Introducing Pups to Kids - Page 1

Hi there,

Can i ask people here how they have socialized puppies to children? I have just got a new pup, working lines, 10 weeks, good prey drive, biting everything now, and i plan to do schutzhund with it.  My older dog is unfortunately a bit shy around children and avoids them. I want to avoid this problem with my new dog and teach it proper manners around mini adults.

I do not have any kids myself and my friends all have very young children (oldest 3 years old) which I worry might be a bit too young to cope with this boisterous pup. I will probably have to rely on stranger's children for socialization. So far I have brought it to the park, outdoors to get used to different sounds, atmosphere, it has just finished its vaccinations..

Of course I will always supervise the meeting and choose "good"/dog-friendly  kids. How do you handle the introduction, what do you deem as inappropriate behaviour and good manners, and how do you correct misbehaviour? Will my pup pick up on the avoidance behaviour displayed by my older dog?

Thansk for your help people!

Do you have a good park near you?  Either that a school?

Take puppy for a walk down to where children are and just let puppy watch the children, listen to all the noise they make etc.  You will most probably find that the children will approach you to fuss the puppy - few kids can resist a puppy.  Just make sure the children have an adult with them and dont jump up and down and make too much noise in puppy's space as this can be really scary.

Just use your basic commands and make sure puppy understand what is and is not acceptable.  If you encourage any children to fuss under the chin that will help to keep the head down and rubbing under the chin makes it harder for them to nip.  If puppy does nip get the kids to squeal like stuck pigs - its the fastest way I know to stop the biting habit.

For these sessions I would not take your older dog with you as you dont want any negative behaviour transmitted to your puppy.  Just enjoy the sessions, they are no different to introducing your dog to traffic, other dogs etc.  I was out the other day at dog club and I had my children "borrowed" to help another dog learn that children are not something to be bothered by.

my advice to you is train your kids to ignore the pup unless the pup is sitting calmly then and only then the pup gets fussed

it has always worked with my dogs .

at the first sign that the pup or kids are getting over excited remove the pup from the room

the rules

NO JUMPING UP

NO MOUTHING

NO ROUGH PLAY

but most of all insist that the kids remain CALM or they get removed to the naughty step!!!

never leave the kids unsupervised

good luck

ps getting the kids involved with feeding grooming etc helps build a bond

When puppies are young or loosing teeth they are very mouthy, save exposure to small children for later on.   I'd say kids playing with small puppy's should at least be old enough for you to explain some rules and even then they should be supervised.   Toys should be present to divert any biting of hands.   My kids are grown but I have friends and neighbors to go to for some socializing.   It doesnt take a lot. 

This can sometimes be a tricky thing because the area I live around isn't very dog friendly, no matter if it's a kid, teen, or an adult. 

Just make sure that your dog initiates wanting to say hello to a child as this will make it more comfortable than being forced to have some kid pet it.  Somes of the puppies I've had want to run for the hills if they're made to stand and have a stranger pet them, but if that person just stands there and I have a conversation with them, my dog will eventually walk up and be calm and let the person pet them.  Remember to be picky with the people you let around your puppy.  Just like you wouldn't want just anyone coming up and interacting with your baby, there are certain kids and teens that get loud, make strange movements or just act too hyper and can actually spook a puppy to the point where it isn't a positive experience.  My next door neighbor has a little girl and she's downright scary.  Yells at the birds to get out of her backyard, screams outside just to hear herself, etc.  I personally would never let her around any of my dogs!

I've taken puppies up around elementary schools when school lets out and just stand near the sidewalk  so that the puppy at least sees other children, sees them walking, running, making noise, etc.  Some kids will want to pet the puppy, but lots of others have been trained by their parents to be scared of dogs and will look at a 4 month old puppy like it's a 100 pound snarling pitbull or something!  I've had people cross the street or walk really wide around me when I'm simply walking a puppy, but when I'm walking my 100 pound GSD, they won't move an inch and practically walk into me.  It's actually very bizarre.  I also sit outside grocery stores, drugstores, etc. and let my dogs people watch.  If someone wants to come up and pet the dog and ask questions, great.  If they just want to walk by, it gives my dog a good lesson to sit calmly and be able to see men and women of all ages, sizes, shapes, and races.

It's always a good idea to exercise your puppy before any potential meetings as well as they'll be calmer. You don't want a puppy jumping up or nipping a child.  Your puppy won't mean it, but a chlid can get scared and think it was just attacked or something. 

MomofBeckett

Simply Shepherds

one thing i would say here and that is when socializing puppy with kids make sure do not make the mistake that most people do ,which tell the kids to behave that is not what you want the puppy to see you want the puppy to see the real thing.kids like to jump and run and be loud and make sudden movements. if the puppy does not experience this up close at this age when shepherds become adult they have a reall problem with that.just make sure you are nutral when you are doing this so puppy does not pick up any negative vibes from you. just let it figure it out and you wil be surprised what kind of things a puppy can handle.have a nice one. thanx.

I run a daycare and I start out having the kids line up and I hold the pup, as we walk the line getting pets and hugs from he different children. The next day we let puppy down until she jumps up or bothers one of the kids, I pick her up and she goes outside and away. I did this daily with my pup until she behaved herself for longer periods of time. No damage done to the kids and puppy loves everybody. Now she is 14 weeks old, bites almost everyone/everything but their is one child who she never bothers. She gets a minute or 2 with a few kids a day so she doesnt get overwhelmed or overwhelm my kids. When the child that the puppy likes, is here alone, I let her in more to play since they get along so well. Plus all day the pup is outback listening to all of the kid noises and smelling them when she somes in. When the weather is nice the bigger kids like to play outside with the puppy. So far no complaints from the kids or the pup, if so I would sepperate. I'm pretty strict with my kids though, they know me, my rules and that I take my dogs seriously. I have had a couple children start here that were affraid of dogs, now one of those little girls is the first one to ask if the puppy can come in. They have watched Baden grow from tiny to 94lbs, no 10lb pup could be scary after that. They learn allot from my 13 year old, who after school goes outside with her "following" and they clean fish tanks, rat cages and sometimes wash dogs.

I keep Baden away from the children unless he is in the back of the SUV. He has a bad habbit of knocking little people over or sticking his tail in their mouth. My kids love when I load the dogs up before school and they get to watch them run. One of my little boys made it his job to open the gate to let the dogs out and he even opened the back on the SUV for the dogs to load up. Whatever fits in my schedule I try to do. Kids are always coming and going so my scedules change and so do the needs of the dogs, as they age and some pass on. New pups arrive and children grow up and leave. It's an endless cycle but kids should learn to enjoy dogs and dog should learn to love children.

I agree held, its also not that your trying to teach the dog to love kids but more just giving the dog experience with the sights and sounds and movements of its surroundings.   No supprise's, nothing to fear, familiar.   Just taking a dog out in public and around city noise's, crowds, traffic, and other dogs is increasing their awareness.   You can even stage situation's.

But with the kids, you dont want small children pulling tails or hitting the dog at least not unless they are raised together.

My oldest boy at age four or so used to ride a big male and pull his ears, tail and even sit on him.  They loved each other and it was all good.  The dog would sit on my son when he had had enough..lol   Never a growl or a cross word.