[amberjo0509]

I have a 18 month old who is in love with our dog. Unfortunately when I came home with him I was constantly telling my dog Ash to get out of his face and not lick him and whatnot when he was a newborn and now that my son is big enough that he wants to play with his "puppy", his puppy acts too scared to play with him or even let Benny get close to him. Does anyone have any ideas on how to bring them together? Ash is a very well trained dog and I know he would never hurt him but I'm not sure he realizes it thanks to me being a spaz when my son was born.

 

[Blue_Nose_Bella]

I have a 18 month old who is in love with our dog. Unfortunately when I came home with him I was constantly telling my dog Ash to get out of his face and not lick him and whatnot when he was a newborn and now that my son is big enough that he wants to play with his "puppy", his puppy acts too scared to play with him or even let Benny get close to him. Does anyone have any ideas on how to bring them together? Ash is a very well trained dog and I know he would never hurt him but I'm not sure he realizes it thanks to me being a spaz when my son was born.

Is your dog scared of your son? what about when your son started crawling? How did your dog react then? You can say that your dog would never hurt your son but any dog is capable of hurting a child when pushed to much. And if your dog is acting scared that is a red flag IMO. Children always need to be supervised when they interact with dogs. How old is your dog/puppy? Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to get more info to help you

 

[amberjo0509]

My dog is 4 years old...his reaction to my son is usually just to ignore him or jump over the baby gate. Ash is very well trained and has been around children his whole life. If he ever showed signs of aggression or acted scared of my son I would be very sorry to let him go but that would be the outcome just because I wouldn't want to risk my son or my dog...I just need to find a way to let Ash know that it's ok for him to be close to my son now. When I first brought him home I used to shoo him away from him...Ash is very protective of him though which is what messes me up...It's like he's undecided on this thing I brought home but he deal with it because I love it, ya know?

 

[bsd13]

Is the dog afraid of your son or afraid of how you act when he gets around your son? Or rather does he associate your son with you being high stressed and paranoid about anything he (the dog) does? If that's the case you need to make him associate being around and playing with your son as a time when he's lavished with praise and of course, treats.

It shouldn't be too hard unless you basically beat on him to keep him away from the kid. Which I doubt is the case.

 

[9361]

I have a 10 month old son, and also a 4 year old dog. We always scolded her for licking him too much in the beginning. So she learned to just give him barely a lick. And she generally would leave him alone. Now I encourage her to give him kisses and play with him. He has been wallering all over her lately. lol They have been good. I would just try to encourage him when he acts nice around the baby.

 

[Pitbull Palace]

I have a 10 month old son, and also a 4 year old dog. We always scolded her for licking him too much in the beginning. So she learned to just give him barely a lick. And she generally would leave him alone. Now I encourage her to give him kisses and play with him. He has been wallering all over her lately. lol They have been good. I would just try to encourage him when he acts nice around the baby.

:goodpost: Agree

 

[amberjo0509]

I think his reaction is anxiety about how my husband and I will react more than anything...the treats idea was something I should have thought of...Ash will do anything for a treat...hopefully we can work on it and get Ash loving Benny as much as Benny loves him...or at least to let him rub his belly

 

[MY MIKADO]

Treats are good so is playing fetch. At 18mos I am sure your son can toss a ball for your dog this is a good play interaction on both parts. Maybe have your son hep feed her too he can set down the dish and pour out some water might be a bnit messy but if it helps so what.

 

[Pitbull Palace]

I think his reaction is anxiety about how my husband and I will react more than anything...the treats idea was something I should have thought of...Ash will do anything for a treat...hopefully we can work on it and get Ash loving Benny as much as Benny loves him...or at least to let him rub his belly

I learn things on here that I after think " Geez thats Common sence" hahahaha..When we think to hard we have a brain lock .