Please Help Me!!!!

Posted May 13th, 2009 by Deeb

My son is nearly 16 months old. My oldest dog (Elvis) is 5 years old. Elvis and I have been very close since the day I brought him home. However, ever since we brought the baby home he has been distant, and is always nervous aroung my son. Now that my baby is walking, throwing things, grabbing, etc. Elvis is even more nervous. He flees when the baby gets near him, and is outwardly anxious. My concerns were more than confirmed tonight. My baby likes to hug Elvis while he is sitting or laying on the ground. Elvis immediately tries to run, however I constantly reassure him that he is ok, and I pet and praise him to ease his mind. Tonight my son laid on Elvis, and Elvis barked and "nipped" at him slightly. This gives me great concern that Elvis will become increasingly anxious and escalate due to his fear. I need advice on how to ease Elvis' mind around the baby, and allow them to be friends. Elvis has never seemed to have any anxiety around other babies or young children.
I certainly don't ever want to see my son hurt, and I don't want my best friend Elvis to have to go away either.
Ginger (our other, female dog) show some signs of nervousness around the baby, however she has never been very outward about it. One important piece of information that may assist is that Ginger has been aggressive in her play with Elvis in the last year or 2 (Ginger is about 3.5 years old). She taunts Elvis until they begin to play fight aggressively. Both have gotten minor injuries due to this play (when it goes on when we are unable to stop it immediately). Prior to this, Elvis was very docile and gentle. He has never shown any form of aggression towards anyone else.
PLEASE HELP ME FIX MY DOG'S WORRIES!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH TO HAVE TO LOSE HIM!!!!!!!
Deeb

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re: Please Help Me!!!!

On May 13th, 2009 Aidan says:

Hi Deeb, we're in a similar situation, you and I. One of my dogs is also nervous around my daughter (currently 2.5 years old), but I have no fear that he would hurt her. Nevertheless, I always give him plenty of escape options and there is a baby-gate separating the kitchen (where Django hangs out) and the living room so that he doesn't have to deal with her.

The troubles between my two dogs also increased when my daughter arrived. Since she has been able to open the back door and find her way into the yard, I have fenced off a part of the yard and always keep one dog in the separately fenced section so that there aren't any scuffles between my two dogs with my daughter in the way.

Dogs need their own space. I don't think it's fair to ask them to accept something that they are nervous about so I give them options. If they want to go outside, or into another room - I give them that option. A crate in a quiet corner of your home may also be a good option, if introduced correctly. Baby gates are sanity-savers, and may be all you need.

I would separate the dogs in times where one or both of them are stressed. There is no point risking further fighting. Always set your dogs up for success! You can take them for a walk together later, or do some training with them or whatever they LIKE to do together.

Do you clicker train? I have a lot of success teaching nervous dogs to 'target', it seems to take their mind off things and keep them "thinking" rather than "reacting" to what is going on around them.

I haven't got the space or time to go into detail about how I would have Elvis and your son interact, and I would probably have trouble communicating the ideas safely, but I think it's worth watching this video:

Why I would have you do that might not be immediately obvious, but here is a dog who would nip and growl and Laura (the trainer) has taught him to "accept" something that he doesn't like. Notice she doesn't pet and praise him to ease his mind, she gets him to offer his own behaviors willingly then reinforces those tiny little steps.

This is essentially what you need to figure out how to do in your situation. Let me know if this raises some questions for you. I'm glad to offer help but not being there it's difficult, but I can answer specific questions about the sort of thing shown above.

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

Dog and Baby Safety

On June 5th, 2009 Canine SOS says:

Hello Deeb,

I am a Dogs and Storks licensed presenter. Dogs and Storks is an organization dedicated to educating new and expectant parents on dog/baby/toddler safety. I would highly recommend you get in touch with a presenter in your area. You may benefit from an in-home consultation. I am going to give you the web site which is packed full of very important information regarding this issue. Here it is... www.dogsandstorks.com
I hope this helps.

Take care,
Yamei

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