Dogs Behavior Towards Infant

Sounds like your dog is starting to see your child as a playmate rather than someone he needs to protect. You may want to try confining the dog to certain areas of the house. It takes time, but in order for the dog to "get it", you need to show that your child is higher in the pack order than the dog by giving the baby access to areas the dog isn't allowed to go and by giving the child more time and attention while ignoring the dog.

I am definitely not a professional but our daughter is the same age and yes, we have dogs too. I really think that because the child is down to the dog's level, the dog is showing dominance. The dog would be essentially teaching another dog that he/she is the dominant one by doing those types of things. I would just make sure that I correct the behavior each time it happens. Otherwise your son may get older and do something that the dog may not like and the dog will try to "correct" him.
Hope this helps.

I would never allow any dog to be loose around a baby. Protect your child...Change your priorities. How can you expect an animal to act any certain way around a human baby? I had a dog and children, and never let the dog run loose around the babies.

I too, have a large dog and a daughter around your son's age and noticed that our dog has begun to "play" with her. I do not think it is necessary to separate the two. Instead, I have taught my dog the command "gentle, baby". The dog now knows to be careful when she is getting excited or running around our daughter. Good Luck!

Hi K.,
I agree that your Husky is trying to figure out her place in the pack and she thinks your son is beneath her in the pack. Our Chessie is 22 months and has just about figured out her place but she is fairly well disciplined since she is our hunting dog. (We've read tons of info on pack order and training since it would dangerous for our dog if she didn't listen as well as she does.)

It is difficult to teach a young dog to respect someone so small. Things will get better when your son is older but our youngest is 4 and it has taken a while to teach our pup to respect her.

Your Husky should have the basics down---sit, down, waiting for you to go through a doorway before all of the humans in the family. And as one person also mentioned waiting to eat until the human family members have eaten. So while your pup is out in the house be sure that she follows the rules. And remember kids do get knocked down by the dogs from time to time and are fine. You'll just have to be sure that as both the pup and baby grow up your pup knows it's place. For now, I wouldn't leave the two alone unsupervised and I wouldn't let your little one walk around the house with food in his hands while your pup is out. There just isn't any reason to chance it. Good luck.

I think that she is still in that puppy stage and as your son gets older she will look at him as something to play with instead of protect. My advice would be to just watch her when he is around to make sure that she doesn't try turning on him. As long as she doesn't do a lot of damage to him then it should be okay. But like I said just watch her.

K.,
That is how puppies play, and you have a big puppy. She could also be trying to assert dominance. As long as she isn't dangerous toward your little one, you may just need to watch them closely until your toddler is old enough to be more sturdy on his feet. And also make sure you give your dog a stern NO whenever he acts aggressively toward your son.
Good luck!

K.,

I have had a lot of experience with dogs and children. I have two dogs and it took a lot of work watching them while my nephew was growing-up.

I think the issue is that your dog is still a puppy and your son is now this moving animated "toy" that is right at the dogs eye level.

To be realistic, you may need to keep these two separated for a little while. Chances are that in six months your dog will have matured and your child will be taller and that will really help.

Be sure to discipline your dog so he/she knows what is bad behavior and maybe have a dog pillow available so the dog has a place you can make it go when you are playing with your son. You may want to consider separating them by a baby gate.

Your dog will grow out of it, it will just take a lot of discipline for you and the dog to make sure things go smoothly.

I hope this helps!

Your dog is seeing your baby as the low-man on the totem pole in your "pack". He needs to be corrected and shown that the baby is higher up than your husky.

Research articles on Cesar Milan and watch episodes of his show the Dog Whisperer. He also has some great books on how You can view online videos at

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/play...

Good luck...

Hi K.! We had this same issue with our Lab and our little girl. I think you've gotten some great advice already but one thing I would add, is to make sure your dog understands the baby is above her in the "pack order". This is the advice we got from the professional we hired to come to our home and help with our issue.

For instance - feed your son first in front of the dog - then feed the dog. If you come in the house from running an errand when your hubby (or SO) has been watching your son, make sure you greet the baby FIRST and ignore the dog until you do. When going down stairs or entering a room, make the dog wait behind you and the baby. And finally, never let the dog physically get between you and the baby (on the floor, on the couch, etc etc). You'll be surprised how quickly the dog 'gets it' and adapts. And I promise the dog's feelings will not be "hurt" (that was a worry of mine!) Best of luck!!

Hi K.-
I also have had dogs with my kids. With my 4-year-old the dog was 5 years but with my 6-mos-old the dog I have now is just a year old and very rambunctious. He displays the same characteristics that your dog shows. Depending on the type of dog, pack behavior will be more evident. In the research I have done in learning about both of the dogs in my home I found that pack status is a huge point with some dogs. My five-year-old dog knew his status in the home (we had to put him down earlier this year due to a severe illness) and was a great dog with my then baby. With such a young dog what I am finding is that there is more of a rivalry for status. Protective at first because of a new "puppy" in the home but now sees that same "puppy" as another dog that can hold his own. By running him over or knocking him down she is demonstrating the pack behavior. She is telling everyone that she has a higher pack status than the baby. Don't punish her or she may start to see the baby in a negative light. Put some peanut butter on the baby's arm and let her lick it off while you praise her. Put her in down & stay position and set the baby next to her, keep close while praising her. If she knocks the baby over don't yell at the dog just immediately put her in a down & stay while you pick the baby up and comfort him. Then give her a treat for the down and stay or praise her, etc. Soon she get the idea that the baby has a higher status than she does and everything should be fine. Be careful to never leave her alone with the baby, especially during this stage, because there may be jealousy and she could nip at the baby behind your back. Hope this helps!

maybe she is trying to round him up and keep him in one spot not moving. Just please be careful. I'd be more worried if the dog was nipping. We have a dog that knocks our 2 year old down. She is just not always aware of where her body is compared to the child and is excited about something. She sometimes has a one track mind on the way to her food and water bowl.

This is very common dog behavior especially from such a young dog. With your son now on the move he is in the "play" postion to your dog. The dog thinks that your son wants to play. My son is 8 months old and my dogs are a bit older but the bigger dog does stomp on my son a bit from time to time. You just have to watch your dog for a while. Soon your son will be big enough to be defensive of himself, until then you have to defend him form the powerful play that you dog engages in. my nephew grew up with a Great Dane. the dog loved him but didnt know her own power. Soon my nephew learned to sit if he was standing and get out of her way.

I am not an expert with dogs or anything but my thought is that the puppy sees your son as mobile now and just wants to play. Puppies pounce on eachother and will run into each other trying to knock each other down. I am guessing he is just trying to be playful. Unfortunately your son doesn't understand this. You may need to keep them seperated when you cannot be right there, still ensuring you are giving them both attention. This way neither gets hurt or feels betrayed. BTW, your son will get even as he gets older, he will start pulling on the dog and may even try a taste test. And then the dog will feel picked on, funny how things come around.