Babies and Staffies

pollyanna24

lisawood78 wrote: »

Dogs are often scared of what we would think as the silliest things, we have 2 Danes and one is terrified of a dog toy in the shape of a pig. It honks like a pig rather than squeaks and she will run away from it and hide.
Big stupid animal, but we love her.
Hope you can sort this OP, does sound like a fear of the walker to me, rather than your baby.

Haha, know what you mean. We have this toy too and she is scared of it. We also have a cat who bullies the dog and sleeps on the dog's bed. Think we just got a wimpy one who I will have to watch carefully.

pollyanna24

sparkle03 wrote: »

Hi There,

I have two staffies Brandy at almost 3 and Roxy at 18 months (see picture ) I also have a six year old and an 11 week old.

Roxy and Brandy are brilliant with Joshua he can walk them, (with me of course) wrestles them (into wwe big time) and just generally rough play. They adore him and him them. So when you say they will be best friends in a year or so your right! We have such fond memories of when we got Brandy and Josh was a toddler! Some brilliant Youve been framed moments too!

Now we have Lexi, when I brought her home from the hospital I was petrified that the dogs wouldnt adjust, so we introduced each of them to the new baby and they were fine with her. Then OH went back to work after 2 weeks paternity and I was again petrified of the dogs going near her and wrong of me I know I didnt let them anywhere near her - she was always in her pram/moses basket/ my arms etc.
Now Lexi is a bit older and she lies on the floor and Im more confident with handling all three in the same room. Obviously they are never left with any sort of access to her! Baby gates and shut doors and all that

But anyway I am digressing, Roxy isnt really interested in her she just passes her by and leaves her to it, but Brandy wants to be protective of her and is interested in seeing who this little person is, but I think I have kind of scared her, I had been telling her for 2 months to 'stay away from the baby / not near the baby' etc and I think she is just learning how to be near her.
Could it be that your dog doesnt know if he is allowed near your daughter? Hope you understand what I mean as I fear I havnt explained myself v well here!

Im sure things will work out though, some basic ground rules for both your dog and your daughter? I know she is young but I dont think she is too young to be told to 'leave the doggie alone now he's had enough' It takes time but Im sure it will be fine. Some dogs are scared of hoovers some of fans it seems yours is scared of the walker. My Brandy is scared when Josh plays with his remote control car so Brandy either goes to the kitchen or Josh goes in the garden.

Sorry not been much help just wanted to reassure you, Lol I dont even know if I have done that though :rotfl: Good luck anyway! x

No, I get what you mean with this. We always tell the dog "No Licking!!" every time she goes near the baby. I mean I'm not too bothered about her licking legs or feet, but still don't like it, so everytime she goes near the baby, this is what she gets which is probably another thing that is making her scared. Oooh, gosh, can't win!!!

nibs

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Bit harsh. The dog hasn't done anything wrong. She's just scared. She hasn't even shown any sign of doing anything wrong. Does this mean that children and dogs just shouldn't mix?!!

Might seem a bit harsh to you but thats how i feel.
Ok the dog hasn't done anything wrong yet but you are showing concern and that is what I'm basing my opinion on
No it doesn't mean children and dogs shouldn't mix, but that wasn't your question was it.

pollyanna24

Granted, but to get rid of a dog that has been our family pet for 2 1/2 years, when she has done nothing wrong, but love us and show a little bear of scardiness, I think is a bit harsh. Sorry.

If she was to show any agression, that's a diff story. I was just wondering if anyone had any tips how to make them blend together better I suppose.

Pee

If you were willing to get rid of a dog that had done nothing wrong you would not be fit to have a baby!

I had a staffie that sometimes hid from children when they came to stay, she liked them but then she'd had enough and would be missing, found under the bed.

I think keep the stroller away from the dog and focus on having good times together with the baby and the dog are good suggestions.

nibs

Pee wrote: »

If you were willing to get rid of a dog that had done nothing wrong you would not be fit to have a baby!
QUOTE]


I'm shocked at this statement :eek:

mrcol1000

nibs wrote: »

Might seem a bit harsh to you but thats how i feel.
Ok the dog hasn't done anything wrong yet but you are showing concern and that is what I'm basing my opinion on
No it doesn't mean children and dogs shouldn't mix, but that wasn't your question was it.

Had this been a cute little Andrex puppy that was the dog in question would you have said the same thing? Depsite what some ill informed people think Staffs are the most child friendly dogs you can have and that comes from the kennel club who apparently know a bit about dogs.

babyhead

It's a no brainer - the dog has too go. Regardless of the fact it hasn't done anything yet. If it attacked your child you would never forgive yourself surely??

I wouldn't risk it personally. Sorry!

foreign_correspondent

I would make sure the dog has somewhere to go that the little one cant get to, maybe put her bed somewhere the dog can get at it easily but is out of reach of the baby. That way at least the dog can retreat for some peace when she needs to.

nibs

mrcol1000 wrote: »

Had this been a cute little Andrex puppy that was the dog in question would you have said the same thing? Depsite what some ill informed people think Staffs are the most child friendly dogs you can have and that comes from the kennel club who apparently know a bit about dogs.

Absolutely yes
I am not ill informed so i take it thats not directed at me
Nobody has said the kennel club doesnt know a "bit about dogs" so i'm confused with your sarcasm.
Oh and by the way, I love dogs........but I love my children more.
If thats a crime then shoot me