Oakley meets toddler...help?

sooo, I just drove from SC to MI with Oakley. Anyways, we are back to his original home (my fam lives in MI), but now there is a 1.5 yr old, Liam, in the mix, cause my sister is here with her kid.

Besides the obvious...TONS OF SUPERVISION...can y'all offer any tips?

Oakley is very picky about how he is touched, and Liam, well...LOVES dogs & just wants to pet him like crazy.

We already ran across the first prob...Liam was very nicely petting him, but for whatever reason, Oakley didn't like it...and was growling at him. I kinda got scared (cause Oakley tends to give a very short warning growl before he snaps), so I grabbed Oakley's collar to make sure he couldn't get his head near Liam (he was petting his side/butt). Course that was just DUMB on my part, cause it freaked Oakley out (I totally just had an unnecessary fast reaction & grabbed it way too forcefully...I just got really scared)...and Oakley started barking & scared Liam.

Anyways, it was fine...Liam was over it in like .5 seconds & wanted to pet him again.

Soo, are there any things we can do to help ease the situation? Or should we be assuming the worst & have Oakley on leash 100% of the time and not even let Liam pet him?

Oakley is just such a pain...he actually likes his head being pet the most, but that makes me nervous since Oakley has never been around a toddler before...not that he has ever bitten before...but Oakley is just so quick to decide when he is & isn;t gonna put up with stuff.

oh, and this will be the living situation until May 28th, so its not like it is just a few days!!

Unfortunately you may want to just keep them in separate rooms These types of situations can be really hard.

My first instinct is keep them seperate and keep your dog muzzled when around the youngster. I would hate for either of them to push the other passed a point that they are comfortable. That's what I'd do. I don't know if it's the best advice but that is what I would do.

I agree. There is no way I would allow a dog that has such a short fuse to be around a child.

I don't mean to sound harsh, because I know you adore him and you work with him and you want what is best for everyone. But I think this is a potentially dangerous situation, and avoiding contact is best for both the child and the dog.

I hope it didn't sound too harsh. I have both Oakley's and the toddler's best interest at heart. Not all dogs tolerate children and it's best to respect that for everyone's safety.

In that situation, especially since Liam is too young to understand that Oakley may not like him because of his age, I agree keeping them separated is probably the best option.

For the safety of dog and child, I'd have to agree with everyone else.

Being A) the mom to a toddler that knows the only dogs she can smother are the ones in the family itself and B) a dog owner who likes a harder dog.

Oakley wouldnt be around my kid period. Theres no reason for him to be (i.e. its not going to be permanent) so that is not a situation I would try to acclimate them to with the risks involved.

I'd go with a soft muzzle .

well apparently no one sells basket muzzles, which is what I wanted cause they seem so much more comfortable (well, to me?)...

So I got a mesh one that goes around his mouth. I just feel so bad cause he looks like he can barely breathe!

thanks guys!

Just make sure that he associates the muzzle with good things and that he doesn't only wear it around the toddler.

You don't want him to hate the muzzle and only put it on around the toddler so he starts thinking the presence of the toddler means bad things (the muzzle).

ooh yeah good point.

He hasn't worn it yet cause Liam is taking his nap right now, hehe. We'll def make sure to do this!!!

Thats actually the best kind for having small kids around IMO. We had baskets and switched over (we have one for every dog just in case) to soft muzzles because basket muzzles can seriously bruise or hurt you (plastic ones even) they can eat drink and breathe with those on. They are what these guys have and it works great for us when we need them.