Ok, here is a little of the story. My brother is going to eventually be coming up to visit and has a young daughter. She is going to be 2 soon. Ino met her a year ago but he was very young (a few months old) and has not interacted with kids that young since. He has been around older kids but has not been aound any small children, other than my brothers daughter and my sisters young children when he was a pup. My brother has been up front that he does not trust Pit Bulls at all and took a while to like Ino when he was about 60-70lbs lighter than he is now. Knowing that my brother holds this fear and that it will most likely come into play when Ino does interact with his daughter (I am pretty sure the dog, the baby and I will sense his hesitation and fear ), I decided to purchase a muzzle for him. I started putting it on him for short periods (a few seconds at a time to start) and praising/rewarding him for wearing it- and removing it for now when he starts trying to pry it off. I will slowly increase the time he has it on and will try to distract him when he starts pawing at it. I figured this is a good thing to start implimenting occasionally now so that he gets used to it somewhat and does not associate the muzzle with the baby, and so he doesnt see it as a punishment. My dog has never tried to bite anyone but does bark and growl at new people when they come on the property initially, then as they approach- he looks at me and runs behind me temporarily then starts slowly going towards them and sniffs them. Usually he warms up to them within the 1st 5-20 min and becomes their pal. I just fear that my brother will perceive that as a biting type aggression and will be on edge so I figured a muzzle will keep him calmer until we see how they interact. I figure the muzzle is the safest way to introduce the dog to the baby (safest for both of them). Any ideas on the best way to go about this other than what I wrote here? Any help/suggestions are welcome and would be appreciated. Thanks!
Kim