Is there any way we can keep our dog?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take him to doggy daycare two days a week, like Tuesday and Friday. It will help get his energy out, and that'll calm him down for some training.

COMPLETELY AGREE.

[Anonymous]

We have been through the same thing with our now 13 month-old and our 11 year-old dog. We brought in a trainer -- K-9 Divine -- who gave us really sound advice. #1, we keep our baby and the dog separate and supervised AT ALL TIMES. As the trainer said, a friendly dog can do just as much damage as an aggressive one. (Interestingly, she told us the best kind of dog to have around kids is one that is indifferent, as a friendly, eager dog--like yours--can knock down, scratch or bite just as easily as one who is dominant.) Essentially, she counseled us to never leave the dog in the position to make her own decision about how to behave around the baby. Because being around the baby makes the dog anxious, it's actually kinder to her to keep them separate, which we'd been feeling guilty about doing. So far, this has worked out pretty well for us, but it's a source of constant vigilance for me.

[Anonymous]

Start taking the dog on walks, with the child in a stroller, and keep the nose of the stroller in front of the dog. The "leader" of the pack leads. The dog will start to view the child as the leader. Just keep the leash really, really short. When I read this somewhere, I laughed, but it was very effective for us. My dog went from actually being aggressive to being submissive towards my son. She now guards his door at night.

Also, make sure the dog gets plenty of exercise. A lot of time, bad behavior (even happy overexcited behavior) is linked to the dog just needing to get some exercise.

Correct the dog whenever it paws the child. Give a firm no. Praise the dog when it is around your child and not acting up.

Don't allow the dog on any furniture. The dog must stay on the floor or on a bed. This establishes the pecking order in the house. The people are "higher up".

Tell your child "no" when he crawls over to the babygate and the dog is on the other side. This take awhile to sink in, but eventually works. It also lets the dog know that he is not allowed to be too close to the child.

Keep the big picture in mind. You are at the worst time for the baby-dog combination. It gets better!

[Anonymous]

Since we also don't have a lot of time to walk the dog in the evening, we hired a couple of high school kids in the neighborhood to walk our dog. It has made a huge impact on the energy level and it gives the kids a part time job.

[Anonymous]

You've gotten good advice. Look into the crate thing, too.

[Anonymous]

14:17 here -- my dog is not good with my DS. I supervise closely and keep them separated. The dog spends time with us after the baby goes to bed and with me during the day (I work from home and baby goes to daycare).

But I do not ever leave him a position where he might lose his patience and snap at the baby. I don't think he would, but I don't trust him -- he WILL growl at the baby if he gets annoyed, and that's enough for me to make sure he never has the opportunity to be tested further.

That's how I deal with my similar situation. My cats are good with the baby, and we teach him "gentle" constantly with them. Sounds like you have one good dog that you can train the baby with. Just don't leave the kid with the untrustworthy dog until the baby is old enough to be reliable -- probably 5 or 6.

This is exactly what we do. Our dog has severe anxiety about any number of things, including children. Given her past, she's done phenomenally well with our son but we still don't trust her completely.

Re doggie daycare - might be a good idea to get some energy out, but our dog is actually worse with our toddler after doggie daycare. She's tired, grumpy, and her hips probably ache a bit, so she's more prone to get annoyed with things she'd otherwise tolerate.

[Anonymous]

I have the same issue with my two boys -- they are 8.5 yeasr and baby is eight months. I had to put one on anti-anxiety meds which has made a world of difference. I call it the "happy pill". The other is not interested and literally runs if the baby looks his way so I'm not as concerned about him. The anxious one just wants to be near me all the time so I do find going for long walks when I can (too dark these days when I get home) on the weekends and spending a few minutes just focused on the dog when I get home from works seems to help. Good luck!