"Childproofing Murph"

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think most of you are aware that among the many problems we had with Murph on vacation, probably the worst was that he snapped at our 18 month old grandson.  When I talked to my trainer about this, he told me that because Murph is a "nervous guy" the erratic movements on the baby were scary to him and his snapping was meant to be a warning.  He did not believe that Murph would actually bite any child, but felt we had some work to do with him to prevent this in the future.  Yesterday was our first "childproofing" session, and I promised that I would share our approach.  Here goes..

-When the family arrived (four grandkids and Mom), I had Murph gated upstairs to prevent any excitement as the kids came into the house.  He stayed there for the first 15 minutes until things were calm.

-My DH took the three older kids swimming, leaving the baby and Mom here with Guinness, Murph and me. 

-I brought out the "high power" treats and put Murph in a down/stay.  We brought the baby over and let him start to crawl on Murph while I was constantly feeding him treats and giving him tons of praise and affection.  We did this in very short intervals and prevented any excitement between these little "sessions"....Murph was in a down/stay in another room.

-We did this three or four times for a few minutes each time until Murph seemed totally calm with the interaction...and looking for MORE treats.

-We taught Colin (the baby) a new word..."gentle".  I really think he understood it because he went from patting to petting.

-Then we let Murph just walk around and interact, watching him the entire time for any body language changes.  He was a happy Dood, and followed the baby everywhere with a wagging tail.  Again, more praise and treats with every positive interaction.

-When I couldn't watch them (cooking dinner), Murph was in a down/stay with me in the kitchen and the baby was gated out.

It was very successful and I feel much better.  We'll do more of these training sessions as reinforcement, but I'm feeling now that we have a great handle on how to change Murph's mindset.  The biggest obstacle was that my daughter (Colin's Mom) had to get over her "disgust" at Murph's big wet kisses which by the end of the afternoon he was lavishing on the baby.

Oh, and Murph ate NO DINNER. 

Hope this helps others...I love it when I have a plan.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oh one thing I should add.  My daughter asked why we didn't have the baby be the one to feed Murph the treats, instead of me.  We actually did a couple of times, but my trainer felt it was more meaningful if I was the one rewarding Murph.  He looks to me to set expectations for him...correct him when he makes a mistake....and reward him when he gets it right.  So, that's why.  Also, he warned me to only correct Murph verbally if I saw any inappropriate body language (and then remove the baby and start again when he was calm)...no physical corrections.  He wanted him to associate children with "all things good".

[Tina, Clover, Plus 5 More]

TY for sharing this, Jane.  I have done lots and lots of counter condition with Apollo and older kids like this.  But Olive our 2 year old granddaughter will be staying with us for 6 days and I have been trying to figure out the right approach to use.  This is just what I need to do, TY, TY. 

Ben is such a fantastic trainer I wish he could help me with Miley.  You are my "TRAINING IDOL!!!!!".

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Tina, Ben is coming over tomorrow to roller blade with Murphy.  If you message me with the specific concerns that you have with Miley, I would be happy to ask him if he has any advice.  Oh, thanks for the "training idol" comment, but I really don't qualify for that.....LOL.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Yes, you do!

[Becka]

Jane, it sounds like you have a fantastic trainer and it's great that everyone is on board with the program. To me this sounds a lot like Victoria Stilwell's methods ("It's Me or the Dog")--very positive and systematic. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Thank you for sharing this training exercise. So far my doods have been very gentle with the grandchildren, but you cannot be too safe. I am so glad your DD let you work on this with Murphy after the snapping incident. She must be greatly relieved too.

[Anne G.]

That is so great! I'm sure you are very relieved. I may employ similar methods when we introduce our Murphy to my brothers newly blind 6 year old lab. Poor thing inherited glaucoma. Anyway we can't have Murphy jumping all over her like she does with most other dogs. Thanks for sharing!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Great feedback Jane.  Thank you so much for sharing.  I just have two questions for you.  (1)  How did you ever get DD to agree to participate in this after vacation week?  I agree with Tina, you are my training IDOL.    and (2)  Her "disgust" over the big wet kisses ..... who raised this girl, did you adopt her at 21!  Hard to believe that you could love dogs so much and she seems so against them!  Oops, guess I have 3 questions.  The last one would be in the trainers opinion when you have a dog like Murphy and you use these steps, do you ever get to a point where you can let you guard down when Murphy is around children or will you always have to keep a very close eye on him.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I didn't make any "big deal" out of this when I told my daughter...just that I wanted to work with Murph so he was more comfortable around the baby.  She knew I would be right there and I wouldn't let anything happen.  As for her obsession with all things "germy", I'm not sure.  She walks around carrying the container of "wipes", and scrubs that baby's hands a million times a day!  I'm definitely all about cleanliness...but she takes it to a whole new level.  Too bad she wasn't like that when she was living home.  My trainer feels that we will eventually get to the point where we really don't have to "worry" about Murph around the kids.  He does believe though that any dog who is not regularly living with children (and continuously proofed around them) should be supervised when with young children who have not been "trained" on how to appropriately interact with a dog.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This all sounds so positive, Jane. I'm glad you've got a handle on this and you're feeling better about it. I think Colin is going to grow up loving dogs and big wet doodle kisses!

[DeeDee and Sheila]

Wow, this is awesome advice.  I am zeroxing it to show to Sheila's trainer.  Love it that YOU treat, also.  Murph knows YOU are in control and can take cues from you and not the child.  Poor wet baby, human baby I mean. And where was Guinness during all this? Saying I am the valedictorian you goofus brother so I'll just observe and  point my paw at you whenever mom looks?

I have to admit I have gotten away from training Sheila with all the surgeries, etc.  And she is so small.  But toward the fall, I have a trainer lined up to help me w/ Sheila and some of her fear issues, like when people come to the door.  And I think a trainer can help me reinforce down stay, which is her hardest.  She even does "come" better than "down stay".

 

I'm so glad you have found several solutions here.  I KNOW how relieved you feel.  

[F, Calla & Luca]

What a great outcome. Did you show your daughter any of the articles on kids and pets that indicate babies kept away from all germs and pets are more likely to develop asthma?