Parents And Grandparents, Please Watch This Video

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"It's not a lack of love, it's a lack of understanding." 

Truer words were never spoken. 

If you have dogs and young children or grandchildren, please take two and half minutes to watch this video. It might be the most important thing you watch this year. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=17&v=ABDrhNBwdpk

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is such an important point. Every time we mention in any on-line dog forum that dogs don't like to be hugged, someone always has to say "my dog loves to be hugged", and usually posts a photo to prove it. NO. Your dog loves you, so he tolerates it; but he doesn't "love" being hugged. 

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

This is such a powerful message - thanks for sharing it, Karen.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Karen this is excellent and thanks for sharing!  I shared it to FB, I hope that is OK!  Yikes, I didn't ask first.  sorry

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh that's okay, I got it from a post on FB, lol! 

[Leslie J]

Great video! When we got Cocoa my youngest were 4 year old twin boys. I remember a family whose dog bit her son badly in the face when he was 10. I was worried and shared the story with a friend. She gave me the best advice ever- it's important to train your dog, but it's probably even more important to train your children. I recall some people thought I was crazy, but I never left Cocoa alone with my kids until she was over a year old. I never let them pick her up. I taught them to stay away from her when she was eating. I taught them how dogs don't actually like being hugged. I am so proud at how they have learned to understand dog behaviours so they could be respectful of dog behaviours. They are 10 now, and I still don't leave Cocoa out of my eyesight with friends of theirs until I've observed how they behave with her.

The reward is a gentle, trusting dog. I've learned that it is a lot of work to raise a dog with young children. But it's sure been worth it. Thanks for sharing this- to be honest I often discourage people with kids from getting dogs because they don't seem prepared to supervise their kids properly.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I so agree, Leslie. I also discourage many people with young children from getting a dog. So many seem to think a puppy is like a stuffed toy for the kids to cuddle.

It sounds like you've done a wonderful job with your boys and Cocoa, to the benefit of all three of them. :)

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Thanks for sharing this, Karen.  I'm getting a doodle this fall and have a 4 year old niece that I am very close to.  I need to start training her now on what is acceptable!  She's been around dogs but loves them so much that her automatic response is to hug and kiss because that's how she is shown affection.  It's up to the responsible adults to keep both the pups and the kids safe.  Thanks again.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You touched on the most important part of this, Kaitlin: "..her automatic response is to hug and kiss because that's how she is shown affection".
This is where the problem lies...many people don't understand that what looks loving and affectionate to us can look very aggressive and threatening to a dog. A parent sees a child hugging a puppy and the parent beams with pride at how loving and kind their child is, never realizing that hugging may trigger a dog's "fight or flight" response, especially if the dog is being hugged around the neck, which is how most kids hug. (And with their faces right next to the dog's mouth.) The neck is a very vulnerable and significant body part, to a dog. Think about where dogs bite each other, even in play. They always grab at each other's necks. Pitbulls go for the throat in dogfights. Mothers "correct" their pups by grabbing their necks and shaking them. And of course, we guide and control dogs with a leash attached to a collar...around the dog's neck. 

Being pinned in place may trigger a fight or flight response: if the dog can't get away (flight), he has only the fight option, and dogs fight with their teeth.

Being suddenly lifted off the ground can be another aggressive and threatening gesture to a dog. That's the principle behind the old training methods that used harsh leash corrections & even helicoptering. 

Dogs approach one another from behind or from the side, never straight on, unless they mean business. Kids coming at a dog's head or face can also trigger a defense mechanism. 

So parents have to explain to children that dogs are different from people, that the things that seem kind and loving to us seem different to a dog. We can point out other differences between animals and people in the same conversation, and be humorous, to get their attention and  help them understand without lecturing: one good topic is the ways dogs eat & drink as opposed to the ways we eat & drink ("Do you think a stick would taste good?") and I'm sure we can all think of others. 

So many times, we have seen posts in which a child has been bitten and the shocked parent is ready to get rid of the "aggressive" dog, and just about every time, the parent will say "He was just being affectionate to the puppy". :(

[Amy and Annabelle]

When I was a young mom we had a crazy, over bearing woman that lived next door...seriously, I could write a book. She had a boy 3 the same age as my daughter at the time. You can probably guess the rest. Yes, she had their 3 month old puppy killed because he nipped at her son while he was poking it with a stick. She was the type of mom that would never teach him the proper way to play with the puppy or even his little playmates for that matter, he was allowed to do whatever no matter how inappropriate the behavior was. My heart still breaks for that poor little puppy.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Mine too. :(((

[Carla, Lucca and Izzy]

I shared it on FB this morning. It's so important to "listen" to their body language. It's also the parent's responsibility to protect their furry kids and teach their human kids to respect animals. It only takes one time for this to happen for their world to get turned upside down......

[Adina P]

Shared on the DK FB page and mine.