my dogs behavior

Question
Hello i have a almost 5 year old bichon frise dog  i have had her sence she was winged ..i now have my first baby she is 4 months old..and my dog is haveing behavior issues.. she snaps at people who pick the baby up includeing me  and she as actually bit me before when i picked my baby up..she also as a habbit of jumping when people pick the baby up  i have caught her around the baby but all she was doing was sniffing the baby . and i have caught her in the babys room but she was just sniffing the babys crib .. i do what i can to keep them apart but i am always in fear that my dog could bite the baby .. i need to know if you can help me with this is my dog just jelouse or protective of my baby or is it shes aggresive and dangerouse toward my baby? she as snapped once at my daughter and that was  when the dog was sitting in the chair with my dad and i gave my baby to my dad to hold and the dog attempted to snap at the baby however i can not be clear if she snapped at the baby or if she was snapping at my dad and i or one of us ? i love my dog and dont want to get rid of her but if theres any danger at all to my baby my dog will have to go

Answer
It does sound like she's being overly protective of the baby. And not going to lie, this is not going to be a quick process. But to start, you definitely need to have him confined or placed elsewhere when anyone is handling the baby. I also do not think the baby is in danger of getting bit, however it may happen by accident when trying to bite at someone else and the baby gets in the way.

There are a couple of things I want to do. The first is an implement process to re-train her brain to NOT think he needs to protective the baby against the family. The second is going to be a learned command and reward system whenever you suspect he's going to react.

What commands does she know? For example, stay, leave it, sit, down, etc. You are going to implement the command for her to either stay or you can make one up that fits the situation, such as "no bark" or "leave it." I would only start this when there is someone able to hold the dog so that the person picking up the baby cannot get attacked. And by the leash, preferably. Be sure to have lots of little treats as she is going to need them! But, what you're going to do is give the dog the command and reward when she does. Do this a couple of times to make sure he's got it down. Then you or have someone pick up or handle the baby and state the command in the split second she reacts. If she listens the first time, fabulous, but don't expect it. And be sure to use the best firm voice possible to get the message across. The goal for this is to tell her that behavior is not appropriate or needed.

Backing up to the other scenario I want you to implement, which is "earn and reward." Basically she is not allowed to eat, have treats, get attention, etc. until she has done a command. This will serve to put her back in his rightful place in the household and in-turn place yourselves at the head of household.

I want to stress that I would keep the dog confined or placed in an area away from people when handling the baby until these lessons can be taught. We definitely don't want anyone getting seriously hurt.

Let me know how things go or any other questions you have.