Dog devoted to me, unintentionally knocks kids over...help!!

[coxgang]

We adopted a Collie/Australian Shepherd mix named Lucky from the humane society a couple of months ago. She's a very sweet dog, but is completely and totally devoted to me alone. She tolerates our kids and my husband, but follows me everywhere and constantly wants to be by my side. Normally this wouldn't be much of a problem, but she is a rather large dog (~70 lbs) and has a habit of knocking my kids over in an attempt to be close to me. We want to add another baby to our family in the next year, and I'm concerned about Lucky's behavior--she's already stepped on my 3-year-old's face by accident, and I'm worried that she might seriously hurt a baby. Does anyone have any advice for me? Is this something that can be corrected with training? I really don't want to have to return her to the humane society (my personal policy is that you don't return pets unless they are biting/hostile towards the kids), but I'm starting to wonder if she wouldn't be better suited to a family with older kids. Thanks so much!!

[adunphy]

It depends on *why* she is clinging to you. It could be her nature, it could be fear towards the others in the home, or it could be that you have bonded with her the most. In any case I think finding a trainer that will work with all of you as a family and help develop appropriate bonds between all the members of the family and the dog. If you are having another child, you dont want the dog to become protective of you. My advice would be to find a dog training class that everyone can participate in. Even if its agility or obedience - anything to create a good bond is a good idea

Amy

[coxgang]

Thank you for your response! Lucky doesn't seem to fear anyone in our home (except maybe our cats!), so I would say that it's probably in her nature to pick someone to latch onto. From what I can tell she's never been to obedience training (doesn't sit/heel/lie down on command, pulls at the leash), and I plan to get her into a good program in the next few weeks. Hopefully that'll be a good start, and will help her become more receptive to and observant of the others in our home. Thanks again!