need help with kids that are scared of dogs

[¤«Kríštý»¤]

My sister in law has 3 foster kids at her house, and they are all terrified of bama, he's only 15 weeks, and not that big yet, but they are so scared of him, and he wants to play with em, everytime they are outside playing, he wants to run over there and play, but as i said they are scared of him. can anyone help me? i don't want to not let him go play because i don't want him to think that he can never play or be around other people,kids most espeacially, my hubby and i are wanting kids also. Especailly when he gets grown. the kids are 3,4, and 5. Is there any way that i can get them used to each other? nothing i've tried has helped at all. oh and my sis in law lives right next door, not 20 yards from my own house. can anyone help ?would truely appreciate any help at all.
thanks in advance,
Kristy Brian and Bama

 

[VTbxrFan]

Start by trying to introduce the kids to the puppy one at a time after the puppy has been well exercised and will maybe be ready for quieter play. I think the puppy will be more excitable with all of the kids present at one time, and as soon as one child starts getting nervous, the others will feed off of that and get nervous too.

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

When I first got Maggie we lived next door to a family which had a 3 year old girl and a 5 year old boy. The boy and girl loved Maggie and always asked if they could pet her. The kids parents said is was ok if we were careful.

What I did (because the little girl was also frightened of Maggie's playfulness), was to have the children sit down quietly, then I would pick up Maggie and hold her in my hands and place her in each child's lap. I would be able then to control the wiggling and jumping behaviors of Maggie (she was a very young pup at the time), and the little children could gently pet her head and back, and so forth. But, I always made sure I had a good grip on Maggie and if she tried to jump or nip or anything, I could pull her away and protect the child from any injury or scratch or nip. It worked just fine. We kept the encounters very short as well, just a minute or two in each child's lap, then the next child.

Maggie learned very quickly to be gentle with the children, she stopped jumping on them or trying to get in their faces and would sit nicely and let the children pet them after a couple of weeks of this. And the little girl and boy would always beg me when they saw us out to "let Maggie sit in my lap!" It was very cute and both Maggie and the children learned how to behave around each other.

Good luck.

 

[¤«Kríštý»¤]

thanks for the help, I'll try both of your suggestions, and hope that it works thanks again for the advice
Kristy Brian and Bama

 

[OlaMoto]

it may be good idea to expose your pup

to other children who are not afraid of him. One's that are very playful with him and love to horse around, this is in addition to the children that you are talking about. I'm sure he can sence the hesitation and fear of these children and it's probably in his best interest to meet several children who are not afraid of dogs so that he gets a good understanding of out little humans.


Since he's still little a good place to take him (on leash that is) is to a children's park. Walk around, but not on the play structures this way the kids that like puppies can come to him. You'd be amazed at how many positive experiences that he can have with children.

Good luck!

 

[Chris W.]

training helps

My first Boxer, Bob, helped several kids get over their fear of children. Tho I had to teach him to not jump on them (which I feel is the number one cause of those kids that do have fear) and generally had to teach him to remain calmer when around smaller children.
IMO I would not recommend EVER leaving your dog alone with children unsupervised.(not saying that you do or would ever) I can't tell you how many times I've heard of family members, neighbors or friends children getting nipped and a huge ordeal occurs usually resulting in the dog being put down or a lawsuit. I believe those close to you are capable of not forgiving any dog that could even accidentally hurt their child. Especially if there is no one there to stick up for the dog, most people don't care if their child was tormenting the dog or not, they believe that no matter what, your dog should not bite or nip.
I'm guilty of this myself, knowing full well Bob would NEVER hurt a child, but why put him through something like that as well? I allowed my neighbors 5yr old to come play in my yard with him until I caught her jamming a little chair in my dogs face playing lion tamer.
On the other hand, I do feel it is a great socializing experience for a pup to become desensitized from panicked screaming waving hand children :D

 

[Chuggy_dog]

Know how you feel

my dog oscar is sweet and loves kids but when we first got him, I was scared to death of dogs! but, my mom would hold him and i would pet him and let him get my scent, and learned to realize that when his tail wagged that he was happy! I advise you give the kids little bits of advice and info! let them get to know your dog!!

 

[jaimie]

My neighbors kids were afraid of my Boxers-as well as every other dog, so when they were around I would put my girls on a leash and have lots of treats for the kids to give my girls. I would let the kids approach my girls and give them the treats in the process. Now, the neighbors kids love dogs and they just got one of their own this past summer. I will admit it didn't happen overnight, it took MONTHS to get the kids even comfortable enough to approach the dogs without the leash on. SO, there is hope the kids just need time to get comfortable with Bama-as well as Bama with the kids. Good Luck, let us know how it goes.

Jaimie

 

[¤«Kríštý»¤]

Thanks everyone for the great advise, I've been away for a while now. I'll be sure to keep ya'll updated on the progress with the kids and bama. Ya'll are so helpful, thanks a bunch
Kristy