Not sure what to do

[Kiki1993]

Hi. I have a young baby at home. I also have a two year old lab we have had since she was a pup. She has always been pretty hyper. We have tried walking her twice a day and being out in garden a lot, we have tried giving her toys to stimulate her, hide and seek with treats, set boundaries and she is crate trained. She is a great dog when it's just me husband and baby most of the time. But since baby coming home she has jumped up on me twice trying to get to baby, she tried to jump in her Moses basket, and she has tried to drop toys on baby when I'm holding her on couch. So far we have stopped her getting close to doing anything but I'm worried sick that one day I won't stop her in time.
She has done well in some aspects: she walks well with buggy most of the time, most of the time she is good with baby she tends to stay away from her but when she gets hyper I get really scared in case she accidently hurts the baby. I have tried seperation them when I'm alone but she just barks and it stresses me out. On top of that her fur is everywhere all the time and I'm sick of taking fur out of my babies mouth and off her clothes, I can't have her play mat for tummy time in the living room or any of her toys/swing/anything of hers because the dog will get them covered in fur or eat them. I can never leave them alone even for a second so getting up to pee is so difficult, I have to get dog in the cage while I pee and she will be so difficult some days to get in her cage even though she only goes in there to sleep or meals which she gets while I clean and when I pee or cook if husband isn't here when I cook.
I just don't know what else I can do I love my dog so much but I feel like I'm getting so stressed and depressed over this.

 

[jessmke]

I had two big dogs when I brought my baby home from the hospital, one has since passed away, but I still have a high energy retriever. It sounds like your dog is curious about the baby but not being aggressive, so is your main concern that she might knock the baby over? I guess I'm not sure what you are getting so stressed over, unless the dog is being jealous or aggressive then I don't really see a problem. Your dog should be taught not to jump up on you, but if she does it occasionally when you are holding the baby she is unlikely to do any harm, just turn your back on her to protect the baby. My dogs have knocked my baby over, stepped on her hands, whipped her in the face with a tail, etc and she is perfectly fine. None of that is going to do any damage and mostly she thinks it is funny when it happens. You should never leave a baby alone unattended with a dog, regardless of the dogs temperament or energy level, so you will always need to either take the dog or the baby to the bathroom with you until the baby is old enough to learn how to behave around the dog (I still take my 9 month old to the bathroom with me if the dog is in the house). My LO is 9 months old and is still never left alone with our dog because she will pull on her fur and tail. It does take effort to always supervise their interactions but that is just what needs to happen when you have a dog and a baby. I also don't really see much of an issue with the dog bringing toys to the baby on the couch, I can't imagine your dog has toys that are heavy enough that they would hurt the baby if they got dropped on her. It might be a nice opportunity for you to play with the dog while also holding the baby. Sure the dog's toys aren't going to be he cleanest and you probably don't want your baby licking them, but they won't do any harm just touching your baby. Same goes for the dog hair, my LO is often covered in dog hair and she is just fine. It is actually good for babies to be exposed to common allergens early on as it is thought to reduce the chance of developing allergies. I will take dog hair out of her mouth but if she just has hair on her clothes what harm is it doing? It sounds like your dog could grow into being a great family dog, but aside from having to constantly supervising them I think it could benefit all of you if you could just relax a little bit about having the dog around the baby. I think putting your dog in the cage throughout the day will only make things worse, she will be even more hyper when you let her out and she will miss out on learning how to behave calmly around the baby and it will prevent them from bonding.

My boxer bonded so closely with my daughter before she passed away when my daughter was about 6 months old. She was a high energy dog and sometimes knocked the baby over, but she would sleep next to the crib during nap times, would go to bed in the hallway when my daughter went to bed at night, was always wanting to be near her, etc. We were devastated when she passed away because my daughter was losing her first best friend. Just try to relax a bit and they might form an amazing bond. It would probably help if you had a trainer come in to help teach your dogs some basic manners around the baby.

 

[Kiki1993]

The main concern is the clumsiness. She is in no way aggressive (only to one specific postman for some reason) .. The fur i try stay on top of, it's hard but I do everythin I can to make it better (keep her hydrated, brush her three times a day, Hoover minimum 2x a day), but clumsiness I can't control. Then how she is a perfect dog with me and husband and macie but as soon as visitors come over she turns into a nightmare! With two or three guests she is okay ish with (she clans down after five minutes and then acts like they're not here) but with the majority of guests she barks, she jumps, she bites at their clothes, and she won't calm down after an hour so I've ended up starting to put her in her cage and then once she's calm I let her out and if she stays calm she Ray's out if she acts up she goes back and that's just because I can't have her jumping all over the couches, people, children and with macie in the room it's worrying me. She was kinda like that before LO came, but she would mostly calm down and then choose to go to her crate after she was bored of them. Now she won't calm down. I don't know how to make it better. Is it better to keep doing what I'm doing and she will calm or is it better to try something else? I think I'm mainly freaking out because husband is back at work soon, I'll be alone doing it all alone and I'm scared I won't cope.

 

[jessmke]

My boxer was really clumsy too, there's not much you can do about that except to supervise their interactions. Once baby is older she will be able to manage better around the dog but until then you just need to always be supervising them. Maybe put baby in a wrap or carrier so you don't have to worry about the dog getting at the baby.

Once I nearly fell down the stairs holding the baby while the dog pushed passed me, so I trained both of them to always walk behind me on the stairs. With guests put a sign on your door that says 'Do not look at, talk to, or touch the dog!'. If your guests completely ignore your dog she is less likely to get so excited. You can also teach her a place command, which is basically just a sit/stay in a specific location when people are at the door. Just one or two sessions with a trainer would probably be all you would need to get the tools and information to teach her some basic manners.

 

[Lumi]

I'm no going to write out a long reply but simply say that you baby will very shortly be a toddler who will adore your dog
In the mean tme is it possible to keep the dog outside?

We have 4 dogs, horses and a cat. Only the cat lives inside but my 14month old LOVES all the animals especially the dogs, yes he gets hairy/dirty but that's life!

 

[Kiki1993]

I would love to have her outside without me sometimes but my neighbours kids walk through my garden to get to their garden and never close the gate. If she was on a lead it wouldn't hold her she bites through extendable leads given the chance lol. I was going to extend our fence so I could keep my door open and doggy could go in and out as she pleased and was thinking about a tall dog gate she can't jump over so when guests come she can see the visitors and see us but can't get to is until we see she's calm but don't know if that would make her worse or not. I have baby gates up and they work for when I'm eating to keep her in kitchen while I eat, and they work for her staying in kitchen when I'm cLeaning but as soon as visitors come it's like all her discipline goes out the window. She jumps the gate and doesn't listen to me at all. Then wen the visitors leave she is an angel again. I don't know why it's like that. I tell visitors to push her down but some people are quite scared of her (just because of her size and strength), I tell them to ignore her until she calms down but she is still like that. The weird thing is out on walks she is fine with everyone she ignores people or gets a pat and walks on and with dogs she acts timid and then plays with them and then walks on (she growled at two dogs since Gettig her once when the dog came into our garden and once when a dog growled at her) but in the general she has been well socialised it's just when they come to our house she acts happier than me on Christmas Day and is as hyper as me on Halloween after eating all the trick or treaters sweets. I might give her trainer a phone back and see if he will see her again just to give me some tips. I'm sure she's just like this because she went from being our only baby to sharing us overnight.

 

[staralfur]

Everything seems much more overwhelming right now because you have a newborn. It's hard to have the responsibility of a new baby mixed in with the responsibility of a dog which probably didn't seem like too much before but now it just piles on.

You'll have to adjust to the new dynamic of a dog and a baby just like your dog will have to adjust to the new baby. It will take time. It's probably pretty overwhelming for your dog as well.

As a PP said, you wouldn't really be able to leave a dog and a baby alone together regardless of its temperament. Keeping them separated whenever you need to leave the baby for a minute is a new part of life as a dog owner and a mother.

As for the hair, I think you'll find that becomes less of an issue as time goes on. I have two dogs that shed a lot and eventually I stopped noticing when my LO had dog hair on her clothes. It just didn't really register as a priority. Dog hair won't hurt your baby.

 

[maryanne1987]

Not going to write a super long reply on here and bore everyone but I'm a dog trainer so if you need any advice feel free to message me.

It does sound as if she could could do with a little more basic training. Bringing a new baby into the house can be a big thing for a dog, and it can take even the most well behaved dogs a little time to adjust. Pp suggested outside which I do agree is a great idea. Not all day but for periods of time to allow you to safely spend time with baby without having to worry. Plus your dog will enjoy a baby free space too. So I'd maybe try and work on that to make it possible. A gate in the house is also a great idea as regardless of temperament it's also best to separate them if they need to be left unattended. As hard as it seems at the moment bare with it, it won't always seem so overwhelming. But yes if you have a trainer I'd have them work with her if only for a few sessions.

 

[Mrs. MB]

I have a six week old and a 90lb German Shephard who will be 14 months in a few days. He's super hyper, clumsy and unaware of size.

My boy loves the baby and tries to lick her every time he sees her. We let him in a controlled manner (pediatrician approved). I breastfeed on the couch so he can lay near and be quiet.

He does get hyper close to the baby and usually gets reprimanded with mention of "No! Baby!" He's getting better but alas he's a 90lb playful powerhouse.

My husband is back to training with him and it's helping loads.