You can picture the dogs as modern versions of Lassie, Benji or Rin Tin Tin. In fact, most dogs need guidance in navigating their relationships with children. Most dog bites to children are caused by dogs they know and love, so the best defense is to prevent the offense. Dogs and children can be best friends with proper planning, thoughtful management, and safety considerations.
Are all dogs good with children?
Many dogs are good with children and dogs are good with children. Studies show that children who grow up with dogs tend to feel calmer and develop stronger bonds with dogs. friends and family.
You don’t expect dogs to be born knowing how to sit and stay quiet, so don’t expect them to know how to be gentle with babies and young children. Some dog breeds may be considered family-friendly, but every dog is an individual. Don’t make assumptions about your dog’s behavior. Factors that contribute to how dogs may react to children include:
- early socialization
- Health and wellness
- Previous interactions with infants and young children
- Environment
- Prepare for a change in their life
- monitoring
Even if your dog is used to being around children, 24/7 parenting is much different. For dogs unaccustomed to children, it is especially different. For extra support, consider inviting a qualified, rewards-based coach on board to help Fido prepare for the upcoming changes.
Before taking the baby home
Plan ahead for your dog’s and baby’s happiness. First, make sure your dog has learned or perfected basic skills before introducing them to infants or young children: don’t attempt on-the-fly training here. A good repertoire of solid behaviors to introduce sets boundaries and simplifies expectations.
Make sure your dog knows:
Don’t ignore your dog’s world and change everything at once: help them succeed. Start building habits as early as possible. Here’s what to do before introducing your dog to your baby. Ideally, start at least a month or two before bringing your baby home. Generally keeping his daily life steady. Gradually add the necessary changes before the big day.
If the routines are relaxed, tighten them up. Decide what Fido’s new schedule looks like and start changing it now, before the baby arrives.
- If he is allowed to go out/walk later in the morning, start doing it now.
- If playtime will be rescheduled, in different environments or at different times, show your child what that looks like.
- Re-evaluate the rules. Will he still be allowed in the furniture? In all the rooms of the house?
- Don’t wait until your baby comes home to pack her things. Introduce your dog to new things by making positive associations with them. Use treats and compliments and let him explore at his own pace.
Just show him:
- cradle
- Cart
- Playpens
- Toys (and the sounds they make!)
- New scents (powders, lotions, creams; also consider sending a scented baby blanket home before baby arrives)
- Finally, some experts also recommend playing the sound of an infant crying first to begin acclimating your dog to the sound. Pay attention to noise sensitivity and watch for signs of discomfort. Use desensitization and leveled volume controls to help Fido learn new noise normalization.
How to introduce a baby to a dog
Children, especially infants, can frighten many dogs. Children are often noisy, fast-moving, unpredictable, and even rough, which doesn’t have to be. Unfortunately, all of these normal behaviors can also be triggers for dogs. Understand that your dog may be wary and uncertain at first. Preventing stress and anxiety can help keep things going. Set up the environment and situation for success: management is the new parent’s BFF.
Dogs and babies shouldn’t approach each other right away. Keep them safely apart while they get to know each other. Bins, gates, lanyards, or a combination of these can help facilitate positive interactions. Before your baby goes to a new home, prepare what to organize family-friendly family feet Station call successful. These help your dog feel comfortable around the baby first without the pressure to interact with the baby.
After your dog is clearly comfortable and you are ready for your active supervisor role, allow the dog access to the baby. Consider using a leash first for an extra measure of safety. Keep interactions brief and positive. Build on success by increasing the duration if your dog is calm and unstressed. If not, go back to seclusion and spend more time there.
Regularly review your supervision and management plan, especially as your child reaches important milestones, such as crawling and walking, and as both infants and dogs get older. Some changes in behavior can be upsetting to dogs.
CANDLESTICK
- Have empathy: there is a lot of pressure to accept small people calmly and appropriately
- Be proactive monitoring dogs and children; they are NEVER left together unsupervised
- Screen dog body language and comfort levels for distress signals
- Let your dog walk and relax on their schedule
- Provides plenty of space for children and dogs to move around comfortably in the house without overlapping each other
- Teach children to move slowly and calmly around dogs
- Teach kids to use library voices around dogs
- Do not encourage or allow rough behavior
- Create a safe zone for your dog where they can escape, relax and be left alone
- Show children how to pet a dog and when: petting on the chin or chest NOT on the head and only when they want to be petted (try check consent)
- Connect with a rewards-based trainer for not only the basics, but additional tips to help your dog and pups become BFFs
No
- Allow children to be near dogs while they are eating, sleeping, or playing with them toys/bones
- Forcing your dog to do anything baby related – allow your dog the choice to interact or not
- Leave dogs and children together unattended
- Answer the phone or cook dinner or fold the laundry while overseeing interactions — be present and always actively supervise
- Allows teasing, hitting, pulling/patting any part of the dog
- Let children approach dogs that are scared, overexcited, or sick
Don’t ignore Fido’s attention when the baby is born. Show love to him every day. You don’t want him to develop negative behaviors or harbor jealousy or resentment. Give him attention when the baby is around, not just when the baby is asleep or out of the house. Make sure he still gets it quality time alone With you again. Always meet your dog’s needs. It’s important for him to still walk, playtime, exercise, and replenish.
How do dogs learn to be gentle with babies?
Dogs and babies don’t necessarily know how to behave towards each other instinctively. Many dogs can be gentle or even protective, but still need support on how to interact appropriately.
If you want your dog to be good with children, you must teach that. Your dog’s comfort level is key to its relationship with children. And not every dog loves all children. Be mindful of how your child behaves with not only your dog but also with unfamiliar dogs – where supervision is again a must.
Never allow children to approach or interact with a dog:
- Sleeping
- Eat
- busy with my toys
It’s natural for dogs to guard their belongings and space, especially under the pressure of a newcomer. Forced interaction, unpreparedness for the baby’s arrival, and lack of active supervision are all common denominators for trouble. Unfortunately, most children are bitten by dogs they know.
Follow “World Journal of Pediatric Surgery,” children aged 0 to 9 years account for 80% of the accidents and children aged 0 to 6 years account for half of them. Children under the age of 6 are most often injured: bites to the head, face, and neck (mainly because of their height) and therefore most often require surgery.
We have all seen cute pictures and videos online of children and dogs. But the dog can give clear signals that it’s not happy. Follow this up with your dog.
Subtle warning could go unnoticed, so he was forced to be gruff to get his message across. Maybe he’s growling or snarling, or even irritable. If that happens, you can panic and tell your dog it’s bad. But he was just trying to voice his displeasure. So the next time to avoid upsetting you, he doesn’t give a warning and bad things happen. Here’s a powerful and eye-opening look at both children’s and dogs’ perspectives:
Advocate for safety between your child and your dog. When your dog is uncomfortable or if your child is not a good fit, separate them immediately. Watch for these signs of distress from your dog:
- whale eye
- Lip licking
- Remove
- Yawn
- Turning
- Move/Leave
Print This great tutorial by Lili Chin for children so that they too can learn to speak dog language.
Children who grow up with pet dogs will enjoy many benefits, including: they learn responsibility, improve self-esteem, stay active and healthier, tend to have better immune systems and increase happiness, caring, and compassion.
So, Fido deserves your support to navigate the environmental, physical, mental and emotional changes during this new and exciting time. By taking the necessary steps to prepare people for success, you can help build relationships that last a lifetime.
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