Pets and Babies

Pets and Babies. Baby Safety 101.

Dog Behavior expert Linn Boyke helps make introductions between your little one and his or her’s soon-to-be furry friend. Remember that dogs can sense your comfort or discomfort. Upon first sight of your baby, it’s natural that the dog might want to smell or lick your baby. They are investigating! Instead of feeling uncomfortable at the new liaison, help keep this potentially worrisome issue calm and cool with a few tips from an expert.

Transcript:

- The day the baby comes home is obviously an important day. The baby is coming home. We can then bring the baby in. It's really important that the dog has been fully exercised. I don't mean burned out and tired because he'll wake up with a second wind. I mean fully drained of its energy. That gives everybody the chance at success. The other important part is how comfortable the mother is. The mother's bringing a baby in and if she doesn't feel comfortable, then the dog can be at that perimeter that boundary, it doesn't need to be right up, it's already smelled the baby. It's just now ... Read more

getting a chance to see the baby. It smelled the baby's little hat, its blanket, its diaper. Now mother's holding it. Mother does not want me to come over. I'm gonna respect that. If the dog continues, that's an opportunity for the father to just grab the dog, take it back to the boundary, and leave the dog there. If the mother is comfortable, everybody wants their dog and their child to get along, the mother can then allow the dog to come up and do the exact same thing the dog has practiced in its behavior expectation drill. Approach calmly, respectfully. Start to investigate, smelling at the feet. This time they're moving. Lick the toes, right. Then the dog can be polite and work its way around, if mother feels comfortable she can go ahead and offer the face. The dogs most likely will want to smell and lick the face. They always do that. If the mother's uncomfortable with that it's really up to her. But if the dog gets to smell and lick end it just as quickly as we did during the behavior expectation drill. Then do it again. You're gonna have the baby forever. You're gonna have the dog forever. Let's help this dog understand how to behave around the child. That's just the introduction.