new baby + 2yr boxer

[Richie_UK]

Hi there,

i need some help regarding a new born an a almost 2 year old boxer, im sorry if this has been posted before but i need help as soon as.

My partner recently gave birth last week to a healthy baby boy (10pound 11) and we are not sure if our boxer is settling down with him, my boxer is a male brindle nearly 2yrs old and we love him to bits, he sniffs the baby alot mainly his feet/legs/bum but my partner wont let him sniff his hands/mits or face mainly because he bites his hands, she pushes him away telling him "No" but he always wants a sniff... we let him sniff the back of the babys head just thinking thats what he wanted but dosent make a differences... is my boxer just being very curious? she dosent like him being too close to the babys pram when he is in it and now he sleeps in his cage now he used to sleep with us but now the babys Cot is down the bottom of our bed...... not to give you folks the wrong idea she loves out boxer dearly shes just protective i feel, we just arent sure what to do. i praise him all the time and tell him to guard the baby but im just not sure...

thank you for any help suggestions

Richard, Rhian, Connor, Ty the Boxer

 

[simmons]

Well I am not a Mom yet, but I do watch my cousins and neices who are infants & toddlers. At first I was nervous about the infants being around my 1 year old and 5 month old boxers. But after a few watches I grew more confortable with them around. The dogs are constantly sniffing their entire body: (Feet, legs, diapers, etcc..) I believe they are just being curious and would never hurt them. The 1 year old is amazingly gentle with them.

I know boxers have a rap of loving children and mine absolutely do. I love watching them interact together. If your not comfortable with the dogs being around just keep a close eye on them. Both your dog and baby will grow up to be the best of friends. You will see how your dog will be very protective of your baby, mine are.

 

[bustermom]

17 months ago we were in your same situation - my son was just born and our boxer, Buster, was 2 years old. Buster spent the first few weeks sniffing and licking my son whenever he was given the chance - he was simply fascinated by this new, miniature person.

We never left them alone together - I had no worries that Buster would nip him, but a misplaced paw from a 70lb. boxer can cause a bit of damage to a newborn. It took several weeks before Buster's obsession with the baby settled down and honestly we weren't surprised as we had lots of friends with wee bairns (did you catch the Scottish brogue? LOL) who experienced much the same thing.

You've just introduced a new member into your little pack and your dog is understandably curious. Let him satisfy his curiousity while under close supervision (=person holds baby while dog sniffs to his heart's content) and in time he'll get used to all the wonderful new baby smells and sounds.

Buster is now 3 and Christopher is 17 months old and they are attached at the hip. His first words were Dada, Mama and "Buh-too"... when he wakes up every morning the first thing he wants to do is go find "Buh-too" so he tears around the house calling his name and once they find each other it's hugs, licks and nubby wags all around.

Don't isolate your dog - he won't have a chance to get to know your son and learn how to behave around him. Give them a chance to fall in love - under close supervision, of course.

Here's a picture of Buster with Christopher when he was 3 weeks old - as you can tell, Buster was still in his "fascinated by the new baby" phase:
http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/showphoto.php/photo/26780/cat/500/ppuser/13333

I'll have to post some current pics of the "boys" - I've noticed that I have very few pictures of one without the other... LOL

 

[dawn1]

Richie_UK...

I have a question/suggestion...
Is your dogs crate in your bedroom?
If not...I think that is where you should have it.
So your dog can see you taking care of the baby during the night.
You would not want the dog to feel replaced by the baby.

I have a 5 month old baby and I have to correct my dog daily for licking the baby....my dog gives me this pitiful look...
"Hey, I was only helping!"
"Someone has to wash the babies face!"

 

[Duncan's DAD]

baby

Richie I have 2 2yr old boxers and 8months ago my first child I was a little worried about the dogs and the baby. the dogs love to jump around and play and I didn't think we would ever be able to put my son on the floor. But those worries soon were gone. when Mason(my son) first came home they wanted to lick him all the time now after 8months everytime he is on the floor the dogs are angels! It just seems like they know the the baby is on the floor. now that mason can understand the dogs live to play that alls he does is play with them. good Luck

 

[Maci-May]

My partner was as worried as yours is whwn our daughter was a baby (she is a toddler now) .... I told him to Let him sniff or lick with you there (you can always wash your son after if you are worried about germs just use a babywipe!!)

What ever you do, Do NOT push him out remember he was there first. You want him to be friends with your newborn not see him as compertition and get jellous!!!

 

[jimmyjones]

I know they tell you to Sterilize EVERYTHING for your baby, but try to remember that most of the time it isn't sterile at all, i.e. when you take the bottle out of a sterilizer it starts to get contaminated ! Thus the object really is to make sure things are clean. I'm not advocating this by any means but I sterilised NOTHING, I washed everything thoroughly, and she picked up few colds etc. Neither do any of my friends, we are all practitioners in the medical profession, some of us in paediatric intensive care !!!! (not good examples eh ?)I didn't want a sore throat the first time she put a foreign object in her mouth. Also mummys breast isn't sterile ! My point is that the dog sniffing and licking wont harm your baby, it's really only the nipping you need to watch out for (even that's unlikely unless said dog feels jealous). It's actually good for your baby to encounter some bacteria, otherwise as soon as he starts to crawl (and in the mouth everything off the floor will go!) he will be more likely to pick up bug after bug. When we had our daughter we let the dog sniff and lick. The novelty soon wears off and it's simple bonding (plus the smell of milk is so tempting).

Congratulations and Good Luck xxx

 

[dawn1]

Haaaaaa Haaaaaaa......LOL!!!
How sterile is this???
http://www.catforum.com/photos/data/500/1727kissdog.jpg

 

[Darbysmom1]

We had two boxer kids when our first skin kid was born and so we had two different reactions. our female was scared of the baby she started shaking and ran to the other side of the room our male was all over the baby wanted to adopt it. both settled in within a month the female went to the attitude of she could care less and the male went on the want to be attached to the baby. he slept under the crib if the baby was in the swing he was sleeping in front of it... he was nervous when people would come over to see the baby we had to put him out.... but we did a few things to help both the dogs not feel that they were any less in the family unit.. I nursed so I would let one of them in when I was nursing ( two is too hard ) and would let them fall asleep at my feet and I would rub them with my feet while nursing the baby and although we did have a baby gate up most the time it is hard to let them all the time in the babies room because of diaper and stuffed toys but I tried to as much as possible let them in too. I think al the books I read just really said to make them feel as a part of the whole experience as all the rest of the family.. now having a baby is a lot of work I am not going to lie and say that my dogs got just as much attention after the baby came as they always did right away but at the end of about a month things were settled down enough that our nightly walks and visits to the park returned..
good luck and conrats....

 

[Darbysmom1]

also on the dog licking subject my son would break out in a rash wherever the dogs licked him ( i guess my husband did too as a baby ) so we had to make our dogs give that a rest for a little while but by the time he was two months he was able to handle it and thought it was the funniest thing.. In fact nothing makes dinner easier then your dogs entertaining your baby while you get three seconds to cook. I would put our son in the jumperoo and the dogs would be tug-o-waring in front of him and he would laugh and laugh... or our female always licks and our son would try to grab her toungh they would do that for the longest period of time both thought it was the greatest thing.