Socializing Children with Dogs

Children and dogs can be a beautiful thing. Both are social animals and can provide years and love and companionship for each other. However, it’s important to make sure they are properly socialized with each other before allowing unsupervised contact. This is for the safety of both the dog and the child.

• Start Young

The easiest way to train a dog or a child is to start young. Providing a good base of “do’s” and “don’ts” for both of them will go a long way in proper socialization and safe contact throughout their lifetimes. It is easier to teach good behavior right from the start, rather than try to correct bad behavior later on. The best possible scenario is to introduce a puppy to an infant and allow them to learn and grow together.

• Teach Respectful Boundaries

Lesson number one should always be to teach your pup respectful boundaries when it comes to your infant. Only allow the puppy to get close to an infant with supervision and teach it to retreat upon command with your voice. This is extremely important, as there will be times when you will not be able to get to the dog and child to physically separate them and you need to be able to rely on voice control.

As your infant gets older and becomes more able bodied, teach them to retreat upon command with your voice as well. It’s not always the animal that creates a bad interaction and you need to be able to have both retreat in a stressful situation.

Teach boundaries to both your pet and your child. Don’t allow your dog dominate your child in any way. Eating and sleeping zones should be a safe zone for both dog and child. Don’t allow either to invade those spaces without welcome.

It is never a good idea to let your dog and child play face-to-face. Dogs play with their mouths. Even a well-socialized dog can unintentionally hurt a small child with their teeth -simply with the simple act of barking during play. Dogs also defend themselves with their mouths. So even as adults, face-to-face contact is risky behavior.

• Movement

Expose your dog to all types of handling and movement at an early age. Although it’s not recommended to allow your child to scream and run around your dog, reality is that it will happen. Therefore, you want to teach the dog that he or she will be safe from this movement or any other type of movement. This includes bicycles, skateboards and other moving objects.

Teaching your dog that it will be safe from these movements also comes with the responsibility of keeping them safe from the movements. Therefore, teach children not to strike or jump on your dog. Also teach them to keep a respectable distance from the dog with moving objects to keep both of them out of harm’s way.

• Don’t Let the Anyone Corner Your Dog

The most important thing to remember about socialization with any animal – dogs and human included – is to never allow anyone to corner another living animal. If a dog retreats to a corner, he or she is looking for a safe zone where it is protected on as many sides as possible. If you approach and the dog feels threatened, the results can be disastrous.

Equally important, don’t allow a child to get a strangle hold on your dog. However unintentional, when a child wraps their arms around the neck of a dog – even in an act of affection – it often frightens the animal. Even more unfortunate is when the dog tries to pull away and the child tightens the grip to keep a hold of the dog; thereby unintentionally strangling the dog. At this point the dog is fighting for air and may have no alternative other than to react with physical force to break free.

• Repetition and Common Sense

The best socialization routine for your dog and your children is frequent, supervised and controlled interactions dominated with common sense. Allow and encourage safe physical contact; prevent and discourage rough interaction that could quickly escalate into an altercation.

For specific training tips for your dog and your children read, “Puppy Behavior Basics,” posted by The Human Society of the United States. This article provides in depth advice for training through the stages of your puppy’s growth from 2 weeks to 18 months. With early training and socialization, you’ll have a good foundation that can make cherished moments for a lifetime.

Enjoy more pet articles from Terry Mulligan:

Save Money by Grooming Your Dog at Home
Are Table Scraps Really Bad for Your Dog?
Tips and Facts on Caring for Finches


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