growling and skip the warning growl and go straight for a bit.

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