Meltdown around kids

[Christy&Riley]

Riley has always been excited when people stop by but goes CRAZY when little kids come over. The neighbor kids stopped over almost daily the first few weeks (and often since then) and her "breeder" had two little kids so she has had a lot of interaction with kids. You would think the newness would have worn off but it is still terrible. To give you an idea of how much she likes kids... During the summer, the neighbors stopped over with their baby. He was probably about a year. Riley was overjoyed to greet the parents then when they put the baby on the ground, Riley peed in excitement. They lifted the baby up and when they put him back down she peed again. Something about kids, especially little babies, makes her go nuts.

We always try to make her sit before anyone pets her but she cannot contain her excitement around kids very well. She squirms and lungs at them while i struggle to hold her back. The trainer suggested walking away to show she has to obey to get their attention. It works sometimes but not often. Now at 8 months old she is stronger than me so I can barely hold her back when she goes nuts. The kids came over the other day when we were outside and she was so out of control I had to drag her inside. I felt bad because Riley's craziness scared the little girl. Riley has never bitten anyone (although she could lick you to death) so I know she just wants their attention. I wish I could get her to see the kids want to play but can't when she is over the top. It's also frustrating because we've been to training and she does obey when it is just us. I started putting her in her crate when we know people are coming over. Once she settles down we let her out. That seems to be working a bit. Just wondering what else to do outside when people stop by? Would anyone have other suggestions? I thought about treats but I don't think it will register in her brain when she is in the crazy zone. Thanks!

[Christy&Riley]

Hi Everyone - Sorry for the delayed response. Not long after I posted the question Riley jumped to get a toy and came down flat on her back. I freaked out thinking she broke her back but thankfully she jumped back up. However, she was favoring her leg and whimpered. We already went through one broken leg and I was a disaster thinking she broke it again. Didn't help that we were headed into New Year's so I didn't know if she could see a vet. Long story short, we prayed and what the vet thought was a torn cruciate doesn't appear to be a problem at all. :-)

So, back to the original topic. I appreciate everyone's feedback. I went right out and bought the Freedom Harness and the owner helped to get the right size. We tried to make it a fun event putting on the harness but Riley wasn't having it. Didn't help that it was too big and she could get her jaw down inside it so she kept trying to bite it off. I tried to take her out with it and she jumped and spun around trying to break free. I finally took it off as I was concerned she would get her jaw inside and pull at the same time. Gentle leader is also out as she would do back flips if we put that on her face.

While I understand your opinions regarding flipping dogs, I have to say that it works wonders with Riley. Every now and then Riley will really disobey outside and my husband will flip her on her back. Never in a way that would hurt her. It is just kind of the shock that she needs to remember the rules. She immediately submits and can't get close enough to my husband after. She never growls or bites as a result. I can see where with other dogs this may cause aggressiveness, but with Riley it does seem to be all that's needed to keep her in check. My husband is convinced that the reason she acts up more with me is because she views me as a playmate not her master. I try to do little things to show I'm in charge like making her wait to eat her food and making her sit in a down stay until I release her. If she gets up, I walk her back and tell her to stay over again. Kind of like the toddler who keeps getting out of bed.

Knowing that it is normal for GDs to be this overly excited to see people helps me feel better so I know it isn't something we are necessarily doing wrong. It will just be something we have to keep working on. Thanks again to everyone for taking time to share your thoughts!

[Julie and Max]

Christy my Max has the same issue with children. I have been desensitizing him to children slowly at a pace he can handle. I try to go to lots of places there are children (which is somewhat hard in the winter in Canada but petsmart is a great place to train) I walk him around the children over and over again, far enough away that his excitement does not get out of control, slowly moving in closer. I only do this after we've walked to petsmart, which is a four mile walk so that I've drained a lot of his energy first. The only time he gets to actually interact with the children at all (and this took awhile to get to this point) is if he is in a down and stay, and actually stays there. He still shivers and makes this silly little whistling cry noise, but he will now stay and let the children pet him which he absolutely loves more than anything. 

I also agree with you that you have to get your dogs attention and they have to know what their boundaries and limitations are. not in a mean way obviously, but calm and firm.

Good luck with this, I think it can be a doodle thing that they just love the little ones which in the end is really a good thing.