Tips on introducing a German Shepherd to a new born?

Caporegime
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So me smacking her if she gets to boisterous around the baby will be fine yes? Luckily i know her signs when she is about to get nasty as she hates cats, her ears go back, her fur stands up and her tail curves up.

Ugh that would be a horrible situation to be in :(


Not sure whether my instinct would be to punish the dog to try and stop it or to grab the baby to protect it.
 
Soldato
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Perhaps, but I'd always rather be safe than sorry - over caution never hurt anyone.

Well done OP for showing the appropriate concern.

Kids are evil, my ex had 2 kids, 10 and 11 when we got Max and then the ex got holly, a shar pei, which was a nasty piece of work.

The two kids would grab the dogs around the neck full force and wrestle with them to the ground when I wasn't in, I caught them doing it a couple of times and told them off, which was responded to by the ex telling me I was over protective of the dogs and should be nicer to the kids.

Then I came home from work to find that the shar pei had bit the youngest child and when asked what they were doing i got "nothing just went to stroke her" I told the ex and she didnt believe them and didnt get rid of the shar pei.

I broke up with her and took max and hes a much more relaxed dog now, not getting abuse from 2 young kids, not sure whats happened with the shar pei, probably ate them by now.

KaHn
 
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Not sure whether my instinct would be to punish the dog to try and stop it or to grab the baby to protect it.

When I was a child my dad bred our GSD and we went to get pick of the litter, while there I was fussing over the puppies and the bitch didnt like this, my dad moved me slightly to the side of him as he saw the bitch move to stop me, as the dog lept my dad whacked it and that put an end to that.

Just watch the dog, you know the signs and just need to keep it in check.

KaHn
 
Soldato
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Perhaps, but I'd always rather be safe than sorry - over caution never hurt anyone.

Well done OP for showing the appropriate concern.

Cheers ;) been losing sleep over worrying about how to introduce her to the baby.... i quite firm with our dog anyway, i've always made sure she knows her place and need to know show her again now.

Khan your a top man thanks for the very very good advice! One good thing is when it get a little lighter and warmer we have a lake close to where i live and she loves swimming and sleeps for hours after swimming.... so that will mix it up a bit for her!
 
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Got sum picks of her actually... Out the back garden and at the lake: I've tried to keep her lean and not overload her weight so she doesn't suffers with her hips!

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Man of Honour
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Kids are evil, my ex had 2 kids, 10 and 11 when we got Max and then the ex got holly, a shar pei, which was a nasty piece of work.

The two kids would grab the dogs around the neck full force and wrestle with them to the ground when I wasn't in, I caught them doing it a couple of times and told them off, which was responded to by the ex telling me I was over protective of the dogs and should be nicer to the kids.

Then I came home from work to find that the shar pei had bit the youngest child and when asked what they were doing i got "nothing just went to stroke her" I told the ex and she didnt believe them and didnt get rid of the shar pei.

I broke up with her and took max and hes a much more relaxed dog now, not getting abuse from 2 young kids, not sure whats happened with the shar pei, probably ate them by now.

KaHn

Meep, that sounds pretty miserable.

^ awesome dog!
 
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Meep, that sounds pretty miserable.

^ awesome dog!

^^ ahhh cute as !

lol cheers, that lake behind is round the corner from me and is in the middle of nowhere and not many people know about it, when we had drought a few years back all the water went, the council came in and cleared up the lake.... of course it hasn't stopped raining since then and its filled back up, water is really clean and me the dog often go swimming in there.... just annoys me when she cant be bothered to swim and tried to jump on my back haha!
 
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Khan, if Max was from LOTR, he would be Legolas - he looks super unmanly :D :p

He's the softest dog in the world, he runs from bichon frises, but tbh thats how I raised him.

I dont need a dog as a protector, he does bark at the post man from time to time when he can be bothered to get up from the top of the stairs :)

KaHn
 
Soldato
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Lol mine is the same she's a big wimp, any load noises or shouting she runs to me!

Do you find if your dog drops a toy behind something that isn't secured down... i.e picture, ornament etc and it moves they jump out of thier skins.... its so funny to see them try to negotiate their way round to get the toy without knocking what its stuck behind! haha!
 
Soldato
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Slowly and never alone, she will accept the baby over time as part of her 'pack', the laying down near the baby is her watching for the babys safty.

My staffy has been the same with my youngest born in October, you will find she 'camps' near where you place the baby, its a guarding instinct, you might want to make sure you have plenty of visitors round when you have the baby first home so she dose not get too protective and still lets people in the house.

yeah do this, I know from when I was born my parents had only a few people at a time with what was then our standard schnauzer and it got very protective of me and wouldn't let anyone, including my parents near me at times. Sadly he eventually got put down because this and because of biting me when I sneaked up to him from behind when he had a cone on after an operation. :(
 
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All of this dog talk makes me miss my old retriever Leo from when I was a teenager. At the end he was very old and frail and I think we ended up treating him as a bit of a hindrance and I still feel really bad about it. I was a silly teenager I guess, but he was an awesome dog and deserved better.

Don't stop loving your dogs just because they get old *sob* :(
 
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Ive always been round/ owned dogs and most if not all of the advice here is good.

Just remember one thing, no matter how "soft" or "nice" a dog is, at the end of the day it is an animal and as such can be unpredictable. A dog of any size should never be left alone with children or babies ( not aimed at the Op as he seems well aware of this ).

A dog can be a great educator for young children if done right.. they learn to be caring and responsible with animals and in return they get a great companion and a loyal protector.

Just take it slowly and remember one thing above all else... the dog comes LAST in the pecking order. His place should be as an underling to the humans and his job is to protect all of you from any outside threat and alert you to danger ( barking at the door etc ). Some dogs cannot accept this role and try at all times to be the alpha, these types of dog should not be in a family home in my opinion. A happy dog is a dog that knows its place in the pack, an unhappy dog is one that is confused as to its role in life or does not like the role it has ( such as a nervous protector dog who feels it has to be the pack leader but doesnt want to ).
 
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Soldato
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Ive always been round/ owned dogs and most if not all of the advice here is good.

Just remember one thing, no matter how "soft" or "nice" a dog is, at the end of the day it is an animal and as such can be unpredictable. A dog of any size should never be left alone with children or babies ( not aimed at the Op as he seems well aware of this ).

A dog can be a great educator for young children if done right.. they learn to be caring and responsible with animals and in return they get a great companion and a loyal protector.

Just take it slowly and remember one thing above all else... the dog comes LAST in the pecking order. His place should be as an underling to the humans and his job is to protect all of you from any outside threat and alert you to danger ( barking at the door etc ). Some dogs cannot accept this role and try at all times to be the alpha, these types of dog should not be in a family home in my opinion. A happy dog is a dog that knows its place in the pack, an unhappy dog is one that is confused as to its role in life or does not like the role it has ( such as a nervous protector dog who feels it has to be the pack leader but doesnt want to ).


Yup very true, i get really annoyed when i see these dog shows etc when the owners just let them do what they want.... nothing a firm back hand wouldn't fix and some good old fashion staying power! tell the dog to stay, ignore it, if it moves put it back where it was.... until they understand! I've got to the stage now where she associates my telling off voice to a smack, so i know longer have to resort to smacking her which makes me feel so much better, as after i wacked her i always feel guilty i hit her to hard.... dont show her that tho!
 
Man of Honour
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We had dobermans when I was a kid and never had any problems with them and the younger kids in the family. If anything, from what I have seen and experienced with dogs, smaller dogs are more of a problem around children. Bigger dogs tend to have more of a brain in their heads (even a doberman lol), are more predictable and less likely to snap. The only problem we had was dobermans are clumsy and used to knock the kids over.

My mate is about to have their first and they have a cd with baby crying noises that they play to the dog at night to get him used to the new noise.

Dog definitely needs to be introduced to the baby and needs to be around the baby with you so she knows what the score is. It'll be a huge fun game for the dog at first until she realises what the baby is, but GS's are quite bright and will work it out. Locking the dog away will make her jealous.
 
Soldato
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We had dobermans when I was a kid and never had any problems with them and the younger kids in the family. If anything, from what I have seen and experienced with dogs, smaller dogs are more of a problem around children. Bigger dogs tend to have more of a brain in their heads (even a doberman lol), are more predictable and less likely to snap. The only problem we had was dobermans are clumsy and used to knock the kids over.

My mate is about to have their first and they have a cd with baby crying noises that they play to the dog at night to get him used to the new noise.

Dog definitely needs to be introduced to the baby and needs to be around the baby with you so she knows what the score is. It'll be a huge fun game for the dog at first until she realises what the baby is, but GS's are quite bright and will work it out. Locking the dog away will make her jealous.


I've always said that, smaller dogs are evil haha!! Sounds like an idea about the baby crying.

One thing i will say about my Shep is she is so so intelligent its scary, the things she does absolute amaze me sometimes! the other day she was trying to drink her water but it kept sliding, so she looked about then put her paw in the bowl to stop it moving.... simple things amazing! Oh and i taught her to speak in an afternoon.
 
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My parents had a 2 year old GSD bitch when I was born and by all accounts didn't have any problems with her at all. If anything she was a little too overprotective of me.

The worst thing that ever happened was being knocked down the stairs as I tried to race her to the front door when the postman knocked!
 
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Well as some of you know i'm expecting my first baby with my wife in 8 weeks, I have a 3 year old female German Shepherd, she is good as gold, she listens well but has moments of absolutely psychoness, never bitten any1, however she doesn't like little kids sneaking up on her when she is tied up or on the lead which worries me as she barks at them. But apart from that she’s very calm round the house, our friend has a new born and when the little one has come over she's very calm and sniffs the baby with her tail wagging then falls asleep on the floor in front of where the baby is. We don’t smother her and she’s not one for cuddles and loads of attention.

Could any GSD owners give me sum advice about introducing a dog to babies? yes I’ve google it, but being able to ask questions is better than just reading!

You describe your dog as having moments of psychoness, describe situations in which it acts violently towards people, and now want to introduce it to your new little child?


hmmm.......
 
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