It is important to any family that the relationship between your children and your pets is one of mutual respect and that the pair are able to be left alone together without the risk of something happening. Although you should be able to trust your dogs I would highly urge you to never leave your new children around your dogs unsupervised, especially during the early stages as you can never be certain what your dog is feeling and sometimes their animal instincts can take over.

With proper training, you should be able to have peace of mind that your dog would never hurt a member of your family, as long as you put the effort in to train your dog to know that your new children are not a threat to them everything should go pretty smoothly. I would recommend a few different methods in order to build a strong bond and relationship between your dogs and your new children that can hopefully go on as your children and your pets get older.

Creating a Comfortable Environment

When it comes to the initial meeting of your children and your dogs you should do everything in your power to make the meeting place a setting that makes both parties comfortable, for the dog you can make them feel at ease by conducting the meeting in familiar territory. Using rewards such as toys and treats and of course plenty of affection you should stay close to your dog when you present them to your child. Give your dogs a moment to investigate your new child and do plenty of sniffing, it is usually the case that your dogs will react pretty calmly but you should be very gentle with the situation in case your dogs react badly.

Creating a comfortable environment is one of the best ways that you can show your dog that everything is okay and that your new child should be considered a member of the family. If you need help or advice in regards to creating a relaxing setting in your home for both your dogs and children then  I would urge you to research online or speak to a professional for ideas that could really help make the situation easier.

Observation

As previously mentioned observation is key to making sure that everything runs smoothly in regards to your dog and your child’s first interaction. Although it would be ideal to presume that your dog is going to be fine you should remember that this is a new experience for your pet and no matter how calm they may seem there is still a risk that they will not be okay with your new family member straight away. Change can make your animal’s behavior also change so it is an important part of their training to be present during the initial interactions. If you are training a younger dog or puppy then it would be very useful to use a beginners guide to looking after your new puppy to make sure you are doing everything you can to build a good relationship between your child and dog.

How to Keep Your Puppy Calm

Keeping a puppy calm is easier said than done sometimes, as they are younger and more excitable it is important that you are serious about their training. Using rewards when your puppy interacts in a  calm way you can help to encourage them to be calm if they are going to be rewarded with treats and affection. With younger animals, they find it harder to understand what is going on so you need to be doing everything you can to let them know how they should behave around, small children.

Regular Interactions

One of the best ways to introduce your new children to your dogs is to make sure they have regular interactions and the opportunity to build a relationship together that is positive. Over time you will see that your dog is actually very wary of your children in a way that they would protect them if anything were to happen. A strong relationship like this is a great step in the direction of your dogs and children growing up very happy together.