Mind your Manners: Children with Dogs

It is extremely important to set rules and boundaries with children at a young age. I want to talk about  a recent video I watched on a FB group where I am a member.  In this video which was just over a minute long a young 1 ish yr old boy was being allowed to sit on a 7 month old puppy, bounce on the pups back, grab its face and attempt to bite her nose, pulled her ears so hard the child fell backwards and this all went on while the mother videoed it. In the post the mother mentions how usually she doesn’t let her son play that rough and she hoped no one would take offense. Some comments Loved the video and thought how cute it was and mentioned how if the pup was hurt it would move away. But that was not possible with the way this child was all wrapped around her. 

The pup had NO escape and based on how the child was acting with this pup it was obvious that this has always been allowed to happen without much scolding.

If that pup growled or did an air snap which all would have been completely appropriate that pup would have been reprimanded NOT the boy. Puppies and dogs use their voices and mouth to stop things that hurt or to warn when they have had enough. 

In the above described interaction if rules and boundaries  are not taught to the child and the child continues to treat the dog in this manner it will most likely result in a bite and this pup will either be rehoused or worse euthanized. 

In the 20 years I have been training dogs I have seen too many incidents like the one mentioned below where the dog was just giving the appropriate warnings and they were ignored and the dog bit the child. In every single one it could have been prevented if the parents set real rules and boundaries for their children. And intervened when they saw their dog was uncomfortable and trying to move away from the child.

About a year and a half ago I was sent a pm at 10:30 at night. It was from a woman whose 8 month old Griff bit their 2 year old girl on her hand and face. From what she explained it was all the parents fault the video she sent from a nest cam( which I don’t have permission to share) showed the toddler come into the room where the pup was sleeping on the couch and basically do a running dive bomb and jumped directly on the dog. The dog jumped up and got off the couch and went to its bed and laid there. The child went over and sat on the dog then laid on him. The dog air snapped and NO ONE MADE THE CHILD GET OFF.

Then the dog moved again 3 rd time and laid in between the living room and dinning room the child went over and grabbed his face and pulled the dog hard enough that the child fell into a sitting position. 

This is when the bite to the hand happened. NO ONE STOPPED THE CHILD.

Then the child got up and I thought that was it. But no she goes behind the dog and Pinched him and that is when he spun his head around and did a AIR SNAP but caught her in her face with his canine tooth and basically scratched her under her jaw and on her cheek.

The husband beat the dog and threw it in its crate and demanded the dog be taken away that night. This was done out of rage and should Never have happened. All this could have been prevented if they just advocated for their dog when he made every attempt to move away from their child.

The wife drove from VA to MD and I met her in MD and picked up the dog. He was a mess and had peed and pooped all over the place. She handed me $3,000 to take the dog to the vet because she thought he might have broken bones from the beating She heard but did not witness.

I took him to my vet immediately and they did xrays, an ultrasound, blood work and gave meds and thankfully he had no broken bones he was very  badly bruised and very sore. 

I bathed him and he spent 3 weeks with me and Blaze while I rehabbed him. I found him a great local home where I spent the next 4 months helping him over come his fear of men and children. He is healthy and very happy and a nice well blanched dog now. 

I’m sharing these two incidents with you to drive home how wrong it is to allow a child to treat a dog in this manner and under the guise that they are "best friends".

The bond between a child and dog can be a beautiful one and must be built on mutual respect. The following rules should be established to prevent anything from happening:

1. Teach your dog the Place command and make this their safe zone. Teach the child not to bother the dog when it is on its bed. If it is a baby crawling never allow the baby to crawl on the bed or near it. Have the dog on its place bed when you are feeding the baby or changing the baby’s diaper.
2. Teach your dog to leave the baby toys alone and always give the dog a toy it is allowed to have. Never allow a child to take anything out of the dogs mouth. Always give bones or long lasting chews in an area away from the child and when the dog is done remove the chew and put it away.
3. Never allow your child to sit or lay on the dogs back, this can cause harm and prevents the dog from moving away. The dog views this as a very vulnerable position to be put in and can become defensive and cause harm to the child even though all the warnings it would be giving would be appropriate.
4. Teach the child to use open hands when petting and always have the child pet the dog under supervision and along its back or under chin. Toddlers are at eye level and some dogs may feel uncomfortable so it is best to have the child stand sideways when petting the dog and have the parent with the child to steady them. Never allow the child to pull ears, hair, face, or tail.
5.  If the baby is crawling move the water and food bowls to an area where the baby cannot get to it. Never allow the child to play in or near the water or food bowl.  
6. When the baby is mobile always have the dog on its place bed or up on a couch and do not let the dog follow the baby around while they are crawling. Once the child is walking teach the dog to give distance or have the dog on its place bed or in an area behind a gate. 

Please understand I love children as much as I love dogs and want both to be happy and safe.