My dog has always been around small children. She is now 10 years old and we have 5 children who have all grown up alongside her. It goes without saying that she knows how to act around children. We can trust her around the smallest babies knowing that she would never do anything to hurt them.
We learned the hard way recently that her good behavior around small kids isn’t normal. While dog sitting our 11 month old son crawled too close to our friend’s dog while he was eating. Without warning he turned on our son and violently began biting and scratching at his face. Luckily my wife was close by and was able to grab our son before he was hurt badly. He came out of the ordeal with only a few large welts on his face and a large scratch about 1cm above his right eye. It could have been much worse.
Roughly 400,000 children require medical attention every year in the United States due to dog bites. Around 20 of these children end up dying each year due to the bites that they receive. Most of these attacks involve the family dog or the dog of a close friend.
So, with these horrifying stats, the question that naturally comes to mind is ‘how do I get my dog ready for a baby to come into the house?’
Know your dog
The most important aspect of preparing your dog for a baby is knowing your dog. If your dog is aggressive it doesn’t matter how much you love it, the baby comes first so the dog has to go. It also needs to be pointed out that some breeds are naturally aggressive. For example, Pit Bulls and Rottweilers account for almost 80% of all dog related deaths. If you have one of these dogs and you are bringing home a child (or already have one) it may be time to find the dog a new home. The breeds have aggressive tendencies that many times rise without any warning behaviors at all.
Pack mentality
Dogs are naturally pack animals. Even though some breeds are thousands of generations removed from being wild, the pack mentality remains. They will always work to establish a pecking order for the pack that is your family. It is your responsibility as the owner to make sure the dog knows it’s at the bottom of the pack totem poll, even below the children.
Here are a couple ways to teach this point.
Never greet your dog at the front door. Wait until they have given up and gone about their business before loving on the dog. This teaches them that they cannot demand attention. It comes when you, as the leader, decide to give it.
Do not feed the dog until the family is finished with the meal. The lowest on the totem pole eats last.
Teach the dog how to handle food
The dog that attacked our baby was protecting its food. This behavior is normal in dogs, but it doesn’t have to be. Young children (crawlers) do not know to stay away from an eating dog and many times pay the price for it. Teach your dog to deal better with food by doing exactly what it doesn’t want you to do. Take the dogs food away while it’s eating. Put your hand in the bowl by its mouth. Do the things that a child could do in order to teach the dog that it cannot defend its food. It is not in control. Before you do this, make sure that the dog isn’t going to attack you. If you are afraid it will attack you as the adult, the dog doesn’t need to be there around children.
Baby training
Babies are weird. They smell funny, look funny and make strange noises. If your dog hasn’t been around them its time to change that. Invite everyone you know who has a baby to come over at some point before your baby arrives. Get your dog used to the sounds by watching baby videos that have crying on them (think YouTube). These things will make the transition to having a baby around less scarey for a dog.
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