Whether you're bringing a dog into a family with a growing babe, or adjusting to your toddler becoming increasingly mobile around a pet, it can be quite a balancing act requiring large amounts of patience, fast thinking, and unceasing wariness. To your pet, a child can pose a new threat, changing into a new member of their floor-dwelling space. Their flailing arms, loud high-pitched sounds and wild behavior during their developing stages, can be a source of stress to your pet. Nonetheless taking some safety precautions and creating safe behaviour can make this balancing act much easier.
Be Safe
A pet can pose a danger to your toddler if their behavior seems to threaten them in any way. Teach your kid proper behavior around a dog. Important points to cover are: never touching the pet's toys, particularly when in the dog's mouth, don't touch their food, no pulling on noses, fur, ears or tails. Similarly, work with your dog to recognize calming commands like "easy" or "off". This is going to help to diffuse a situation where you can see the dog getting agitated.
Most dangerous situations between a dog and a toddler occur during feeding time. Never place dog food, or feeding areas near a place where your kid plays. Keeping your dog's food and kid separated will make perilous interactions a load less common.
Teach your kid to warn you straight away if the dog is snarling or showing agitated behavior. Teach them that if they are being chased or jumped on, the best thing to do is stand perfectly still with their arms at over their face or chest, and make no sound. This will cause the animal to lose interest quickly and move on.
The most effective way to keep both your pet and your toddler safe is to be consistently supervising. Before you have prepared your child and dog for safe play, keep them apart. Placing baby and pet gates in your home is the best way to avoid accidents and injury. You can find baby and pet gates in many varieties to fit all spaces, including extra wide pet gates, freestanding gates and gate extensions.
Teach Safe Interactions
Teach your child the best way to have safe, positive interactions with the dog. Learning to play and care for a pet is a great way to teach your child communication and compassion. Hanging out with your kid can teach your pet how to be a better behaved individual and be gentler and calmer. The key to success is positive association and close supervision. Let your child participate in looking after your dog by helping to give treats, brush their coat, join in delicate playtime and petting. Easy games like bring, peek-a-boo, playing with a ball, and learning fun tricks can all be a part of building a bond between pet and kid. Everything should be mild, controlled and positive, with you supervising the entire time.
Avoid wrestling, tug-of-war, pulling on the fur, tail, ears or muzzle, chasing, hitting or riding, as these activities can all turn quickly to aggression. If your dog is high energy it's a brilliant idea to take it out for a run before playing with your toddler to calm them down a bit.
You can teach your toddler about respecting animals by reading books to them about animals, showing the proper way to pet and cuddle with the pet, showing them how to safely approach the animal - from the side not the front or back, and showing them ways to be gentle. Teach them that animals have feelings too.
Set Some Ground Rules
For your pet and your child to get along safely, your kid needs to follow some basic safety rules and learn to respect your pet. Learning to respect animals is a great lesson for your child to learn and having a pet in the home will be a great help in that life lesson.
First teach your toddler that they must pet gently, never pull or hit, stay away from food dishes and the pet when it's eating, and leave the pet's toys and bones alone. Your kid should learn not to scare the pet, especially when it is napping.
Your pet needs to know safety rules as well. Before letting your child and pet interact, your dog should know not to bite, jump, or swipe at people. Your pet should respect the chain of command in your household, knowing they are at the bottom. Do not let your pet sleep in your kids room as they may see them as a littermate. Dogs treat littermates like peers and will fight, snarl at, snap at and push them over.
Supervise at All Times
You should be supervising at all times, any interaction between your pet and your toddler. If you're leaving your kid and pet in the safekeeping of a friend, relation or babysitter, guarantee they know the way to safely care for both at the same time.
Be Safe
A pet can pose a danger to your toddler if their behavior seems to threaten them in any way. Teach your kid proper behavior around a dog. Important points to cover are: never touching the pet's toys, particularly when in the dog's mouth, don't touch their food, no pulling on noses, fur, ears or tails. Similarly, work with your dog to recognize calming commands like "easy" or "off". This is going to help to diffuse a situation where you can see the dog getting agitated.
Most dangerous situations between a dog and a toddler occur during feeding time. Never place dog food, or feeding areas near a place where your kid plays. Keeping your dog's food and kid separated will make perilous interactions a load less common.
Teach your kid to warn you straight away if the dog is snarling or showing agitated behavior. Teach them that if they are being chased or jumped on, the best thing to do is stand perfectly still with their arms at over their face or chest, and make no sound. This will cause the animal to lose interest quickly and move on.
The most effective way to keep both your pet and your toddler safe is to be consistently supervising. Before you have prepared your child and dog for safe play, keep them apart. Placing baby and pet gates in your home is the best way to avoid accidents and injury. You can find baby and pet gates in many varieties to fit all spaces, including extra wide pet gates, freestanding gates and gate extensions.
Teach Safe Interactions
Teach your child the best way to have safe, positive interactions with the dog. Learning to play and care for a pet is a great way to teach your child communication and compassion. Hanging out with your kid can teach your pet how to be a better behaved individual and be gentler and calmer. The key to success is positive association and close supervision. Let your child participate in looking after your dog by helping to give treats, brush their coat, join in delicate playtime and petting. Easy games like bring, peek-a-boo, playing with a ball, and learning fun tricks can all be a part of building a bond between pet and kid. Everything should be mild, controlled and positive, with you supervising the entire time.
Avoid wrestling, tug-of-war, pulling on the fur, tail, ears or muzzle, chasing, hitting or riding, as these activities can all turn quickly to aggression. If your dog is high energy it's a brilliant idea to take it out for a run before playing with your toddler to calm them down a bit.
You can teach your toddler about respecting animals by reading books to them about animals, showing the proper way to pet and cuddle with the pet, showing them how to safely approach the animal - from the side not the front or back, and showing them ways to be gentle. Teach them that animals have feelings too.
Set Some Ground Rules
For your pet and your child to get along safely, your kid needs to follow some basic safety rules and learn to respect your pet. Learning to respect animals is a great lesson for your child to learn and having a pet in the home will be a great help in that life lesson.
First teach your toddler that they must pet gently, never pull or hit, stay away from food dishes and the pet when it's eating, and leave the pet's toys and bones alone. Your kid should learn not to scare the pet, especially when it is napping.
Your pet needs to know safety rules as well. Before letting your child and pet interact, your dog should know not to bite, jump, or swipe at people. Your pet should respect the chain of command in your household, knowing they are at the bottom. Do not let your pet sleep in your kids room as they may see them as a littermate. Dogs treat littermates like peers and will fight, snarl at, snap at and push them over.
Supervise at All Times
You should be supervising at all times, any interaction between your pet and your toddler. If you're leaving your kid and pet in the safekeeping of a friend, relation or babysitter, guarantee they know the way to safely care for both at the same time.
About the Author:
Pamela Noble writes articles on pet care and parenting for BabyandPetGates.com. You can find more information on baby and pet safety gates at on their website.
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