Boston bulldog & new baby trouble

[Marcia]

My son and his wife have a wonderful bulldog named Bogie, who is now a little over 1 year old. They now have a 5 day old infant in the house and Bogie can not be allowed in the same room with the baby. Bogie has learned to sit and stay for treats. However, ever since he was a new pup he has been allowed to play tug and wrestle with mom and dad. He also still jumps up on people. He has been allowed to run, play and sleep on the couch.

NOW they have a serious problem. He pretty much ignores the new baby UNLESS he cries. Then Bogie goes crazy and tries to jump up and get at him. HELP, where do they start. My son is working on ignoring him and turning his back on him whenever he walks in the door. He is calming down quicker but can not be trusted around the baby. My son is working two jobs and has very little time right now to work with Bogie and his wife currently does not have the stamina to. I will be babysitting for my grandson once he is 6 weeks old. Can I step in and start to work with Bogie? What do we do.

[Annie]

Hi there,
you are right not to trust the dog...but it can get better. It seems like you have a lot of problems ( or rather your son) and I´m sure a moderator will step in and assist. It sounds horrible, but also quite OK. I expect the dog is jealous, nervous and frustrated. They really need to have a good plan that they stick too, but this takes time. It´s a shame they didn´t start ages ago....Get the dog off the furniture, with a deep growl and physically if need be. Get him to respond to a really strong stay as this will assist the mother if she is not quick enough when the baby crys. Give the dog lots and lots of exercise. Don´t start giving him squeaky toys as this causes problems later ( with baby toys)
They can stop all the tug games...this won´t work with a child...hunting for treats in strange places is a good game.
I would expect it´s not just the baby crying that sets him off, but that the whole house suddenly errupts with excitement. A crying baby is an awful thing, but it is also OK to take a moment to breathe, ask the dog to sit and stay and then do the baby.
I feel for you, it´s not a nice situation, but it sounds like it can get better.

This may or may not help, but my baby and dog are now one and a half ( both) and for the first year it can be pretty horrible. It really helped when EVERYBODY family, friends, neighbours even the post man (!) followed the same rules consistantly ( I even printed out a list) . Things like not letting him jump up, sitting to get a treat, not letting him on the furniture, tollerate no aggressive behaviour, ignore when arriving, not rushing straight to the baby for a cuddle etc etc. This really helped me....my dog got the message really fast that things were different and she needed to be calm to get attention.
I am sure a more capable trainer will give you some more practical advice. I´ll be thinking of you all,
Annie, Joey and Sam ( the baby)

[Marcia]

Thank you so much, Annie.

My son and his wife will be so happy to hear that there is hope. They had not planned on having children thus Bogie has gotten rather spoiled. But now that their son is here they are thrilled and desperate to get Bogie trained so that they can become a happy family. It would break their hearts to have to find a new home for Bogie or to have any harm come to their son. You have given us some wonderful information. Thank you so much.

Marcia