Speaking of dogs and babies communicating… my four dogs have taught my 1-year old what doggies say, check it out in this cute video!!!

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Hey it’s Rankine, the Golden Retriever, with a report for all you dogs out there that have two-legged brothers or sisters. My two-legged brother arrive just about a year ago. At first I was wondering what Mom and Dad were thinking! He cried all the time and my one-on-one training time was starting to suffer. Then a few weeks ago, my little brother started to earn his keep by giving my a relaxing back massage – check out the video. If you train them right… it can be a great relationship.

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Did your dog promise to quit pulling for his New Year’s resolution? Here’s a solution for those of you walking the baby and the dog together.

Before our son was born we did stroller training with our dogs to desensitize them to the stroller and have a fighting chance to take a walk without risking the baby’s safety. Our Cocker Spaniel, TJ, picked up walking with the stroller no problem, but it took a little more work with our Golden Retriever, Rankine. This is a recent video of me walking with Rankine. You will notice that I keep treats in the adult drink cup and I reward very frequently when he is by my side. For most of this walk, the leash was simply draped over the handle bar.

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My baby has become best friends with our youngest Golden Retriever, Rankine. He is just starting to understand that Rankine likes balls and will come over to fetch them. Here’s one of the first “baby training” session to learn how to fetch.

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Our baby started crawling two months ago.  Up until now, the dogs have been able to out run the baby.  Just recently he has started to pull on the dogs and chase after them.  My youngest Golden Retriever is extremely tolerant letting our baby crawl over him, hug him, and pull on him.  I wish I could say the same for our other three dogs who look like they are being tortured.

A few days ago, my cocker spaniel started growling and nipping at the baby.  Our first instinct was to scold the dog, after all the baby’s safety is first priority.  We then started giving our dog options for escape such as going outside or laying on the back of the sofa.  This worked for a little while, but the baby is persistent.  So, I have started to train our cocker spaniel to respond to the baby’s advances by giving kisses.  The dog licks the baby’s face, the baby laughs and then goes on about his business – so far, so good.

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