New Baby or Dog/Children Challenges

If you are having a new baby and you currently have a pet or multiple pets, there are things you can do to prepare your pets for the new arrival. Before the baby arrives, expose your pet to baby paraphernalia such as strollers, swings, and noisy toys. Some dogs are anxious about things that roll or may try to bite at wheels, so if you plan to take family walks, start walking your dog with the stroller before your baby is born. If your dog seems afraid of the stroller or chases the wheels, start by walking your dog very slowly on-leash next to the stroller. Reward your dog with a favorite treat if it can walk next to the stroller without reacting.

If your pet is extremely sensitive to unfamiliar or loud sounds, you can desensitize it to baby sounds by playing baby sounds recordings. But not all animals respond to recorded sounds, so test your pet’s reaction first by playing the sounds at a real-life volume. If your pet shows any signs of arousal, fear, anxiety, or aggression, then begin desensitization: Start by playing the sounds at a volume low enough that your pet doesn’t react. While the sounds are playing, use positive reinforcement techniques, such as giving treats, feeding meals, playing with toys, or petting or brushing your pet. Over several sessions, very gradually increase the volume until your pet does not react to the standard volume sounds.

In general, pets, especially dogs, should learn to be separated from their owners. No dog should ever be left alone with a small child. Essentially, this means that either a parent must always be holding the baby, or barriers must be set up so parents can safely allow infants to spend time in an apparatus such as a bouncy seat or a swing. Your dog should get used to having you around but not having access to you. Reward your dog for being good and quiet on the other side of a barrier (e.g., behind a baby gate or in a crate). These rewards can be active (tossing treats to the dog or walking over and petting the dog) or passive (giving a food-dispensing toy to the dog when the separation begins). Also, keep your baby separated from your pet during car rides. You should use a crate, barrier, or seatbelt for the pet’s safety and maintain a safe distance from the baby while driving.

Once your pet adjusts to your new focus on the baby, it usually ignores this other creature in the house. Most of the problems seen between pets and babies involve crawling children (e.g., six months and older) and toddlers, not immobile infants. So it’s a good idea to look ahead to things that may change (e.g., the addition of baby gates) as the baby begins to crawl and walk since this time comes faster than you might anticipate. You should also provide resting areas that allow your pets to get away from curious children. Dogs should be fed in locations where it is easy for you to monitor their bowls if children are nearby. This may mean feeding behind barriers and switching from free-choice to meal feeding. Certainly, suppose there has been any history of a pet aggressively guarding food against other animals or people. In that case, it should be fed behind a barrier, and long-lasting treats (e.g., rawhides, stuffed hollow toys, marrow bones) should be available only when a pet is physically separated from a child.

Toddlers & Older Kids

Jumping: One of the most important things to teach all dogs is not to jump up onto people— both standing and sitting on the furniture. It is even more critical when an infant will soon be in people’s arms or on their laps. This behavior can be reasonably easy to prevent by teaching and reinforcing (with rewards) an alternative behavior such as “sit.” Teach your dog to perform a calm, controlled behavior such as “sit” or “down” before it receives anything (e.g., petting, play, doors opened, invited onto furniture, food, treats) from you and any other adults who interact with the dog. Think of this affection control program as good practice for teaching your child to say “Please”—sitting is a dog’s way of saying “Please.”

Kids are unpredictable, loud, and have no inhibitions. Adults (for the most part) have social graces and are relatively easy for dogs to learn how to predict. To a lot of nervous, shy, or fearful dogs, kids can be scary. If a dog grows up with their kids, they learn to roll with the punches and tolerate their kid’s shenanigans! But when you ask a new dog to learn to accept your kids or even enjoy them, you must take it slow! I do not recommend children to approach the dog AT ALL in the first 72 hours of the dog’s arrival. The dog can undoubtedly approach them, but it must be the dog’s choice as they learn to trust the kid’s movements and learn to predict them from observation from afar.

Training a dog with children is just as much about teaching the children as it is about training the dog. You have to teach both to respect each other’s space and learn how to communicate with each other. I love involving kids in the training process!

New Baby or Dog/Children Challenges

Toddlers & Older Kids

Useful Downloads

Kid Safety

Top 10 Ways to Keep Kids and Dogs Safe (Infographic)

Kids and Dogs

Top 20 Ways to Keep Kids and Dogs Safe (eBook)