blackwatch

I would love to hear your feedback on introducing your Dobermann to your newborn baby when you bring them home. Any suggestions and experiences you can share?

reisende

no babies or children on my side, but always been interested in this as I plan to have a family in the next 10 years - the lifespan of my dobe!

I believe it depends on your current dobe with children. is he thoroughly socialised and very confident with new people and situations? has he heard the cooing and crying and gurgling of toddlers without barking etc? has he met any young children at all?

I know of some families who wouldn't bat an eyelid placing their babies right beside their dogs, but here in asia, we tend to be a little more conservative. personally, if I had a baby, I wouldn't trust any dog with my baby, even with my supervision. a dog can very suddenly snap at a baby for whatever reason - stolen toy, sudden movement or noise, you never know, no matter how wonderful and well-behaved a dog is. and a baby, unlike an adult or even a child, is essentially helpless against a dog, what more a strong and quick dog like the doberman.

much as I love my dog to bits, I would always place human life above him, and would not place a baby in a potentially dangerous situation like this.

what I would do is to make no-go zones for my dog near the baby, so he will have no chance to bother it, lunge at it, etc. however, I will be sure not to make my dog scared of it either. before arrival of baby, I will play recordings of baby sounds - crying, loud wailing, gurgling, laughing, any sound a baby makes, and if dog is very good with it, praise and treat. make it a very good thing to hear those sounds.

baby crate and toys and milk bottles etc should all be prepared and introduced home before arrival of baby so dobe would not be put off by sudden new arrival of baby things. once baby is delivered, bring home a blanket used by baby to let dog smell, and again make it a highly positive thing.

I hear that when bringing baby home, let somebody else carry baby into the house after you have stepped in and greet your dog like you normally would. having a baby is a big change in your life, and you want to make it as 'normal' as possible for your dog to pre-empt feelings of jealousy or disruption.

once your baby has grown a little older (3 or more), have the child give the dog its dinner by making it sit and stay. use ways to establish that the child is indeed a leader and above the dog, and not for the dog to challenge its authority. it is because of this, I personally have no wish for my child and dog to meet till my child is old enough to establish its authority!

but, this is MY opinion and I like to play it safe. still, I have seen and heard that some families have no qualms at all leaving their toddlers with their dogs, and hear that japanese mothers used to leave their children with their akitas. it's your call. but it's always better to be on the safe side. a dobe, while not an akita or mastiff, is still way bigger, stronger, faster than a small defenceless infant.

Sidech

Same opinion here. When my kids were babies, my dog (Boston Terrier) learned from day 1 that she was not allowed to go near them. She was the sweetest dog, but you never know.

She could have been startled by sounds made by the baby and jumped, scratched or bitten, you never know.

For me, no dogs near babies, especially newborns. They're helpless.

lyngr

I think reisende's post is excellent.

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lolonurse

Good post, good ideas, but also, remember that your dogs are part of your family, so if you make them feel like second-class citizens all of a sudden, they will make certain assumptions. A lot of people recommend making your interactions with the baby positive for the dog, too, by letting them be a part of the experience. Let them sit with you while you feed or change the baby, talk to them like a 3 way conversation, give them a treat while bathing the baby - pleasant associations. Walk the dog and baby together... you know. Dobes are so smart - they get it. But definitely bring things like the cradle, crib, walker, stroller etc into the house early, and blankets, diapers, other smelly things from the hospital asap, for sniffing. Our dog when Josh was born was insulted for months! We didn't know so much 26 years ago! Good luck! lois

GunnersMum

What an interesting post.

The best suggestion is to introduce a dog to children at as young an age as possible. Gunner met babies when he was less than 5 months and every chance I get I have him see babies.

Reminds me of a friend who recently dropped by with her 16 week old baby. He was sleeping in his car seat on the coffee table and Gunner would wander over all carefull like and stretch his nose towards him for a sniff. If the baby moved he'd lean back and cock his head. He was hilarious. Then at one point the baby cried and he took off into another room as fast as he could. lol. Then peeked out and looked, carefully (almost tip toeing) came back out and gave him another shiff and a lick while he was in his mommy's arms.

A woman around the corner from me had a red female and she had a baby about 7 months ago. When the nice weather came (hadn't seen her since last summer) I found out that she had given the female to a friend b/c she was growling and nervous around the baby when she got home from the hospital. The friends have been bringing her over for play time with the male corso they still have and that now she is fine with the baby and will even go up and lick him. That she regrets giving her away and feels too terribly to ask if she can have her back.

So my best advise is to read the body language of the dog and give them time to adjust to babies.

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Leroythedobe

no furless kids here (yet) but id say it depends on how the dog acts..I mean if the dog is hyper, wild, ya know id probably keep it away for a little while, but on other hand if the dog is calm and sweet, id introduce them! Im no expert on this lol

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