Expert: Marjorie Kelley - 12/19/2006

Question
Our bulldog is the sweetest thing when he is around adults... listens to and follows orders.  As soon as a child under 3 feet enters the room he goes nuts!  We are having a baby in 1 month, and I have no idea how to introduce the dog to the situation. What do I do?
Please help.

Answer
Anything under 3' tall is a toy unless otherwise enformed, especially flat babies. This envolves patience and supervision.

You need to get your dog into obedience classes mainly for the socialization aspect of it. You also need to get him used to children in an open situation either in the yard or at the park and monitor his every move.  So that when he jumps on a child or is overly enthusiastic, you can give him proper commands.

Infants and puppies don't mix. In fact, I won't sell a puppy to a family with children under 4 years of age unless they have a history of dog ownership and training. Puppies only frame of reference is chewing on and biting their siblings. Until they get the memo, they will continue with what they know.