09/14/2025
🐾Great info from Michelle Stern - her website is in the comment section
“Here are SEVEN unfiltered lessons from coaching families raising kids and dogs together in 2025.
1. Supervision Isn’t Optional — It’s the Whole Job
Parents often think they can “teach the dog” or “teach the toddler” enough to leave them alone together. That’s a dangerous myth. Kids don’t have the judgment, and dogs shouldn’t be set up to fail. True supervision means eyes-on, ready-to-intervene, every time.
2. Baby Gates Aren’t Bandaids — They’re Lifelines
Many parents feel guilty about “blocking off the dog” as if it means they’re failing. But separation tools like gates, pens, and crates are how families prevent accidents. Keeping your dog and your baby safe is not a training shortcut — it’s smart parenting. A gate isn’t a failure, it’s a seatbelt.
3. Your Dog Didn’t Sign Up for Parenthood
When the baby comes home, the dog’s world shifts overnight. Less attention, more noise, unpredictable routines. Expecting your dog to instantly love the baby is unfair. Your dog deserves patience, management, and proactive support, not punishment for struggling.
4. Parents Often Worry About the Wrong Things
Most parents ask me about jealousy — “Will my dog be jealous of the baby?” But jealousy isn’t the problem. Overstimulation, fear, stress, and lack of escape routes are the real dangers. Focusing on “jealousy” distracts from what actually keeps kids safe.
5. Kids Are Wildcards, and That’s Okay
You can train your dog perfectly, but toddlers still toddle. They scream, grab, wobble, fall, and break rules. Dogs experience this as chaos. Your job isn’t to make your child “perfectly gentle” — it’s to buffer the dog from normal child behavior.
6. Bites Rarely Come Out of the Blue
Most dogs give plenty of warning before they bite: lip-licking, yawning, walking away, stiffening, growling. Parents often miss or dismiss these signs. If you only react once the dog snaps, you’ve ignored the whole story they were trying to tell you.
7. Good Parenting Means Managing Both Species
Raising kids and dogs together isn’t about being the perfect trainer or the perfect parent. It’s about recognizing that you are responsible for both species. The safest homes are the ones where parents admit: “I can’t do it all, all the time” — and then use tools, structure, and support to make life easier.”
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