Moms with dogs and LOs

fastcarsandfreedom3319 · September 2013

How are your four-legged ones coping now that our LO's are 1 yr old? How do your LOs do with the dogs?

DS LOVES our dog (she's a beagle). Sometimes he can be super sweet with her, and give her hugs and even go so far as to lay his head on her and go "Awww!" He has been following her around as soon as he could crawl. He thinks it's hilarious when she runs around like a crazy person with her toys. Then there are other times when he is super rough and hits, pulls hair, and pinches her.

But our dog is a lot less tolerant than I thought she would be. I am so afraid that she is going to hurt him. One wrong move and she rears her head and bears her teeth. The other day she snapped at his hand for just touching her head, luckily she didn't get him, I don't know if she missed on purpose or not though. We try to pay her more attention but honestly I just don't have the energy for it. Ugh. I'm a doggie mom failure.

Andreabks · September 2013

i have a 110lb yellow lab. he's a little clumsy and not always gentle around A anymore. you'll never convince a large dog that they are further down the food chain than a "puppy" so some of those issues for us are just going to take time.

he does ok most days, just getting fat and onery as he's getting older anyway. hes 7 now, and for a dog his size that's middle age or so.

he knocks DD down from time to time and she gets cranky but so far he's never hurt her. she loves him though. tonight she ran around the living room to get to him to "tickle" his ears. we were gone for a week and g-ma swears she heard DD say "hamlet" this weekend when we went to pick him up.

rainedrops117 · September 2013

We have a 65 lbs American Bulldog who is extremely tolerable of K's constant grabbing, pulling and salivatory antics. I've ALWAYS been a firm believer in intuition. No matter how minute. That being said, I NEVER leave them alone. EVER. (Perhaps it's the mother hen in me). Personally, if my dog barred his/her teeth or snapped at K - I would seriously consider getting rid of it. (easier said than done, I know - and I don't say that lightly) I use to breed dogs (in a very young, past life) and dogs are born with different temperaments, discernible at puppy-hood. At a year of being around LO, I believe the dog should already be accustomed. It's not the dogs fault by no means - "correctional" snapping is normal (unless trained) - a dog's way of putting boundaries. At least that's what was told to me. But it's not worth the risk IMO.

I hate that you're in the situation - I'm just concerned that the snapping could lead to something worse and God forbid harmful. At the very least try and seek training... I hope it gets better, GL!

SpruceGrouse · September 2013

Dùn (who is by a guess a malamute/lab with german shepard mix) has been amazing from the start. Dùn is drawn to puppies and he treats them with care and love seems to see DS as a human puppy and is giving him the same kindness.

When we first brought DS home, he was excellent, slept by the crib (he still does) when I would come home Dùn would go check to make sure the baby was with me. Dùn now runs to welcome DS home first before me or DH.

Now Dùn is so tolerant of DS's climbing on him and poking him, DS hurt Dùn once and all Dùn did was lick DS's hand. They are definately best buddies. I love watching them together.

some AW of the 2:

Rhomonk · September 2013

We have 2 Beagles. Our male dog will let LO poke him/climb him to a point. Then, he will get up and leave. My older female beagle won't tolerate her much, and will bark if she starts playing rough. But she will also get up and leave if she gets annoyed.

mmknightly · September 2013

My older male dog tolerates very little. I've tried to teach Miss C to be gentle with him, but she's just not getting it. My younger female dog lets her get away with all of the pinching, pulling, and poking she wants; as long as she gets to luck her and much as possible. Exhibit A:

Megispreg · September 2013

We have an older boxer, and they are so adorable together. I think the dog was just tolerating the baby, until Audrey started handing her food from the high chair. Now it's a mutual love affair.

The snapping thing would worry me.

I agree with PP that maybe you could look for a trainer?

JayandEmm · September 2013

Our doxie loves W, until he starts getting a little too rough. Our Chihuahua is scared to death of him. He avoids W at all costs, he mostly lays on the back of the couch so W can't reach him. Lol. They've never snapped, growled, etc. When W gets rough with our doxie, he just moves.

102007 · September 2013

Our chihuahua mix doesn't love LO. He will run around with her and play chase, but he doesn't like her to touch him. Our cat is much better, and we are working on "gentle touches" with her. There is still much tail pulling though, so we have a lot of work to do before I will be comfortable with LO playing with the dog. He growls a little and gets out of her way when he wants to be alone, and we encourage him to go find a comfy other spot to lay. We try to give him a lot of positive attention when she is around, though that makes her more interested in him, so a lot of our snuggles are done after LO goes to bed.

LadyyShea · September 2013

I've got three dogs... a 7 year old Beagle/Jack mix, She LOVES DS and is so good with him, he tries to climb her and she just lets him.. He sits on her and she licks him... My Collie mix is distant with him, she prefers to let him be until he's eating, then they are best friends.... My beagle never adjusted well, he was a mess to begin with and having DS here has made this house a nut house.... We've actually begun a search for a new home for the beagle... Not because we don't love him, but because we feel he deserves better than being locked up away from baby and waway from us... He's just too much for us now... It kills us, but it has to be done.

mmknightly · September 2013

@cinciem
Thank you for posting that article!

MeredithML · September 2013

We have a pitbull mix named Millie and she is really good with Wyatt now. She took a while to adjust to him being in the house. For the first 3 months of Wyatt's life Millie would not be on the same floor of the house as Wyatt by her choice. She is kind of an odd dog though.
But she is so tolerant of him now. He takes toys right out of her mouth and she just lays there. She brings him the ball to throw for her and gives Wyatt way too many kisses. That being said, she does knock him over if he is in her way when DH comes through the door. It's like they see who can get to him first. Lol.

fastcarsandfreedom3319 · September 2013

cinciem said:

I read this recently and found it super helpful in watching for signs of stress in my dogs with DD. https://www.robinkbennett.com/2013/08/19/why-supervising-dogs-and-kids-doesnt-work/

Thanks @cinciem, that really was a great article. And thanks ladies for your support. We're trying to make it work but in the end it may be a better quality of life for my 4 legged daughter to go to another home who has the time and energy to give her the care and attention she deserves. She's really a good dog, very sweet, just not best for T at his current age...we'll see how things go until our house sells, and if this continues, she may stay behind with my co-worker, whose home is a beagle resort.

sdlaura · September 2013

We have two dogs and one is super friendly with DD, even when she tugs on him, while the other will show her teeth and snap. She used to be good with kids but I think she's not anymore because of her age (12 years old). DD and the dog have been pretty good about staying away from each other since one snapping incident that made DD cry, and we have taught the dog to stay a few feet away from Dd and to get up and move if she comes close. We keep a close eye on them together.

MuggleMomma23 · September 2013

We've got an 18 lb Cairn Terrier (think Toto from Wizard of Oz). He's great with DD. He's very calm typically so he lets her pet him and try to climb on him some. She even tries to give him kisses (which we think is adorable). He's so tolerant of DD. If he's getting irritated or just doesn't want to be messed with, he just goes somewhere else but never gets aggressive. We're very lucky they're so good together. Very grateful for this!

LadyyShea · September 2013

asales727 said:

cinciem said:

I read this recently and found it super helpful in watching for signs of stress in my dogs with DD. https://www.robinkbennett.com/2013/08/19/why-supervising-dogs-and-kids-doesnt-work/

Thanks @cinciem, that really was a great article. And thanks ladies for your support. We're trying to make it work but in the end it may be a better quality of life for my 4 legged daughter to go to another home who has the time and energy to give her the care and attention she deserves. She's really a good dog, very sweet, just not best for T at his current age...we'll see how things go until our house sells, and if this continues, she may stay behind with my co-worker, whose home is a beagle resort.

Our beagle just never adjusted well either.... is it a breed specific thing? I wonder.

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