How'd you train your dog to be round your baby

[Lavender14]

Just that really. We've a 2 year old springer and he's a lovely good boy but we've an 8 month old as well and I think that the reality of a more active baby is setting in for the dog. We've had to put a stairgate up between rooms he'd normally have had the run of to give baby more space to crawl and he's struggling with the barrier even though he can still see us and I'll sit beside him and talk to him through it. We did all the early stuff when I was pregnant letting him hear baby crying noises, getting him used to the pram and baby items in the house etc but just wondering how others taught their dog to be gentle and considerate of babies and toddlers especially energetic dogs? He's not bad by any means just unaware of his size and wants to lick baby a lot and would jump over or stand on baby if he was on the floor without meaning to hurt him. He's never unattended in the same room and we're very careful with them together but just thinking I need to be more proactive? We're teaching baby to be gentle and not pull or grab and to leave the dog alone etc but obviously that will take time too.

I don’t have any advice sorry but in same situation so wondering if you managed to do anything that worked? Thanks

These were mine 10 years ago Clear boundaries and keeping them separate. I had a lab and he used to try to sneak off to see the baby - realised then I was wrong is not letting him see where baby had gone. Eg put baby on his bed and didn’t let the dog upstairs, the dog would try to sneak upstairs to see where the baby had gone. Once I realised what was happening I used to take him upstairs so he could see me put baby to bed and then shhh noises and downstairs. He understood the words bed and sleep so he understood baby was sleeping.

Dog not allowed to lick faces. Dog knowing to sit or wait until told it was ok to come, go, etc

dog had a bed, child not allowed to go to dog on his bed and go on dog bed. Child not allowed to drink from dogs bowl or eat from his bowl, obviously. As soon as he could child fed dog - dog had to leave food until told to take it.

Any food dropped on the floor by child was the dogs - the children worked this out quickly and wr never had food throwing.

absolutely no dog jumping, snatching etc

dog understood the word gentle and stop

Ddog know commands like leave, lie down, go to your bed. It's was my niece not my own child (mine are older) and he just knew to be gentle, only issue was removing socks to lick feet!

Have a lab- he was crazy as a pup but just seemed to inherently know that the baby was tiny and precious. When I came home with baby I greeted the dog first, made a fuss, DH then brought the baby in. He just wagged his tail, sniffed her and that was it.

They were inseparable, he would lean his head on her bouncer and rock her. He has never put a paw wrong, ever. He’s 13 now.

The hardest time we had was when he needed a big op, initially he went to my DM’s to recover. After a couple of weeks I brought him home, we needed guards to keep crawling baby away from him so he could rest.

Always ensure the dog has a quiet space/bed the baby /child can’t get to. I would also test for resource guarding, train the dog, exercise the dog and teach your child respect.

So we now have a super active 16 mo!

Dog has calmed a bit with age and we work hard to make sure he gets lots of physical and mental exercise so he's satisfied and content when he's at home.

We used a stairgate between rooms to keep them separated while we taught ds gentle hands and then gradually increased the amount of time they had together so they could get used to each other under close supervision.

When ds was playing on the floor and learning to walk and crawl we did keep them separated so the dog couldn't run over him by accident. Then brought the dog in while ds was in his playpen.

We've taught ds how to pat the dog gently and the dog not to lick ds face and dog isn't allowed to beg for food from ds but anything that falls off the high chair is fair game for him.

Other than that we try to make sure our dog is still getting lots of praise and positive feedback and we try to do things he enjoys with ds like going for walks alongside the pram.

If dog gets overly excited we separate them again and give him something else to work on. We also don't let our dog have his bone or food around our son and he knows not to take ds toys. We've been working on teaching ds that he's not to touch the dogs food, water, bone, toys or crate.

Thankfully our dog has been a real sweetie about everything and now our son is really steady on his feet he's much more able for the dog brushing past etc.