Children are just his world. - Page 1

Just for fun has anyone ever run into the following before.

My WL male, loves children.   I mean he thinks the sun rises and sets on children and the smaller the better in his estimation, he is just fascinated by them and they can do anything with him.  My special needs nephew hugs on him and will stand and pet and brush him for hours and he will sit there quietly and let the child do anything to any part of his body.  My neighbors' youngest child uses him to go cruising, he gets hold of his fur and Erik will stand and let the child hand walk down his body, then he takes a slow step and they walk a little further, another step and walk a little further, you get the idea.

If he hears the kids playing he wants to be out with them.  He doesn't chase anybody, he just wants to be out, platzed where he can keep an eye on things.  Kids are just his world.

Adults he is utterly aloof, indifferent and growing slightly arrogant towards. He will politely take an offered treat (only after I have been politely asked if he can have a treat, this usually happens at the vet's office or like Tractor Supply) set it on the ground and leave it.  Children he won't even take a treat from them, just turns his head away and occasionally ends up with a biscuit in his ear.

I rank highest of the high amongst adults and older children but if there are small children about he's like "Mommy who?" and just dotes on them.  It amuses me, though it will cause him a distraction when we are working on obedience and there are small children playing anywhere within ear shot/line of sight.  He gets very concerned and distracted and wants to check on them.

I wonder if I could get a group made out of 4 year olds to help proof him against distractions, would definitely be a group in motion that's for certain!

Oh yes, when the school bus comes and delivers the kid, it is definately "Mommy who?" at our home. Recently our friends brought over their 4 month old baby and he was pretty much obsessed. Had to let him get his sniff and divert him to the other kids. I was just afraid his big nose would nudge the baby too hard, so I thought it best to teach him,  "this is my baby" and he should lay down and keep an eye out, but no touch.

That's the funny thing, Beetree is he NEVER touches a child.  He lets them crawl all over him but he never initiates contact, or even a thorough sniffing.  He just either sits calmly in basic or platzs and keeps an eye on them. 

Honestly if I had the time and or contacts I think his true calling would have laid in therapy work but I don't so he and I enjoy the Schutzhund field together.

My oldest male Max is crazy about kids.   If a kid starts crying though, and he can't get to them, he starts freaking out.  If he can get to them, he'll go up to them, give them a "kiss" and sit beside them.  He always prefers to be with kids.....and I don't mind that at all. Even someone who came to get a puppy, their son who is young, but old enough to walk/talk somewhat..... Came with them. Max would follow him everywhere, sit beside him, if he needed help getting up, Max was there for him to push off of.  He (Max) thought he was in heaven lol.

GSDDog, yep!  That sounds about right.

Except for the kisses part.  I really had not thought about it till Beetree said something but he has never initiated contact to a child.  Adults, if he knows the adult and is comfortable with them he tries to make himself a lap dog but kids, not even so much as a close contact sniff.

And it's stories like these that really bother me that our beloved breed has the reputation that it does. Just like "Pitbulls eat children" or some rediculous crap like that.

Truly warmed my heart to read the stories, I needed a smile this morning and this thread certainly did that!

My first GSD (who is passed away) was obsessed with children too, the younger the better.  My oldest dog now is also a devout child worshipper.  My second oldest likes kids but doesn't interact with them much; she is a very high drive, toy obsessed dog, yet she will not play with a child's toy, even if the kid is waving it around like crazy or playing with balls (like soccer, basketballs, etc.) she is super patient with kids, not really affectionate towards them but she has some personal moral code to see that no possible harm comes to a child, even if it means she has to turn off her own hyper drives. 

It always pleases me to see my dogs adore children, and it always disturbs me when I see a dog who does not cherish children. 

Why yes, they are shepherds. 

I don't have kids, but my 15-month old WL male LOVES them.  When we're in the neighborhood he watches them play with this fascinated look on his face.  If given the opportunity to play with them, he is *much* more gentle with them than he is with any adult.  

That was my Kali, too. She absolutely adored children. I could put her in charge of my grandchildren when they were over, they were always delighted with her, because she was so gentle & tolerant. And I watched her go into protect mode against a bad guy, & then turn it off the minute my granddaughter approached her & let her put her arm around Kali's neck. When the guy turned toward her again, Kali nudged my granddaughter gently back, then jumped up to snarl at the guy again. Interestingly, Kali put herself between an inebriated stranger & my toddler granddaughter as a puppy, when he reached to tousle her blonde little head. She popped up in between them with all her little puppy teeth showing. Made the guy step back in surprise, which was absolutely the right thing for him to do.
My very first Shepherd, a GSD/Belgium, would herd my son when he was a baby, not let him near the woodstove, take him by the back of the diaper & pull him away from the stairs. She, from a pup, would tolerate the kids crawling all over her, as did Kali.
This is the correct GSD temperment. I hope someday to find another like Kali, but right now I don't think there are any quite the same.
Congratulations to the OP, & to the others, on having dogs that opitimize the correct GSD temperment!
jackie harris