If you have dogs...

Athena0809 · November 2011

What's your LO's interaction with them like? DS seems to just have realized there are two dogs in the house! lol. It wasn't until maybe a month ago that he started staring at them and following them with his eyes, this week he started to "talk" to them, and I find that adorable.

My dogs don't seem to care for him, they come near they sniff him but they don't seem to be bothered nor interested in him. My male dog is always near me so LO's tries to grab his ears and has poked his eyes a couple times lol but he seems fine with that. Now, my female dog is very old and has arthritis she hurts around his hind legs so if you touch her there she tries to nip at you and that concerns me because LOs are rough with dogs and she's just trying to say "hey, don't touch me there!".

MeredithElese · November 2011

My LO has been obsessed with our dachshunds from the beginning. One is blonde and the other is chocolate so I think that the contrast of their fur was easy for her to see and they move a lot. She talks to them, and sometimes she "calls" them- like she stares at one of them specifically and yells once. She loves to 'pet' them and grab their hair. Our 3yr old male is oddly paternal with her, and will let her pull and grab and poke as much as she wants to. He's quite a trooper, but she's paying attention to him so he doesn't care. Our 5yr old female is a little more wary. She really likes her, but she likes to sit with her just out of reaching distance. Then she will sneak attack a kiss on the head and run away before she can grab her. It's really interesting, DD seems to understand the difference between their wants. When she is able to touch our female she just runs her hand over her, and rarely grabs; with our male she will get fistfuls of hair and skin and tail whatever.

I'm very glad that we haven't had to deal with any nipping, but I expect it to happen at some point. Dogs seem to know when a kid gets old enough to know better. I think our plan is to let it happen once (as long as the dog doesn't actually get LO), and then discipline for subsequent snapping attempts. I think its going to take a little balance of standing up for the dogs when DD gets too rough and allowing them to tell her no or escape. We are very careful now to make sure that they can get away from her whenever they want.

snoopy5512 · November 2011

It seems like from the beginning DD and Snoopy have been obsessed with eachother. Where she is, he is. And I think DD thinks he is her 1 man comedy act. He was the first thing she really belly laughed from.

I know lots of people who's babies are just realizing there is a dog. I think it depends on the dog. Snoopy has slept next to DD since she was in the womb. He sleeps spooned against me.

That said, he better watch it. She is totally gunning for him when she can crawl.

AZ123 · November 2011

Children love dogs! DS2 loves to stare at the dogs and not starts smiling at the lab.

I took a class on dogs and babies and from experience with DS1, you DON'T want to punish or yell at the dog if they snap at the baby. What you want to do is keep them separated as much as possible and if you do need them to interact (which we did because I didn't want the dogs thinking they were getting the boot over the baby) we taught the dog that was aggressive "move away" command. You basically command them to move away, have them go into another room and give them a treat. You eventually graduate to just giving the "move away" command when you see LO going towards the dog. The dog then graduated to just moving away on his own without a command. Now, 3 years later, the dog's too lazy to move and DS1 is old enough to know how to pet him.

LacieMI · November 2011

My little guy also has become much more entertained by our golden retriever over the past 3-4 weeks. He is always trying to 'lean' toward the dog, like he does when he wants to be carried by someone else. He smiles, reaches, and screeches at dog. The other day I took a (long) video of LO standing in the jumper with his hands in fists above his head, and he was just *screeching* at the dog who was laying about a foot away, sound asleep. Finally our dog lifted her head, looked at LO and then went back to sleep. Like our dog was saying "seriously... keep it down kid." It was pretty funny!

One of my LO's favorite activities is to lay on his belly on my lap, head facing out on my knees. We call the dog over and LO pets and grabs and smiles at the dog. Thankfully, our patient dog tolerates this several times a day, but only for 10-15 seconds at a time :-)

MrsDL · November 2011

We have a small dog (he sort of looks like a stuffed animal) and LO gazes at him, looks at him when we say "where's Jack (our dog)" and reaches for him (which we watch like a hawk because he's in his grabbing phase and the last thing I need is for LO to pull his hair). The dog dislikes LO immensely. He continues to sit with his head turned away from LO and especially when we are with LO - it seems to sicken him. He's not getting the attention he received before and he is very jealous. I'm hoping once LO is a bit older and can give the dog attention he'll come around.

McAllie5 · November 2011

mullenem:
A thinks that our dog and DCP's dog are HILARIOUS. She'll just stare at them and occasionally randomly laugh at them. It's so funny! She's recently been trying to "pet" our dog. He doesn't mind. He LOVES to lick her though. We're working on that.

All. Of. This.

I find it so so gross when DS hold out his hand to the dog, she licks it, he giggles and puts his hand in his mouth. Repeat. The first time it happened I wanted to barf.

flutepharm87 · November 2011

They love him and he loves them

kuipogirl · November 2011

My son adores our dog. He loves to hold his palm out to be licked (and my dog always obliges). My dog can get way more laughs and giggles out of my DS than I can. They pretty much adore each other. She is really good around him, loves to lick and will sit patiently when DS gets a fist full of fur and pulls.

jg_girl1 · November 2011

DD LOVES our dogs and the LOVE her. We never leave them alone in the same room however because you never know when a dog is going to reach their limit.

She loves to stick out her hand and giggle while he licks it. When daddy is close by she will grab the puppy's face while he licks her face. Our puppy doesn't understand yet that she can't play fetch. He always brings her a toy and then waits for her to toss it. I do feel bad when she pets them because she always takes a big patch of furr with her when she is done. see picture below

ah&gg08 · November 2011

mullenem:

A thinks that our dog and DCP's dog are HILARIOUS. She'll just stare at them and occasionally randomly laugh at them. It's so funny! She's recently been trying to "pet" our dog. He doesn't mind. He LOVES to lick her though. We're working on that.

Yep same with my LO! She love's to stick her hand right at our dog's mouth so she will lick it and when I push her hand away she will put it right back at our dog's mouth. It's funny to watch.

jazzyag · November 2011

K loves our dog. Clio is only 23 months and is wonderfully patient with all small people.

The only time that K doesn't scream in the carseat is if we take our dog with us. Clio will hang her head over the back seat and K "talks" to her for the whole ride.

Clio also likes to lay right beside K and doesn't mind at all if she is poked, pulled, or grabbed.

A (3 years) is a bit rough on Clio and tries to pull her around the house by the ears.

prisschris · November 2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gUpdw8dklk" target="_blank" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gUpdw8dklk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gUpdw8dklk

Here's my example. Caroline LOVES Billy Jack!

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