For generations, we have introduced dogs and babies into the home together and have left it to chance for the dog to accept the baby and all that comes along with the developing stages from newborn-toddler-child.
FACT:
No family wants to believe that their dog is capable of biting or mauling their child. According to Fatal Dog Attack Statistics, the age groups with the highest number of fatalities are children under the age of 1 year old, and this age group accounts for 19% of the deaths due to dog attacks. Of these, 72% were less than 90 days old. In addition, the Atlanta Study and multiple other studies have found that children were bitten by family dogs or dogs known to the family in up to 85% of the cases.
The majority of these deaths occur to newborns within the first 90 days of bringing them home and statistics have shown most of the attacks occur when the baby is asleep in a crib or bassinet. You are asking yourself how this could be and the answer is simple: Dogs are predatory animals that react off of instinct and, if your dog is pre-dispositioned genetically to have a high prey drive, then the dog can perceive your newborn baby as prey. Everything down to how your newborn baby cries could trigger a response in your dog that could result in them “attacking the prey.” As a trainer and mom, I must emphasize that predatory behavior in dogs is REAL. We need to be aware of all this information about our dogs before bringing home your newborn. There is a precautionary test that can help us to understand the characteristics of our dog and how they might respond to the new baby.
Another thing to note is that up to this point your dog has never had to share their territory with anything. There is a level of competition and threat that can go along with bringing home a new baby. Your dog now sees that all your attention is on that baby and some dogs have trouble adjusting to this especially if they are used to controlling the household and getting all the attention.
