No matter how carefully you've taught the baby to "pet the puppy nice"
NEVER trust your young child alone with your dog or puppy, EVER.
No matter how gentle or well-trained you think your child is, when you're not looking,
the child is wanting to do all of the things you won't let him do when you're around!

Angelic smile? Or waiting for you to turn your back
so she can "dance" on the puppy's head with her doll?

PRO-ACTIVE SAFETY MEASURES

Supervision, SUPER-vision, Super-VISION !
If you see the baby closing in on the unsuspecting dog, intercept him! Cornered dogs have no other choice but to tell the child to go away the only way they know how. Help them out of the situation before they have to.

Surprise is one of the biggest reasons dogs spin and snap. A sudden reach, an impulsive hug, a handful of fur clenched tightly in a baby's fist or twisted lip or ear. Babies lose their balance and fall. You have to be there to catch them before they land on the sleeping dog!

"If you want to keep your child safe from your dog,
please keep your dog safe from your child."
- Lisa Edwards, CPDT, CDBC

Think of a dog as a pair of pointy scissors. If you leave the room, take the kid or the dog with you or put it in its crate, exercise pen, kitchen behind a baby gate or some other place where he can't leave and the kids can't go.

Teach the child to respect the dog's space.
Interrupt and redirect if the dog uses the kids for a jungle gym or the kids treat the dog like a stuffed animal. No pony rides ever! Teach your children from day one that the dog is not a toy. Children should never approach a sleeping dog, an eating dog, a dog with a toy or chewie, a dog who is tired, a dog who isn't feeling well, a dog who is worried or excited, a dog who has had enough petting for one millenium. Watch the kids and the puppy to make sure neither are acting inappropriately and that they are respecting each other's space. If not, then they lose the privilege of being together. Time-outs are as effective with puppies as they are with children.

Safe Haven: If you have small children or someone else's kids come to visit, create a safe place for your dog. Use a baby gate or something that the dog can get over or through that the child cannot. When the dog does not want to be bothered by the child, show him he can escape to his safe place, and everything will be fine.

Never put the dog in the position of needing to correct the kids. Your dog deserves respect and peace and quiet. Kids don't appreciate being pestered constantly by their siblings and neither does your dog. When, day after day, the polite signals are ignored, the puppy eventually gives them up as useless and just goes straight to what works - snarl-snap and, if necessary, bite. 77% of all bites to children are to the face - probably because that's the part of the body that is invading and hugging and kissing and because a muzzle pin (open mouth across the offending pup's face) is how adult dogs correct invasive puppies. Your dog views small kids as pesky puppies. Turn your back for even a moment, and your child will be a child -- and your dog will be a dog!

If the dog is not able to get away from the thing that annoys or terrifies him, remember that "Plan B" is to try to get that thing away from HIM. The dog communicates that he wants to be left alone by looking away, moving away, showing his teeth and growling, all of which are proper social signals to avoid REAL aggression: biting. However, children are not dogs, and do not understand or heed this language, so it's important to BE THERE to intervene and give the dog a place to go where the child absolutely cannot follow. Again, this is where parenting and supervision are crucial to keep dog and child safe!

Individual breeds and individual dogs of the same breed have different temperaments and tolerance thresholds. Some are exceedingly patient and have a high pain tolerance and can put up with more abuse than others. Big, strong "dive into ice cold water without noticing" and "run through stickers and brambles without noticing" Labradors fall into this category ... but even these dogs have a limit and no dog should be forced to endure pain or torment in the name of being "good with kids." Well-socialized and trained dogs can be fine with gentle, respectful kids, but won't tolerate eternal pestering, hair pulling and "over-loving" that is typical of young kids and toddlers.