Tips for anxious dog with 6 month baby

[GoldenWonder66]

Hi there, I'm new to this community and was hoping someone could help me.

I've two small dogs - a male at 13 years and a girl at 11 years. The former is so chilled out around my son it's almost laughable, he will more often than not walk away. If you're lucky he'll look up at him when he's being held. So we don't have a problem with him, he's always been good with children ever since he was a puppy.

The girl however has been super stressed since he was introduced to the pack. She's very anxious like she's been running on a field all day, often tries to jump up and grab clothes, etc belonging to my son, often bites our feet and ankles, the list goes on. It is worsened when he cries, she looks even more distressed.

We've tried to give her her own space, we've been calm and comforting to try and relax her and even given items of clothing for her to sniff to get used to his scent. She seems to be getting more and more anxious as time goes on and I honestly don't know what else to do.

Can anyone reading this please give me some advice on how to proceed? She's very good with children in general and she was calm and collected around my cousin's then newborn children, so this alarms me. And just in case anyone asks: no, he doesn't stay with me overnight. Had a rollercoaster of sorts at end of last year with me and the mother. We are no longer together but we work together in his best interest. Don't want people thinking we've this issue with one of my dogs and anything could happen - we've a child gate for living room and upstairs, and my son is never left unattended due to severe reflux and his young age in general.

Is there a possibility she views my son as a threat, or she thinks we are hurting him when he cries, as all babies do?

It would be best to speak to your vet and be referred to a registered behaviourist, they can work with you 1 on 1 and watch your dog's behaviour - there may be subtle signs you're not spotting and are hard for us to recommend things over the internet.

It would be best to speak to your vet and be referred to a registered behaviourist, they can work with you 1 on 1 and watch your dog's behaviour - there may be subtle signs you're not spotting and are hard for us to recommend things over the internet.

(Sorry don't know why that posted twice, Mumsnet glitched!)

A dog behaviourist would be able to understand and help.
My first thought was that she wants to get involved as opposed to feeling threatened by the baby getting more attention.

With my first born, my male 3 year dog was very chilled but if the baby was crying, the dog would become very alert and was desperate to get us to help the baby. He'd also sleep on the mat by the baby's cot. Keeping watch in a sense. So there was a sense of taking some sort of responsibility.
I once got a kitten and my female dog was beside herself trying to take over looking after the kitten.

I think there is a nurturing element in dogs when new helpless precious little new members of the family join in.

All that being said, you can never ever trust any dog near babies and children. So until you get qualified advice, keep them separate.

But it could also be that the baby is annoying to the dog, too many new smells and too much noise and activity.

Thank you for your response, I'll suggest to my parents doing this because none of us even considered this. Could be very helpful.

I know what you're saying, in words you can't possibly get a full picture but thank you very much for behaviourist advice, I'll get an appointment sorted soon. The older dog I have is so chilled out around my son I fear he'll fall asleep while standing 🤣

There's no way of knowing if she feels threatened or wants to help 100% as I'm not prepared to find out it's the former and not the latter as you've said.

She has in the past relieved herself in the house on the one occasion there were 12 "strangers" in the house along with the five members of her pack, so don't know if it's maybe anxiety caused by her not knowing who this person is? I suppose also up until now she hasn't heard baby noises before.

I'm sure we'll get through this, I'll see if we can get a referral for her through the vet and that'll be us started along the path.