Dogs and babies

[Snowman81]

Hello,

I'd be glad to hear of peoples thoughts and experiences of bringing up a baby/child with a dog in the house. I am amazed at how fantastic my collie/terrier/Staf is being with the little one (8months) , we've been firm with boundaries from the start - babies toys, dogs toy etc. and now they seem to have built a very cute little relationship with the dog being very gentle and the little one cooing and stroking the dog and watching her every move...from really early on he learnt the dogs name (not to say it himself but when we said her name he would look for her) and I am pretty sure he has just said his first real word and both me and my OH are sure it's 'dog'! ...tonight was the development of the baby working out he can feed the dog and giggling before I realised what he was doing. It's amazing the little bond they aleady have and especially so as the dog has been quite a challenge to train, and still jumps up at adults despite serious amounts of effort...we're getting there slowly. But with the baby she is unbelievably gentle and patient. She is a bit staffy so is it the nanny dog effect?!

One more thing and then I'll finish as may be a little tedious if ur not into babies, but their latest game is the baby crawling around really fast in his vest and the dog sniffing his legs and tickling him with her beard, so he giggles and crawls even faster....and she brings him her tuggy to play a very very gentle tug game (obviously with me watching over)...Anyone else got any experience of the bonds of children and dogs, it seems so natural to them...and also any tips for when the baby becomes a toddler and gets more boistrous with the dog and how to police this and make sure the baby respects the dog and vice versa.

 

[Montyforever]

Awh Barney has been terrified by my baby cousin when she thought it would be hilarious to stick her fingers up his nose while he was asleep she's a bit wary of him now though since she's seen how loud he can bark!

 

[Booboos]

That sounds very sweet!

Lily is 8 months too and getting on very well with the dogs. She now recognises them as separate beings and finds them very funny when they run around, sneeze, dig, etc.! The other day she was giggling like crazy watching the GSD catch snow balls!

As for safety, I don't leave her alone with the dogs, they are always supervised and I know it will become more challenging when she starts to move around. We have a room divider upstairs and a pen downstairs so she can be left safe and separate from the dogs.

The dogs have different reactions to her. The GSD would like to mother her, I trust him as much as I would ever trust a dog with a baby. I was worried about my bitch as she is elderly and quite attached to me, but she is now just attached to me and the baby - she doesn't bat an eyelid at the baby screaming or pulling her hairs out (we don't encourage this but the baby has managed to pull a few handfulls and the dog doesn't even move!). The JRT is not that keen and will get up and move, so I think it's important for him to have the space to get away from the baby. And finally the other spitz is antisocial anyway (scared of everything) so he tends to spend his time in a quiet room by himself (out of choice!).

 

[jennywren07]

Ellie is just over 1 now and the dogs are amazing with her. We were a bit worried whilst i was expecting and although i trust them not to bite (as much as you can) thir both very bouncy dogs - a staff and a lab X - and i was worried they'd stand or jump on her be accident.

They both keep paws on the floor around her and delight in sniffing/licking her feet to make her laugh. They are never left alone together and we have a big "stairgate" to dive the living room from the kitchen area so they dont feel shut out. Ellie likes to poke her breadsticks through the bars and share with the dogs (if i did this it'd be world war 3 as to who got it first but when its her they nibble the end!!) and she often stands at it and yells untill they come to her.


We also started making changes as soon as we knew i was preg. no letting them upstairs any more/ no on the sofa/ installing the stairgate so i think it was less of a shock when she came home not having lots of new rules aswell as baby