My dog is a 3 year old GSD, Nala

We have no kids, but we are expecting in March (ya!!!!) Our dog is fine with other dogs as well as adults. If someone comes to the house she gives them a sniff then goes off to show them her toys. Once the initial sniff is over she could care less.

Well when she was a brand new puppy she was nervous around people. Kids would want to pet her and she would hide behind me. I then figured instead of petting the kids can give my dog a treat as a means of socializing her.

I figured she was going to be good with kids, adults, etc.

A few months ago we were at my parents house and the neighbour brought over her one year old. Nala got all weird and was really eye balling this kid. I made sure Nala stayed on the other side of the room and she laid down and chewed on her bone.

My mom then had a bright idea to introduce the baby to the dog despite us telling her not to. She lowered the baby down by the dog and the dog went up to the baby. She barked into the babys face and it looked like her teeth made contact with the baby's face. She didn't bite him, but she barked into her face.

I was pretty upset with the whole situation. Upset that my mom would put someone elses baby into a situation like that. Upset that my dog had that reaction. etc.

A few months ago she nipped at a kid that picked up one of her toys. The kid snuck up on us, I didn't know he was there.

Any time I see a kid around Nala is on a leash and we stay away. I we are out for a walk I will take her onto the road until we pass the kids.

(that is the history we have)

Now we have several months to get ready. I have been doing some reading and I need some more help.

How do I get Nala ready for the new baby?

Are there threads on here that I should be reading over?

Should I be getting the Leerburg Pack Structure DVD.

I don't want to get to the point that I have to get rid of my dog. I also don't expect her to lay on the ground like a rug while the baby crawls all over her.

What do I do now to keep my dog and baby safe?

I understand that I am most to blame for the situations that we had. I can take responsibility for that am I am 99% of the time very careful with her when others are around. I am looking for help to avoid any sort of problems like this from coming up again.

I plan on keeping my dog away from the baby, but I want the transition of bringing a baby into the pack to go as smooth as possible.

You probably realize all this already, but here goes: Your mother cannot be around the dog and the baby unsupervised, period. (Really, that goes for everyone, in my eyes.) I am sorry to sound harsh, but that was beyond irresponsible. IMO, it was a complete setup for failure for the dog as well as that innocent baby.


This means that you must step up to make and enforce the rules. No "she did it even though we told her not to." That is never going to cut it when it's too late and the damage is done.

Truly, the biggest step here is going to be for you parents of the baby to assume 100% of the parenting and dog-training, with zero (ZERO) interference. I can't say it any more strongly. No matter how well-intentioned someone else is, and of course the grandmother will be, most people are just not dog-savvy. And even if they are, this is your job, absolutely; trust no one else with it.

http://leerburg.com/dogs-babies.htm
http://leerburg.com/articles.htm#kids
and free eBook:
http://leerburg.com/pdf/introducingdogsandbabies.pdf

QUOTE:
1- Has the dog ever been aggressive to strangers?
2- Has the dog ever been aggressive to strange children?
3- Has the dog ever been aggressive to smaller animals?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you need to be very careful with this dog around a new baby. If the answer to one of these questions is “yes,” this does not mean that this dog cannot learn to accept a baby. It simply means that you need to be very careful and not make any mistakes. END QUOTE

And the biggest mistake would be to allow anyone else to make decisions concerning your dog and your baby.

Now that the pulse-racing from reading what happened with the neighbor baby is over, I just want to add that you can handle this. You have a wonderful length of time to be prepared, and you can be 100% prepared.

If you would start reading the links and post back with any and all questions, you will find that there are at least a dozen regular responders on this board with a ton of baby-and-dog experience. You are in the right place.

I commend you for getting on board now to set the dog up for success and for being a great companion who operates under smooth and well-thought-out boundaries. And congratulations about your fabulous news!

As a hint you should have a system in place by end of second trimester. It'll make it much easier when the time comes, even if it comes early, and you are dealing with newborn and everything with the dog is old hat.

Some dogs (my lab and a papillon included) just don't like kids. Kids make random movements, talk in higher excited voices,and don't follow protocol of how to interact with a dog.

Welcome to the boards and congrats!

One big problem we have is we have specific dog rules in place. BUT.... We are staying with my parents for 3 months while our house is being built.

My parents think the dogs are like kids and need to be treated that way. When I am not around I know they let the dog break all the rules (not sitting at the door, treats for free, etc) We are stuck living here and I can't babysit my parents 24/7 with the dog.

I take responsibility, but it is also frustrating when people don't respect your dog rules. It's similar to having guests over and they feed crap to your dog. Very frustrating.

I don't really want to dwell on past situations, rather set up my dog for future success.

There really needs to be a category on the boards of how to deal with people training. No matter how I try my Dad just doesn't seem to understand that the clicker means positive, not sarcasm.

Seriously though, save your sanity for now and accept a battle as lost when it can't be won. Deal with your dogs as now as you expect to when they're in your new place and they should adapt fairly quickly once you get there.

Personally I'd trade one unruly dog in the short term for a civil relationship with the parents in the long term. Once you're in your house, it's your rules, hopefully they'll respect that. As a suggestion though once you move have a spot to put the dogs away from the parents.

 Quote: Kevin Easton

One big problem we have is we have specific dog rules in place. BUT.... We are staying with my parents for 3 months while our house is being built.

Not the best scenario but short term and doable. My dog has been raised as a companion to the family. What does that mean? Party time when I'm not home. I am pretty much the disciplinarian, my rules are clear and I am consistant. Like you, I too can not always be here to enforce those rules but I have found as long as when I am home when I request something of my dog; he follows through no matter what anyone else has to say or what their expectations might be. In other words, I don't think it has cost me any credibility in my dog's eyes.

That might be the best you can hope for now; when you are there, your rules 100% of the time. I'm sure that might be a little difficult because it is not your house but look at it as it is not their dog I have never had the dog before the baby so I don't know how to handle a safe introduction etc. But I feel, strong leadership will go far with Nala.

Congrats on the baby!!! My b-day is the 17th of March you couldn't pick a better day. I've been celebrating with green beer since birth

Kevin, congratulations on your baby!

There was an excellent post within the past year on prepping your home for the baby; I will see if I can find it and post a link.

Bottom line: your dog may never be reliable around kids (mine isn't, and I've had her since she was 8 weeks old...raised w/ a 7 year old boy); but it's doable with constant supervision and common sense...

OK, here's the link:
Dogs and babies

(Melissa, it was your post!)

Kevin,

I didn't bother reading the responses to your post. Coming from someone who has a 1 & 3 year old, and another due in October, get rid of your dog. I have an American Bulldog and a working line GSD and they are perfect with both of my kids, even the rambunctious 3 year old. I did get rid of my female bulldog, who had a nerve issue and would "eye ball" the kids, before anything happened. Your dog clearly has a nerve issue and despite what people tell you, you can't change genetics...it won't be an easy thing to do but you'll regret not doing it when something ends up happening to your child.