Introducing crawling baby to grandparents' boisterous labrador

[JammyMummy]

Hi, we're spending Easter with the kids' grandparents/my in-laws in Wales. They have a boisterous adolescent labrador - we have a 3 year old and a 9 month baby who's just started crawling. The lab when he was a puppy a year ago was very excitable and fond of jumping on us - he has a lot of energy, and wasn't very obedient at that stage.

I'm quite nervous about how he'll react to our baby. Our three year old is ok with him - she's not his biggest fan, but basically stays out of his way.
I'm after some reassurance and some tips, please!

My PILs have a boisterous Spaniel/pointer cross (so probably about the same size as a lab). I too was a bit nervous about introducing DS to dog when he was crawling, but he was fine. The dog was actually a bit wary of this strange creature moving towards her. She didn't leap on DS like she does on us, and she treated him quite gently. Obviously all dogs are different but I think a lot of animals have a natural sense for babies and treat them more gently. That said i wouldn't leave my DS alone with a dog.

Thanks both for your advice. I think it's a good idea to keep dog in another room if the baby is on the floor - if I can muster up the courage to say it to PILs without causing any offence! The dog really is their baby, and has the run of the house! Good to lay some ground rules so will definitely follow your example TheSecondComing.

Monkoray I've heard that some dogs are equally wary of babies, so I'll try not to worry too much (though it's kind of been keeping me awake at night...)

Make sure you don't go too far the other way though- so the dog gets uptight about your DC. You want the dog to be relaxed enough to ignore the baby really. I would give the dog a chance to say hello (hold baby and let dog sniff, do it with baby in car seat if you're nervous for a bit more protection/easy to whisk out of the way). You might find that the dog has seen enough then and isn't fussed.

I have a relatively young boisterous labrador and he does realise that he has to be gentle around babies. He will try and join in the games with older children (and he is big enough to knock them over) but walks quietly beside crawling babies/wobbly toddlers.

You need to make sure the two are never left alone together - as much for the dogs comfort as the baby's. Lo's do have a habit of pulling tails and poking eyes.

If your baby doesnt bother the dog, you will probably find the dog will be bored of him after a couple of minutes after being allowed to say hello.

Just so you know, labradors are naturally very tolerant of young children.