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" Are They Good With Children?"


Leema
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If children are good with them :)

This is my preferred answer. My breed can be great with kids, but a lot depends on the kids being well trained and managed themselves. As a general rule my breed isn't good with shrieking, sudden movements, rough-housing etc.

I feel very sorry for breeds that have a rep as being "good with kids" because some people expect them to put up with all sorts of stuff from the kids in lieu of proper supervision. For the dog's sake I don't push the "great with kids" angle, even tho' most are.

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My dog is amazing with children but that does tend to make me worry that non dog savvy children (& adults) assume that all dogs (esp GRs) are like that.

So I am always at pains to explain to patting children that yes, Honey is a very good girl, but not all dogs are as sweet as her & that they must always be very careful & gentle with any dogs they are allowed to pat.

That said, in the broad spectrum of breeds, if pushed to generalize, I would definitely recommend GRs as good with children. As a breed, all the ones I have met have had a lovely gentleness to them, even as silly puppies. My dog adores children & will happily sit & be cuddled by them for hours (she is particularly happy if they have food too... :laugh: )

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If children are good with them :)

You actually took the words right out of my mouth!! This is always my first reply :D .

If I think they will listen, I then go on to expand about appropriate supervision, management and training....

as well as discussing how children don't always understand what they are doing, act on impulse and can occasionally cause hurt without knowing or thinking (in more situations than with dogs).

I generally stress that the child will likely need just as much, if not more, training than the dog.

Edited by espinay2
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I agree - the key message needs to be that while the parents are (I hope) sound, no dog comes out of a box being good with kids.

The kids need to be taught how to behave. The dog needs to be taught how to behave. The adults need to get involved and supervise.

The other point is to actively socialise the dog with nice children while it is young. So it learns that children are not to be feared.

And never to leave the pup with unsafe kids, for the same reason.

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I say that typically the APBT if bred correctly is very good with children. As a breed they have been specifically bred AGAINST human aggression, have a high pain threshold and touch insensitivity meaning they are less likely to react if a child pulls their tail or falls on them accidentally.

HOWEVER as with any dog they must be supervised with children and children must be taught to respect and behave appropriately with dogs. Individuals in any breed may not be comfortable around children for a myriad of reasons so the dogs body language must always be watched (in any breed!)

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As a general rule pointers are great with kids but I always make a point of saying that it also depends on the child and the childs dog skills. My guys who have not been raised with kids have no issue with kids and a very tolerable of them, especially my older girl she LOVES kids. :thumbsup:

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We don't know ziggy's background but he seems very unsure around little kids, say up to about 7 or 8.

He can't get away from them fast enough if they are forward kids and want to pat the doggie.

We are working on it with my friends daughter who is 3 (they adopted Coco, staffy who is very confident girl). We get Hope to ask him to sit and she feeds him kibble. Then drop and he gets a bit more. She looks so funny when she says heel and walks with the kibble in her hand and he is almost crawling along beside her to smell the kibble...

It's a very slow process but it does seem to be working, he no longer flips out on lead to get away from them...

In saying that, there is no way I would allow him to be around little kids on his own...

It would be nice to have more test kids :D

My old stafford was awesome with kids, they could do anything to him and he would come back for more. Until he got sick and older, then he was less tolerant but was always up for a pat and then he would just go off and have a sleep.

Friends of ours had 2 little girls who were terrified of dogs. Ollie used to sit in the hall while they watched tv in the lounge, then he would lay on the floor near the lounge. About 6 months after they started coming around, we come inside one day and here he was sitting between them on the lounge, looking oh so pleased with himself... They have a staffy of their own now...

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I generally dont like children patting Gus, not because he isnt friendly but because I havent got control of his jumping up yet so he would knock over a small child..... if he isnt to excited I will get the children to ask him to sit first and tell them to approach him slowly.... but usually I just get them to pat Nala instead because she is excellent with children and very calm virtually bomb proof

Edited by TheCheekyMonster
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I usually tell them that the Lappies are generally good with kids even when not heavily socialised with them however they should never be left unsupervised with them as you never know what the kid may do.

The kelpies can be a lot more high drive so it depends a lot on the age and training of both kids and dogs!

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I am continually amazed at how tolerent most dogs of any breed are with people in general. :)

I think education, supervision and socialisation are definitely the key. Eg. Teach your children not to scream, run around squealing and raise their hands in the air. Give dogs their 'space' and don't hug them face to face. (I know lots of dogs like hugs but this is a blanket safety rule for the unknown quantity.)

Edited by LizT
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I am continually amazed at how tolerent most dogs of any breed are with people in general. :)

I think education, supervision and socialisation are definitely the key. Eg. Teach your children not to scream, run around squealing and raise their hands in the air. Give dogs their 'space' and don't hug them face to face. (I know lots of dogs like hugs but this is a blanket safety rule for the unknown quantity.)

:thumbsup:

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My dog's a mud blood, not a race so no questions about it's race being good with children or not have come up.

I have only been asked twice if my dog's good with kids, both times my response was somewhere along the lines of i guess it depends how good your children are with dogs. A couple nods and a confused grin and that's pretty much the end of that question.

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I know dog bites are complex things, and the question 'are they good with children' tries to make simple a very complex matter.

How do you answer?

I could write an essay response to this question, but I need to add something simple to my repertoire that gets a point across without sending anyone to sleep. :laugh:

"Not necessarily.

It depends on the dog and the owner; what the dog's base temperament is and how it is raised by its owner.

Some are good with children, some are absolutely not."

Edited by lilli
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With Border Collies I explain they need a certain temperament and the dog needs to be raised with children. Sometimes there will be a several in a litter that suit a home with young kids other times there won't be any. The age of the children matters too. Softer dogs are no good with toddlers but fine with 6 years + depending on the nature of the kids. With toddlers you need a tougher middle of the road dog. This is why I totally disapprove of anyone definitely allocating puppies before at least 6 weeks. They need to be that old to work out the temperaments and personalities because they are all different.

I also warn them if they let the dog play excited chasings with the kids, the dog will probably herd them and nip them on the legs. If the kids want to play chasing games the dog needs to be locked up.

I'd agree with this in regards to my Aussie. She is fine with children she has met, but she does have a tendency to try and herd them and I supervise her VERY closely with any kids. My Anatolian just loves everybody but he can be too rough as he doesn't seem to realise how big he is.

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Guest Willow

When we had the two dogs,(SWF and Staffy), Kids would always want to pat the SWF, and steer clear of the Staffy, and when I used to aske them to leave the little one alone, but said they could happily pat the Staffy, I would get some "Are you sure??" looks from the mums....

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Guest donatella

When we had the two dogs,(SWF and Staffy), Kids would always want to pat the SWF, and steer clear of the Staffy, and when I used to aske them to leave the little one alone, but said they could happily pat the Staffy, I would get some "Are you sure??" looks from the mums....

It's weird isn't it! and most of the littlies i know (not all) aren't big fans of kids or being smothered, whereas the bigger guys (staffies, rotties etc), the ones mums might be weary off can't get enough of it!

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When we had the two dogs,(SWF and Staffy), Kids would always want to pat the SWF, and steer clear of the Staffy, and when I used to aske them to leave the little one alone, but said they could happily pat the Staffy, I would get some "Are you sure??" looks from the mums....

I've seen similar situations at parks/ playgrounds a few times. Funny how many people assume small, cute and fluffy = doesn't bite!

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I often get asked if my Elkhound is good with kids before parents allow their kids to pat him. When I walk my golden retriever, parents/kids rarely ask. They just walk over to pat her. Both my dogs are excellent with kids so I have no issues allowing unknown kids and infants to interact with them. But it is always closely supervised since kids can be unpredictable.

I would never, however, say that a breed is good with kids (though I assume breeds with a high tolerance and low drive would be generally better). For me its more about the individual dog. I don't have enough experience with a large number of dogs of the same breed to make any generalised breed based statement.

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