Invasion of the Toddler (The Test)

NZNEWF

New member
With the impending arrival of a 2 legged brother/sister for tane we decided it was time to start introducing him to babys/toddlers at home on his own turf.
Out and about Tane is magnificent with kids but we felt it was time to see how he was at home.

We dont get alot of visitors not because we are unsociable but with us both being hairdressers and dealing with people all day everyday we do like our time at home to be nice and quiet and relaxing. So we got one of kirsty's workmates to pop round with her youg fella McKenzie as he is used to be around dogs as they have a lab.

In short (i will let the video's do the talking) we were very happy with how tane handled the situation. A couple of things i did notice was he did break his sit when waiting at the door but i put that down to a lack of visitors, but probably if i have one concern it could be that Tane is going to get jealous, it didnt matter were i was sitting or if i left the room he would come and sit right on top of me almost as if he wanted to block me off from little McKenzie, He wasnt like this at all with kirsty but he is dadda's boy, the only other time ive seen this sort of behaviour was when i was introducing his sister to the water and he basically spat the dummy and sulked... Any way i would rate our performance a B+ today.... interested in your thoughts and comments.





















 

YorkvilleNewfie

New member
I wouldn't necessarily say that Tane wanting to be near you was him being "protective" or "jealous". I would be more inclined to think that he was just being a little insecure. Toddlers bring a lot of noise and chaos wherever they go, and to a dog that isn't used to it, it can be a bit disconcerting. They screech, they cry, they have herky-jerky, sporadic movements, they fall and stumble and so on and so forth. Even crawling. Tane is certainly not accustomed to seeing a human being move around like that! It's completely different than what they're used to and it would take time for even the most confident dog to feel 100% at ease with a toddler/baby running or crawling, shrieking, flailing and crying around their house.

Heck, my girl Mila (20 months) is FABULOUS with my toddler (15 months) but even she can get overwhelmed by him. Sometimes she'll just put herself into the laundry room (her bedroom) and, no joke, will shut the gate behind her...just to get a little space, peace and quiet away from Rowan. The same thing can be said for Rowan. There are times he just wants Mila to leave him alone. In in those cases, I will separate them for a little while.

From what I can see, Tane did just fine! I'm sure that as your baby grows, Tane will grow accustomed to every new stage and milestone.
 
Last edited:

LoveLandseers

New member
I think he did great! I need to find a baby to borrow lol... currently using a crying baby doll to try to get Morris used to things.
 

dumainedogs

New member
Way to go Tane... I think you did very well and proved yourself a tolerant and gentle boy! (Especially when you were being "groomed"!!) Looks like a successful trial run!
 
Top