[mandiedandie]

I was wondering what experiences you dog owners had when you finally brought your baby home. I am having a surge of "gotta train, gotta fix" the dogs, and I'm getting nervous about how it will be when we finally have our baby home. Our dogs weren't well socialized with other dogs, and that's fine, I guess. But, we aren't very social people, so they weren't well socialized with humans either because no one really comes over, and when we go on walks, they bark and growl at people. The "baby" (boxer pit bull mix) is 4 years old, and is pretty scared of everything. She has never bitten anyone, but she is fearful aggressive. Around kids, she doesn't growl, she just runs away and cowers, but I am afraid that may turn into fear biting someday. I have been reading up on how to introduce dogs to new babies, and that's great and all, but I was wondering what everyone's experience with their dogs were, and if they had these types of dogs that did well with the adjustment? I signed both dogs up for obedience classes at PetSmart and spoke with the trainer and told her my problem/fears, and she said that usually the dogs just get used to the baby, but you always have to watch, no matter how good you think the dog is. I need reassurance that our dogs aren't the only unsocialized, fearful aggressive dogs and that they can change. They've been my babies for so long, I can't imagine parting with them, and want to try and fix things before that ever becomes an option.

[aclee]

We have three dogs. The older two are big dogs (over 70 pounds each) and they could care less about TY. They kiss his face when he needs a clean up after a bottle, and do drive by lickings when he's playing on the floor. They aren't as careful as I would like them to be when they walk by and we are on the floor. I figure that will come with time. Our smaller dog is a corgi. He's great with the big dogs, and us, and horrible with everyone else. I was worried about him feeling replaced when Tyler came. He is Tyler's biggest protector. Part of their bond comes from the fact that Dewey was IN LOVE with Tyler Paci's...the soothie kind. He was sure they were really his, and wanted to chew them all the time (talk about chocking hazard) When Tyler had them in his mouth, Dewey was always close by. At first I was really afraid of him being too rough with Tyler, but he was always very gentle and seemed to be content just wanting to guard the paci. He would lay with Ty and I on the couch, or under Ty's swing when he was in it. When Ty would really get going, sucking on the paci, Dewey would watch him and turn his head side to side. Now that Ty no longer needs the paci, Dewey has just gotten used to being near Ty, so he still always is. Dewey, is afraid of his own shadow. We put a new tag on him with our address and phone numbers and it jingles and he runs and hides and pees on the floor. Then he ran out the dog door to get away from it. He's a scaredy cat. He barks when he's frightened, but doesn't growl or snap. Having done a lot of training with our older 2 (they are rescues) the biggest thing (and it was HARD for me!) is to be the leader. Be the pack leader and your dog will know that even though things are different, it will be okay. Fearful aggressive dogs are dogs that are afraid, but they don't trust that their owner will take care of the problems, so they try and fix it. Good Luck

[linda512]

I have a lab/pit mix who is pretty social and did great when my son came home at 8 months. I spoke with a dog trainer and played some tapes made for dogs with increasing volume of baby sounds. See how it goes at Pet Smart but if that isn't what you wanted, see if you can find a private dog trainer who can work with you.
Good luck. My dog is my baby also and I was terrified she would be aggressive and I would have to get rid of her. It did not happen and my son now, at 2 1/2, loves HIS dog!

[Fran27]

My dogs love people and kids, so it's not exactly the same situation, but one of them loves them too much. Meaning, he can be pushy. He wouldn't hurt them, but he's big (85 lb), so you never know. So in the end, I probably have to take the same precautions you will need to take.

Pretty much, the dogs are always with us, but I put the bouncer and the swing inside a play pen, and when I let the babies on the floor, I gate the dogs outside of the room. At first I had to crate the dogs a couple times when we were feeding the babies because they were all over them, but now it's not a problem at all anymore, they pretty much ignore them apart from the occasional face/foot licking.

I'm mainly worried about the dogs stealing and destroying the babies toys though. Already our thief one (still the same one) takes their pacifier when they drop it from the crib. It's hard to get things back from him too, so it's one of the reasons the dogs will probably be gated in another room when the babies are out, and we'll put the toys away before letting the dogs in when they nap.

[aallen25]

We have two dogs..a pit bull and a small mix breed we found at 5 mths old. We were never worried about the pit because we've had her since she was a puppy and she was well socialized with people and dogs alike. However were were a little concerned with our little dog. Not knowing his past, he was a mess when we found him, we had no idea how he would react. It was funny, though, the little dog seemed to take an instant liking to Shiloh and it took the bigger dog about 6 months to really come around to her. Our pit never showed any aggression towards DD, just avoided her.
In regards to how we dealt with them upon Shiloh's arrival, the number one thing for us was to make it a point to continue to show them as much love/give them the same amount of attention they had pre-DD. While we haven't managed to be perfect about that I really think our efforts helped. Also, we never forced DD on them. When they showed interest in her we made her available to them and that was it...and of course any contact they had with her was well supervised.

[Wisdom]

I'm not a dog owner, but your post reminds me of a situation that my MIL told us about recently. A woman who goes to her church had a Dalmatian that she'd had for years. The dog attacked her 7 month old baby out of the blue. The baby was sitting on the floor with the woman there as well. This was totally out of the dog's character. I'd say, even if you think your dog will never hurt the baby keep a very watchful eye while baby is in the presence of the dog. You just never know. In this case the baby was bitten badly in the face and the dog was put down.

[Stormster]

Nothing to add except if your dog has any of the baby's toys in his mouth examine the toy carefully before giving it back to the baby!

[jren]

We had our dog, a bichon, for 2 years before DD came along. He did not like being replaced as the baby! He never tried to bite, just would steal toys, etc. She's 4 now, and LOVES the dog, and he just tolerates her. BUt when she was around 2, he growled and snapped at her once, and I took him to a 12 week training class for dogs that bite. I wasn't taking chances! The truth is, you'll never know until after the fact if there's going to be a problem, so you just have to be careful. There are signs that the dog could bite. One is them being possessive or protective of the child (seems counterintuitive, but means the dog thinks he/she is the leader of the pack over your child). Also, if they are possessive of other things (dog's toys, food, etc.) they could bite if baby comes to close while they are eating or chewing a bone. Also, if they ever growl or snap at your child. Of course, a dog can only take so much poking and hair pulling, so it is as much for their safety as your childs to keep them separated as much as possible. I was also told to never leave the dog unsupervised around the baby.

Now that DD is older, I've had her training our dog so he knows who's boss. She's also the only one allowed to give him treats - so he's starting to LOVE her! LOL!

[jren]

Oh, just wanted to add - we were given tips by the trainer to help establish heirarchy (which is why there can be problems when new baby comes - the dog needs to re-establish where he belongs, which is the bottom). The trainer said don't let the dogs go in baby/kids rooms (train them to wait at the door for you when you go in), don't let them sleep up in the bed with you - should be on the floor preferably not in your room, don't let them enter a room before you or baby. I'm sure there was more but I forget. You can start now training them not to go in the nursery and not to go through doors first. Also can train them not to be possessive of their food if that's a problem. They may surprise you and be the most loving dogs to the baby - ya never know!

[loveajax]

We had a 140 lb. "baby" - - a bernese mountain dog. He definitely was "protective" of DD and liked to lick her face if there was food/formula on it, but generally he was pretty ambivalent toward her (they are kind of an "aloof" breed). You really do have to watch them closely. It takes some time for them to adjust....Good luck!!!

[mandiedandie]

Although some of you sound like you have perfect dogs, I appreciate your advice and encouragement. We've already started training them by not allowing them to sleep in the bed, but they sleep in our room...is that not a good idea? I don't know where else I'd put them, our house is kind of small, and the only other bedroom is the nursery. We close the door to the nursery and they don't ever really go in there anyway, they kind of just avoid it because we tried training them to come in only when given permission and they just would rather not go in. I do have a pack leader problem, I get afraid and frustrated, so it's hard for me to shake that...I'm working on it though. I am hoping that Petsmart can give us some good training because there's only one other option here where I live and they're on vacation. The pit boxer is just so afraid of everything and when we try and take dominance over her, she just lays there and doesn't want to do anything, like she's depressed. As we've been training her the past few days so we are the pack leaders, she just lays in the same spot and doesn't move...is that good or bad? Does that mean she is learning her new place or are we making her more fearful? I need Cesar Milan, LoL, but I don't live in Southern California and they never have a show that applies completely to us.

[kelceesmom]

My suggestion is to call local trainer and see if they will give you some ideas over the phone or better yet come over to your house and see what kind of game plan they come up with. We bought a doll that cries and screams that kind of thing to get them used to baby sounds.

All tho my dogs are very good they are dogs and you never know what can happen. Better to be prepared.

[jren]

Originally Posted by mandiedandie

We've already started training them by not allowing them to sleep in the bed, but they sleep in our room...is that not a good idea? I don't know where else I'd put them, our house is kind of small, and the only other bedroom is the nursery.

I know I'm the one who said the thing about not sleeping in the room with you (what our trainer told us), but we still let our sleep in the bed, on our pillows! We tried most of what the trainer told us, but that one was just too hard to break!

I think with the fearful one, just use lots of rewards with training and try not to be overly forceful. Don't use loud voices, etc.

So is the other dog the one with pack leader problems? Are you afraid when working with the dog? I think if you're afraid that the dog could bite you, not a good thing with baby around KWIM? Not to tell you what to do, but we trained ours with a special collar - not a choke collar - oh what was it called??? Maybe a pinch collar or something? It has "points" that face the neck, but they are NOT pointy at all - couldn't peirce the skin. The points don't cause pain, but when the collar is pulled, it can pinch the skin. (You don't pull hard - and we tested it on our own skin to make sure!). We used it with the direction of the trainer - a specialist who worked with police dogs and retrained fight dogs for pets. Maybe if you had something that you knew could stop the dog if you had to, you wouldn't be afraid.

I LOVE the Dog Whisperer! Oh, the one thing we found was a kennel that socialized the dogs during the day. We leave our dog there when we're out of town, but they have day programs as well, like doggy day care. He is always so well behaved after a visit and much better with other dogs and kids. You could look into something in your area, though they do require a temperament test before they'll put a dog in with other dogs, so that might not work... Out of ideas.

[aallen25]

We use that collar on our pit...don't know what it's called either but it's amazing! Using that is the only way I can confidently walk her by myself.
We tried it on our skin too. Someone recommended it to us and it just looked so painful so we had to try it also before we put it on Maddie.

[Fran27]

I actually don't like Cesar Milan's methods at all... Positive reinforcement is much better than making the dog afraid of you and 'forcing' hierarchy on him. It's probably why she just lies there when you try to force dominance on her... it's really the worst thing you can do for a fearful dog... IMO.

Something you probably don't want to hear though, but PetSmart training can be horrible. Basically anyone can train there, and if they don't use positive reinforcement methods, it might just make things worse... what you need is a positive reinforcement behaviorist.

I'm saying that because those 'forcing dominance' methods are probably what made our dog fearful when he senses that we are upset... I wish I had known better at the time, because now he really only listens when he wants to, and he has resource guarding issues (getting better, but still not great) so we're really careful.

Something you can do to make sure the dog follows your queue all the time and doesn't think he's the boss - teach the 'wait' command, and make him work for everything - letting him out, giving him food etc. Typically I put the food down and the dogs won't eat until I say they can, and I make them sit any time they want something. We even make them wait before they can eat their treats. It doesn't always work though, but it's something.

Anyway, I strongly recommend that you look up Chazhound and check their forums. There are lots of people with dog training experience and if you post your problem in the training section hopefully you should get lots of great advice.

Good luck!