Babies and Staffies

cheepskate_2

This is actually a good thing, in a round about way.

The dog is scared because the kid keeps banging into it, and the dog knows its place in the pecking order that is why the dog gets scared. This is actually a very good thing in that it knows it's place.

Imagine if your partner , who is leader of the pack came in and hit the dog all the time for no reason, the dog would act in the same way.

to say to get rid of a dog because it is scared then there would be hardly any dogs and really good tempered dogs in a baby/toddler household. We would never have had any of our dogs, who had fantastic temperments with children.

What you have to do is get the dog a space , where it can be very near to you but the kid cant bang into it, this then becomes its little bolt hole. When your child is toddling about in the walker shout the dog over to this place and give it pets.

As a responsible owner it works both ways when you have dogs and children and the child learns it cant go past a certain point, dont let age fool you, how quick do they pick up to squeal to get something.

just as a side point baby walkers arn't very good for the feet better with one of these stationary play things they sit in.

Xaviera

babyhead wrote: »

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!

How do you know the dog will attack? have you seen it and observed it's behaviour, are you qualified to make that assessment?

Staffies adore babies, ignore all the propaganda in the news, and ignorant opinions from people who know nothing about the breed, the most common dog bite is from something like a golden retriever or labrador iirc.

It is highly possible she's scared of the walker, the movement, the noise, my staff is exactly the same very skittish when you put the hoover on that kind of thing, but I truly believe she'd never bite a child and trust her with my own family.

I'd get a baby gate and then keep the dog somewhere else when the baby's in the walker if I was really bothered about it. :cool:

Raksha

I had a Lab cross once, biggest softest lump you could ever wish to meet. Then I had a second baby (#1 was 13 by this time). The dog could cope with the baby, but once it started crawling, she was scared (although I didn't know it at the time) and she did nip the crawling baby. Luckily for me, she had great bite inhibition, unfortunatly, she'd also been positively taught not to growl, so I got no warning (but I rapidly became aware of subtle body language from a dog which means it's not happy). Looking back, I had no reason to expect her to be good with babies at all, she'd never been around them, so this was all new to her. We went right back to basics - she was rewarded and praised when ever she interacted nicely with the baby and they grew up to be the best of friends.

elsien

pollyanna24 wrote: »

but apart from praising the dog and fussing over her so she knows she hasn't been forgotten about, I don't know what else to do. I'm scared that one day she will bite in her fear .

Could you be accidentally reinforcing the shaking by praising and fussing her at the wrong time - a bit like dogs and fireworks , too much reassurance at the wrong time can have an opposite effect to the one you intended? (Speaking as one who has on several occasions accidentally taught the dog things I really didn't want her to learn.:rolleyes:)
Otherwise, is it possible to put the dog out of the room when your daughter is in the stroller or doing her banshee impression - maybe the other side of a baby gate where the dog can still see you and what you're doing, but is safely out of the way in case it all gets a bit too much. The distance might also help her to understand that she's safe. I know it's a pain, but it would keep both of them safe. If you're in any doubt, keep them apart at the stressful times. Also start as soon as you can to teach your daughter that when the dog is in a "safe" place she shouldn't go near her, in the way that you'd teach her to keep away from fires or electric sockets?

tiamai_d

I get rid of the walker. The dog is scared of it and they are not that good for children anyway. DS2's physio went mad when she saw we had one!

Has the dog a 'safe' area to go to? Our boys know that when he is in the kitchen he is wanting peace and they have to leave him alone. Is it possible to do this in your home? We used to have a baby gate at the dog between the living room and kitchen to separate children and dogs (for all their benefit) without the dog being locked out by a door, once the little lady arrives we will be doing that again.

mrcol1000

babyhead wrote: »

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!

But it hasn't shown any agression to the child unless I am reading the whole dog terrified of the baby thing wrongly? Maybe you should read the orginal post properly before you comment?

mrcol1000

nibs wrote: »

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

But the baby is not being harmed or seems to be in any harm from the dog? Why would you get rid of a dog because its terrfied of the baby? Had the dog been scared of the baby and growled at it then yes I would 100% agree that the dog needs to be in a child free family but to say get rid of the dog because its scared of the baby is just crazy. With attudies like that you start to understand why there are so many perfectly healthy (mentally and physically) dogs in rescue/pounds looking for homes.

shoe_girl_2

is it one of those walker/stroller things with the things on it the baby can press and it makes noises, or it makes a funny noise when it moves?

Our wee staffie loves kids & babies, but as soon as they make a loud enough noise or has a toy with a noise she dosent like shes scared & runs off.

if it is might be worth to see if you can stop it making noises to see if the dog still dosent like it or not

but if its not im with the others, give the dog space where the baby on the walker cant get to so everyones happy )

Ive gotta do this when i use my hairdryer!

nibs

mrcol1000 wrote: »

But the baby is not being harmed or seems to be in any harm from the dog? Why would you get rid of a dog because its terrfied of the baby? Had the dog been scared of the baby and growled at it then yes I would 100% agree that the dog needs to be in a child free family but to say get rid of the dog because its scared of the baby is just crazy. With attudies like that you start to understand why there are so many perfectly healthy (mentally and physically) dogs in rescue/pounds looking for homes.

Hang about, the OP says quite clearly in her first post that she is scared that one day the dog will bite her baby.
It is with that quote in mind that I am basing my opinion. It is my opinion, I am not making snipes, i am not being judgemental and most certainly not against animals and children as I love both.
I think you need to carefully read my replies before shooting me down fgs.:mad:

pollyanna24

Cor blimey, what have I started?!

I have 99.99% trust that my dog will not bite me, my child or anyone else, but there is always that risk that one day will just be too much for her.

She growls and snaps the air when other dogs consistently annoy her (I'm talking when they literally won't leave her alone and the owners won't intervene).

But with children, she seems to be fine. We have a two year old that comes around a lot and he always seems to have her in a headlock and climbing into her bed with her. As much as we tell the boy's mother to stop him doing this, he won't. So when the dog goes to her bed now, we shut the living room door so the boy won't go in to her.