Happy baby and Cavalier...

That dog is a gem!

Oh, cute! Reminds me of the days when my kids would play fetch with the pups from their high chairs...with their sippy cups

 Quote: Anne Jones

That dog is a gem!

+1


They were havin' a great time!

Cute!

Adorable!

Can I throw a question in here, though?

I cringed the first time they played "gimme that." Then I saw the extreme care with which the dog removed the item from the baby's hand.

What do others feel about the distance of the camera-holding adult?


Again, I did watch it through carefully and even re-watched it, stopping it a few times, and saw only very gentle dog actions. That is, I have nothing but praise for the dog, who yes, I too thought was a gem.

I was really hoping more for a kind of general-guidelines kind of discussion. Is that distance ever OK for the adult supervision of a baby? If so, when is it OK?

Someone sent me a thoughtful PM about the Loca videos and how there had been concern expressed over the close interaction among groups of babies and dogs, but none here.

IMHO, there are several factors to look at. The age and temperament of the dog and kids, your experience with the dog and kids, it's past behavior around kids, how well the dog knows the kids, how trained the kids are to be around the dog, etc.

My biggest concern with this video is that the baby may do something to cause the dog pain (nails digging into the nose...), and illicit a response out of the dog. I think the owner was too far away in the video. The dog may be solid as a rock, but the baby is not. I set myself up to be in full view of the dogs and kids at all times, and pay 100% attention to what they are doing, so the baby and dog being around the corner, especially with a toy, is a no no for me.

I played very roughhouse with some of our dogs when I was growing up (especially the SBRs), my kids always wrestled and played games with our dogs, and now my granddaughter (3 yrs) plays with our dogs. She loves tugging and playing fetch with our CC. He will regularly bring toys to her to get her to play. We spend a lot of time teaching both the kids and dogs what is acceptable behavior, and as their understanding and trust of each other grows, so does the distance we allow them to be from us while playing and the excitement level they are allowed to play at.

We still keep them in plain sight 100% of the time until the kids are much older and can be trusted to guide the dog in the absence of adults, and never hesitate to shut down the play session if the excitement (in kids or dogs) escalates to an unacceptable level.

All JMO, and I always encourage everyone to err on the side of safety, especially when kids are involved.

Yup. Cute. But I did cringe a bit. Especially when they were around the corner.
Pup seems nice. But things can go so badly soo quickly. Even in a trusted family pet.
But we don't know the whole situation. The history of the dog, or if dad was in the hall.....for all we know the dog is a therapy dog with special training for being mauled by people. Lol
Cute vid. Cute baby. Cute dog.
Buuuuut. I wouldn't have done it.

 Quote: Willie Tilton

Yup. Cute. But I did cringe a bit. Especially when they were around the corner.
Pup seems nice. But things can go so badly soo quickly. Even in a trusted family pet.
But we don't know the whole situation. The history of the dog, or if dad was in the hall.....for all we know the dog is a therapy dog with special training for being mauled by people. Lol
Cute vid. Cute baby. Cute dog.
Buuuuut. I wouldn't have done it.

I agree!
It would be way to easy for the dog to get to enthusiastic and grab the cute little rug rat's hand.
In that short clip I see no actual aggression or avoidance from the dog but innocent accident are lining up to happen with the pair.
No doubt the parents would talk about how safe the dog is but kids are kids and dogs are dogs.
Both my GSDs love my 5 grand kids and will play fetch all day with them but I wont allow it when I'm not there.