Kid socializing my Doodle..

[Chloe, Finley & Mama Shelley]

I need some ideas about getting my Chloe socialized with small children, and strangers. We don't have any small children at home, and so when we go anywhere now with her, she is afraid of them..I thought she would just be excited to play, but instead she runs away with tail tucked, or hides between my legs!

I even told some of the neighbor kids to come over and play with her. I want her to be used to kids and other people. She is fine when out at the Dog park tho, but thats the only place so far. Any ideas?

[Melody & Bruin]

Pet Smart!  Our trainer suggested bring Bruin anytime, just to socialize and practice training.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I never had this problem with my two doodles.  My niece was 12 when I got Sasha and she was actually with me when I got Sasha.  When I got Oliver my niece came the next day and she always played with both dogs and they love her to bits.  She plays totally different than I do which they like.  Maybe have the neighborhood kids give her treats or get her a toy so they can give it to her or maybe just take her for walks past a school play yard and introduce her very slowly to children... a little exposure at a time. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We took/take our girls everywhere for this very reason.  Lowe's and Home Depot are great places as well as any outdoor shopping areas.  We have an outlet center that is dog friendly that we spent a lot of time at.  We also did fairs, festivals and things of that nature also.  This time of year think Christmas parades or village celebrations.  One day at Lowes some lady walked up and said can my kids pet your dogs.  I knelt down with Sophie to make sure she behaved since it was children (which I normally do) and when I looked up there were 10 children standing in front of us to pet them.  I almost freaked out.  But fortunately they were well behaved and it went well. As Melody said, Petsmart or any dog stores are good as well.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

We don't have young children in the family and I was keen Riley was Ok with children.  When Riley was a baby puppy I brought him to the school gates at going home time.  There is a bench there and he sat on my knee while children petted him.  I brought treats and taught some of the young children to put out their hands flat and give them to him.  I also brought him to the pet store at every opportunity and he now loves going as all the staff know him and give him lots of cuddles when he arrives in.  I would certainly bring your puppy everywhere possible to make sure he has lots of experiences of different situations and sounds.  I literally took Riley everywhere possible in those early weeks.  I don't know if all that early work was effective but just to say that Riley loves everybody and is extremely gentle with all children and people of all ages.  He is eight months old now.

[Carol Brand]

Go to the park on Saturday mornings.  This time of year there may not be soccer or football games going on, but I'm sure you will find some kids doing something.   The trick with socializing is to not overwhelm the dog.  If you do, you will have set backs.  At worst, the dog could lash out and bite a child.  Hold kids at an arm's length.  Don't let them run up on Chloe.  Don't let them mob her.  If needs be, tell them that she bites.  Also, remain calm and confident.  If you get nervous that will just travel down the leash and make the dog more anxious.

 

Take some very high value treats.  Approach some older, responsible children.  Tell them the situation and ask them to feed Chloe a treat.  Ideally, they would not talk to her or look at her.  Have them look at you.   When Chloe takes the treat,  you PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE.  Then walk away.   You are done for the moment.

 

Do this a few time over the course of a couple of days until she starts to expect a treat and she has loosened up a bit. Then graduate to having a child give Chloe and treat while looking at her and talking to her.  DON'T ENCOURAGE THE CHILD TO PET CHLOE.  Take this in baby steps.  

 

Finally, after a couple of weeks, you are ready for the full-on give treat, talk to dog, pet dog.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Good advice....there is no shortage of socialization opportunities at the local kids sporting events, but it is very important to manage that interaction until the dog is comfortable.  My Guinness is a dream at our grandkids soccer games, and it's a wonderful opportunity for him to practice his training.  Murphy tends to get nervous so we closely manage how close he gets to the activity and the children.  Even for him it's a great training challenge, but we watch his body language closely and expose him a little at a time.

[Melanie and Girls]

I love the advice you're getting here. Especially about taking it slow and working from older kids down the line. Preschoolers can be VERY unpredictable with dogs, and their faces are at just the right height for a bad bite. :(

What we teach our own kids about meeting dogs, is to always introduce yourself by standing BESIDE the dog - never face to face because that is a sign of aggression to a dog. Turning around and walking backwards for the last 5-10 feet towards the dog works best with a hand down beside you for him to smell. No talking at first. (in dog world, the dominant dog always gets to sniff the end of the other dog first. So by approaching backwards, the child is saying "I'm not threatening/dominating you")

The other rule is with that hand that the dog is smelling: always make a fist, not a flat hand. A flat hand is very easy for a pup to get his teeth around. A fist is difficult for them to sink their teeth into.

Once your pup is ready to be pet, ask them to pet under her chin, not the top of her head...This is a dominance issue. Going for the top of the head says "I'm above you". While this may be true, in the world of taking it slow, this is a big step for your puppy to take.

If you can find an older child that can follow these steps regularly until she can handle it, then working with "stranger" kids who can follow instructions next would be my recommendation for first steps. Oh, and praise at each step of being friendly :)

Good Luck!!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Public parks right after school ;)

Just sit on a bench and the children who feel safe around dogs will flock over to say hi!

 

I agree with the instructions to make sure kids approach in a nice way - start with petting the back or under the chin.

[Chloe, Finley & Mama Shelley]

Thanks for all the great tips. We do actually take her everywhere we can. She has been out to public dog friendly malls, Petsmart. Parks etc. She does fine at these places, but at home, in the front yard, when we are out playing, if kids come by, or people are on the street, she barks! When the kids come to the lawn to play, she is very timid, and still barks at them. I think we will keep up the public introductions as much as we can, and spend lots of time at the parks etc. I am sure she will be fine.

I am wondering if she gets a little of it, from watching the behavior of our Golden, who is a little "protective" also. He barks at kids at people, but then once they are close he is fine, and lets them pet him. etc. Maybe she is just picking up his vibe?

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Yes, we also go to Petsmart and they will say can I pet your dogs? Chloe's like ooh belly rubs and flops over Myla is a bit more cautious but will usually copy cat Chloe.

We also stop in front of neigbors with kids out on our walks, they usually drop what they are doing to come see them

Also the regular park where kids play. They love to watch kids play soccer and baseball

[Chloe, Finley & Mama Shelley]

Update~ We have been taking Chloe to more places, Petsmart for her puppy classes have been good too.

The best was this past saturday, my son, Cory particiated in The 7th annual Las Vegas Great Santa Run, a fundraiser, that drew several thousands of people, which most of whom were dressed all as Santa's! They ran a 1k or 5k and were also trying to beat the world record for the most Santas in one place!

We took Chloe and Bentley and they were so good, and they loved it! Everybody wanted to pet them and asked all about Chloe. I was very proud to brag about my beautiful Doodle & Golden! So she got a lot of exposure to petting and was great with it! I am sure she will be just fine!  =)

We got some great pics of my son and his friend running and even got a pic of Chloe with "The Grinch & Friends" on a sleigh!