New baby and terrier

[Cafeaulait27]

Hi. We have a 5 year old border terrier that we adore, he is very good with people and such a softie but can get overexcited at times.

Unfortunately we’ve brought our newborn baby home (first child) and he is barking and whining and trying to get to baby all the time. We often have to put him in another room for him to calm down / get some peace.

We’re not sure what to do, it’s really heartbreaking as we love the dog but are really worried about the baby of course. We’re hoping that he will get used to the babies noises etc and gradually stop this behaviour . We’d never leave them unattended but we want to get to a point where they can be in the same room supervised and our dog is calm and not so interested.

Does anyone have any advice/success stories they can share?

We’re sleep deprived and very sad right now 😞

Has he actually met the baby?

Just wondering if he’s quite so excited because you’re keeping the baby out of his way... which I know is standard advice.

But when I brought mine home, it was to a well socialised dog who liked children - so after settling in, I let him say hello and he pretty much went ooh, tiny person, nice... then, hmm, doesn’t do much, ok, I’m bored now.

Until they got old enough to be dropping food.

Yeah we had some brief meetings at the beginning where I was holding him whilst sat down and he was able to get close, but he sort of lunges and I get nervous and stand up/move away.

I know our nerves probably aren’t helping matters but he’s so interested and excited it’s scary. He’s a terrier so I feel like their breed is quite different to other breeds of dog (eg bred to kill rats etc) although he’s never been a working dog it seems he does have strong traits when it comes to small furries and small animals 😔

Of course he's excited! There's a new human in the house that smells different and is making weird noises and he's not allowed to come and say hi.

Pop him on a short lead and harness and allow him to have a sniff. He can't lunge if you have proper control over him.

Hi @icedcoffees ok we will try that… being on a lead often makes him more over excited though as he feels restricted. But we will try, I’m willing to try anything. My mum has suggested rehoming him and that’s just really not something we want to do 💔😭

I just worry that he will think the baby is a toy/small animal to ‘play’ with /destroy…

I’m so scared 😟

I had terriers and babies with no problems and border terriers are usually friendly little things. Have you tried putting the baby in the pushchair/carrycot and then making a huge fuss of the dog, trying to keep his attention on you rather than the baby.

I'm sure he will settle down, how old is your baby?

Did you do anything in the run-up to bringing baby home to help him get used to the idea?

Terriers know the difference small furry things and babies, I promise

@HidingFromDD this is the thing… he’s so friendly and such a softie. I was just cuddling with him (and crying because this situation is breaking my heart!) and he’s so calm and chilled.

It’s just when he hears these noises and sees the baby wriggling he gets very over excited and almost stressed, and wants to investigate.

He’s fine with the baby in the room if he isn’t making any noises, but when he cries or whatever he flips and then ignores everything we do/say. Tbh we know we’re not handling it well either as we’re so stressed and tired. We usually then get a treat and put him in another room (where he actually goes and sleeps in his bed, almost like he’s much calmer when he can’t hear it). We just feel so bad that he’s being excluded and feel like it’s no way to live with a dog and a baby forever. Our baby is just over 2 weeks old, but the dog stayed with family for the first week while we settled in. So he’s been with the baby at home for about 10 days ish.

@icedcoffees we got the pram a few months before to get him used to that being downstairs in the house, we use that as like his Moses basket downstairs. We also played noises of babies crying but I think it’s just different when an actual baby is in the room crying 😞

I really hope you guys are right and it will get easier. He’s such a lovely boy.

I very strongly suspect he’s just going... the tiny person is doing things!!!

But, you could have a session with a trainer or a behaviourist to help you work out what he’s doing and how to deal with it.

That way you can move forward without putting anyone at risk.

I'd suggest taking the dog for a big long walk to drain some of his energy and then try introducing them. I've a terrier and when he has had a good walk he even be bothered to bark at cats 🤣

@tabulahrasa yes it does seem that way… but it’s just trying to stop his interest that’s the problem 😔 we thought he might just get used to it but now it’s been over a week and he doesn’t seem to have been desensitised as yet. The baby is the most exciting thingg in the room to him understandably. Wish he was scared and ran away instead 😟

@romdowa thank you, we tried that this morning but he’s still on high alert if the baby makes the slightest noise! 😔😔😔 hope it improves 🤞

Rehome this dog. I would be a nervous wreck under those circumstances. Not good.

Terriers know the difference small furry things and babies, I promise smile I wouldnt count on this tbh.

OP you are right to be cautious. I would be treating your dog everytime the baby makes a sound. I would drop the treat onto the floor to encourage your dog to keep his feet on the floor and not jump up if people are holding the baby. At this stage you want the dog to know the sound is non of his business - it is not for him to investigate.

The baby's noise will become a cue for him to be on the floor looking at you over time you can build the behaviour to be a down on his mat.

You may need help doing this to start with and if you do not have help to reward your dog you are doing the right thing to have him in another room. GIve him a stufed kong or licky mat to make the situation enjoyable.

Congratulations on your new baby

I wouldn’t be as blasé as some of the previous pp, I wouldn’t think terriers are completely trustworthy around newborns, because of their instincts. It’s surely better to err on the side of caution here. I think a behaviourist would be a very good idea, so they can assess what the dog is doing.

@Puppalicious agreed. We love our dog but know he’s a terrier at the end of the day. We’re being very careful.

@PollyRoullson these are good ideas, thank you