Staffs with babies

So I have had my boy prince since he was 7 weeks old and he is now 2 and a half. He is my best friend and is very loyal and protective of me and my family but is drawn to me more. He has always been so happy and affectionate even from strangers passing us on walks, he just wants to meet people and play. My brother had a baby 11 months ago and he came to stay with me for the night when he was 7 months old and prince started growling at him so I took precautions and and separated them. I had him again just at the weekend and by this time he had learnt to crawl. Prince jumped down off the sofa and tried to attack him as he was happily playing crawling around. I had to quickly pounce on prince and scream for my daughter to come help me and pick up my nephew. I have never been so scared in all my life. I dread to think what would have happened if I never acted as soon as I did. Prince has always been so loving, he has been attavked 3 times by other dogs, even a dog as little as a Yorkshire terrier and never once retaliated but he does hate cats, he will chase them out of the garden. I love my boy with all my heart and letting him go is not an option. Me and my partner are currently trying for a baby but I'm worried prince may react the same way he has with my nephew. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice please on how to handle the situation and get him used to babies. thanks in advance

No dogs alone with babies...period. body langage + play can equal trouble. they can be kept together no problem but alone NO NO NO! nanny dog yes if they are brought up with kids, would i trust my two with them, nope, no way, nadda. not worth the risk. knock over, play bite, prey drive etc, bugger that risk

I'd never ever dream of leaving a little one alone with any dog, no matter how much I trusted them. I was on the floor with my nephew at the time this happened.

I'm sure as a responsible owner you wouldn't leave a baby alone with a dog, any dog regardless of breed or reputation.

Your question is kind of hard to answer really without knowing your Prince really Laura. I would like to think that if/when you have a baby he will accept them as family as the family smell would be similar, however, attention to one more than the other could present a problem so caution will be needed there so that Prince doesn't feel ousted by the baby.

Going forward from here, I would use lots of ultra supervised association with your nephew and prince. Get him used to having a baby around and see that he is no threat. The more he sees babies the more he won't see them as a threat to his position.

Again though, I would never leave a baby in a situation where Prince could gain unsupervised access.

Agree with the above advice. If you can leave an article of the childs clothing with his scent on it it will help the dog get used to the scent. Also when people are on the floor a dog will look at that as an invatation for play.

I wouldnt even leave the guide dog alone with a baby goes without saying you have to be cautious whatever the circumstances

Our first staff loved people only if they were over the age of 8 or 9  years. She was okay with small children when we first had her but then a little boy scared her by being in her face and making claw movements towards her. After that we couldn't trust her, she would growl and snap and lunge towards kids so we would have to lock her in the bedroom when my grandchildren came around. Its just not worth the risk.

Milo is a completely different temperament but I still wouldn't leave him alone with children - no way.

I wouldn't just say it was a staffy thing though, I think any dog can't be 100% trusted with young children.

Very true, a dog thing, but you also have to keep in mind that children do stupid things too and can get a dog in trouble and swear they did nothing, they don't realise the price a dog could pay. For both their sakes you shouldn't leave them.

Stan and Holly wrote:Very true, a dog thing, but you also have to keep in mind that children do stupid things too and can get a dog in trouble and swear they did nothing, they don't realise the price a dog could pay. For both their sakes you shouldn't leave them.

I knew of a Rottie that was pts for biting a child, when they did a post mortem because it was out of character for the dog they found the child had stabbed it with a knitting needle  However Katy loves children but you do have to watch them constantly but I'm sure your dog will get used to having the baby around