Pit bulls are very family oriented and kid-loving animals so it is very important that you “baby proof” your pit bull. Keep in mind, this works for all breeds of dogs and should be done so that your family and home life can remain as incident free as possible with everyone including the family pet getting along!
This was all a learning process for me while raising my dogs and I have had quite a few of them. Most of them have been pit bulls, but there have been other breeds in the mix and it works; although not totally “fool proof” so, as always, care must be taken when the dog is in the presence of the child/children.
When you bring home a new puppy or any age dog addition to your family, it is wise to get down on the level of the dog as this is also the level of the child and just take note of what is at that level. This also helps in seeing other hazards that could be a potential problem when your baby is mobile. By doing this, it has a dual purpose to help prevent any accidents.
Now that you are on that level and the dog is in your face, because trust me, this is a given, start by petting the dog and talking to it. Then take the time to investigate inside their ears with your fingers. Now I am not saying go poke around in their ears, I am saying to do what you would think a child would do to a dogs ears as they will be curious. I like to also take their floppy ears and twirl them in my fingers, they learn to love this and almost demand it. This is also a good time to pull gently on their whiskers and gently tug on their lips as a child will very well do the same thing. Next is to move on down the dog’s body and pull gently on their toes and feet and mess with the pads of their feet and the dew claws if your dog still has them. Take the time to poke around gently in between the pads of their feet as a child is prone to do that as well.
As you are working your way down the dog’s body, take the time to investigate every aspect because this is exactly what a child is going to do. Roll the dog onto its back, if it will let you, I’ve had a few that aren’t happy about being on their backs and press gently on the dogs teats and belly. If you happen to have a male dog, you know what you have to do… yep, squeeze gently on his private parts. I’m sure you do this while bathing him, so he is probably used to it now. Kids and babies are curious about the animal and all of its parts that stick out so by gently pulling, squeezing, tugging, and twisting of the animal’s ears, legs, privates is all to get the dog used to it being touched. Even a gentle tug of the dog’s tail is a wise choice because you know that is one of the things that kids love about the dog.
If you do these little things to your dog every day, he or she will become used to being touched all over and be used to your child/children touching them all over. They will become longtime friends and any incidents will be few.