Parents, I want to caution you. Your crawling baby can stress your family dog and create real safety issues.
Babies grow and change quickly. And that can create discomfort in your dog, and safety risks for both your baby AND your dog.
These stock images show scenes that could be any other home that is shared by a dog and a baby or toddler. When a baby crawls into a dog’s space as an unwelcome intruder, that can create stress. It is really unpredictable from the standpoint of the dog, as to what will happen next. In this scenario, the baby climbs on top of the dog.
Dogs often do not like having little bodies encroaching on them this way. Eventually that dog may need to escalate his body language to communicate his discomfort. And that baby’s face and body parts are very close to that dog’s face.
Trouble between your dog and baby can be prevented.
Parents, pro-active management in the form of success stations such as gates to prevent access is so very important. Your active, adult, awake supervision is also imperative as you can take steps to intercept BEFORE it becomes a problem. To do that effectively, practice learning how to understand your dog’s communication. This post has videos and descriptions of dog body language.
Please do not allow your baby or toddler to move into your dog’s space.
Click here to read my important post about how even tolerant dogs can bite.
