Kids and Dogs - Part 4

A lot of new dog owners with your children have the picture in their heads of the dog and the kids playing together.  The dog watching over the children and always being gentle and a great friend.  This can happen if you manage to pick the right dog for your family.  I have met a Newf that totally fit this image right from 8 weeks old, just lied there and watched the kids play.  Most dogs will need some help to reach this level.

On a whole I find girls tend to be overly loving, some dogs will put up with this and even enjoy it.  Some dogs will hate this and start to become so uncomfortable that even the child approaching will cause them to growl.  You can go a long way to helping your dog learn to at least put up with and maybe even grow to enjoy this handling.  Start with everyone calmly sitting on the floor, make sure the dog is on leash, well exercised and wait until he has settled down.  Play the game of one pet means one treat.  As your dog learns to enjoy the game you can start slowly raising the number of pets per treat.  Make sure to keep it random and slowly raise the average number.  Always be aware that the dog is not becoming obnoxious for the food, if he start reaching for the bowl or grabbing at the hand feeding the game stops until he calms himself down.  What I am looking for is the dog to look forward to these petting sessions, he shouldn't be trying to leave, if he is you are pushing to hard or possibly need to use higher value rewards.

Boys on the other hand tend to run around a lot and drive most dogs crazy especially those of the herding variety.  Yes everyone running together is a great idea but most dogs quickly start to nip, jump, and take the children down.  I start with the dog learning to watch the child (I would start this game with one child and build up to multiples) running around and work up to them all playing together or at least in the same area such as a backyard.  Have some very good treats or a tug toy and the dog on leash.  Have the child walk by the dog and reward the dog (with a treat or a game of tug).  Repeat this having the child walk by faster and faster until he can run by screaming and the dog doesn't care.  Start adding difficulty but asking the dog to perform a cue such as sit or come when the child approaches.  Leaving the dog still on leash, drop the leash and have the child aimlessly walk around, can the dog deal with that?  Can you call the dog and he responds immediately?  Continue to increase speed and excitement of child until your dog can handle it.

Please keep in mind that no matter how much training you have done or have wonderful your dog is kids are kids and dogs are dogs.  There should always be supervision to prevent things from going badly.  Also please be honest about your dogs capabilities and protect him.  If your dog guards do not put him in situations where this might happen.  For example my Siberian has been known to guard food.  I have worked on this and I wouldn't think twice about taking something from him if I had to but my child has clear instructions that if something falls off his plate onto the floor he shouldn't try to race Max for it but let Max have it.  I am 95% sure Max wouldn't do anything but if something happened it would happen so quickly that by the time I got there no matter how close I was it would be too late.

Yes your dog and children can have the relationship you are picturing but it will probably take some work.