Ralph & Olivia - Dogs and Children

Ralph and Olivia I was recently contacted by a previous client who was about to have a baby.  Their dog Ralph had been with them for a number of years.  Here is the advice I gave them. Dogs generally are great around new family members.    Contrary to many trainers I don’t believe dogs get jealous of the newborn.  In their natural environment the entire canine pack helps to protect and raise the young.  If Ralph is crowding Olivia’s space or being anxious when she is around it is much more likely that this is because he needs to know his role with her and that he wants to help teach and protect her.
What Ralph needs from you As with any other changes in the pack, Ralph will be looking at you and your reactions as a guide for how he needs to respond to Olivia.  If you are on edge and issuing stern commands when she is around he will not relate this to his behaviour.  Ralph could interpret this to mean that Olivia is upsetting you or that you are unsure what to do with this change in the pack.  Here’s a guide to how to show Ralph calm and consistent leadership during the introduction phase: ·       Stay calm.  Use slow, relaxed movements and a soft voice.  ·       Avoid eye contact with Ralph when you are working with him around Olivia, particularly in the initial minutes when you are watching his body language and how he is responding to baby.  For dogs, eye contact is an important form of communication.  Ralph could interpret eye contact to mean “help me deal with this danger”, for example. ·       When he is in a relaxed state around Olivia praise and reward him.  A relaxed state means not panting, lunging or pacing.  You can give him eye contact when you praise and reward him. ·       Set yourself up to succeed.  Use all precaution to avoid any incidents during this time.  For example, using baby gates or shutting doors to create no go zones for Ralph until he is consistently behaving appropriately around Olivia.  A negative incident will just prolong the time it takes for the pack to all be together safely.  For example, if you let Ralph approach Olivia before he is calm he is more likely to rush her or jump up at her.  Then you’ve started a negative rather than a positive habit. ·       Don’t scold or correct Ralph during training.  Keep words to only positive words when he is doing the right thing. ·       Never leave Ralph and Olivia together unsupervised.
Introducing Ralph to Olivia.		While we know that realistically routines are going to change.  Try to not change Ralph’s routine too much at least for the first few days after baby Olivia gets home.  If he is used to being inside with you try to have him inside as usual and use things like baby gates to create safe places for Olivia as needed.
Soon after you arrive home pop a lead on Ralph and take him to where Olivia is calmly and quietly.  Ideally have someone holding Olivia or have her in a position where she is high enough for the dog not to be able to get to her other than sniffing.  If Ralph starts to bark or get agitated take him outside and then bring him back in when he has calmed down.    Ralph will want to investigate Olivia.  Wait until he is calm and not pulling or lunging to get to her.  If he barks and lunges take him back out of the room and bring him back in repeatedly until he stops.  Once he has calmly sat in the room for a while gently drop the end of the lead.  Let him approach Olivia when he is ready.  Stay very close of course while he sniffs and investigates.  If he puts any part of his body on the baby gently push him away.  Let him take his time and investigate and gently push him away any time he puts any part of his body on the baby or tries to gain height domination i.e. jumps up onto lounge where Olivia is being held or similar. For the first few weeks try to have Ralph interact with Olivia in this way as much as possible. Praise and reward him with a treat regularly when he is calm in the room with her.  I would not reward times when he is actually investigating/sniffing, don’t react to this at all.  The reason for this is that it’s important not to accidentally give Ralph the message that he needs to be responsible for Olivia.  It is really helpful to have a lead on and trailing so that you can easily control interaction during the introduction phase and also when you are teaching Ralph to respect Olivia’s space. Respecting Olivia’s space It is important to teach Ralph early to respect Olivia’s space.  This will set you up really well for the crawling/toddler phase.  You can start doing this when Olivia has floor time. Before you start, as a family agree an approximate distance you will not let Ralph get to Olivia any time she is on the floor.  I would suggest about 50cm to 2 metres depending on your preference and circumstances.  If for example you have an open plan layout with little furniture and a small, calm dog you could use the 50cm boundary.  The layout/clutter issue is important as you don’t want Ralph to get backed into a corner during this process and feel vulnerable.  This is more likely to lead to an incident.  Have Olivia set up on the floor on her blanket.  Pop a lead on Ralph and bring him into the room where Olivia is on the floor.  Use the same process as for the initial introduction, leaving the room immediately if Ralph barks or lunges and repeating the process until Ralph enters the room more calmly. Wait until Ralph has sat calmly in the room for a while and then take him on lead up to within a metre of where Olivia is and sit there for a while.  Once Ralph is calmly sitting let go of the end of the lead without a fuss. Any time Ralph goes closer to Olivia than your agreed distance take the end of the lead and gently move him back.  If he gets too persistent or agitated at any time take him gently by the lead and isolate him for 60 seconds and then repeat the process of bringing him back into the room on lead.
	What you are telling Ralph by using these tips If you follow these instructions you are communicating gently and kindly to Ralph that Olivia is higher than him in the pack structure.  This means that Ralph will naturally defer to her and give her space.  He will also take on the role of her protector.  We have all seen the videos of dogs being incredibly gentle and loving with babies.  It is a beautiful and humbling thing to see. I also use similar techniques to introduce dogs to other pets.  I often tell clients that my dogs free range with my chickens and are all trained to do so.  I often see the dogs lying down outside in the sun and the chickens going about their scratching etc.  However, if any of the chickens approaches the dog, the dog will get up and move.  This is because I have shown my dogs that the chickens are part of the pack and in a higher position than them.  The dogs naturally then become the protectors of the chickens as well. So now you have some tips to expand your “pack” with your newborn Olivia.