How to get your dog used to being around kids

This is a serious matter to deal with. If you are having extreme difficulty you should seek out a professional.

Did you know that back in 90’s and early 2000’s that ACS had a lot of cases where dogs were killing kids.

I don’t say this to scare you, but this is no joke.

If you need help with training click on the link below.

Now a lot of people trust their dog enough to leave it with their kid alone and then an accident happens.

Keep in mind, babies are small and do weird things to dogs like riding them like a pony or pulling their tail.

Dogs do not usually intentionally want to hurt your kid, but something might of triggered it.

I’d invite you to look up the story of a family pit bull that killed a 5 day old infant.

This happened in Dunnellon, FL. The mother told investigators that she was in the other room when the family dog leaped up and attacked the infant. The infant died sadly.

75% of the victims of dogs attack on humans were under 1 years old.

Imagine if you were in this situation.

I don’t even want to think if this was my child.

And I don’t want you to have to either.

This story is not unique as this has happened to a lot of families.

Now I didn’t just go looking up this info.

I kinda stumbled upon this idea while I was working out at the boxing gym.

Everybody who knows me knows I can talk about dogs forever. In this case, the manager asked me a simple question about her dog being aggressive at weird times. Her dog even bit her son and this worried her.

He was upset because he thought that if he took care of the dog then why didn’t the dog love him.

I see a huge flaw in this thinking.

You must teach your dog to respect you. The loving part can come after.

How you live with your dog

This is what it all comes down to.

Many people live poorly with their dog and wonder why their dog doesn’t listen.

Hey! back up off my child!

That won’t be you though because after this article you will know what to do.

1. Structure

   This is one of the most important thing you can give your dog. A lot of anxiety in dogs comes from not knowing what to expect. If you have a different routine everyday then your dog will never learn what to expect.

   It is very important that you have a schedule for your dog.

   What time does your dog eat breakfast?

   Where does your dog supposed to go after you guys go for a walk?

   Are they allowed on your bed?

   What time do you put them in the crate?

   These are some questions you should ask to get a better idea of structure.

   Not only will it make it easier for your dog, but also easier for you.

   You probably are busy and have enough things going on in your life.

   Am I right?

   I want your mind to be eased just like your dog’s mind.

   If you are okay, I know your dog will be too.

2. Desensitizing before the baby gets here or around the kids slowly

   If you leave things to chance then there is a chance bad things can happen.

   It is important to teach your baby or child how to be around your family pet, but also teach your family pet how to behave.

   Get your dog used to strollers. Take your dog near an area where there will be a lot of babies, but not in direct contact, such as outside of a schoolyard.

   Also get your dog used to a baby whining.

   This is the most annoying noise for me, so I’m sure it will irritate your dog.

   No worries!

   Just put your dog around a lot of baby noises. You can even buy or play a recording on your computer.

   Also get your dog used to kids pulling on your dogs tail( although I do not advise your child does this).

   Someone mentioned to me that they grabbed their dogs tail, put their fingers in their dog’s mouth, and would frequently take the bowl away from their dog to densensitize him to these things.

   My response to that is that the dog will respect you , but maybe not your child.

   What happens if you kids grab your dog’s bowl away and your dog gets upset. There is nothing your child can do to defend themselves.

   Would you take this chance?

   We have to go beyond this and teach your dog something I will explain below.

   How to get your dog to respect your kids

   KIds are off limits.

   I know this is the obvious, but few people actually teach their dogs this.

   Most people pick a dog with a easy going temperament and expect them to be calm around the baby.

   I have yet to see someone who has a hyper dog think its okay to leave their dog with their child.

   This is why accidents occur.

   Become relevant to your dog and claim the space around your dog.

   This is so important and many people don’t realize this.

   Instead of claiming space they want their dog to be a walking pinata or something to keep their couch warm.

   When you claim space you are telling your dog what they can and cannot claim.

   If this sounds confusing I will give you some examples to help you.

   Ex#1: When the mailman comes to your front door and your dog barks to send the mailman away- your dog is claiming your home as their space.

   Ex#2: When your dog is on the couch and you tell them to get off, but they growl at you-you dog is claiming the couch as their space.

   Ex#3: When you and your dog are on a walk and your neighbor walks up to you, but your dog lunges at them and shows teeth- your dog is claiming you as their space.

These are just a few examples, but i know you get the point.

At the simplest level, it comes down to claiming the space of the child.

There are 3 things you want to do when you are claiming space for your child.

1. Nurture calmness

   Do not get your dog so excited.

   Also be mindful of objects that gets your dog excited.

   These could be balls, ropes, water bottle, your kids’ toys, etc.

   If they excite your dog I would put them away so they don’t get too aroused.

2. Create a bubble around your child that your dog can not enter

   You are not going to let your dog play with you baby. (maybe with your older child you would)

   Create an imaginary circle around your baby. When your dog heads over in that direction, remind them that the baby is off limits while at the same time nurturing calmness.

   How do you do this?

3. Become so relevant in your dog’s life

   You should be able to move your dog when they are in the middle of the doorway. As soon as you walk toward your dog they should back up.

   This is called respecting space.

   If you dog just stands there or challenges you, then you need to work on teaching the dog how to yield to you. Check out the picture above again and you will see how this is done.

If you have any more questions click on the link below.

Dogs are not kids... But my dog training principles can be used with both

I know this might make some people feel strange. Especially since there are two different types of people. First off you have those who dress their dog up like making their labrador retreiver wear a firefighter outfit including the hat. I see them all the time and its cute but annoying. They have a hard time viewing their dog as an animal and not as a child. Then there is those on the other end. Those that punish their dog in a way that is inappropiate. For instance, there was a client who had taken me up on my free consultation (who doesn’t its free) and he wanted to stop his 11 week old puppy from barking. He knew that I had did e collar work and that I was a fan of the ecollar. He made a suggestion I would never make and thats to use the ecollar to stop the barking. I was disturbed. For 1 the puppy is to young and 2 the puppy does not understand what we are asking. I don’t teach with the ecollar I just reinforce already known behaviors.

It is clear that dogs and kids are not the same, but my way of training is not about whether it is a dog or child rather about how you love them. I don’t have a child but I can say I loved every dog I had with all my heart and I wanted to see them reach their full potential. A lot of things I learned through protection sports about building a confident dog( not to be confused with aggressive at everything that walks by). These are a few ideas that I keep in mind when I am training a dog.

Being fair

I always believe in being fair to the dog. This includes making sure the dog understands what I am asking before I assume he understands and gve the dog a correction. I see this so much with dog owners. They phrase “ he knew what he was doing” is one i hear a lot. But the question is how can we be sure if the dog understands. Most people assume and believe because they understand what they are asking quite easily then their dog should too. Potty training is an excellent example. The old put your dog’s nose in its crap and hit their nose with a newspaper after. This is old school training that some people still put to use. The idea is that the dog knew not to use the bathroom in the house but still did it. This is the exact moment when i start to ask the dog owners questions. How old is the puppy? Has he/she ever used the bathroom outside? What is the puppy’s schedule like? I will prowl until it comes out that its actually not the puppy’s fault. He was never taught how to be potty trained. Yes dog’s do have innate traits, but a lot of stuff has to be taught to the by their owner. Dogs who aren’t taught but are scolded will learn to sneak and poop somewhere and walk around with their head down, leaving you to know that they pooped somewhere in the house but you have to find it. I prefer to keep my dog honest.

The equviolent to this is a kid who is beatened or shamed for using the bathroom in their diaper instead of telling their parents they had to go. Usually the reason they dont tell their parents is because they scolded and shamed the child in the first place. Another example is when little boys are scared of the dark. Now I will talk about how i feel you should work through this later, but for now lets talk about the not being fair part. This is no knock to moms but I notice this with moms who try to make their sons tougher. The boy is screaming and crying and runs to mommy. The mom tells the son “ stop crying big boys dont cry”. What she probably meant was grown men don’t cry, which is probably sterotypically true. But that is a boy and not a man. It is unfair to place those expectations on him.

Reward and Punishment

This is the way you let a dog know that their choices matter and has consequences. If the dog does something good then you reward the dog with a treat ( play time, or the chance to bite a tug can also be a reward for some dogs). If a dog voluntarily does something I don’t like then a punishment is added as a consequence. This makes sense when you think about it. You wouldn’t do the opposite of rewarding bad behavior, but it happens. Neglect is also know as extinction. This means that if you ignore a behavior it will go away. This sounds simple and easy with dogs, but with humans it is different. That screaming baby that you have to ignore if they are doing for attention becomes so unbearable that you give in and give the child whatever they want. Or how about that little girl who wants to please daddy, but everytime he comes home from work he ignores her. This can make her less likely to continue this behavior and give up. The moral of the story is that kids, like dogs need to know that their choices matter. That 35 year old drunk who wrecks his parents car for the 15th millionth time never learned that his choices matter. He was probably reward( giving the car) for his bad behavior(drinking and driving).

Working through something to make the dog or child more confident

As I mentioned earlier I learned a lot of this stuff through protection work. In protection work you want a confident dog that is not afraid of anything yet has impulse control. So how would I handle the little boy who is afraid of the dark? If he starts screaming and crying I would work through it with him. I will be his coach. I will go back in the room with him and sit there until he falls asleep. I will build his confidence and tell him he has nothing to fear. How about the child who pooped in their diaper? I would explain to them to let me know when they have to go. I would not shame them or scold them as best as I could ( none of us are perfect). How would I be fair to a kid and a dog? SImple I will explain the rules and teach them the rules. If you break the rules their are consequences, but I will also reward good behavior like getting a 100 on a test or standing up to a bully. And if the kid is afraid I will WORK THROUGH IT WITH THEM!!!!