# Introducing new (human) baby to dog (mini poodle)?



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Well that is simultaneously both exciting and scary isn't it?

I would do as you are doing, but also add in (as you are planning) going to parks where there are lots of children hopefully ranging from infants in strollers to kids on play equipment making all sorts of excited noise. Also not to wish falling and crying to happen letting pup see and hear that too. Just watch and reward relaxed behavior at first and then move on to interactions like having kids who are old enough to understand sit on the ground and play with your dog, give treats for good behavior and polite petting. 

This doesn't really need saying for most people here, but for the larger world, dogs and small humans should never be left unsupervised for even one second. Also resist the temptation of that adorable picture of a baby being leaned on by a dog or any variations thereof. That is a recipe for disaster.

corkscrew, best wishes!


----------



## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I love my dogs but when I had newborns, the rule was not to go near the baby. This way I wasn’t scared of any unfortunate accidents happening. When the babies start walking, it’s nice to have a dog who knows to get out of the way too.

So very easy for me. I taught the dogs that babies were off limit and that was it.


----------



## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Well you already have good advise. I babysit a lot,well now I am pretty much retired..but one family just had baby #5. The dog is allowed to sniff the baby wrapped in a blanket but then the baby is pretty much kept separate, well to the point where the dog get jump on it. It is also a large golden doodle but wouldn't matter the size a dog is a dog. Letting the dog hear baby sounds and crying is good and he will get use to it being in the home. Remember to keep paying attention to the dog as you had been doing. I'm sure it will go well and as Lillyd said never ever leave a dog and a baby unattended for even a second. The friendliest kindest dog can inadvertently harm a child. I despise those pictures of people letting their pups lay net to a baby, what if the dog get bit by a bee or has a sudden seizure. Dog get scared bites..


----------



## corkscrew (Aug 4, 2016)

Thank you, everyone!! [emoji4][emoji4]

We luckily had a spell of dry, sunny weather this week and took pupper to a playground for about ~10 minutes. He was much calmer than the last time we happened to walk by this playground a year or so ago, and it was helpful to think about his exposure in stages as lily mentioned (rewarding calm behavior initially, progressing to interactions etc). 

No one fell or cried this outing, but a toddler (accompanied by an adult) tried to come say hi/pet him, and Loxley was clearly nervous (especially bc he hates being pet on the head/topknot and for whatever reason we humans are conditioned to always go for the head -- even at that young age!). Anyway, will have to build up to that.

We also introduced the infant carrier, which is scary bc it is bigger than him and swings when being carried. He'll approach/sniff with treats but otherwise leaves it alone. This is fine, but I am a little worried about the stroller (big, moves, rattles, etc). Will have to go slowly, as we'd love to go on walks all together someday.

We also realized amongst all this that we probably ought to spend time fine-tuning general things pup already knows but we may have been slightly lax about reinforcing/really getting correct (eg, jumping, barking, drop it, and leash walking...oh, the leash walking!! [emoji51])...

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk


----------



## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

It sounds like things are going to go well. I just had the thought that while you want Loxley to not be afraid of the baby "equipment" such as stroller and car seat and such it could also be useful to reinforce your leave it command in not just all things, but especially those things. Reinforcing all of your static type behaviors (sit down stay and wait) is also an excellent idea.


----------

