Socializing with pint size people

[Tricia, Shiloh, Fenway & Tessie]

My daughter, who is 21, had some friends over to the house last night....including a girl with a 2 year old (almost 3).

I have teenagers, but haven't had my dogs around very many pint sized people (kiddos) mainly because right now, there just aren't any in my life.

Watching Fenway with the little boy made me a little nervous...the boy would run and Fenway would chase and grab onto his clothes and scare him a little. Fenway still nips quite a bit, he wouldn't be mean....but it could hurt.

So I started thinking, I should probably get the dogs around some more children...but where and how do I find children for them to play with when kiddos don't really exist in my world, lol

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I empathize with you on this one. When we meet children, I make Spud "sit" before the children are permitted to approach and pet him. It works great! But.................. when the children become excited so does the dog. It is okay if he is leashed and we can walk away. Most of the time, he tries to "hump" them. When a child takes off running so does the dog. He especially likes hooded sweatshirts that he can grab a hold of and mount them from the back. :)

I presume ( Gawd I hope ) this will improve with more training and maturity of the dogs. Dunno?

[diane silver]

I've been dealing with this situation with Emma, since we have two grandsons, ages 5 and 3. She will also chase after them, especially if they run and show excitement, nipping at their clothing and legs (or feet). I've been trying to work on having her sit and having the boys give her a treat when she is calm, but whenever they come into the house (or anyone for that matter), she really has a hard time containing her excitement. I also keep her on a short leash so that I can grab her quickly if she gets too rambunctious with them. Otherwise, I think it's mostly an age thing (Emma is just about a year old), and I will continue to try to work on this behavior with her, because I, too, would never want her to hurt a child, even though it would be inadvertent and not aggressive. If anyone else has any suggestions, I would welcome them!

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

There is a play area across the street from my house. I take Yankee over there all the time and now most of the kids know him. I let him play with the kids but I am close by and usually have a ball for him to chase. It would probably be better if your dog was tired when he saw kids. Take him out and exercise him and then bring him around kids. When he jumps up on them, pull him off and tell him NO. Have the kids play ball with him so he is fixed on the ball more than the kids.

I am lucky because Yankee doesn't usually jump up on kids, he will chase them but that's it.

[Kyoko]

Charlie is opposit....
I think she is scared of them when they run around, scream, and laugh loud, etc....
I take her to the play ground and let her watch the kids from a little distance, hoping that she will get use to the movement and sounds of them.

[Vicky Lee]

This is also a big concern for us. Gabby has only been around children a few times and if loose just goes nuts and chases them and then some one is hurt or becomes afraid of her. I will have next week one of my grandchildren age 8 living with me for the summer and we will be visiting other grandchildren later in the summer. The last time we were with kids I had the kids put some butter on their hands and Gabby spent a few minutes licking their hands and when the butter was gone she became crazy again and made them afraid of her. I will let you know how the summer proceeds as I have 16 grandchildren but we do not live close to them and just visit and would hate to have to go home cause the dog will not behave with children. I guess i could just keep them buttered LOL All suggestions appreciated. Thanks

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Walks in the parks help a lot. We pulled (not too hard) on Timbows ears and even his tail a little when he was younger so he wouldn't be shocked if a child did that to him. At 4 months we had him around my nieces (twins that are 1 1/2 years old--basically the ultimate challenge).He was so good with them! They ran up to him and got in his face and pulled on his coat and he just sat there. He would even follow them around to make sure they were safe. I don't know if it was just luck that he was so good with kids or if us trying to train him helped. I think it is good for them to be socialized with kids either way because you don't want to have to worry if a child runs up to your dogs. Another idea is to look for local festivals in your town that you can take our dogs to.

[Sessa]

My Mija doodle has been lucky enough to get to come to work with me since she was a wee pup...I work in an environment that caters to the public coming in (an art gallery) so I really had to work hard with socializing Mija with ANYONE and ANYTHING that would come through the doors--including children of all ages!

Dogs get excited around young humans because of their energy level--read here: volume, movement, and spastic behaviors...screaming and running around are not necessarily behaviors that dogs see adults doing (LOL, I said not necessarily! LOL!)..this coupled with their size are just some of the most basic qualities that a dog is cuing from with children....infants are usually better because they don't move around on their own yet and they are generally calmer! LOL!

For me, the key is control---sit and stay have to be down pat. That way, the energy level of my dog is always in check regardless of what the child does...
Chasing is not allowed, generally--but especially with kids. A good place for "leave it."
At first, I used to keep her on a very loose lead--again, I was NOT going to take chances of her bolting after a child. Chasing only adds to the excitement level--thus, also bringing out the nipping.
I LOVE the use of a toy as interaction between dogs and kids---it tends to wipe out the worry of nipping at the body and instead focuses the dog's "mouthing energy" onto the toy! Plus, the kid also has a method by which to interact with the dog--works well for kids that are fearful.
I encourage the parents/children to approach and "say hello to Mija" --only after I've put Mija in a sit or down and stay...I also use the command "say hello" with Mija as a way of introducing her to someone or something new--I've used this command to encourage Mija to be curious and approach...translated as: go sniff and see who/what that is! LOL! Her trust in me is that I'll always protect her--meaning, Mija won't get the "say hello" command from me unless it is a safe situation.

Now at 3 yrs old, Mija is a dream around kids. She is patient, respectful, and inquisitive in a calm manner---teehee, she's learned that kids often have FOOD LEFTOVERS on their clothing, hands, and faces...which she promptly CLEANS right up for them! LOL, I also do warn parents/children that Mija likes to give lots of kisses, which really means that she likes to TASTE kids--she thinks they are sweet!
HHHHmmmm, nom nom nom....is that a bit of animal cracker?....mmm, applesauce....yum yum, gooey sticky fingers taste like honey....nom nom nom!!! LOL!

As for places to work on this: pet stores is a great bet---not only are they pet friendly but they are kid magnets...not just dog parks, but other parks too---great for leash introductions....park benches are always one my favorite training spots---I find the world passing by gives GREAT opportunities for training (kids, bicycles, cars/trucks, runners, other dogs, skateboarders/rollerbladers, etc). Downtown areas or community centers....

Hope amongst my babble you find some helpful tips.
Keep up the GREAT work and just the fact that you are aware puts you WAY ahead of the game!
BEST OF LUCK!!!