Teaching kids...

[mydreemdog]

Any ideas on teaching kids how to deal with my 28 lb puppy jumping on them? I have been working with Rookie using the 'off' command for jumping on us, and he is beginning to catch on. If I am there he is pretty good about 'off' with the kids too (with a few mistakes). My concern is that the children I am refering to are my Grandchildren and they are not here all the time. Should I continue to be the only one who gives the command even with the kids around until Rookie is completely trained?..or should I be teaching my Grandkids the command so they can show they are higher in rank in this pack than rookie is? All suggestions are openly and anxiously accepted.

 

[Lancerella]

I think that the more the better, so teach your kids, visitors, neighbors that if the puppy jumps, they are supposed to turn the back to the puppy, cross their arms and do not pay attention to him. Consistency and repetition is the key of any training.
Soon you will have a very well behaved and happy puppy, because he wil get much more attention when he behaves.

 

[Maxwell's Ma]

That is some good advise. I also have my grandson feed Max. He makes him sit and wait then lets him have the food. Max has treated him different since we started doing that.

Max will also start puppy school next week. Since our grandson lives with us we are taking him also. It will be good for my grandson to learn how to train a baby and also for Max.

 

[Brynn]

My son is very involved with my Dad's dogs. He feeds them put's them outside, tells them no when they do something they shouldn't. They listen to my son almost better then they listen to anyone else. I think it is very importnant that the kids be involved with every aspect of the dog.

 

[Chadwick]

I may sound crazy here - but I have found "off" a difficult one for boxers. They seem to need to be told to DO something, not just to NOT DO something. For example, "off": okay, I'm off, now what do I do? Hmm, how about jumping up? Alternative, command "sit": now I am sitting, I have something to do! I would encourage all visitors and grandkids to say "sit" and pet and lavish love and praise only on sitting dogs! We have done this with my in-laws OUT OF CONTROL jumping dogs, and whenever we walk through the door these maniac boxers all sit like perfect angels on their own accord! Consistency is the key - hope this helps!

 

[jimmyjones]

Kids rule

Ditto to all the above, we had our boxer puppy 4 weeks ago, he is now 14 weeks, we also have a 12 mth bengal cat and 3 year old daughter.

The first thing I did was set house rules, in my case they were mainly don't let my daughter pick him up he's only little and cute for a week or two pre mega growth spurt, nobody to let him put his paws on them (i.e. when sitting on the chair the dog would put his front paws on lur knees for attention - a dominant gesture) and no tug of war in the house (shame I know but I can't risk him grabbing her clothes or toys as she breezes around), my dh plays this when out walking - apparrently less competitive outdoors as it is considered more of a social interaction or prey instinct than a matter of dominance.

My daughter happily gets involved with care of the dog and they are becoming really close. First i asked her to tell him "off" and to fuss him when he obeyed, she went around for days checking he doesn't jump on furniture / people etc, she loved it - someone to legitimately boss around !! I would reinforce the command as she said it initially as he didn't listen to her, but with lots of other commands now coming from her, he listens ! She makes him sit EVERY time for a treat (the repetition is proving great for his obedience) and loves to pretend to eat his food (knows his place in the pack)...I also encourage her to brush him and bathe him etc, and to gently take her things from him (which he sometimes steals) - those things that help the puppy understand that we are leading the pack, and my girl loves to do these things as it beats dolls !

The only problem we have with them is that she occasionally will sneak him a treat off her plate when she thinks we aren't looking and will protest that he loves it so much when we catch her ! LOL (trying to avoid him begging) and she once fed him a whole bag of treats in an hour (hidden in her pocket) upsetting his tummy ! But to be honest letting her give him plenty of rewards for commands has gone along way towards building his need to please her !

Honestly she's better than we are with him as she's 3 and hardcore !!

We explained she should never ever shout at him or hurt him, this she has fully taken on board, if I'm getting irate with the pup, cat and girl, she'll gently remind me not to shout (she knows my tolerance levels by now obviously) and will trot off to find a distraction for the animals. She is a great puppy trainer, and the dog truly loves her for it !!

Today I came home to find her thoughtfully engaged in a giant jigsaw, the dog flopped beside her and periodically she'd reach her arm over to stroke him and tell him she loves him ! Beautiful.

Good Luck x

Jaycee .