SAFETY TIPS TO PREVENT DOGS FROM ATTACKING NEWLY BORN BABIES

There is a modus operandi for dealing with dogs and newborn babies. It starts with never allowing any dog to be unattended around your baby. Not even for 5 seconds. In addition the dog is never allowed in the baby’s room. Not ever! If you don't own a dog crate it's time to buy one. Your goal is to teach the dog that the baby is your baby and has nothing to do with the dog. The baby should not to be smelled or touched. The dog needs to learn that the baby is a higher ranking member of the family pack and that you (as the pack leader) enforce the babies rank. This is no different than a mother wolf who does not allow other pack members near her newborn pups. The way to set this training up is to take items that have the babies smell on them; baby cloths, baby sheets, dirty diapers etc. Lay them in your living area where the dog is allowed to be. The dog is never to be allowed to go near these items. They can't play with them, or even go over and smell them, they can't go near them. The dog needs to learn that there is a bubble around the smell of a baby that they are not allowed to enter. If they do go to smell them they are corrected. Don't kid yourself that the dog can't smell these items from a across the room and that's as close as they are allowed. When you set up this training the dog should already be on a long line - one of our 20 foot cotton line's that is cut down will work or you can make one. We also sell very nice leather drag lines that are meant for this work. They are 5 feet long. If the dog walks over to smell the diaper he gets a verbal no. If he does not turn and immediately (instantly) leave he gets a serious level 5 correction. If he ignores that correction you immediately correct to level 8 or 9. The goal is to teach the dog that the smell of the baby if Out Of Bounds!!

DOGS AND BABIES....

There is about 100 times more chance of a child being killed by a parent or relative rather than a dog. The unfortunate fact is that the news media sensationalizes the death of a child as a result of a pet attack. These same people call for additional laws on breed bans and additional laws controlling our pets. Well, I like to tell people that dog training is not missile science. Training a dog is pretty much common sense.
Here are few things to think about when bringing a new baby home:
1 - Make sure the dog is fully obedience trained. If you have questions on this you should refer to my training video titled Basic Dog Obedience. The dog should be trained well enough that you can tell it to go lay down on his rug, or in his crate. This means that the dog will go and stay there.
I believe that this kind of training should be done motivationally. In other words, teach the dog to do it for a food or a toy reward. But once the dog understands the command it needs to be reinforced with a prong collar correction if the dog does not mind. I call prong collars “power steering on dogs.” They allow small people to control good-sized dogs.
2 - Get a dog crate and crate train the dog. The crate should NEVER be in the bedroom. If the dog becomes overly excited when the baby cries it can be put in the crate. Give it a bone or a rubber Kong with a little cream cheese or peanut butter in middle to keep him interested and busy.
3 - Never allow the dog in the baby’s bedroom - not even when you are present. The bedrooms (including your own) should always be off limits. This is especially true of the baby’s room.
4 - The dog should NEVER be allowed to be near the baby when it is not being supervised - not even for one minute.
5- Once the baby is born they will bring a blanket with the baby scent home (or a dirty baby diaper) to wrap a doll in. When this is laid on the floor the dog is corrected for going near it. It cannot even go and smell it.
6- When you bring the baby home make it a quiet introduction. Mom should first meet the dog without the baby.
7- Homecoming should not be a loud party. When the baby is brought in, the dog should be placed in a “down-stay” several feet from where mom and baby are sitting. The dog IS NOT ALLOWED to smell the baby. Dogs have an excellent sense of smell. There is no reason to allow the dog to come up and smell the baby as soon as it gets home from the hospital. The dog can smell the baby from across the room without any problem.
If there is any concern about the obedience and control of the dog at any time the baby is present, it should either be on leash or in a dog crate.
6 - Get the dog a selection of new dog toys before the baby comes home. Some people will keep the toys available in a basket in the living room. Others prefer to allow the dog to know that there are new toys but they control when the dog gets access to them. They don't get bored with the toys.