Dog and baby

Polarbear2
I have no experience here but I’ve always wondered about the muck (I assume) a dog brings in? They do their business and then come in and sit on the floor or furniture with their mucky bums. Sorry but that’s how it looks to me. Also hair drops and dog food scattered around the bowl? I can’t imagine putting a baby in amongst that. I put my hands up - I’ve never had a dog - it’s just my observation?? And they smell too. (Tin hat on) ?

Polarbear2

Your observations made me smile and I get you are not a dog lover, that’s ok.

I was brought up with dogs, likewise my husband and do naturally my dogs and children were brought up together.
Dogs bring so many benefits to family homes, dogs are not dirty animals by nature, unless they’ve had a tummy upset they don’t have pooey bottoms, they keep themselves clean. They require lots of care and grooming from their owners and they are hard work. No children will “catch” germs from family dogs so long as they are wormed, flea treated and vaccinated !!

Depends on the dog and the humans responsible for the training. Sadly had to have a dig put to sleep when my daughter started crawling. Even before then the dog took a very keen interest in her. Later just wouldn't leave her along, always at her face. Vet was concerned as was I that there could be a serious incident and recommended the procedure. Discovered years later the dog had been the runt of the litter with mother rejecting it. Animal had more sense than humans who hand reared her. For those who say they never leave a dog alone with a child, I'd like to know how they achieve that, I found it impossible

We had a crossed Labrador & Red Setter. Very big, very lovely & very silly when we had our son. Never any problems. My DM took baby into our house after I went in & made big fuss of the daft dog. Baby cried, daft dog cried & wanted to see our DS. From then on our dog was the best babysitter ever. Each time DS cried he would come to tell us then go back & watch DS. As DS grew he was allowed to ride our dog, not by us but by our dog. Never a cross word from either of them though watched all the time. One of the best dogs ever. It can work given the right dog & being careful!

Absolutely yes so long as you NEVER EVER leave dog and baby alone

I had two JRT’s before I had children and the were absolutely great with them even as babies. The two I have now had never been with children are really good with my DGS who is two - never left alone with him though as you can never trust a dog completely or a child not to do something to upset the dog!

It is perfectly fine to have a dog and a baby together as long as you aware of the issues that might arise, you don't leave them together unsupervised and you are aware of the extra work involved if you are introducing a puppy to a family no matter whether there is a baby or not.

My friends daughter has had a baby and her poor dog, that she really fussed over from a puppy, is now being left in a crate alone because she spends all day long at her mum's house. This dog will not have a clue what's happening, what's it's done wrong and it makes me so sad for it. If she intends to keep it then the dog has to get used to the baby, the crying, etc.
We always had dogs, grandparents, aunts and uncles, the lot had them so we were used to one running around. If you were worried about the dog then you just never left them both together unattended. I know from having a dog from a young age it has made me the dog lover I am now. The joy I had as a kid having a dog, going long walks, playing ball, etc it was brilliant.

Peff68

My daughter has done exactly this, 10 month old baby then went a got a boarder collie puppy!! Very hard work but is doing great job, I think they were bonkers!

The dog is fantastic with the baby and my GD loves the dog and it gives my daughter a reason to get out for 2 good walks a day. I personally think they should have got a rescue dog and cost was a lot also, but advice not taken!!

I personally think your daughter did the right thing. If you’re going to have a dog around babies/ small children, then it must be better they all start from the same place, so puppies and babies.

My friend has had several rescue dogs, and they are unpredictable, often having been mistreated in the past. She didn’t have them while her children were young.

I had a baby dog and a cat,

Polarbear2

I have no experience here but I’ve always wondered about the muck (I assume) a dog brings in? They do their business and then come in and sit on the floor or furniture with their mucky bums. Sorry but that’s how it looks to me. Also hair drops and dog food scattered around the bowl? I can’t imagine putting a baby in amongst that. I put my hands up - I’ve never had a dog - it’s just my observation?? And they smell too. (Tin hat on) ?

Had to chuckle at the thought of my lab leaving food scattered around the bowl. She'd eat the bowl as well given half a chance!

We had a rescue dog (Heinz 57 variety) when my children were small, one a baby and one a toddler. She was lovely but I’d never have left her alone with them.
The only issue was when the younger one crawled. I don’t know what was in my dog’s mind, but a crawling baby was unacceptable and got growled at, so we had to keep them apart. Fortunately crawling time was short and once upright the problem vanished.

If the dog is already a member of the household and well behaved, then be careful and never, ever, leave the baby and dog alone together, not even for a minute. Even small dogs can do a lot of damage to a baby. If there's not already a dog, then I'd recommend waiting till baby is three or four before getting one.

My daughter has done exactly this, 10 month old baby then went a got a boarder collie puppy!! Very hard work but is doing great job, I think they were bonkers!

The dog is fantastic with the baby and my GD loves the dog and it gives my daughter a reason to get out for 2 good walks a day. I personally think they should have got a rescue dog and cost was a lot also, but advice not taken!!

I grew up with dogs as did my daughter. There have never been problems. But I would never leave a dog and baby alone, even for a minute.

To answer your question....no. Not any size dog, until the child is at least upper juniors. Just my opinion though.

We got our dog when I was 8 months pregnant. I’d always said I’d wait until I gave up work to have a dog and we wanted the baby & him to grow up together. It was perfect (the only problem was getting down to the floor to mop up accidents when heavily pregnant!).
He was a Labrador & he & my two boys spent their lives together until he sadly died when he was 17.
He was part of our family and brought nothing but love & joy, our children learned to love all animals because of their relationship with Micky ❤️

Breed is less important than training and never leaving them unattended together. I have a 6 year old puggle who is loved by all my grandchildren (1-10) but I would never trust the children or the dog alone together.

When I was a community midwife so many clients got a puppy and had a new baby .I could have had a houseful of dogs as they struggled to cope with both

I know of two children who were badly bitten on the face by dogs that had been in residence before the children arrived. I’m sure it is a matter of training, but I wouldn’t risk it until the baby was much older.

DH breeds (has done so for over 25years) cocker and Springer spaniels and won’t house / sell pups to households with a child of under 5 years. Says it not fair to dog or child as pup is like having a baby initially and child doesn’t know not to swing on ears / tail etc and that pup is not a plaything. Pup gets exhausted and ‘says so’ by snarling or worse snapping so adults think pup is aggressive and get rid of it

Whitewavemark2

New babies are very hard work. Puppies are very hard work.

Both need a tremendous amount of thought and care.

Why on Earth would you saddle yourself with that all at once?

One will lose out and not get the attention needed. That almost certainly will be the puppy and as a result not become the dog it could be with care, training and attention.

Not a good combination.

So my answer is definitely NO.

Be patient wait until your baby is older and can help with the training etc the puppy will need.

What happens if you already have a dog before a baby? People are allowed dogs before they start a family.

We ended up taking in a rescue Jack Russell when I'd just had a baby. The dog had been hit by a car and it needed foster care.

We were told she was pregnant which wasn't the best of news but then our vert said it was a phantom.

Easter Monday we woke up to 3 puppies and exhausted Mum.

We had a 7 year old, a new baby and 5 dogs.

We were all fine. Fine and happy. Nobody was hurt.

As for treating dogs like humans, who on earth does this? Think of the words and understand that nobody treats a dog like a human.

Valuable part of the family? Absolutely. But they're not humans . Thank goodness.

Dogs tend to be much nicer

Polarbear, IMO it’s called boosting immunity. DS and one of our dogs shared DS’s dummy with no ill effects. He is now a healthy 42 year old. If the dog is well looked after and regularly groomed there should be no smell.

I have no experience here but I’ve always wondered about the muck (I assume) a dog brings in? They do their business and then come in and sit on the floor or furniture with their mucky bums. Sorry but that’s how it looks to me. Also hair drops and dog food scattered around the bowl? I can’t imagine putting a baby in amongst that. I put my hands up - I’ve never had a dog - it’s just my observation?? And they smell too. (Tin hat on) ?

I've always had lots of rescue dogs, cats and children about - and the golden rule is safety first and close supervision. If you can't supervise, they need their own separate areas.

We used cat nets on prams, baby gates and stable doors - and training is needed (for pets and children) so that they behave nicely together. Visiting children may not know the rules, so extra caution is needed.

The only difference with size of dog is size of jaws. Larger dogs can quickly inflict greater injuries (although, I agree, small dogs tend to be snappier).

Even with all the above precautions - there's still a small risk. Example:

My daughter, distracted by her phone, failed to notice my clumsy four year old granddaughter stray too near a sleeping fostered Golden Retriever. She stepped on his paw and fell. Hurt, he swung his head round and barked a warning.

Unfortunately, his tooth met her neck! Just a large scratch, really, not deep -but very near her jugular! We were horrified.

At the hospital, police were called (routine), the wound was cleaned (no stitches needed) and I received a police call to tell me that the dog and child should never be in the same house again.

They didn't come and take him - as he was an 11 year old, good natured Goldie - the breed made a difference. Technically, though, it was still classed as a bite, however accidental.

He was already away at the dog sitters house and I redoubled my efforts to rehome him. Luckily, I soon did find him a home in a house with other dogs - and no children.

Grannybags

We got our first dog (Airedale) when our boys were about 8 and 10. He became part of the family and was very good at football!

I would never leave a dog and young child alone

Grannybags I'm another Airedale owner. We bred Airedales for many years and had them before we had our children. One of the dogs did not want to leave the side of the baby for 3 weeks, she watched over him in his playpen, when being fed and when he was bathed, of course we were there to supervise.

It is not just the dogs that need to be "trained" how to behave around children, it is just as if not more important that the child is taught how to behave around the dog. I see so many photos of a child sitting on a dog or invading it's space in some other way. Clearly the dog is not happy, shown by it's expression or manner but people think it is cute and are then surprised if or when the dog snaps.

Personally and in my experience a little dog is more likely to be an issue as in many cases they are treated like a child substitute and so become more jealous of a new baby. Granted they are less likely to do as much damage as a bigger dog if they do attack.