Kids and Dogs
It is very important for you to watch people around your pets. Kids and even adults don’t know or remember pets are real life creatures and not a stuffed animal. They require personal space just like us.
Children tend to hang onto dogs, squeeze their necks, pull ears/tails, step on them, carry them around like their a toy, invade their personal space etc. Dogs are family but they are still animals, they can tolerate so much. Of course you can have a dog experience all these things and they can never have an issue with it, but it doesn’t mean that’s okay!
Show children what’s an appropriate way to interact with your pets.
Allow your dog to have their own space for peace and quiet if they get overwhelmed. Dogs cannot tell you “Hey I don’t like this” or “I’m not comfortable right now”. Your dog may growl or bare teeth, a child may not understand those signs and keep pushing your dog past their limits. If a dog were to react by snapping or even biting a child when they’ve made multiple warnings, most of the time people will blame the dog but in reality the dog was pushed and pushed and pushed to react this way (obviously this is not the only case).
Imagine every time you see one of your cousins they give you a huge unwelcomed hug, you ask them to “please stop” then they squish your face you say “get off” then they pinch your cheeks and pull your hair. The next time you ask them to stop you might not be so nice. You’ll hate seeing them because they do this every time but you know they don’t listen to you so you may do something more drastic next time they come near you.
Wrangler is not amused at the sound of that situation.
I’ve had clients bring their kids to class and they are all over the dog hanging on their neck invading the dogs space and the dog will try to get away or give calming signals left and right, and the parents don’t even notice. I’ve even see kids deliberately try to step on their dogs tail for attention. When you have children around your pets its very important to teach them what’s appropriate and what’s not. You MUST advocate for your pets like you would advocate for your children.
Get them Involved!
I usually recommend my client’s to bring their children so they can get involved with training their dog, and show them how to interact with them. When they see that they can ask their dog to do commands and they respond it helps create a relationship between the two, it also helps show children what they could be doing instead of acting like a monkey and hanging from their neck or pulling their ears. lol. Educate your children, niece/nephews, friends kids, neighbors kids, anyone and everyone! They might learn something new!
Do’s and Don’ts
Never bother a dog while resting
Never chase a dog who is trying to get away
Never bother a dog while their eating or chewing a bone
Never touch a dog you don’t know, always ask the owner/handler first
Never back a dog in a corner or somewhere they cant escape if their uncomfortable
Never hit, kick, pull on a dog
Never put your face in a dogs face
Always let the dog come to you, if they don’t they aren’t comfortable yet
If your scared don’t scream and run just walk away
Remember they are still animals.
