play nice: strategies for helping kids and puppies get along

[meganc]

Here are a few ground rules to cover with your kids for those people with kids and puppies. Treat the puppy nicely. Speak in normal tone of voice. Don't hug or kiss the puppy. If the puppy walks away, don't follow. Don't bother the puppy if it's eating or sleeping. Only two hands on the puppy at one time. Those are the rules to cover with your kids about the puppy

[Schwe]

Originally Posted by meganc

Speak in normal tone of voice.

Why?

Originally Posted by meganc

Don't hug or kiss the puppy.

What's the point of owning a dog/puppy if you can't hug/kiss them?

Originally Posted by meganc

Don't bother the puppy if it's eating or sleeping.

With puppies, I have my hands in their food bowl and all over them while they're eating. Best to desensitize them as puppies to being handled during feeding than face a dog that is aggressive as an adult.

Originally Posted by meganc

Only two hands on the puppy at one time.

hmm... I'd hope your kid only had two arms. Any more and I'd have them checked out by the doctor.

[meganc]

these rules are for kids
speak in normal tone of voice you dont want to scream puppy's hearing is more sensitive than ours.
a puppy takes a kiss or hug from a child as a threat
bothering while eating you are right about you to have your hands in the bowl but for a child its not safe to take a chance the puppy could snap at the child and thats not good.
2 hands on a dog at once if your gonna have both your hands on a puppy then its too much for someone else to come over and pet the dog its confusing to a puppy

[Cassiepeia]

Originally Posted by meganc

these rules are for kids
speak in normal tone of voice you dont want to scream puppy's hearing is more sensitive than ours.

Surely their hearing, although able to pick up more sounds then us, does not amplify sounds so much that a child crying or screaming would be deafening? I still don't see the point of forcing children to speak in a 'normal' manner at all times around the pup. Being calm and gentle with it when handling it yes, but the pup still has to learn that this is normal for the environment.

Originally Posted by meganc

a puppy takes a kiss or hug from a child as a threat

Perhaps, but shouldn't we start to teach the pup from a young age that this hands on interaction is normal? Make sure the child handles the pup gently, yes...but not allowing any hugs or kisses seems a little extreme to me.

Originally Posted by meganc

bothering while eating you are right about you to have your hands in the bowl but for a child its not safe to take a chance the puppy could snap at the child and thats not good.

I agree that children should be more careful here than adults, but the pup still has to learn that food aggression isn't acceptable and teaching it as a pup is going to be more easy than as a (possibly) large adult. Dogs need to learn that the children are a part of the family too and that the exact same rules apply no matter the age of the human.

Originally Posted by meganc

2 hands on a dog at once if your gonna have both your hands on a puppy then its too much for someone else to come over and pet the dog its confusing to a puppy

Why? Confusing how?

Cass.

[meganc]

puppy have sensitive hearing and thats a fact from a vet not a guess or opion. when a child is hugging or kissing a pup it feel that the child is covering them to make the pup be threatend. yes the pup needs to kno that the child is apart of the family and accept them as one but children should not be messing with the pup til the child is more mature. more than two hands on a pup is not really confusing but too much going around that is touching the pup . the children should not do these things until they are more mature and understand the responsibilities of having the puppy and understanding what to do with the puppy

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

I allow my one year old grandson to not only touch but pet my dogs and puppies while I'm touching them as well. This isn't confusing for the dog and children need to be taught from a young age how to approach and interact with a dog.

Children should never be left unsupervised with a dog anyway but to say they shouldn't interact with the puppy is just asking for trouble down the road.

[flyndog]

Meg, your suggestions are very good for children that are around strange pets, or for children that are not being supervised by adults while around dogs. Children and puppies should always be supervised by adults, especially when they are together.
BTW, if you would like to contribute an article to GlobalPaw, please see the guidelines for article submission in the Articles Forum.
Kit

[meganc]

crossfire bulldogs i kno it is not confusing for the puppy but too many hands on the pup but it is too much for so many people to be touching the pup its fine for u and ur grandson to touch the pup im not saying ur wrong but likee i say its too much for the pup. yes i kno the child should know how to approach and interact with the pup. flyndog i know that they should be supervised at all times and my adice is also for young children that are new to a puppy and dont know that much about a puppy

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Sorry Meganc but I just can't agree with that. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Carrie]

Meganc,

May I ask.... have you raised children and dogs? How long have you had dogs? I don't know how old you are but some of us are oldsters and have grandchildren even and have gone through this for a long time.

I've had dogs for many years, raised my children around a few dogs....a German Shepherd and Lab. When the kids were very young, babies, we had the GSD. I didn't think a thing about anything. I did make sure Emily (1-1/2 yrs. old when we got the GSD) was gentle around the pup but let her do anything that clearly wasn't bothering the pup. He loved all the attention and all the little friends of my kids as he grew older. It didn't matter much what they did, how much confusion, noise, hands in his food, taking toys from him, playing a little rough...he knew it was all very normal and loved being part of the family. He adjusted to anything and everything that was handed out. Once in a while, a kid would hurt him by accident. My 2 yr. old son fell off the dining room table and landed smack dab, right on the sleeping GSD, an adult by this time. The dog merely grunted, (knocked the wind out of him) got up and strolled across the room to a new spot to sleep. That's a stable dog and if you don't condition a pup to everything that is normal for humans, including children and their ways of doing things (other than anything harmful or troubling) you won't have a stable dog as an adult. You cannot walk on egg shells around a pup and treat them like a porcelin doll. Keep them safe and happy, but condition them to anything and everything that is going to be happening in the family life.

I never thought a thing about supervising my kids around this GSD or my Lab for that matter. I never heard of such a thing back then. LOL. The dogs supervised the kids. The Lab came later when the kids were not babies anymore. But both dogs were so trustworthy, tolerant and real guardians of the kids as well as their friends. That GSD would shoulder the kids closer into the yard if they strayed too far. It was so wonderful to watch. He also herded some piglets back to their area when they escaped their pen. He wasn't ever trained to herd. That was just his instinct. Too cute.

Now, I'm talking about dogs raised with kids. Of course, if it's another dog and you don't know it well, then you have to watch the kids and they should learn caution around other dogs, be well supervised and to ask the owner if they can pat it etc....

[calgal]

I never stopped my then, 2 year old son from laying on top of, or trying to ride like a pony, playing in a kiddie pool & splashing water in the face of our GSD/wolf. She was at his side no mater what and treated him so gentle even though he could get a bit rowdy. The only time I ever worried about kids and dogs were when a couple of my grandkids (who were afraid of dogs and just wanted to kick them) were around my little Chihuahua. I never let them around her unless I was there to show them how to pet her and such. With little kids, and little dogs there has to be some concerns, but then you wouldn't want to leave any kid around dogs unsupervised.

[meganc]

yes but different dogs have different feelings about children your gsd may have liked children but some i have had different experiences and these are rules are for people who have problems with their children and puppies