Right a bit of back ground for thos that dont know.
I have 2 dogs Beano an Am cocker and Ebba a 4yp Rottie.
Ebba is fine with kids, but boisterous. She jumps up my boys (13 and 10) when she is excited when they first come into the room. And she does to new people, but then settles very quickly. At the school, kids of all ages run up to her for a cuddle, and she has never hurt them, but I do keep a tight hold on the lead so she doesnt jump up them.
No I have a problem.
I am seeing a guy that has a 20 month old daughter that he has one week a month. And at the moment they cant come here because of Ebba, which is something we both want to change.
the daughter ws brought up with a basset hound until she was about a year old and has never had anything happen to her around dogs.
How can we approach this???
My thoughts are, for Him to show his daughter pics of my dogs, and get her interested that way.
Then when they come round, me keep his daughter out of the room while he goes in and says hello. Then swap and me have Ebba on a lead when he brings his daughter into the room.
We have just over a month to work this out, as thats when she will be back!!!!
Any ideas, as we have to work this out somehow otherwise there i no point in us carrying on as I am not going to shut Ebba out of the room whenever his daughter is here!!!
Lea :) :)

Is the little girl scared of dogs? Why can't they come because of her?

Are you training Ebba to lie down and stay on command?

Because she was scared of a staffie pup his mate had, but was ok once he was sat on the owners lap.
We just dont want to introduce them and scare her so she wil never come round to the dogs!!!
She is dinky, so only about up to Ebbas Shoulders!!!
We want to get the introduction right from the start instead of having to correct mistakes after LOL
Lea :) :)

Do you use crates?

Nope havnt taught a down stay. And am useless at training things like that LOL
and Nope I dont use crates. I dont think Ebba has ever been in one!!!
Lea :)

Do the dogs go to their beds when they're told? If not, you've got nearly a month to teach them ... ;-)

Would Ebba be calmer out on a walk???

Good idea - take Ebba out for a walk to meet the chap and his daughter, and then all come into the house together. She'll have got over the excitement of seeing them then and should be calmer.

They do to a fashion!!!! but not brilliantly as they go there and then come back out again LOL
Yes on a walk they dont care whats going on with people just everything else!!!
Lea :)

Thats an idea!!!
That might be an idea for Sat. Take them all out for a walk with his daughter in her buggy, so she meets them, but no pressure on her,  then next time she comes back take them fr a walk and then bring them all back here.
Lea :) :)

That's great - I know my lot would be over any HYPER madness after a walk well for a bit anyway :)

Good luck :)

I have a 21 month old granddaughter who came to stay for a week a New Year. She had never been close to any dogs (she doesn't live close enough for a quick visit :-( ) I had crates set up in my Living room and used them for the first 5 minutes or so until everyone had calmed down. Oh, I have 4 dogs! My granddaughter actually opened one of the cages to let the dogs out ;-) She spent the rest of the holidays in and out of the cage :-D Or cuddled up to my male dog. Can you not find someone who has a cage that would lend it to you for a little while? I would lend you one of mine but I think you are a bit too far away :-)

Oh, my granddaughters favourite words are DOG and WOOF ;-) Another Junior handler in the making perhaps? :-D

When I read OP I was going to suggest meeting on a walk , but I got beaten to it ;-)

How about getting something with the child's scent on so that the dogs already know her smell ?

Remember that if she's shown pictures of your dogs in advance she'll expect them to be the same size as in the pictures - she's too young to be able to make the mental leap from "small silent stationary dog in picture" to "big bouncy noisy dog in reality". The difference might scare her - so best not to show her pictures!

I would get a child gate.

This one http://www.bettacare.co.uk/acatalog/Child___Pet_Gate.html#a116 is really excellent, much better with dogs than the Lintran one, they even do it with a Catflap.

True JG, we wont do that LOL
Spoke to Pete, and on Sat we are going to take his daughter out in her buggy with the dogs, both on lead and off. Then bring the dogs back here and leave it there.
Then next time we will do it again but bring her in.
He will alsp sort out something with her smell on it before she goes back to her mums so the dogs can smell her :) :)
After talking to him tonight what we both want is for her to like my dogs as it will mean they will be able to stay here when his daughter is here, instead of not seeing him for a week :) :)
Lea :) :)

> I would get a child gate.

ditto that, then ebba will still feel part of the action and the wee one can speak to her through the gate without poking her in the eye, finger up the bum and all that stuff bairns feel the need to do to dogs.  I have got on in my living room that is extra wide and tall and goes the length of the french windows.  you can also get room dividers if you have an open plan house.

Some great advice re gates, walking, training etc already given but don't forget your part in this too.  At this stage it's much much more important that she gets to know you well and learns to trust you.  In this way she will more happily accept the things that happen around you as part of the package.  Your boys will have a clear role to play too, showing her by their actions that Beano and Ebba are safe and friendly.

Integrating families is always difficult but if you can be sure to sort the people out first then the animals are so much easier - love me then love my dog!  You are hopefully trying to build a long term relationship and if you have to take it a bit slower for her sake with the dogs then it will only be for a comparatively short time and worth it in the long run.

We have met her twice in the last few days, and will be again fri and sat, so that is not a problem. she is already being asked to be picked up by me, and kissed me before he went to bed last night. My boys have also played with her and they get on well together, so things in that respect are going fine :) :)
I dont want to put stair gates up, as my house is not the best lay out for stair gates, and I really dont want to go to the expense of gates and room dividers for the few times she will be here.
Thankyou for all your help and advice and if you think of anymore then it will be gratefully received :) :)
Lea :) :)

UPDATE :-
Well we went on a 4 mile walk yesterday. She was in her buggy,and walked a bit.  dogs on the leads and off, and at one point Ebba even had her head in the pushchair!!!!! They didnt bother with each other!!!! :) :) :)
She was too tired to introduce them last night, and she has gone back now.
So next time we will do the same and then introduce her back at mine :) :)
Thankyou for all the suggestions :) :)
Lea :) :)

Gentle introductions definatly work best.
At 20 months that is a great age as she will grow up being used to the dogs and not seeing them as some novelty toy to play with - thats the problem i have at the mo with my daughters 7 year old. She hassles my dog constantly and doesnt understand when he wasnt  to lie down or have 5 minutes to himself!!! Saying that though, he loves it and hasssles her when she wants to sit on her own for a bit :-)  Gets his own back!!

Glad it went well for you