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I have a 20 month old and a 11 month old West Highland Terrier. We recently brought home a beautiful baby girl. Things seemed to be going fine. Our 20 month old female even started exhibitng some maternal behaviors. Our 11 month old male, however, has started to exhibit some attention seeking behaviors. Recently, he destroyed a throw pillow and has chewed on the couch cushion while we were out. At 8 months, we realized that he was a little young when we gave him run of the house. But we found through some shorter trips that he did better when he could be with the older dog and not in his kennel. Three months later he has clearly reverted. We would hate to put him back in his kennel, but would if it was necessary. My wife is actually concerned that he would start to hurt himself if he was back in a kennel. Any thoughts?

>>I have a 20 month old and a 11 month old West Highland Terrier. We recently brought home a beautiful baby girl. Things seemed to be going fine. Our 20 month old female even started exhibitng some maternal behaviors. Our 11 month old male, however, has started to exhibit some attention seeking behaviors. Recently, he destroyed a throw pillow and has chewed on the couch cushion while we were out. At 8 months, we realized that he was a little young when we gave him run of the house. But we found through some shorter trips that he did better when he could be with the older dog and not in his kennel. Three months later he has clearly reverted. We would hate to put him back in his kennel, but would if it was necessary. My wife is actually concerned that he would start to hurt himself if he was back in a kennel. Any thoughts?

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It is not safe to leave a child under school age alone with a dog for even one second. Whether you use a room with a baby gate or part-time crating or some of both, you'll need to arrange some sort of confinement for the dogs anyway. Make it more fun for him with nice toys. If he's in a crate alone, the toys can include food. No food when they are together, though.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

Kathy ::::giggling:::::
Me thinks one of us is reading this wrong. I read it that the 20 month old is a West Highland....not one of those miniature humans. ;o)

Guess we'll have to wait 'til original poster clarifies this.

Chirp & The ChirpnTails Animal Performers

Meanwhile, here's a photo of my amazon parrot and standard poodle, taken at an education and entertainment show yesterday.

Humm, maybe that beautiful baby girl they brought home, really is a miniature human....and not a baby Westie...?

Now I'm getting myself confused.

Clearly I have some clarifying to do. We have a 20 month old Westie and a 4 week old daughter.

We DO NOT LEAVE OUR DOGS ALONE WITH OUR BABY.

The problem occurs when we leave the house WITH our daughter. The dogs are left alone, but for short amounts of time - an hour or two.

OK, gotcha now. I was even confusing myself. ;o)

Anytime there are changes in the pack (members of the household), the dynamics change too. Spend plenty of time with younger pup, the male, show him that he has an important role to play in the family unit.

But when it comes time for the human members to leave the house, crate him with a treat, soft blanket, toy, food & water bowls fastened to grate on door, so that he'll have everything he needs. Never use the crate for punishment, as this should be a safe refuge as well as protection against your belongings.

He'll adjust to the new schedule but you will have to watch him closely when loose in the house, keep him leashed to your left side while working around the house, keep him off furniture, watch him for any destructive behavior due to jealousy (and YES they feel jealous, I don't care who says they don't).

My first toy poodle (back in 1962) was extremely jealous when my daughter was born. All of a sudden he had to share my lap with some "thing" that resembled a "human"...and he was not a bit happy about it. But I always included him in all the interactions with my new baby and that helped him feel "important" (eventually)...like he was helping to take of baby sister.

Females, from my experience, have a maternal instinct for baby anythings...whereas sometimes (but not always) males view them as competition.

>>I have a 20 month old and a 11 month old West Highland Terrier. We recently brought home a beautiful baby girl. Things seemed to be going fine. Our 20 month old female even started exhibitng some maternal behaviors. Our 11 month old male, however, has started to exhibit some attention seeking behaviors. Recently, he destroyed a throw pillow and has chewed on the couch cushion while we were out. At 8 months, we realized that he was a little young when we gave him run of the house. But we found through some shorter trips that he did better when he could be with the older dog and not in his kennel. Three months later he has clearly reverted. We would hate to put him back in his kennel, but would if it was necessary. My wife is actually concerned that he would start to hurt himself if he was back in a kennel. Any thoughts?

>>>>>>>>>>>

Another thing to look at here besides using confinement when you're out is what changes have occurred in the dog's lifestyle. Any change in the family tends to change the dog's schedule, often in ways we don't at first realize. He might just need more to do, more training, more games, etc. And he is just now maturing, so he would be changing anyway. Every dog is different, and males have more muscle to work out than females, that pesky testosterone, and other factors. This might have nothing to do with the baby, or nothing other than the changes in household routine that affect him.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

>>We would hate to put him back in his kennel, but would if it was necessary. My wife is actually concerned that he would start to hurt himself if he was back in a kennel. Any thoughts?
Link

I'm sorry, my previous message didn't go through, probably because of brackets around the quote cut it off.

In brief, what I said (since I didn't keep a copy of my post before sending)....

Crates are a great tool for housetraining puppies but they should still be used occasionally throughout their life, because it may become necessary for their own safety and protection at a later date (such as stay in animal hospital, restricted movement after surgery/injury, shipping or travel to new location, groomers). A dog that has never been crated, or just occasionally as a puppy, could become stressed further if/when it should ever become necessary.