How does your dog interact with kids?

[Ozfozz]

Cobain tolerates children. But gives me that "help me!" look when they get to be too rambunctious.
He has on 1 occasion nipped a kid in the leg no marks, but the pants were ripped. But the kid took his frisbee and ran around in circles. A little herding drive must have kicked in before I got the chance to control the situation.

Rigby is strange. In some situations she's great with kids and will beeline to them. In others, not so much. As with cats, rodents, and other small beings, I wouldn't ever fully trust her.

Oz likes babies. Kids try to pick him up which he's not a fan of with his bad back.

Ruby I have no idea.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Art really doesn't like little boys or any really fast moving/screaming kids. Though he would rather sniff and run away than anything else. But kids who are a little more reserved he tends to like, especially girls. We went to the dog park one time he went straight up to a family with 3 girls (5-10yrs) and jumped in one girls lap and gave her kisses. One of them asked him to sit and gave him a treat, so he followed by showing them all his tricks he could think of lol

Talon.....erm. "OHMYGODWTFisthatTHING?" basically sums it up. He wants to chase if they run and scream. He's been around a few and he is curious and sniffs them if they aren't being super noisy. I don't trust him around kids that's for sure. He hasn't really shown bhavior that suggests he'd bite them, but I doubt he'd hold back for to long if he was cornered.

 

[AmandaNola]

Ones she knows? Great. Gentle, patient, extremely tolerant, subdued and calm. When she's had enough, she just moves out of their reach.


With ones she doesn't know? Doesn't want one thing to do with them.

 

[Toller_08]

The Dobermans like the food that kids drop, but otherwise just observe and don't really care. They aren't huge fans of quick moving or grabby kids so pretty much just try to avoid after giving them a good sniff over. They aren't scared, but they really don't care to interact with children. Keira is really unbelievably tolerant of them though, oddly enough seeing as she's barely been around them except for a small handful that we know.

Dance doesn't like strange kids, just as she doesn't like people in general, but she thinks kids that she knows are fun unless they get too rowdy and then she'll bark at them because she gets a little worried. But mostly she thinks they're the world's best ball throwing, food dropping inventions.

Journey loves kids as she loves pretty much all people. I do have to watch her around super rowdy kids though, as she gets into control freak mode and will attempt to grab clothing in an attempt to stop them from being crazy or try to cut them off from their intended path. But she listens super well and leaves them alone as soon as I tell her to, and she's fine with just regular running and playing. Mostly she just hangs out with kids, cuddles, plays and really enjoys them. She's just really for the most part one of those quintessential all around perfect family dogs that people think of.

 

[JacksonsMom]

Jackson is pretty darn good with kids. He IS cautious around the more rambunctious 'strange' kids to him, but deals with my wild hyper 6 year old sister who runs around. He has always been great with my young siblings (now 10 and 6) and will prefer to go up to strange kids in public over adults (my guess is that they smell like food, or he thinks they always are going to drop food, as he learned with my siblings )

But yeah he seems to trust kids more than adults. I wouldn't leave him unsupervised, because I think if a kid tried to hit him or something like that, he may have the potential to growl, unsure about a bite, maybe. But overall he's really good with most kids. I will usually have unknown kids to him give him treats and have him do tricks. They get a kick out of it and Jackson really loves showing off and becomes more comfortable at the same time.

I've always loved this video to showcase his relationship with my sister. She was 3 here and is now 6. Excuse the messy room too.

[YOUTUBE]LaTcL8fq5So[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Julee]

Em adores children. She's super tolerant and lovey, no matter what the age.

Bloo has met a two year old and a five year old when we were trying to place her. She tripped the five year old and made him faceplant on concrete, whoops. I don't trust her, at this point, with any children. Maybe when she's older and settles more.

Shadow would just prefer all people didn't try to pet her, but she likes children far better than adults.

Copper is pretty indifferent, as she is with people as a whole.

For pet dogs, it's not the most important thing in the world to me. We don't plan on having kids. We're not fond of kids, don't really plan on having them in our home much.

 

[Torch]

Henry is awesome with children. I trust him around pretty much all ages and situations.

Rhys is still too young and wild. He LOVES kids, but perhaps a little too much lol. As a young puppy, he got a lot of socialization to young kids and would happily spend lengths of time being hugged and patted by little hands.

 

[Southpaw]

They're great. Juno and Lucy are completely trustworthy - they can be sat on, pulled on, whatever and they don't care. They like to snuggle in with kiddos.
Even Happy is fine overall, really.... she likes the attention and likes hugging and petting, she just doesn't do with being startled.

 

[Paviche]

Rowan *LOVES* kids. He loves people in general, but kids? That's a whole nother ball game. One time he saw a kid out the window of our car, waiting on the corner of the street where we were sitting at a red light, and actually started whining. Excitement whining is not a thing Rowan does if it doesn't involve prey. Honestly he's wasted on me that way because I don't want kids, and he'd be a FANTASTIC kid dog. He was wonderful with my little brother when we lived with him. His first family had 2 kids so he grew up around them.

Riff seems to really like kids too. I haven't had him around many, but I've seen him wiggle over them, and his last family also had a few kids. He's not as obsessed as Rowan, though, although it is nice because kids don't trigger his stranger danger sense at all. He's always happy to see them.

 

[Gypsydals]

Peewee was great around them. As he got older, he wasn't a big fan of toddlers and younger kids, as they all seemed to want to use him to steady themselves. But he would just get up and ask to be let out.
Ivan does not meet and greet kids. He is absolutely terrified of little girls. And as he's gotten older he just has no desire to met even the older kids. Would he bite if cornered? I believe he would. Which is why I rarely allow it anymore. And if I do we take it very slow and they have to listen to me. As for in the house, NEVER. That is where he is his worst.
Phoebe, seems to like kids, she's a bit unsure of them still at times. And will sit back and watch them for a bit given a chance. And then BAM next thing you know shes either laying next to them or following them around. LOL She is defiantly more comfortable around them if she can approach in her own terms and time.

 

[Saeleofu]

I got bit by both my childhood dogs. Once I was playing in the dogfood bin, and she got my toe in a mouthful of food. The other one was just a snappy little dog, period.

My parents' last GSD humped small children.

My dogs are both fantastic with kids and LOVE them, though Gavroche gets SUPER stressed when he knows my nephew is here and can't be with him. He's jumped in the pool to "save" my nephew many times, and constantly wants to be touching him. He starts panting and stressing and flipping out if my nephew is outside but within his view.

Whenever Logan's working and we pass by a kid, he wags his tail lol. He's WAY more gentle with kids than he is with adults.

 

[Slick]

Leo is nervous of small kids (5 and below). He will in general avoid them and definitely does not want them to touch him (though he will happily take treats or run after toys that they throw) .Because he actively stays out of their way (but is not directly fearful) I am not outrightly nervous having him around kids with supervision, while they are leaving him alone. However, I think that if he felt cornered, he could potentially nip.

I don't have much opportunity to work on it with him, since I am not around kids much with him (I see them a lot as an elementary teacher, but he is almost never around them). However, I feel that I will be able to sufficiently be able to work with him on it that I will be able to have him around my own children when I choose to have them.

 

[Tortilla]

Sally hated kids. She liked us as kids, but we never trusted her with other children .. she got kinda snappy when they invaded her space.

Seamus, however, LOVES them. His BFFs are my two little brothers, aged six and eight.

Whenever Seamus sees kids he gets super excited! Just loves them.

 

[Catsi]

Grace has a strong affection for kids. She has an uncanny knack of being quite gentle with kids, even though she is a boofhead, especially has she has matured. When she was younger I would have to watch out for her being a bit rough. She wasn't raised with kids, but has seen and befriended many of them.

Abby is a dog that I never wanted near children. She is still very uncomfortable with smaller children and toddlers and I just don't let her interact. She has made friends with an 8 year old though - a friend's child. It just took a bit of time and guidance for both Abby and the child and now they are great friends. And I must say that it made me unbelievably happy as a dog owner and friend that they now get along. And it makes my life and hers so much better because I don't have to manage/crate etc. Just supervise. If someone had have said to me a couple of years ago that Abby would be safe around a child I would've laughed. Credit to my friend who pushed the issue - I was very resistant to it at first, but I'm glad we all made the effort. I would do the same for other kids as well, but it depends on many things - the child, the parents etc. I'll never deliberately put Abby in a situation where she feels very stressed and could potentially harm a child.

 

[OhHappyDogs]

We encounter lots of kids when we're out on our walks. Krystal loves being petted by kids who live with dogs, because they're comfortable with her and respect her (respect is important to a Westie), and play with her.

Since she's so cute and gentle, and very much small kid size, she gets approached by kids of all ages wanting to pet her. In those cases I step in and "manage" the situation, positioning Krystal and the child, showing the child how they can pet her on her back and rump (they always want to pet her face.) Krystal's got the drill down, so she's cool with the possibility of being the first dog many kids have ever petted. I always look at it as an opportunity to give kids and their parents good experiences with dogs.

 

[Tazwell]

Fleetwood seems to really enjoy children. I have to be a little careful though, because were not really around kids often enough for me to teach him to tone it down a bit. He is never cautious around them, or wary or hesitant-- he goes right for the face for a lick. Then he 'takes a bow', and rolls over for them to scratch his belly- waving his claws in the air. I'm scared he'll scratch someone.

He did a presentation for a Girl Scouts troop once and he was in heaven! He also did a presentation for a senior group, and, not so much. Tough crowd. LOL!!

Adrian is scared of kids. But getting better.

 

[Slick]

Went to the dog park today (not busy, just 5 dogs), and a mom and her 3 year old show up with their dog. Mom proceeds to start talking with another adult, while the 3 year old runs around the park after dogs :yikes:

Leo stayed well clear, so I just kept an eye on the kid, and tried to stay on the opposite side of park with him, since Leo was having a good time and I didn't want to up and leave.


But SERIOUSLY???? You don't bring your small child to a dog park with dogs you don't know, and then proceed to not watch him! That is just a disaster waiting to happen. I was so miffed.

 

[Oko]

Went to the dog park today (not busy, just 5 dogs), and a mom and her 3 year old show up with their dog. Mom proceeds to start talking with another adult, while the 3 year old runs around the park after dogs :yikes:



Leo stayed well clear, so I just kept an eye on the kid, and tried to stay on the opposite side of park with him, since Leo was having a good time and I didn't want to up and leave.





But SERIOUSLY???? You don't bring your small child to a dog park with dogs you don't know, and then proceed to not watch him! That is just a disaster waiting to happen. I was so miffed.

Ahhh that makes me very happy kids under ten aren't allowed in my local dog park and it's enforced.

 

[JazzyTheSibe]

Ahhh that makes me very happy kids under ten aren't allowed in my local dog park and it's enforced.

At one of our dog parks, you have to be 13 or older.

 

[DJEtzel]

I'm just glad I can kick people out or yell at them for not watching their children at the park. It's only happened a few times (and once resulted in the picture of Frag and the little boy seen here!) but it's nice to have the power to say "Grab your child and keep him within 5 ft of you or you're going to have to leave!"