Dogs are basically social creatures and they belong to packs.  Your dog belongs to your family, whom he considers a pack, and whom he has to follow.  You must be in a position to communicate with him, understand and respect him and read his body language.

First of all it is important for you to prepare your family dog for the baby that will be arriving soon.  Start by teaching him commands, if you haven’t done so already.  Shower a lot of praise and positive reinforcement every time he obeys your commands.

Use some creative methods to get your dog familiar with a baby.  You could just use some dolls dressed in the baby’s clothes, have a baby carriage in the house and wheel it around.  Maybe you can even get tapes of babies crying, so that your dog gets familiar with the sound.

If your dog has a habit of jumping on people, just start training him not to jump.  It may cause serious injuries to the baby if your dog begins to jump on it.  The dog may not mean to hurt, he is just happy to see you, but teach him to sit and not jump.

Often dogs guard food, bones, balls or toys and anyone who attempts to take them away from him may face a baring of teeth or growling.  Probably he does not do it to you, but for your baby, it is a risk, because the dog might just snap at the baby’s fingers or toes.  Train the dog that growling and guarding objects are unacceptable behavior, and if necessary you can take the help of a professional trainer to retrain your dog.

Once the baby arrives bring home a blanket or a towel used by the baby, which has not been washed.  Let your dog get familiar with the scent and encourage him when he investigates the scent.  Use positive phrases to show that you are also excited about bringing the baby home.

When mother and baby arrive home, the mother should greet the dog without the baby.  Obviously he will sniff her and then he will also pick up the baby’s scent.  Keep a close watch on him.  Let the dog be on a leash and make him sit down, praising him and talking to him all the time.  Let the dog come closer to the baby, and if he is calm, you can even allow him to walk loose and do his bit of sniffing again.

After frequent sessions of this exercise, your dog will get familiar with the baby, but you should never leave him alone with the baby.  The dog may unintentionally hurt the baby, because it cannot gauge its own strength and may just be excited and jump on the baby.
Remember to give some time to your dog every day without the presence of the baby.  Continue to play with him like throwing his favorite toy, but no violent games like tug of war or wrestling.  You must always be the leader in the game with your dog.

By and by introduce the presence of the baby at the time you are having fun with the dog.  Just be relaxed and happy, and the dog will also reciprocate. It is lovely for children to be growing up with dogs and make it a happy experience for both of them by careful planning, training and awareness.

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Positive reinforcement dog training is widely accepted among the vast majority of dog training experts. The training method is effective and a humane way to train your dog. Many people have found that positive reinforcement training works better than dog training collars and other training methods!

What is Positive Reinforcement Dog Training?

Using positive reinforcement entails rewarding the behavior that you wish to see repeated, and ignoring the behavior that you don’t. Positive reinforcement dog training works with your dog. The theory of positive reinforcement recognizes that lessons are more meaningful for dogs, and tend to “stick” more, when a dog is able to figure out what you’re asking.

When you use positive reinforcement training, you’re allowing the dog the time and the opportunity to use her own brain.

Some ways a dog owner can facilitate the training process:
- Use meaningful rewards. Dogs get bored pretty quickly with a routine pat on the head and a “good girl” (and, in fact, most dogs don’t even like being patted on the head – watch their expressions and notice how most will balk or shy away when a hand descends towards their head). To keep the quality of your dog’s learning at a high standard, use tempting incentives for good behavior. Food treats and physical affection are what dog trainers refer to as “primary incentives” – in other words, they’re both significant rewards that most dogs respond powerfully and reliably to.
- Use the right timing. When your dog obeys a command, you must mark the behavior that you’re going to reward so that, when she gets that treat in her mouth, she understands exactly what behavior it was that earned her the reward. You can also use your voice to mark desired behavior: just saying “Yes!” in a happy, excited tone of voice will work perfectly.
- Consistent dog training commands. When you’re teaching a dog a command, you must decide ahead of time on the verbal cue you’re going to be giving her, and then stick to it. So, when training your dog to not jump up on you, you wouldn’t ask her to “get off”, “get down”, and “stop jumping”, because that would just confuse her; you’d pick one phrase, such as “No jump”, and stick with it. Your dogs rate of obedience will be much better if you choose one particular phrase and use it every time you wish her to enact a certain behavior for you.

How to reward your dog meaningfully
All dogs have their favorite treats and preferred demonstrations of physical affection. Some dogs will do backflips for a dog treat and other dogs prefer to be rewarded through a game with a cherished toy, or through some affection from you.

How to correct your dog when using positive reinforcement dog training
The great thing about positive reinforcement dog training is that it doesn’t require you to do anything that might go against the grain. You won’t be called upon to put any complex, weighty correctional theories into practice, or be required to undertake any harsh punitive measures.

When it comes to positive reinforcement training, all you have to do is ignore the behavior that you don’t wish to see repeated. Not getting any attention (because you’re deliberately ignoring her) is enough to make just about any dog pretty miserable, and thus is a powerful correctional tool.

Contemporary belief in dog training states that we should simply ignore incorrect responses to a training command - that, with no reinforcement from us (yes, even negative attention - like verbal corrections - counts as reinforcement: to some dogs, negative attention is better than no attention at all), the dog will stop the behavior of her own accord.

The bigger the fuss you make over her when she does get it right, the clearer the connection will be between a particular behavior(s) eliciting no response at all, but other behaviors (the right response) eliciting massive amounts of positive attention from you.

Need more dog training advice? Check out take a look at SitStayFetch. It’s the complete handbook for dog owners, and is step-by-step how-to’s for dog training.

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There is a wide range of miniature dog breeds for you to choose from, if you like very small dogs. Miniature or small dog breeds include the Miniature Pinscher, Pug, Toy Poodle, Chihuahua and Spaniel. There are many other small dog breeds available as well.

The term Miniature generally refers to what many dog breeders call “toy dog breeds”. Miniature dogs are very small dogs. There are pros and cons of owning these toy dog breeds that you should consider before adopting a toy dog breed.

Advantages of owning miniature dog breeds

The main reason people prefer miniature dog breeds over larger breeds is for its cuteness. Don’t think that its size makes these dogs less hardy for once they pass their puppy hood, they have energy that is similar to any other breed of dog. They make excellent watch dogs for their hue and cry is sufficient to make any intruder think twice before making a break-in.

The easier handling of a miniature dog breed is another reason people take to these dogs. If you live in an apartment, a miniature dog is the best option you have as a pet and partner for you. This is because these dogs don’t need much dwelling space, or as much exercise space as a large dog may require.

You don’t have much cleaning to do with a miniature dog as it does not shed as much hair as their larger counterparts do. This is not because their coat characteristics are different, but just because they are smaller in size and thus have less fur. All aspects of dog care are smaller in miniature dogs ranging from its cleaning, to its clean-up and from the amount of food it consumes and the amount of food it expels.

Miniature dogs have always been considered to be companion dogs and are friendly and alert and are always waiting to be held and petted. As they are comforting and bring peace to its owner, nursing homes and adult care facilities use them for soothing their patients. Of course, this does not imply that you have to stay in an eldercare facility to enjoy the company of miniature dog breeds. They are great companions for any dog lover.

Disadvantages of owning miniature dog breeds

The main disadvantage is that most small breeds don’t actually interact well with young children and toddlers. This means that you have to be extra careful of these dogs if you have small children in your home as the kids may get injured by the dog. Because of their small size, many miniature dog breeds are very nippy.

There are some miniature dog breeds that are prone to tooth and gum disease, and tracheal collapse. Then there are small breeds that are difficult to housetrain while some of them may have trouble lifting their legs. There are even some dogs that have tenancies to bark constantly.

Before selecting a toy dog breed based solely on it’s cute appearance, make sure you do your research on the breeds health and temperament.

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