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Bassets and babies?

10K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  CatherineM 
#1 ·
Padmé will be 4 months old next week and we just found out my wife is pregnant with our first! How have your bassets been around kids? She should be right around 1 year when the baby comes. My only concern is she is very jealous right now of our attention. I hope she grows out of it by then.
 
#2 ·
I think you should start socializing her around babies and young children now, so yours isn't the first one she's ever met.

You will want to be sure never to leave them alone together. Use baby gates, a crate, and so on to keep them separated, even if the dog appears to like the baby.

I'm sure someone more experienced will be on soon and give more advice. Molly was an adult when we got her and had already been socialized with kids of all ages.
 
#4 ·
Some trainers have programs specifically for preparing dogs for the arrival of a baby. Check with your vet and local shelter to see if there is one in your area.
 
#6 ·
Our Basset use to do biting and mouthing when we first got him as a puppy. He outgrew this at around 6 to 9 months though. Our dog trainer told us to let out a little high pitched yelp and turn our back on our dog and ignore him for a while, I don't know if this worked but he stopped doing it anyway. It was sometime after teething it tailed off.

With regards to kids, our daughter adores our two Bassets and they are her best friends (she's 6 years old). My sister has a 10 month old and a 4 year old who have obviously been very young with our dogs. When she's over she brings a travel cot and uses that as a play pen for the baby. We also have a stair gate across the kitchen so the dogs can go in there if the baby is out or my daughter has friends around who don't like dogs. I trust my dogs but their size is obviously an issue and babies can make noises which may sound like an animal in distress and pain and this may bring on predatory behaviour (maybe more of a problem with other dog breeds than Bassets but I still think all dogs have something of the wolf still in them). Also babies tend to be covered in half eaten food and you may not want your baby having it's face washed by the dog! Having the dog with young kids around is fine, you just need to make sure you educate the kids how to behave around dogs as they grow up, have safe areas in the house which the dog can't get to where the baby can play and not leave them alone together. We also had a huge dog cage in the living room when the dog was a puppy where it could go & have time out. I'm sure your dog will grow to love your child as it's best friend as it gets older. Good luck and congratulations on the baby news!
 
#7 ·
#8 ·
We have never had a problem with the Bassets and babies. I wouldn't leave them together alone which is for the safety of the baby as well as the Basset. Maggie with our grandson Devin.
 

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#9 ·
I have no baby experience, however, when mine have been out and encounter toddlers and kids, they are very good. Jake tends to jump to say "HI" but for some reason, he doesn't do this with children (odd)
 
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