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Babies: 9 - 12 Months
erjarv
member
Anyone with big dogs? I need advice! (Also in 0-3 Months)
erjarv
member
I have a 3 year old Great Dane and a 1 1/2 year old Great Dane mix, and a 12 week old baby. I know that Danes are good with kids, and are just very big babies, but I'm starting to get nervous about their size vs the baby. Tummy time is usually done on our bed if it's just me at home, or if it's me and my husband we'll put him on the floor and take turns playing with August and keeping the dogs away. Right now while it's a little bit of a hassle it's not a big deal, because he doesn't spend the majority of his time on the floor. I know though that soon that's going to change. The idea of having August play on the floor and crawl around while the dogs are also there makes me nervous. They're pretty calm dogs over all (every once in a while they get bursts of energy and like to rough house), so I haven't been TOO too worried about it until recently...I'm scared they'll accidentally step on him or nock him over, etc. I know I can get baby gates but I don't want to have them constantly quarantined to one small section of the house. I don't feel like that's fair to them. My mother in law has been bringing it up a LOT recently and really seems to think that it's too dangerous to have the dogs and the baby and it's starting to get to me. What if she's right? I would never forgive myself if the dogs hurt my baby.
Just the thought of trying to rehome them makes me cry. I reallyreallyreally hate it. But at the same time, I don't want to put my baby in any danger.
Does anyone else have big dogs? What did you do with them when your LO started playing on the floor more/walking/crawling?
TIA.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Anyone with big dogs? I need advice! (Also in 0-3 Months)
ETA: sorry for poor punctuation, bumping mobile!
I have a little dog (13lbs) and she has accidentally bumped into LO or jumped on him when she was excited and made him cry, so your concerns are valid. I don't think it's worth re-homing the dogs over though. I probably wouldn't quarantine the dogs, I would quarantine the baby.
I am getting one of these:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/North-States-Superyard-Xt-Gate/8457890?findingMethod=rr
with an extender to make it a little bigger:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/North-States-SuperYard-XT-Extension-Kit/1762411
We had a Newfy with two babies. For the most part she didn't want much to do with them while they were on the floor besides sniff them and move along and watch them from afar. We did use baby gates at times when we wanted the baby to be able to move around without bothering her . I'm not sure about the temperament of Grate Danes vs Newfoundlands, but I never worried about her stepping on them or hurting them. It was more that they would pull her fur ect, so we were conscious of providing her with a baby free area at times.
I have a big dog somewhat rambunctious dog and we often have two (my ILs) running around the house, but neither are aggressive towards my DD. The only reason I would ever rehome a dog is for aggression. Anything else has a solution. Your dogs sound wonderful, so give them a bit of trust and yourself a break!
Sure our dog has bumped DD or run into her, but so have I! Your LO will learn fast enough to move, and even while he is learning to walk the worst it really is is a fall to their bum - they are doing enough of that aleady! My dog has always walked around my DD, and we also use the command "gentle" if my dog is sniffing or licking my DD so if she starts to get excited she knows that she needs to watch for DD.
When DD was extremely young, I would often leave her on the floor for tummy time. I wouldn't always be down there with her, but I was always in the room. My dog would often join her and lay beside her just to watch and be close. They will be build their own relationship.
I still never leave them alone completely unsurpervised because I still understand that my dog is a dog, I also closely monitor when my DD is touching the dog especially when my DD had to learn about "gentle".
Good luck with the transition! I think if you try to keep them away or gated you will have a harder time due to the fact that your son will then be a bit of a novelty rather than just part of life. Always supervise and beware of any actual aggressive actions, but I think your dogs will surprise you! Please don't rehome unless it is a last resort.
This is pretty much us too, but we have two big dogs. One 85lb Labradoodle, and a 55lb German Shepard mix. They have knocked him down before but only one time did I get angry at the dogs because my son was crying, it was unexpected and the dogs were being crazy outside. Mostly he just gets back up, and moves on. No big deal. I'm always supervising, but it's going to happen that he gets knocked down from time to time. I'd never get rid of them unless they bit him. They all love eachother big time and it's awesome seeing him grow up with the dogs.
I have a big dog (100lb lab) but honestly everyone else in our house is a bigger hazard than our dog. DS was really interested in the dog when he was first mobile but then he lost interest and the dog hasn't really had any interest in him (DS is our second so the dog's interest in babies has already waned and even with DD he lost interest pretty quickly).
Like a PP stated, I would not completely quarantine them away from each other - they need to build a relationship and get comfortable with each other (learn how to interact around each other). Unless your dogs are temperamental or highly active I would keep a really close eye on them for awhile but they will learn how to interact with each other and should become bored with each other quickly. DS gets bumped into constantly by DD, and even DH and I on occasion. Kids are pretty sturdy - a few knocks on their diapered tushes won't hurt them.
Side note - Dogs are great motivators for walking! Both DD and DS took their first steps towards our dog.
To add the the previous posters, my husband's family were dog breeders and he was raised around 4-5 pure bred labradors most of his childhood. His mother likes to tell stories about how he'd get knocked over by a swipe of their tail (they have powerful tails). However, they were VERY well trained dogs because they were show dogs.
I wouldn't really be concerned about their size (any dog of any size could be a problem), I'd probably bring in a trainer if I could afford it to work with boundaries around the baby. If not maybe you or you husband can taken them to doggie group class?
I agree with you about rehoming.
I have a 14 month old Great Dane that is 160 lbs and two 80lb Labs that all stay in the house. They are all very mild mannered and calm. I have a 2 year old and a 10 month old. We have one baby gate between our living room and kitchen that blocks off the kitchen when we eat, other than that they go where ever in the house.
With both girls, when we did tummy time we would always put them on the floor in the nursery and shut the door so the dogs weren't in the room with them. The 10 month old now crawls all around them and has never been stepped on. Mostly the Great Dane just lays on the couch and watches her. He also goes in and out of his kennel during the day to sleep so he stays in there a good part of the day too. We have never had a problem with anyone being stepping on. He is very cautious about where he steps when she is down on the floor with him. He watches out for her.
I have a german shepherd and Dd is almost 10 months. They pretty much ignore each other lol. Dd has had the rule of the house since she started crawling well about 3 months ago, and the dog usually just lays there & watches her. As long as I'm close I just let them both roam, but if I know I'm going to be too busy to keep an eye on them I'll put the dog in the kitchen with a baby gate & let DD have the living room area. I'll also do that when the dog gets her little bursts of playful energy, because she has knocked dd over with those before (not meaning to, but she's still young & clumsy!). Dd wasn't hurt & didn't even cry, she actually laughed lol.
Long story short, it depends on the attitude of the dog and the level of supervision you are able to give at any time. I would never consider getting rid of my dog! Unless she became violent, of course, but that's a completely different matter.
Forgive me because I didn't read prior posts, just want to answer your questions. I was a mess during my pg over the thought of re-homing my 85-lb rottie mix bc he wasn't good with kids. We hired a trainer to work with us and put up gates. He is awesome with the baby but we NEVER leave the two of them alone. We have a play yard to keep DS in as well as gates to keep the dog separated when necessary. Our dog has never shown any sign of aggression, but because of his size we just can't take a change of Easy stepping on C. We are very diligent about giving each of them their space but they adore each other. You are right to be vigilant. But take things one day at a time and take precautions. I would imagine you'll be OK. The good things about gates is that they are only as needed and not permanent.
We have a 150lb Saint Bernard and a 100 lb German Shepherd (who is a working police K9). Both have been around DS (3 1/2) and DD (8mo) their whole lives and we've never had any issues. We always supervise them--they are still animals and you can't trust them completely---but it is really no big deal. I can't imagine our family any other way.
We have a german shepherd mix. He's not as big as a dane, but he's a lot bigger than the baby. DD has been a crawler since she was 6 months old and I was worried about the same things you are, but honestly, the dog is great with her. For the most part, when she's on the move, he stays out of her way.. If he sees her coming, he'll usually just go somewhere else. If he gets excited and starts jumping around, we just pick up the baby, or we just tell him to sit. Today was the first time he ever accidentally backed up in to DD, and when he realized she was there, he moved out of her way and she was fine.
I think you can probably wait to see what the dogs are like with your LO when he/she is mobile before you start thinking about getting rid of them. You just need to teach your dogs how to behave with the baby and you probably won't have any issues. We never leave DD alone in a room with the dog (or our cats), so I have my eye on what interaction is happening between DD and the dog. I make sure she doesn't pull his hair out, and make sure he doesn't sit on her....
I have two big dogs...and three cats. I work with dogs as my career as well. If you seperate the dogs from the baby you are creating a rift in the family structure. The dogs will begin to resent the baby and the baby is going to learn that the dogs aren't family. My mother is just as paranoid...she drives me crazy. The dogs need to see the baby as familly, a pack member that is higher than they are. A little person that they need to respect and care for.
Absolutely no rough house around the baby. If the dogs start playing make them go elsewhere or tell them to stop. Make sure the dogs have good obedience skills and that they listen to you. My biggest dog gets very excited when the door bell rings or someone knocks or for whatever reason and I'm scared of him stepping on the baby. I try to make sure the baby is not between the dog and the door. When incidents come up, I use them as learning experiences. "Good dog for going around the baby!" "Good job for not freaking out!"
I also try to encourage the dogs to show affection towards the baby. I make a really good effort to make sure the dogs are involved, a part of the family and that I teach the dogs that the baby is good. They have laid on the floor with him since the beginning, the baby now gives them treats, the baby helps with doggie chores like feeding, letting them out to potty etc.
I hope this helps! Keeping your baby safe is priority #1, but seperating the dogs from the baby is going to cause some serious problems very quickly. My baby is 10 months now and when I can't keep an eye on him and the dogs every second, I do use a baby gate. My baby LOVES the dogs!
We have a similar situation. We have a medium high energy dog and a large dog. When I was pregnant my FIL kept saying he thought we should get rid of our high energy dog because he was afraid for the baby. We didn't listen. Today, the dog adores the baby and is better with him than we ever expected. When I was pregnant we got a crawling doll and trained the dogs tot be "gentle" with it. Then we used the same command with the baby. Now that he moves faster they occasional run into him like if they are playing and the kid crawls toward them. He loves the dogs! He likes to pet them and they give him kisses and they are learning to leave the area or stay out of reach if they don't want to interact. The one older dog will growl at him to say "stay away" but we don't tolerate that and she is learning to just move. The medium dog will share toys with the baby-- he loves his frisbee and a ball and sometimes the baby will play and the dog is great with this. The baby will even hand the dog the toys sometimes and I love how happy this makes the dog. He watches me when I give the baby a bath and the baby loves getting his fingers licked by the dog after I feed the baby. I can't wait until. they play together more as DS gets older. Now the dog looks up whenever there is a baby on tv and is very protective of DS on walks and so forth. DS also has a cat to play with at my mom's and that cat knows if her tail gets pulled she had better move. All family pets have been great with the baby.
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