Dog not liking children?

[Luci07]

I will preface this by saying I have not had an issue or even a near miss. I am being cautious, particularly as I have previously had a rescue dog who hated children under 10 (was burnt by children).

Last dog had a particularly rough start, dumped into a pound with siblings at 6 weeks and terrified. She is very noise sensitive. At a show in the summer, she growled at a group of children screaming and running past. She seemed very wary when my friends 5 year old came into the house (dog was being held lightly by me)

I treat her now like a dog that dislikes children, but do wonder if its more to do with the noise and screaming of a small child rather than an actual dislike.

Just interested to see what people think. I will stress again before I jumped on, that for safety sakes, I now treat her as a dog not safe with small children.

 

[Dobiegirl]

I take the same stance with my Dobes, they have never growled at them but I know they have never had any experience of them before coming to me. All my family and friends children are grown up so they never came into contact with them so being such huge dogs they could potentially do a lot of damage.Pip our Lancashire Heeler was bought as a pup and she was taken to meet my daughters boyfriends family which had small children, she loves them and is safe as houses but I would never put the Dobes in a position with very small children. They have met children 10years plus and been fine, I think the thing with little children they scream and run about erratically which can un-nerve some dogs. Better to err on the side of caution is my motto.

 

[Booboos]

I think you are being very wise to treat her as a potential danger to children that way you'll never put her in a position where she will hurt someone.

If you suspect the problem is loud/high pitched noises why not try some desensitisation? Use recordings, play them at a very low level for a short while so she finds them easier to to,erase and associate them with a reward.

 

[stencilface]

Ditto Booboos, just desensitise her if you can just to make life easier for her, not necessarily so you can take her to a kids party. I bought a book on How to Tell Your Dog You're Pregnant, and it has a downloadable CD of noises to play to get them used to it. I never downloaded it as I realised reading the book that my big boy would be no bother with kids. He has a look of exasperation some days, but I trust him completely -although I do stop mini SF climbing on him - she'd ride him if she was allowed to! They have an agreement worked out I think regarding food dropped on floor and hair pulling.....

 

[MyBoyChe]

I have 2 ess and a jrt, the little jack was brought up with a 6 year old child in the house and loves children, although we dont have any and dont have any visit us regularly. The 2 springers came from a child free breeder and obviously havent had much exposure to them. Whenever we meet any they are both wary, they are fine if the children are quiet and calm but dont like shouty, screamy, hyper active children (neither do I). I dont walk in places where there are likely to be many children and if we do meet any I always catch the springers, keep them close to me and dont allow any children to touch them, the jrt loves to make friends and have his tummy tickled so Im quite happy to let him be fussed. Im quite sure its the noise and general shoutiness of the children that is the issue, not the fact that they are children per se. I always find that if the children have been brought up properly around dogs and been taught how to behave, there is no problem. I absolutely think you are doing the right thing, dont set the dog up to fail and youll be fine.

 

[Luci07]

Thanks guys. I will put some work into the whole desensitisation process though. Other 3 dogs are rock solid with kids so it's a pain!

 

[Dry Rot]

I've always said dogs have more sense than we give them credit for.

Having said that, both my German shepherds love children. But if I let them have more than one a week, they tend to put on weight.







(I've been wanting to post that one for some time! The clue is in the screen name).

 

[chillipup]

I've always said dogs have more sense than we give them credit for.

Having said that, both my German shepherds love children. But if I let them have more than one a week, they tend to put on weight


(I've been wanting to post that one for some time! The clue is in the screen name).

Lol, my sentiments exactly

 

[silv]

H Ha, love it

I've always said dogs have more sense than we give them credit for.

Having said that, both my German shepherds love children. But if I let them have more than one a week, they tend to put on weight.







(I've been wanting to post that one for some time! The clue is in the screen name).