Barking at baby, what does it mean?
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| Is your dog barking when his hair is being pulled? Our dog does this to our 2 yo, and it DOES sound playful ...........when they're playing but other times we can tell by her actions (moving away or hiding behind us), she's saying STOP IT. We constantly remind our son "to be gentle" which he understands and does, but mostly with the 3 smaller animals. He thinks it's funny when our OES runs away and thinks it's a game which it does indeed become one b/c our dog loves it ...just not the pulling of hair.
If you are worried about your dog one day biting.. I think that's a good sign, he/she may one day if you don't start keeping a closer eye on their interactions together. We do this and our dog has come to realize that if she is getting bothered ...to hide behind us or just look at us (NOT OUR SON) and we move him away. We have to worry more about the cat and our son (bites his face since she's declawed ...smart sucker she is) than our OES who wouldn't do a thing to our kids. He's at an age we feel he NEEDS TO LEARN so we almost want one of our animals to hurt him so he gets it. It's hard to tell a 2yo to listen though. |
| When our son pulls his hair he runs away and lies in a different room. Our OES barks and backs away when I have my son in my arms holding him up and he is flapping his arms and laughing as he thinks the dog is great. I just want to make sure that I nip any agressive bahaviour in the bud before we have a problem. |
Devanny wrote: We have a 6 month old baby and up till now our 3 year old OES has been great just a bit clumsy around him. But now that our baby is flapping his arms, standing up and laughing also he can pull the dogs hair our OES has started barking. It seems to me like a playful bark but I am not sure. Does any one have any experience of this and what I should do as I am worried that he may snap at our baby as he is jealous.
This is a herding breed (well, duh! Right?  ). They are attracted to and excited by movement and noise. Herding breeds were developed by selecting for certain characteristics of prey drive - chase, control - but less of others - the kill; though they will nip and grip when needed, and sometimes not so needed. Some herding breeds bark more than others. Most OES aren't tremendously vocal when working from what I've observed, tending to be most vocal when frustrated.
OK, that does NOT mean your pupper is drooling over your baby as a potential snack, or even a good herding prospect (well, that comes later when baby learns to walk  ), but, and as much as I love our breed, throw in some clumsiness and overexuberance and even with the sweetest, calmest OES in the world, you need to never, ever leave them unsupervised with a baby/young child (actually, that goes for all dogs, but definitely our breed - not saying you do, just emphasizing this). You also need to teach them to respect the child. And, once the child is old enough to understand, teach the child to respect them (!!!)
Up until that time, again, never leave them alone. Never leave the dog vulnerable to the baby pulling his hair or, down the road, falling on him (even the nicest dog can and will bite if provoked beyond a certain threshhold) And never leave the baby vulnerable to the whims of some frustrated herding dog. But do try to keep the dog involved when you safely can so he doesn't feel left out. Chances are they'll grow up to love each other and the dog will become really good buds with the baby, but right now the dog is probably trying to figure out what the heck happened to make the critter so noisy and what all the new motion is about. Oh, and how to control it, of course 
Kristine |
| Thanks for your advice Kristine, I am feeling a bit less worried about it already. I think our OES just has to get used to the noisy and moving baby as it will only get worse. Now when I think about it or OES has a similar bark when he can't run quick enough to catch another dog or when I have a toy and I have not thrown it quick enough for him. I'll keep working on the two of them learning to deal with each other. |
| Hi,
I used to do educational pet talks for several years with my previous OES Shaggy. Mainly we visited schools and community centers to teach children about dog behavior. In one demonstration I would started raising my voice..not in a mean way but in high pitched squeals. Immediately Shaggy would stand up (she had been sitting calmly at my feet during the entire talk). Shaggy would start to bark and race towards me, as if saying oh what's wrong? It was more out of concern as in pups language a high pitch squeal draws their attention and with their littermates it meant a bit too much of rough play which would then brings moms attention over to the pups. This could be what's happening in your dog's/baby's case as your OES is just concerned something is wrong and is just trying to bring your attention to the baby. MOM! come quick...something is wrong with baby..come check it out! I agree with Kristin until the little one is older always supervise and I'm glad you're feeling better about the whole thing. Remember time goes quickly and babies grow up so fast. One day you'll look back at these memories and smile. Good luck with everything. Marianne |
| Looks like I the only one who is concerned about this behavior.
I read the barking as stress and confusion. He is not comfortable with this noisy, screaming this that pulls his hair. Barking could be a sign of him trying to scare it away. As for a resonse to crying, that also can mimic a wounded animal. Dogs have been known to attack and kill a wounded bird, or squirrel that is screaming. A dog with a high prey drive has that instinct, and even a dog with a low prey drive can react in that manner, and totally out of character. IWhen I talk in a squeaky voice Bosley gets all confused and runs around me, while Dixie jumps at me and may nip...in fear and confusion. What I do know that if the dog is confortable about something he/she will ignore it, or just relax and not respond. Like my vacumn cleaner scares the daylights out of Dixie and she scrambles to get away from it. While Bosley will just lay there and I have to vacumn around him...He is not bothered by it in the least. I had a dog once that barked at it non-stop, and attacked it at times. That stressful barking was definitely fear-related. Please watch for other body language. I would be worried. |
| I agree that there might be cause for concern. It might be that your dog is merely excited and a little confused about what to expect. Some dogs are not comfortable with babies or young children because the baby's behavior is so unpredictable. When your baby squeals and flaps his arms (typical baby behavior), it could be disturbing to your dog, and as mentioned, signal an instictive response to what your dog things might be trouble--or prey.
If your son is old enough to pull your dog's hair, he's old enough to be taught not to pull your dog's hair. Or yours, for that matter, if he does. Now is the time to start teaching mutual respect. Of course your dog should respect you and any other human as being in a higher status than he is, but in return, humans must not abuse the dog. Which means that if your baby pulls the dogs hair, you say no and remove the baby. When my kids were babies I did not have dogs, but my first son was a biter at a little under 1 year of age. I was the bitee. What cured that behavior was a sharp NO and putting him in a baby version of time out: in his crib for about 15 minutes, no interaction from me. He hated to be anywhere that was not the center of activity so this was extremely effective. This was not done out of anger, but to solve a problem that I wanted solved before someone other than me was hurt and before it got to be a real habit. Babies are keen mimickers. If you speak in a soft soothing voice while gently stroking your dog and helping your baby to stroke him, calming your baby at the same time, you can convey that gentle touches are what is good. In NO case should you ever allow your dog and child to be alone together. I would say this even if you hadn't said your dog barked at the baby or that the baby pulled his hair. Even the very best dog in the world can be startled and knock over a child or snap suddenly, leaving your child with a bite and you with a terrible dilemma. |
Bosley's mom wrote: Looks like I the only one who is concerned about this behavior.
I read the barking as stress and confusion. He is not comfortable with this noisy, screaming this that pulls his hair. Barking could be a sign of him trying to scare it away. Please watch for other body language. I would be worried. You aren't the only one - I thought I was totally off base though. Glad to see you stepped up. If a child is too young to be told not to pull the dogs hair - he/she is too young to be newar the dog. I would also see the barking as confusion and "warning off" I would definitley not stress the dog by allowing the baby near him when he starts barking. |
Devanny wrote: When our son pulls his hair he runs away and lies in a different room. Our OES barks and backs away when I have my son in my arms holding him up and he is flapping his arms and laughing as he thinks the dog is great. I just want to make sure that I nip any agressive bahaviour in the bud before we have a problem.
Maybe your dog is worried you are hurting the baby and is confused my the noise and the flapping arms? I know both my dogs used to bark if Hubby was playing with Hayley and holding her and if she started screaching happy screaches. They don't know the difference. Hubby was always sure to let the dogs know everything was okay with the baby. |
| We had our first sheepdog, Grizzly, for several years before we had our first child. My wife and I were very concerned about how Grizz would accept our newborn since he had been our baby for several years. Not to worry. We brought our son home and put him in the crib which was in our bedroom. Grizzly slept in front of the crib and placed himself between the crib and any visitors we had. He was never aggressive towards either our son or visitors, he was just protective. Grizzly could jump far better than either of our other OES since and we soon found that when we laid the baby down for a nap Grizzly would sneak into the bedroom, jump over the side of the crib never touching the baby and take a snooze with him. Once our son was old enough to walk he and the dog were best friends. He would grab Grizz by the ear and say "come on riss" and away they'd go. All three of our OES have been just wonderful with our kids. |
| (Welcome to the forum, adonax!) |
| Maybe he´s just trying to play, but be careful if you hear a growl. Just be alert, but let them relate. If your dog has never bitten any one, I guess you have nothing to be worried about. |
| Welcome to the forum!
I would be very very cautious. We love our big guys so much that sometimes we forget that they are, after all, ANIMALS. I don't know what the barking means but I agree with Nicole it is cause for concern and you must be ever watchful. No matter how much I trusted a dog I would never leave a baby in a position that the pup could get at the baby before I could. That means, as much as you trust and love your dog DON'T. You have no way of knowing what is going on inside the head of the dog and the actions of a 6 month old are unpredicatable at best. |
| Our little boy was around 18months old when we got olie,
We worked hard with both on how to behave wich at times was very funny.. We also never left them in the same room to gether, even now 3yrs on.. They are now the best of friends and seem to respect one another, but saying that there is still the odd incident with oliver being a bit rough with the game, and it ends in tears,but he will always respond with big kisses to say sorry, 
He still to this day,barks at us if we are playingwith our little boy and not involving him, wich we have always put down to a being a little jelous, or at times when its loud maybe he is trying to protect him thinking we are hurting him. Who knows what goes on in our sheepies heads  |
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