Stunned! Opinions on Boxers 'n newborns?!

[amyrose81381]

boxers and babies

hi everyone i just wanted to let you all know by my own experience with my dog and my kids i have a 2 year old that constantly wrestles and plays rough with the dog ( we have an 18 month old boxer named Tye ) and i have a 6 month old baby boy and Tye is really great with them the baby pulls his face and fur and he just sits there so patiently he is very protective with them we always joke and say Tye is our babysitter cause hes so good with the kids so dont get rid of your dog but still give him alot of attention so he doesnt get jealous

 

[Anya d]

One of the first things we were asked was What are you going to do with THAT dog? She's too wild. She'll hurt the baby. Better keep THAT dog away from the baby. She can't be trusted. She'll make the baby sick. She'll have to learn to live outside. Somehow I managed to bite my tongue.

I have realised that some people mean well, some people misunderstand, and some people are just ignorant.

When we found out we were pregnant we treated the situation like we would for an older child with a new baby coming into the house.

We let Anya smell and investigate the new things that were coming into the house, i.e. clothes, diapers, toys. Although she is still not convinced that the monkey that came from the bear store isn't hers. She got really excited the first time she saw it and still does.

When we brought the baby home, the first thing we did was let her smell him. Of course, she stole a kiss. After about a month we gave up on trying to stop that. She has never once tried to hurt him. She has hurt herself trying to avoid him by aborting her launch mid-flight onto the couch. She had a very bad crash landing on the floor. Spencer is now six months old, Anya is 18 months, and they play together in the floor. She will bring him one of her toys and they will play a gentle game of tug with it. She knows instictively how to judge what level she can play with any certain individual. Even during her floor to couch runs across the living room she gracefully leaps across him. No matter what he does to her, pulling ears and cheeks, she can't get enough of it.

I would trust her with him more than I would trust most people. As for making him sick, that's crazy. The only thing that has ever passed between her and a human is a case of ringworm when she was two months old. She got it from a little boy that comes to play with her.

Boxers are a baby's best friend.

 

[Elyse]

Our experiences have been nothing but wonderful. As Cold (10 month skin baby) gets older, he and Nestle develop more and more of their OWN relationship. Our new fur baby Porter is so facinated by Cole and insists on giving him boxer smooches...

And to all the ignorant people out there, I say, you are missing out!!

 

[2whtbabies]

I wrote in once on this posting to say that Buster was amazing with our little girl; today I am babysitting my cousin's 6 mo. little boy and I honestly didn't know how Riddick (our rescue) would do around him; but he can't get enough! He even laid down next to his carrier when the baby took a nap this morning! :D I think it's just something they know instinctively!!

 

[lacied22]

grrrrrr..
that makes me so upset that people would think you should get rid of your dog just because you're expecting a baby. I'm pregnant with our 3rd (due 2/26) and we have a 2 1/2 yr old and a 1 yr old (yeah we've been kinda busy here ) My boxer is 3 1/2 and she is SOOOOO good with our kids. The thought of getting rid of her when I found out I was pregnant with our first NEVER crossed my mind. Not only was she great when we brought the baby home, we have photo's of her actually GUARDING the bassinet while the baby slept. WHen she'd cry Sidney would whine at us until we picked her up. Both my girls learned how to stand up by pulling up on the dog. She also lets our 2 yr old walk her around the house by her collar. My kids sit on her, lay on her, ect and she doesn't make a peep. She loves those kids more than anything. I'm not an expert by any means but my granmother was a breeder/handler and her 8- yes 8- kids were raised around boxers too. I've never seen a breed so tolerant and loving with kids.
People think that boxers are mean and aggresive dogs...and that saddens me. :(

 

[fdknuckles]

Don't Worry

Don't worry about a thing!
Our 2yr old female is probably the best friend that our 9 month old son will ever have. My wife was very concerned about the rambuctious nature of our boxer untill after the baby was born..they just seem to know. Jo Boxer will just sit there and let the baby tug on her ears...so patient. Not to mention how much joy the baby seems to get from Jo's antics..it's a beautiful thing to see.
FDKnuckles

 

[ncastellanet]

Ignorant People!!

In someone's reply they spoke about how ignorant people can be... I believe that is the most truthful statement in the WORLD!! You are doing a great thing with the training, and just keep yourself informed on minor threats like not letting the dog lick the babies hands, mouth, etc. if there's any chance of worms, etc. I think that threat is MANY times more likely to be a problem than your dog all of a sudden trying to eat your baby! I have 2 skin kids (4&3) and 2 fur babys (who are now 5&4)... Our 5 yr. old sharpei/lab mix was our first "baby", then came our 2 skin babies, then we adopted our 4 yr. old boxer from a rescue group when he was almost 3 yrs. old. I was nervous because the skin babies were right at the "can be a nuisance for a dog" age but he came into our home and within 1 week you couldn't tell that he hadn't been here for his entire life!! He LOVES the kids, and vice versa... One thing to remember that sometimes people don't think about is that babies get into things and try to take things away from a dog when they get big enough, just prepare your dogs ahead of time... make sure they are used to someone taking a bone away, getting into food dish during eating time, etc... I'm not trying to say that we encourage these behaviors in our children but children are fast and tend to do these things before you can even stop it some time so its just one way to cover all the bases!! Good luck and don't let people make you feel like you won't be a fit parent...

 

[LuvDaBabies]

Justice is our little baby sitter. She's about 11 months and our baby is now 9 months. She will sit and lick him until I stop her (and give him a bit of a good washing). She sleeps at his feet and will look at me if he's crying as if to say "fix him, fix him now, he's upset". The only concern you should have is to make sure you don't suddenly ignore the dog and that's true for ANY breed.

 

[Beth H.]

Innapropriate sense of humor (sorry)

I think it's hilarious that people actually have the nerve to assume expecting parents would get rid of their pets when the babies come.
Next time any of you get offended when approached with this ignorance, smile sweetly, place a loving hand on the swell of your pregnant stomach, and reply "Oh, no, you are misunderstood. We plan to give up the BABY, rather than our dog. After all, we HAVE had the dog the longest." When your attacker pauses to pick up his/her bottom jaw, sieze that moment to walk away.

What I find so funny about this, is that people don't seem to understand that any kind of pet becomes an integral part of the working family structure. Pets are family, not just some inconvenient hungry mouth to be discarded when the fancy strikes.

 

[Elyse]

We used to tell people we hope Nestle likes the baby cause if not, we can't keep him. I got so good at keeping a straight face that people looked at me like I had 2 heads. Loved it!