Keeping your Staffy away from small children

ok so im really just asking this question for peace of mind,

we have had our staffy (bruno) for around 2 months now,

im just curious how people go about keeping there staffs away from small children,

we have a son aged 6 months in the day time while im at work my mrs keeps and eye on then together but generally keeps them seperated by bruno being in the middle room n kitchen n harry (my son) n the mrs in the living room,

when we are both there i let the dog in the same room alot more but doo keep an eye on him n correct him when he goes to my sons face and he will come away,

bruno is all for my son like when he cries he will come n sit next to my son until on of us picks him up n he wil lick my sons feet,

but the problem i think im having although not a major one, i feel like i mayby putting bruno in his room a bit to much and with him being on his own is getting a little bit bored n occasionally being distruptive,

one thing we did think about is putting a muzzle on him sometimes when harry and bruno are together but not sure this is a wise idea

thanks in advance

Def don't put a muzzle on him, it will only make things worse. If you feel he needs a muzzle then don't leave him unattended with your son at any point.

Baby gates are a God send for separating certain areas off. And if he gets enough exercise he will be happy enough to just chill out.

Also maybe worth getting him a crate that he can chill out in when he gets home from walks.

Is Bruno a rescue? As you have only had him for two months and going by your avar, its saying age is 1. What do you know of his history? Staffies are well known for being nanny dogs. Very good with children. I do feel you are keeping Bruno away from your son too much. Is he rough with your son or calm and gentle? I wouldnt ever leave them both on their own, but under a watchful eye is good. Staffies do and will get bored when left on their own, they are people dogs more than dog dogs. And when bored, they could get distrupive and chew things they not meant to. I dont agree with the muzzle. Bruno needs to get to know his family and like wise you all with him. Have you had any concerns?

i dont feel he needs a muzzle i just thought to be a little on the safe side, i have tried the safty gate which he really doesnt like,

we have 2 french doors that lead you into the front room so couldnt put a safty gate there,

when we first got him he slept in the middle room and had the kitchen to but then he started chewing my carpet so i put the gate on and hes in the kitchen, since i put the gate up all he does is cry and yelp, so then i took the gate down n just closed the door and he just went to lie down n didnt make any noise

i dont feel that hes a threat to my son but you just never know and i dont want to keep shutting him in the kitchen on his own,

he wasnt a rescue dog he was from my partners cousin so we know his roots, his former owner has 2 children aged 2 and 6 one of which is disabled which is why we took him on,

there has been no signes of aggression i just wondered how people go about there daily lives with small children and there dogs,

Definatley never leave any dog alone, even a few minutes, with a baby.. Even a fluffball dog Agreed that you should not muzzle him as he has done nothing wrong so why punish him.. You need to train him now where the boundaries are when it comes to your child, but don't banish him or shut him away, I understand when your wife is alone at home it may seem easier if he is in another room but Staffies are real "family" dogs and generally Staffies are great with children Baby gates will come in very useful for when baby is sleeping, perhaps use them to make baby's room a no-go zone, when baby is sleeping try to spend some quality one on one time with Bruno, so he still feels special too.. Also the key to all good, calm behaviour is exercise A well exercised and tired dog is a well behaved one

I really do feel you need to spend more time with Bruno. As he has grown up with two children, he appears to be ok with children. Perhaps you could let him follow you around wherever you take your son in the home, so he feels part of the family too, this way, your son and Bruno are never left on their own. Just make sure you give Bruno time for walks, they are a must, a tired dog is a happy dog.

i agree in terms of exercise i walk him around 1 n half hours per day, i use a tracking line so he can strech his legs in a safe manner, when my son goes to bed around 8 bruno comes and spends time with us,

he does spend plenty of time with my son, i dont mean he gets shut away all day, he proberly gets put in the kitchen for around 4 hours per day, like when its harrys feeding time or the mrs,

bruno isnt alowed upstairs so theres no worry of him going in harrys room, he seemed to have picked this up quite quick when we first got him he used to try and go upstairs but now he just sits at the bottom of the stairs,

i think we are both just being a little paranoid just with all the recent dog attacks in the news latley and just wondered how other people go about,

i will forget the muzzle idea then, thanks

Just remember with the recent dog attacks in the news lately, its because of the owners not the dogs themselves.

I echo what everyone else has already said.

No muzzle, don't leave them alone in same room together.

I have 4 kids... My 2 staffs are soft as with the kids.

I don't think shutting Bruno away until u get home if right tbh.

Why get a dog if he's not allowed to interact with the family unless you are there.

Staffs are ppl dogs, they love attention from anyone and your child will have a great buddy in ur dog.
Is ur Mrs confident with handling Bruno when ur not there ?

I'm assuming you're at work all day ? So Bruno shut away in the other room - I can understand why he's feeling frustrated !

Staffys are great family dogs - I get the impression you're scared something will happen ?

Ideally u want Bruno to grow up with ur son as part of the family - I don't think u need to make your son to be something Bruno isn't allowed to be a part of.

ok so there seems to be a little misunderstanding going on here,

i dont shut him away all day, overall hes in the kitchen for around 4 hours per day not constant, its like when the mrs is feeding harry bruno has to go in the other room otherwise hes bouncing around or trying to get harrys food, or like if one of us cant keep a good eye on ie if harrys having his bum changed or if the door goes,

both of us are very confident with him and are not afraid of him as hes soft as anything and im 99.9per cent positive he wouldnt do anything,

and like iv said a few times im asking how people go about there day to day with children and dogs

everyone has said the same about dont lock my dog away (which i dont) instead of sharing how they go about it,

sorry if this message sounds a bit blunt : )

Sorry then I can't be much help.. My son is 10yrs old so it is completely different for me Steff and Dylan are best mates, and I'm sure Bruno and your son will become best friends too I'm sure someone will have some relevant advice for you soon

We are all trying to help out on here. We are only going by what you have written, and helping you there. Ever 4 hours in the kitchen when you are about in the home is still too much. Bruno sounds a great dog and still young, but never too late to teach new things. When feeding your son, is it possible to teach Bruno to stay away from Harrys food ? It will help in the long run. Perhaps give Bruno a stag bar to chow on as a treat, all staffies love them as far as I know. Fair enough, I dont have a little one, but we dont shut Pixee away when we eat, she is allowed to stay in the same room as us when we eat, but on her mat. We have taught her this. She was approx 1 year when we had her, no known history, but from day one, we taught her, and she has picked it up. They are very clever dogs. I have had loads of advice from this forum, I would be lost without it. Hope this helps you? Also there is one area in my kitchen that is out of bounds when I am cooking, I taught Pixee this from day one, and she now knows it. She is allowed around that area when I am not cooking. She has a mat in the kitchen, to which she will either lie there or sit in the conney or if the boys are home, she will be with them.

Ok. My dogs are very gentle with the kids, the kids have a role in training them using treats - which for the dog builds up a degree of respect.

I have a safety gate separating the lounge from the kitchen diner. This is only so I can seperate the dogs as n when (like when I've had enough of the playing!) or if the kids are watching the TV - they dont want the dogs all over them etc.

Obviously - in ur situation with a tiny baby - none of the above applies (different situations) But - all I can say is - training and more training. So when the time comes that ur son is crawling/walking Bruno will be calm, pottering about around ur son. (staffs make great walking aids for toddlers!)
Bruno will be inquisitive and want to give ur son a big lick ! - but with training u can curb his behaviours.

if im reading this right its not 4 hours in one go but 4 hours at intervals such as half hour at lunch while baby n mum eat and maybe 15 - 20 mins while mum changes babys bum which is responsible any dog of any breed can harm a child the key is to never leave them alone together my nephews little boy walks ruby on lead and he is only 3 I teach ruby gentle baby and when I say baby she calms down and is very calm around small people but you also have to train the child because as we all know babys love to poke eyes noses grab hair and ears humans can tell them no but dogs only communication is to grumble or nip so as well as training the dog you need to train the child to xx

ok thats great the last replys are more along the lines of what i was looking for,

ok so training is the way forward,

as we havnt had him that long we are all still learning from each other and getting to know each other, as we all grow as a family we will all get to trust eachother more n that will settle all our concerns,

we have been doing some elements of training but this as been more along the lines of recal training and basic comands as he will only do them when he feels like it : ) hes really naughty like that

yes thats correct its not 4 hours straight, its like 20 mins at breakfast 30 mins at tea time occasional through out the day for 10 mins etc for changing my son just things like that,

we never lock him away for more than half hour unless we are both out but most times he comes with us

as with any animal from hamster to rotweiler and in between vigilance and education for animal and child is required and as you go along you all will learn xx im sure things will be fine

When we feed my stepson jack or change his nappy etc we just fill a kong or something for Otis and be takes himself awa quite nicely but he does get a bit hyper at times cause otis is only a baby still at 9 months but we trained him to be gentle around jack who is 2 and my nephew Lewis who is coming up on a yea just by telling Otis to lie down or go to bed which if he did he got a treat so we could do everyday baby stuff with less hassle from a bouncy puppy but even if your feeding your wee one or nappy time etc try not to put him away in another room just try training him to lie down or go to bed.

I know you said you don't lock him away, but I'd get him to spend as much time with your son as possible (supervised of course) because the more training you do by getting Bruno used to your son, the more he'll learn to be gentle and calm around him. Maybe softly praise him when he's calm around your son, so he knows he gets more attention when he's being calm and well behaved, and put him in another room if he gets over-the-top just until he calms down again. For when they are separated, a baby gate is a good idea, as others have said. And Otissmummy's idea about giving him a Kong during those times is good too

Agree with what's been said in the last few posts . He should be separated only when he has to be ie unsupervised or needs timeout , and all other times you should cope with training the correct behaviour. I do think also that you have a bit of paranoia as you say from recent reports but you should believe in Bruno and look at his track record rather than getting on the doubters bandwagon. My OH was a childminder until October last year and anything up to 5 kids at once , Tommy as the youngest and more badly behaved would only ever be taken out of the room if he needed to calm down

From what you have said i don't think you really need to change anything. I wouldn't feel bad putting him in the kitchen when the baby is being fed. It give bruno a bit of time out and its more hygenic for the baby incase he shakes or licks something he shouldn't.

Hayley wrote:From what you have said i don't think you really need to change anything. I wouldn't feel bad putting him in the kitchen when the baby is being fed. It give bruno a bit of time out and its more hygenic for the baby incase he shakes or licks something he shouldn't.

Bet you'd be like my Sister In Law Hayley still sterilising at 5 years old , nothing wrong with Baby and Doggy sharing the odd ice cream etc , I share ice pops with Tilly , your lick , my lick ........................

Keeping out of the picture may only make him more inquisitive about the little one.. He is meant to be part of the family so let him be part of the little one's life too..Saying that I would leave them alone together ever. Just take your son with you whenever you leave the room. But let the dog get close to him too. He will love him just as much as you do..

No dogs regardless of breed should be left alone with children. Yes staffs are one of the top breeds to be around kids but if 20kg of dog gets excited and playfull they may accidently knock over a kiddie even though they would be mortified if they thought they had hurt them. I trust my two 99.9% but still get annoyed with parents that just let there kids wander up to them without asking and letting me get them in a position where they cant jump up or knock them over by accident

Dave wrote:

Hayley wrote:From what you have said i don't think you really need to change anything. I wouldn't feel bad putting him in the kitchen when the baby is being fed. It give bruno a bit of time out and its more hygenic for the baby incase he shakes or licks something he shouldn't.

Bet you'd be like my Sister In Law Hayley still sterilising at 5 years old , nothing wrong with Baby and Doggy sharing the odd ice cream etc , I share ice pops with Tilly , your lick , my lick ........................

I'm not a clean freak but I have a huge disgust of hairs! If a hair got into a baby's mouth I'd freak out. I can't touch a wet hair lol

I have a 9 yr old son and have had mitch from a puppy and he is 6 this yr, im confidant to leave mitch with my son now as have brought my son up to be confidant to give him commands etc ...however i do have a baby gate that separates the lounge and the rest of the house and if my sons friends come round or my friends bring there babys mitch always goes were ever we are not, the reason i do this is because mitch is still very excitable when any one comes round and jumps up and i dont want esp my son friends gong home saying he has jumped and hurt them.

Ok so yea I agree I shouldn't leave them alone, it seems like I just need to calm down a bit and give Bruno a bit more trust, as I've said previous we've only had him 2 months and are just getting to know his personality n how he acts, although we got him from my mrs cousin non of us have seen Bruno as we didn't use to see her cousin very often but we trust her word,

Thanks for the replys

You can never be too careful when it comes to babies/kids with any dog, even a dog you have had from a pup and trust completely can get excited and accidently hurt a little one

Try with some training like teaching "gently" let Bruno come to bub and sniff as he does this say gently, gently and when he is calm give a treat/praise soon he will learn that calm behaviour around bub is needed. I taught this command to Steff and use it at the park with small dogs or pups and it works..

never had a staffy with a 6 month old so cant help you there but would be very interested in replies as my sister is due a baby at this very moment and would love to know how to introduce them. As for staffies and kids they get on very well so if I were you id make some playtime with them all, obviously you being with your kid and training the dog to come close but have boundaries. It sounds like you're doing all the right stuff anyway

Hiya,

We have a 1 1/2 year old and a 3 year old. We got bella about 3-4 weeks ago from a friend that could no longer keep her Bella was 16 weeks old at the time.
when we first got bella we made her sit and meet the children calmly and after a few days of us sitting down teaching the kids how to stroke, cuddle, play and give her treats we just let them get on with it lol. Bella is a part of our family now, we never leave them alone but we don't separate them either.
If we put bella in a room where she cant get to the kids or see them she will cry / moan until she can get to them lol. She loves our babies she even sneaks into our little girls room at night to try and snuggle on her bed lol.

I think you are over reacting, your staffy will be your son's best friend, our little boy sits on Bella, Lays on bella, Plays with her ears, takes her toys off her (All the stuff WE have trained her not to react to) She just licks them and lets them get on with it when we go for walks and our son starts to wonder off she will run over and stand with him until he walks back to us.
I guess what im saying is put the training in and trust your furry friend a bit more.

Hope I've helped good luck xx

Dave wrote:

Hayley wrote:From what you have said i don't think you really need to change anything. I wouldn't feel bad putting him in the kitchen when the baby is being fed. It give bruno a bit of time out and its more hygenic for the baby incase he shakes or licks something he shouldn't.

Bet you'd be like my Sister In Law Hayley still sterilising at 5 years old , nothing wrong with Baby and Doggy sharing the odd ice cream etc , I share ice pops with Tilly , your lick , my lick ........................

Lol love this
Our son shares everything he can with Bella! I think that's why she never leaves his side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiDS2NlVeOI

Ok so thanks for all your replys, well there has been some major changes in Bruno over the past few days, I've got a week off work so we have both spent time training Bruno and just spending time as a family and this has been great,

Well first off we gave Bruno a lot more trust around Harry and even 1 or 2 other dogs and he has done nothing but impress me, when he come into the room were my son is he will circle the bouncer looking around the room, then lick my sons hand or foot and sit by him, which is the cutest thing I've ever seen, my mrs says he does this a lot in the day while I'm at work, when my mrs was playin with my son takin his socks of with her teeth Bruno came over n started to try n get her sock off haha

Anyways on Sunday we went to one of our regular fields, it's got quite a few skinny trees n long grass n walkways although muddy, n he was on his tracking line and I looked around it was raining and there was no one around n everything seemed perfect to try him off the lead, his recall is great on the tracking line,

Anyways I let him off and he was running around in the grass jumping up and around the trees, when I was walking with him every few meters I would call him back and give him a treat, n everything went great,

Then this morning we was out on the same field and I noticed another walker but couldn't see the dogs so I put him on the lead n the man came over, we have crossed paths in the past n he had 2 staffs and old one and a young, the dog came over n was playing with Bruno n Bruno just wanted to with this dog, so I asked the guy n he said yea so I let him off, Bruno was running around jumping on each over just having a genuinely good time,

I'm so happy about his progress with us, this forums has helped us so much,

Cheers peeps

Ahhh that last post is so lovely!! Don't have any other advice to add, just wanted to say it sounds like you're being really sensible, and that's not such a bad thing Great to hear that he's getting on well, sounds like a little star!!

That's great to hear i'm glad every things going so well
enjoy the rest of your time off work