Should I keep my (wife's) dog away from my new baby?

[DrewDevil]

My wife and I have a 3-month-old son who is starting to turn over, play on the floor, etc. He will soon be crawling and teething (which means he will try to put everything he touches into this mouth).

We have a 6-year-old little dog who weighs about 10 pounds and is an inside dog for the most part. The dog sleeps in our bed and pretty much goes wherever she wants. This was my wife's dog originally and she is very fond of it... I think the dog is fine but I'm not terribly attached to her.

The dog, like all dogs, is pretty filthy in my estimation. If left alone in the apartment, she will pee or crap on the floor. She throws up on the carpet from time to time. After being walked, she likes to come back inside and either lick her butthole for a while or drag her ass along the carpet.

I am not real excited about this squirrel dog licking my son's face, spreading her fecal matter all over our floors, etc. My wife doesn't seem to think it's much of a problem and "has read" that being around the dog will actually help my son "build up a resistance" to germs.

I don't know if I should just let this go and not worry about it, throw a huge fit and demand the dog be quarantined away from him, or somewhere in the middle.
.

[daryn]

polltard

[DrewDevil]

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polltard

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F*ck off c*cksucker, nobody likes you.

[RayPowers]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. My kids are growing up around two huge dogs, and we had zero problems.

Ray

[deadbody]

Let him interact with the dog in small doses when he gets older, keep the dog out of his room and off his play mat (you have one of those for the floor right?) and he's good. Odds are he's been exposed to the filth just from breathing, and your dog being an inside dog is not nearly as filthy as you think. I'd worry more about the dog biting him than anything else.

[Orangeheat]

Let the kid play with the dog if it is mild mannered. It is better for the kids to be around dirt and filth for their immune systems in the long run.

There was actually a study a while back that said it was good for kids to be around the extra germs from pets when they are younger. Don't sterilize their environment - this is where you get kids allergic to everything.

Orange

[Badger]

I woudln't worry about the dog getting your kid sick, I'd worry about the dog harming him. My best friend's baby sister got bit by their family dog. It was a very nice dog, but would get very aggressive when he had food.
This is rare, and shouldn't be a problem, but still- if I had a baby I would be careful with him being around my two labs- who are very well behaved and not aggressive.

[Los Feliz Slim]

It's all good. I think there are actually some studies that say that kids who are around animals as infants have fewer allergies. But, there are probably some studies where the opposite is true, so I dunno. Anyway, my personal theory is that being super anal about stuff like this does more harm than a dirty dog can. One man's opinion.

[JasonK]

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I'd worry more about the dog biting him than anything else.

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Me too. Infants and toddlers obv have no clue how to interact with animals. My littlest (almost 3) loves to try and ride my dalmation. Luckily he has a great temperment and puts up with the kid without more than an occasional growl.

[DrewDevil]

Good to hear all this.

BTW there's no real chance of the dog biting him, she never bites and her teeth are TINY (probably less than a 1/4 inch long) and most of them have fallen out anyway.