Ever since my daughter started crawling my sibe makes it a point to position himself between me and the baby and gets as close to me as physically possible each time my daughter separates herself from me even the slightest. He is not aggressive about it but definitely is vying for my attention when he does it and clearly gets between myself and baby as though he means to keep her away from me. I really don't know what his reasons are for his behavior. Is he jealous? Is he wanting more attention? Is he trying to separate us? Is it something I should be concerned about? Do I need to nip this behavior in the bud, and if so how?

I don't know if this matters or is any way related, but we have been working with our sibe on his behavior around the baby since he's been increasingly growling at her when she approaches him crawling. When he does this, I issue a verbal correction and remove my sibe from the room. More often than not though I try to avoid such circumstances by keeping the baby from approaching my sibe when he's laying down in his spots, basically trying to set him up for success and it's really cut down on the number of times he growls at her.

Thoughts on his behavior of positioning himself between myself and baby would be much appreciated if anyone has any ideas or suggestions.

No real solutions for you, but a thought. My friend has a book about raising babies with dogs, in it a major point is that with every stage your child goes through its like a whole new person to the dog. Almost as though when the baby starts to crawl your pup doesn't recognize the child and you have to go through the whole introducing steps again. He may simply be reacting to a strange new creature in the house. I'll see if I can't get the name of the book from her.

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Ever since my daughter started crawling my sibe makes it a point to position himself between me and the baby and gets as close to me as physically possible each time my daughter separates herself from me even the slightest.

Does Dakota physically touch her ever? Push her with his body or rear, or "punch" her with his head or nose?

If he does any of those ever I would immediately get it across that that is a no no, and do the same thing you do for the growling.


Otherwise it just sound like positional claiming. It's semi normal with a new addition, and one that is suddenly mobile. There is a new entity moving around on the ground that he suddenly has to pay attention to, and it isn't unheard of for him to assert his established position in the house above her.

I'm not one for Alpha this and Alpha that, but there is a well defined chain of command in a house hold in terms of animals and when a new animal is included into that frame they need to figure out where they suddenly stand.

Now I'm not saying your cute little Isa is an animal, but she is moving around at their level and in their world so to speak.

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I really don't know what his reasons are for his behavior. Is he jealous? Is he wanting more attention? Is he trying to separate us?

Could be any of them to be honest, but if I had to just guess based on the way you described it I really feel it sounds more like he is explaining his position above her.

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Do I need to nip this behavior in the bud, and if so how?

I would say yes. But you shouldn't have to long. in terms of how, I would use exactly the same strategy he is using against her.

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He is not aggressive about it but definitely is vying for my attention when he does it and clearly gets between myself and baby as though he means to keep her away from me.

Dakota needs to understand Isa's movements are important and she needs her space at all times, with a couple of exceptions.

If it were me I would walk towards him, from Isa's position if I could, using my arms out reached to help guide him backwards where I wanted him to end up. You shouldn't need to scold or punish but you might need to push him a bit from time to time with your legs as you walk through him to force a jump up and back. It should be that simple.

I would do it when ever he blocked her in anyway . Back him up, maybe using a command word as I did it like "space", until she had a clear path to me again and he sat or laid down in an acceptable position.

Every time you step up for Isabel and help get space, it enforces the fact that she has your power behind her and should elevate her to an acceptable level of respect where he shouldn't do it any more. Even if she is just scooting around and crawling and he gets in her way I would help her get her space and request he back up. She should have as much respect as you do from him and every time you make him give Isa space he shouldn't be able to do anything but relate her with that, and your backing.


The exceptions where he should trump her are the places you want him to feel relaxed, or a place he can escape to when she becomes too much for him and he needs to decompress. Think food bowl, Doggy bed, crate, that kind of thing. He should always have somewhere he can be himself and just relax and take a breather free from everything .

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More often than not though I try to avoid such circumstances by keeping the baby from approaching my sibe when he's laying down in his spots, basically trying to set him up for success and it's really cut down on the number of times he growls at her.

Exactly like you are doing

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I don't know if this matters or is any way related, but we have been working with our sibe on his behavior around the baby since he's been increasingly growling at her when she approaches him crawling. When he does this, I issue a verbal correction and remove my sibe from the room.

Even in his spots I would not allow a growl. She will end up there eventually one day when you least expect it... Best try and remove it if you can. It sounds like the way you are currently handling it is exactly how I would too.



The reason I say this shouldn't last for long is once a child starts to talk and become bipedal they are generally the most confident beings alive for a little while. They see everything at it's base and don't tie so many emotions into it.

The confidence they gain at that age is a double edge sword as thats about the time you should start hearing MINE or NO a lot. But in terms of relating to animals at its most base form they tend to be very receptive and give the child space and respect. exceptions to every rule here, but generally speaking it usually works out once it reaches that point.

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Thoughts on his behavior of positioning himself between myself and baby would be much appreciated if anyone has any ideas or suggestions.

Just stand up for her and request of Dakota the things Isa can't ask for yet, most importantly request she have SPACE or a bubble. In no time at all he should start understanding that she should have just as much respect as you. Every time you stand up for her are points she gets as the power is directly related to her.

Good luck Val,
Hope even a little helps.

~Chris~

Thanks a million, Chris. Your advice makes perfect sense and I will start walking into him demanding space for both myself and Isa.

I also decided to start praising him when he greets Isa gently and moves on to help reinforce the behavior that I like rather than only discouraging the behavior I don't.

In answer to your questions, no he never touches or pushes her, ever. The closest he ever comes to touching her, ever, is sniffing her or licking her when she smells like food (i.e. has food left on her clothes).

Val, is Dakota frightened at all now that your daughter is crawling? I just wondered if he is standing near you for protection because he is a bit scared of a suddenly mobile baby. It's a big change for a dog to adjust to and many dogs find the crawling and toddling stage difficult, because babies are unpredictable.

You probably know this already, but one of the most common dog bite scenarios is when a small child approaches a dog that is stationary (laying down or sitting/standing still). So as your daughter gets old enough to learn, you can teach her not to go towards Dakota, and until then you'll have to supervise carefully. One day she'll be old enough to call Dakota to her if she wants to pet him.

You are right to reward all the positive behaviours that you like. Don't tell Dakota off for growling, because it's a warning sign and dogs that are taught not to growl can go straight to a bite. If he needs a bit more space for the moment, I would let him have the space.

You might need to keep Dakota (and the chis) behind a baby gate some of the time to keep him separate. You only need to take your eyes off for a second and its surprising how far a baby can crawl or roll. So prevention is a good idea. It's great that you are being so proactive about this - great for Dakota and lovely for your daughter that she will get to grow up with him.

Nope, Dakota is not frightened of her. You're right I don't want to discourage the warning growl because I definitely prefer that to going straight to a bite. But when he does it I let out a loud, quick "Ap!" to break the focus and immediately remove Dakota from the room.

When she approaches him while he's in his bed or on his blanket (in his space) then I watch her closely and remove her before she reaches his space.

It's been a while but I wanted to update and say that since my original post I stood up for Isa and walked into my sibe with a verbal correction once. And since that ONE time he has never done it again. He now moves out of the way for Isabella. I can't believe it was that simple to fix and I would like to thank you again Chris for the suggestion. Peace and order have been restored for weeks now!

Very happy to hear it worked Val .

Sometimes all it takes is showing them how important something is to you.

So happy order was restored.

~Chris~