Dog Meets Newborn Baby, Becomes Her Guardian Angel

A new mom captured an incredible moment on video (below) where her dog met his newborn human sister and immediately became her protector.

It’s always a little tense when new parents bring their baby home from the hospital and introduce them to the family pets, especially if those happen to be two big, powerful dogs — in this case, a German Shepherd and a husky, according to Shareably.

In the June 2012 video, Ryder, a German Shepherd, meets baby Madison for the second time. He watches her and gently sniffs her.

Immediately, Ryder feels protective of his human sister and refuses to let his dog sibling, Husky, get near. Husky approaches and sniffs Ryder, but each time he moves too close to Madison for Ryder’s comfort, the German Shepherd lets Husky know and pushes him away with some play-fight posturing.

Eventually, after Ryder checks Husky’s behavior a few times, he allows the pup to join him in leaning toward Madison as her protector gives her a few sniffs to check on her.

Madison’s mom pointed out that she was fully aware of her dogs’ strength and the inherent risks that they pose to her newborn.

“Before you make any negative comments about us not being responsible, we had already trained/desensitized our dogs with a lifelike baby doll for several weeks prior to the arrival of our baby, even though we trust our dogs completely and we do not leave them alone with the baby,” she explains in the video’s caption.

Dogs and babies can be tricky. Even though many well-trained, gentle dogs are great with infants and small children, animals are nonetheless unpredictable, so it’s important to make sure that you prepare yourself and your pup for the meeting beforehand, just like Madison’s mom did. According to Doggone Safe, it’s critical to always supervise your animals with your baby, because no matter how much they might seem to love each other, dogs sometimes make mistakes like trying to carry a human baby by the scruff of their neck the way they might with a puppy, and there’s always a chance that your baby might accidentally hurt your pup or push them a little too far.

Before you bring your baby home, make sure to regularly practice commands like “sit” and “stay” with your dog and continue to train and exercise the pup when you do bring your baby home. If possible, it’s always a good idea to introduce the dog to your baby’s scent (clothing or a blanket works well for this) before the meeting as well.

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