Dog meets baby. That sounds fun.
We’re gonna have some babies at our house.
Not people babies, thank goodness. But puppy babies. 
I love puppies. People babies I’m not so sure of. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.
But some of my friends have babies at their houses. And they remember the dog meets baby experience. It was an interesting experience when those tiny little people came into their world. They thought their lives were going to really change. And in some respects, they did. But it wasn’t so bad because the adult people in the house prepared for the little ones’ arrivals.
If you’re going to get a little human in your home, your people parents should think ahead and prepare for when dog meets baby. Here’s some things you can suggest to them. Things aren’t always as straight forward when a baby come home as you might think.
First of all, you need to tell them to think about how having that little person around is going to change their daily routing – and yours. After all, you were there first But, you don’t want anything to happen either. You aren’t sitting around planning the date when you will bite the little creature.
Besides, dogs biting babies isn’t as common as people might think. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dog bites requiring medical treatment in infants could be as low as 0.04%. That’s not much, but it still happens sometimes. The Journal of the American Medical Association says dog bites are the second-most common reason for children being taken to the emergency room. But it’s usually not babies that have to go. It’s boys between five and nine years old.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean dogs and babies can’t live together peacefully. Dogs bring a lot of happiness to people’s lives and there isn’t any reason babies shouldn’t share in that happiness.
Actually, babies can fall in love with their canine family members quite quickly. Studies have shown that young children show a preference for a live dog over a stuffed animal by the age of one year.
Preparing for dog to meet baby
Take it one step at a time.
Step 1: Start to prepare your dog for the arrival of a baby several months before the baby is born.
Start out by providing the dog a quiet place to get away from the baby. Introduce him to it ahead of time so he doesn’t have to experience a sudden change in his routine and feel the baby is the reason.
Get him used to different noise levels and to being touched all over his body at different times during his daily routine. Like when he’s eating or sleeping.
Let him get used to the different smells that are going to become a common occurrence in his life. Let him smell the clothes, soap, lotion the baby will be using. Give him a chance to check out the new furniture that will become a part of his life. The crib, changing table.
Give him an opportunity to get used to you paying attention to something besides him. Let a doll or stuffed animal substitute for the baby during this phase of training. Let him meet some children. Take him to a playground or to visit someone you know who has kids, especially little ones, if he hasn’t ever had the opportunity to be around them.
Dog and Baby Finally Meet
Step 2: Now it’s time for dog and baby to meet
Introduce the dog to the scent of the baby before you introduce him to the actual child. Give him an opportunity to small a blanket or article of clothing that has been near the baby. Leave it there for him to sniff as much as he wants. This will help him get used to and accept that new scent in his life.
When you and baby get home, sit on the floor with the dog while you are holding the baby, but be sure another person is close by just in case something unexpected happens.
Let the dog sniff and lick the baby. As long as he’s doing it gently and peacefully, praise him. Let him know what he is doing is a good thing. Then stand up, hand the baby to his other parent and really pour the praise on your dog. Hug him and snuggle with him. Then repeat this little routine several times during the next few days. By then he will start to associate the baby’s presence with good things.
During the early days of having dog and baby together, it’s important that you don’t punish him or yell at him around the baby. You don’t want him to associate the baby with bad things happening to him.
Hopefully, by now, your dog and baby are getting along great. But don’t take anything for granted. Don’t leave them alone together. Anything can happen and you haven’t tested every possible scenario that could occur between baby and dog.
Ongoing Training
Phase 3: Ongoing education for dog and child
As your child grows and learns to crawl and then walk, it’s important that you don’t stop training the dog and child to get along. Now, a lot of the training will be aimed at the child, not the dog.
Children need to learn not to try to play with the dog when he is eating or to try to take something out of his mouth. They shouldn’t pull on is tail and ears or his hair. If a dog is startled or hurt, he is much more likely to bite.
A surprised or hurt animal is an animal that will potentially bite.
One of the main things to remember when bringing a child into a home where a dog has been living is that you should never neglect the dog. Remember, he was there first. Give him the same attention you gave him before and maintain his routine as best as possible. Remember, a happy dog is a loyal dog and will become your child’s best friend.