The answer
The fullest answer on film comes from one dog, Louie, and from one conversation. On the last owner walk before he went home, his family said they had a baby due soon and asked how to introduce him. The trainer gave the method he says he used with his own dogs when his children were born. While the baby is still in the hospital, someone brings home a couple of the blankets and hats the baby has worn. The dog is given the scent and praised for calm interest; if he gets over-excited about it he is corrected. Then the baby comes home: an adult holds her, gets down, and lets the dog sniff her under control, and if he gets too excited that is stopped straight away. After that, for the first few weeks, there is a short one-to-one meeting every day - one adult holding the baby, another petting the dog - and then walks with the baby and the dog together, because, he says, walking is a bonding technique. His own summary is that it is 'more scent based'.
The second half of his answer is about safety, not introductions. He did not expect trouble from Louie, who he says has fairly low prey drive. The dogs he worries about are dogs with high prey drive, because a crying baby can sound like prey, and in his account the serious cases he has read about almost always involve a baby left alone with such a dog. So supervise, step in early, and never leave the baby alone with the dog. If the dog is getting too excited or the baby is too much for the dog, remove the baby, correct the dog and give him some space. He also points out that a dog will correct a baby who pulls his ears the way he would correct a puppy, and a baby can be badly hurt.
Other dogs on film show the same steps, though not the scent step. At Murphy's go-home lesson (January 2026) Kelton introduced Murphy to the family's young baby for the first time: the mother sat on the couch holding the baby, and Murphy came in on the family's flexi lead, left unlocked so that Kelton could give him space but stay close. Murphy showed very little interest and, Kelton said, no worrying body language; Kelton said he would be more concerned once the baby could move about. At Apollo the Bully's go-home (June 2026) the household already had a six-month-old, and Christian taught living with her: place proofed while the baby crawls past, marking near the baby corrected in the act, and commands used at random around feeds and nappy changes so that the dog does not learn a pattern. At Kali and Kane's owner lesson (September 2026), with a baby on the way, the trainer told the family that when the baby comes out and the dogs get excited, 'uh-uh' must end that activity at once.
What is said on film: the scent-first method, the controlled first sniff, daily one-to-one time, walks together, the prey-drive warning and 'never leave them alone' (Louie); a first meeting set up and read live (Murphy); place, marking and random commands around a baby (Apollo the Bully); and a stop word that ends excitement (Kali and Kane).
Angier K9 is a family-owned, play-based Board & Train serving Angier, Raleigh and the Triangle, with three full owner lessons.
What to do
Before the baby comes home, bring back a couple of blankets or hats the baby has worn in the hospital and let your dog sniff them; praise calm interest and correct over-excitement. When the baby comes home, hold her, get down and let the dog sniff her under control, on a lead if you want a way to give him space and still stay close; stop over-excitement straight away. For the first few weeks give him a short calm meeting with the baby every day, and start walking the dog and the baby together. Never leave the baby alone with the dog. If either one is too much for the other, take the baby out of the situation, correct the dog and give him space.
What the trainers say
dog yeah when i had my kids um so like uh what before we brought the baby home the baby has like
the blankets and the hats they put on the hospital and all that stuff right i'd take a couple of those
and i'd go and i would give the dogs the scent yeah and i would go see good good and i if the
dogs became overexcited with the scent i would correct them okay and i would go i'm going to
baby right and i would get down and i would let each of my dogs sniff the baby um control and if
individually each dog the interaction hold the dog or hold the baby right and i'd pet the dog
and then i would and then i start taking walks with the baby and the dog right and walking is
um and but yeah so like that'd be my recommendation is it's more scent based um just like
Yeah, because they, babies sound like prey, right?
Like, don't be an idiot and don't leave your baby alone with the dog, right?
is the baby pulls the dog's ears and what a dog would do to a puppy is go and correct the puppy,
be responsible, like monitor, make sure everything's okay and don't ever leave them alone.
I'll leave it unlocked, but that way I have a way to give him space, but also be close.
basically nothing um he seems to have very little interest and also but also no weird body language
which know nothing yeah yeah I think I'll be more concerned when this guy's
Let the baby crawl around and do stuff, put them on place.
like pee in front of the baby right and claim the baby it is normal like dogs
with the baby i place the dog right well then eventually what happens is every time the dog
so if you get baby out they're like ooh and they're being excited because they don't have
if you say uh-uh they should be like done with that activity you should tell them uh-uh
How it looks, dog by dog
Louie
The source of the concept, and the only dog for whom the scent step is on film. Louie, a nervous dog wary of hands and new people, was in his last week of training when his family, expecting a baby soon, asked on the owner walk how to introduce him. He was said to be good with children. The trainer answers from his own home: the baby's hospital blankets and hats brought back first, the dogs given the scent with calm praise and corrected for over-excitement; then the baby held, the trainer down at the dogs' level, each dog allowed a controlled sniff; daily one-to-one time for the first few weeks; then walks with the baby and the dog. He then reads Louie: fairly low prey drive, so he does not expect a problem. The danger he names is a high-prey-drive dog left alone with a crying baby. He closes with his rule from raising his own children with a big bully and a rottweiler: they lived together on the floor, he monitored, and when either was too much for the other he removed the baby, corrected the dog and gave the dog space.
On film
Anything you'd recommend working with him on with knowing we're having a baby soon and he's never been in a house with a newborn or anything?
the blankets and the hats they put on the hospital and all that stuff right i'd take a couple of those
baby right and i would get down and i would let each of my dogs sniff the baby um control and if
I don't anticipate him being a problem, honestly.
He has a fairly low prey drive, like, you know, like, things like that.
on them and do stuff and i just monitored that's all i did like i just monitored my dogs knew what
would remove the baby from the situation i would correct my dog yeah and then i would give my dog
Murphy
The only first meeting between a dog and a baby that is filmed. Murphy, a cattle dog going home from a board-and-train in January 2026, had never met the family's young baby. Asked what worried them, the owners said 'Baby and Murphy': he nips at small children around his height and watches them, though he has never broken skin. Kelton's general rule for nipping is to let it happen and then correct it properly, so the dog learns never to do it again - preferably not with the baby as the trigger. For the meeting, the mother sits on the couch with the baby, and Murphy is put on the family's flexi lead, left unlocked, so that Kelton can give him space and still be close. Kelton's read afterwards: very little interest, no weird body language, nothing that worries him; he will be more concerned when the baby is mobile.
On film
Baby and Murphy.
So with other small children, anything like his height or close to his height, he nips at them.
If he's nipping, then the best course of action is to let the scenario unfold, but then correct it properly.
Let's have you sit on the couch.
I'll leave it unlocked, but that way I have a way to give him space, but also be close.
basically nothing um he seems to have very little interest and also but also no weird body language
mobile when he's mobile yeah yeah when he's mobile obviously like you guys are
Apollo (the Bully)
Not an introduction: the household already had a six-month-old, and the go-home lesson (June 2026) teaches living with her. Christian proofs place against real household events, the kind he says he used at home, and names the one Apollo will meet: he will want to go and sniff the baby. As she grows and crawls, the job is to put him on place and keep him there when she crawls past. Apollo marked near the baby during the lesson; Christian corrects it mid-marking, explains that a male dog may 'claim the baby' and that the correction only makes sense during the act, and allows the e-collar for it. He then warns against routines that become patterns - a sit at every nappy change, place every time the owner sits on the couch with the baby - because the dog will start to answer the pattern instead of the word. The owner says that when the baby is on the floor Apollo lies next to her.
On film
Do you remember the baby, pal?
life right because he's excited he's gonna want to go sniff the baby with the
Let the baby crawl around and do stuff, put them on place.
No, you can't get off. You got to stay there.
like pee in front of the baby right and claim the baby it is normal like dogs
sometimes i'll be like hey sit and i'll change the baby's diaper after i'm done i release
with the baby i place the dog right well then eventually what happens is every time the dog
Kali
Kali and Kane, a two-dog household, were in training in September 2026 with a baby on the way; at the first owner lesson Kelton read the baby off the intake and listed 'things that involve the baby' among what later lessons would cover. At the owner lesson of 22 September the trainer covers it in one point: when the baby comes out and the dogs get excited, 'uh-uh' should end the activity at once, backed so that the dogs look as if they have just been punished. He links it to jumping, which matters more with a baby. No scent step and no introduction are on film; the baby had not arrived.
On film
I read on the intake you guys have a baby on the way, right?
Things that involve the baby.
so if you get baby out they're like ooh and they're being excited because they don't have
if you say uh-uh they should be like done with that activity you should tell them uh-uh
punishment follows it and that it's significant enough where they're like oh
Why it works
As Louie's trainer explains it, the scent comes first so that the baby's smell is already familiar, and already tied to calm, before the baby arrives; over-excitement about the scent is corrected so the dog does not practise it ('this is my baby scent'). The first sniff is controlled and the baby is held, so that any over-excitement can be stopped straight away. Walking together is described as a bonding technique. The safety reasoning is about prey drive: a crying baby can sound like prey, so the risk is highest with a high-prey-drive dog left alone with the baby; a low-prey-drive dog like Louie is not expected to be a problem. A dog that is pestered will correct a baby the way he would correct a puppy, which is why the adult removes the baby and gives the dog space. Kelton reads Murphy the same way: what he looks for is interest, fixation and body language, and the risk he names rises when the baby becomes mobile. Christian's reasoning for Apollo is about structure: a command proofed against a crawling baby is what makes it usable at home, and randomising when it is asked stops the dog answering a pattern instead of the word.
On film
correct you with the scent because this is my baby scent right and then i walked in and i held the
a bonding technique right i wouldn't think um i wouldn't think yeah i think he'd be okay with
Those are the dogs I worry more about, like, dogs with higher prey drives and, like, things like that.
The baby started crying, it sounded like prey, and the dog reacted, right?
is the baby pulls the dog's ears and what a dog would do to a puppy is go and correct the puppy,
yeah so was the worry here that he might um think of it as like a prey object yeah yeah
with the baby i place the dog right well then eventually what happens is every time the dog
Inferred
That Kelton's unlocked flexi is the same 'controlled sniff' as Louie's trainer's is also a reading: neither trainer refers to the other.
Common owner mistakes
- Leaving the baby alone with the dog. Louie's trainer gives it as the common thread in the serious cases he has read about, especially with a high-prey-drive dog and a crying baby.
On film
So, like, horrible cases that you read about and things like that, typically, if the dog has very high prey drive,
Watch at 22:21 ↗ Like, don't be an idiot and don't leave your baby alone with the dog, right?
Watch at 22:31 ↗ - Correcting marking near the baby after the dog has finished. The correction has to come mid-marking, or the dog will not connect it.
On film
correction during the pee right say you let him pee and then he just walks away then you try to
Watch at 10:42 ↗ - Turning baby routines into patterns - the same command at every nappy change, or place every time you sit on the couch with the baby - so the dog answers the routine, not the word.
On film
with the baby i place the dog right well then eventually what happens is every time the dog
Watch at 17:05 ↗
Questions owners ask
Should I bring home a blanket from the hospital first?
That is what Louie's trainer recommends and says he did with his own dogs: while the baby is still in the hospital, take a day, bring home a couple of the blankets and hats she has worn, and let the dog sniff them. Praise calm interest; correct over-excitement. It is the one step of the method that appears for only one dog on film.
On film
like you bring some like while the baby you guys are at the hospital take a day
and i'd go and i would give the dogs the scent yeah and i would go see good good and i if the
How should the first meeting go?
Controlled, with an adult holding the baby. Louie's trainer gets down and lets each dog sniff the baby, stopping over-excitement at once. Kelton, with Murphy, sat the mother on the couch with the baby and brought Murphy in on a flexi left unlocked, so he could give him space but stay close, then watched his interest and body language.
On film
baby right and i would get down and i would let each of my dogs sniff the baby um control and if
And what I'll do is, let's grab the flexi you have and put him on the flexi.
Which dogs should I worry about?
Louie's trainer says dogs with high prey drive, because a crying baby can sound like prey. Kelton's concern with Murphy, a dog who nips small children, was for later, when the baby is mobile. Both say the answer depends on the dog in front of them: neither expected trouble from the dog they had just read.
On film
Yeah, because they, babies sound like prey, right?
which know nothing yeah yeah I think I'll be more concerned when this guy's
Can the dog and the baby ever be left together?
No. Louie's trainer says it plainly: monitor, make sure everything is okay, and never leave them alone.
On film
be responsible, like monitor, make sure everything's okay and don't ever leave them alone.
The lesson
The goal
An expecting owner can introduce the dog to the baby's scent before the birth, run a controlled first meeting, and set the household rules (supervision, a stop word, place) that keep the baby and the dog safe afterwards.
Learn first
The drill
As described for Louie (advice, not filmed): bring home the baby's hospital blankets and hats; give the dog the scent, praise calm interest, correct over-excitement; at homecoming, hold the baby, get down and let the dog sniff under control; repeat a short one-to-one meeting every day for the first few weeks; then walk the dog and the baby together. As run for Murphy: mother on the couch with the baby, dog on an unlocked flexi, trainer close, dog allowed to approach while the handler reads interest and body language. As taught for Apollo: place while the baby crawls past; no getting off to sniff her.
Watch out for
- Leaving the baby alone with the dog.
- Letting over-excitement about the baby or her scent run instead of stopping it.
- Correcting marking after the act instead of during it.
- Using the same command at the same baby routine every time, so it becomes a pattern.
Check yourself
Your baby is due next month. What will you bring home from the hospital, what will you do if the dog gets over-excited, and how will the first meeting be set up?