12/06/2024
Let’s talk dogs + kids. Owning a dog or multiple dogs while having children can be a challenge. We want to give our kids full attention while also ensuring our dogs are safe and happy. Here are some tips:
🐾 Don’t assume your dog(s) will LOVE your kids - Children are sporadic and unpredictable and dogs do not typically enjoy that.
🐾 Don’t make management extremely difficult because you will not maintain it. Find ways that will easily allow for quick and effective management of dogs and kids.
🐾 Crate the baby 🤣 okay sounds funny, but really the best management I have used was a play pen from the time Levi came home. At first as the dogs adjusted Levi spent his tummy times and play times in his play pen. This way the dogs could see him and have freedom to move around him without being up in his space.
🐾 Baby gates: use them! Gate off play areas, baby’s room etc.
🐾 Get very familiar with dog body language and listen to your dogs!
🐾 Teach kids how to do consent checks with dogs. We do not grab toys from dogs or pet dogs until the dog has invited us to the interaction.
🐾 Crates are a great place to feed your dogs and give high value items so kids cannot mess with their stuff.
