How does your dog interact with kids?

[*blackrose]

I've been thinking about this lately.

My childhood dogs were all FANTASTIC with kids. Loupie *loved* people, but children had her heart. The reason she lived with us (and not my neighbor, who owned her) was because we kids were outside playing a majority of the time and she wanted to be with us.

Blackie and Rose would accept children with open arms and would offer none of the guard behavior they did towards adults. And while Rose didn't particularly enjoy childish behavior, she tolerated everything with aplomb. I remember when a young second cousin of mine was visiting when Rose was older. She hadnt been around a tot for the past 5 years or so, but she was so gentle and tolerant with him, even though when she first saw him she was like, "Dammit. *sigh* Please tell me he's not staying?" LOL
Blackie differentiated between "his" kids and "other" kids, we all fell under the "tiny humans to be loved and protected" category.

Chloe accepts children, but she also has a VERY short fuse and cannot be trusted around any child, because she will bite if she feels like it. But she also distinguishes between a child vs an adult in terms of her guardiness. She would attack an uninvited adult tresspassing...not so much a child.

Cynder could take or leave kids. She's polite like she is with everyone, but she doesn't enjoy them. Most are too loud for her and she avoids them. Abrams, however, LOVES kids. He melts when he sees them and in public he will seek out the attention of a child while ignoring the adult. He is super gentle with them, and the times he's heard a child crying he has gotten severely concerned to the point I was worried he was going to start barking at whomever the child was crying towards.

None of my dogs were actively socialized to young children. Blackie and Rose grew up with us, Chloe has limited experience (mainly with older children), Cynder lived with two boys before Michael adopted her, and Abrams was raised with a 2 year old up until I brought him home at 7 weeks.

So. How does your dog act around children?

 

[Elrohwen]

Watson can be hit or miss. I think he likes kids overall, but it's really sure how to read them sometimes because he doesn't interact with a ton of kids on a daily basis.

He's always very excited to see them and his eyes light up. He can tell which kids are confident and which are a bit nervous around him, and he's typically nervous if they are. He's just not sure about their body language and what they want from him. His response is to play bow and bounce away (and sometimes bark), so he's kind of deflecting the stress into play, but I know he's uncomfortable. The nervous kids will follow him around trying to pet him, but if he turns towards them they give off weird nervous signals and that whole interaction makes him very uncomfortable. I don't know why we seem to meet so many kids like that.

With kids who are confident and around dogs a lot, he will accept all sorts of manhandling and he loves physical contact. He'll seek out these types of kids over adults and get all wiggly.

 

[k9krazee]

At this point, Crossbone loves my almost 2 month old nephew. He took on the role of "diaper inspector" during his recent extended stay and would let everyone know when baby's diaper needed to be changed and enjoyed cuddling with my dad & baby in the chair, periodically licking baby's face.

I hope that he continues to do well with Liam as he grows.

ETA- he can be nervous around older kids. If they have food he'll do tricks for them, or play ball, or chase them around the yard--but if they are trying to interact with HIM he tries to avoid it. He doesn't do well with being cornered, chased or forced into interaction.

 

[DJEtzel]

Frag is my good boy in this department. He loves kids. SO MUCH. He was always around them as a puppy and I have all the trust in him around kids. He loves kids in classes when he's a demo dog, too.

Recon is absolutely petrified despite good socialization. He would certainly bite a child if cornered. Out and about sometimes depending on their size/what they're doing he is ok and wants to say hi. Sometimes he wants to run away very fast.

Patton is too young to care, still. He's been around quite a few kinds and does just fine.

 

[Sekah]

Megatron: Not well. Funnily enough she seems able to determine whether a child is a boy or a girl. Little girls will send her into barking fits. When she lived with my in-laws, little girls would come by for babysitting and loooooooved the dogs. I'm pretty sure Mega was pretty traumatized by it all. Little boys seem less bothersome to her. She's sensitive to noise and commotion and she takes treats roughly. I wouldn't trust her around a child if the kid wanted anything to do with her.

Cohen: I'm not so sure. She sees kids regularly but like adults she's indifferent to them unless they have food. There are these two cute twin girls who I've run into at the park a few times who will make Cohen run through her tricks for morsels of kibble for as long as they can. It's pretty cute. Cohen is always happy to work and has a soft mouth with strangers. She sees kids of all ages regularly at shows too. If there's no food involved, she'd rather be left alone but for the most part she just practices avoidance. I'm not sure how she'd do with a fast moving toddler in a more casual home setting. I'll find out one day I guess. I think she'd be "okay" but not perfect.

 

[Oko]

Wesley is incredibly good with kids, thinks they are fantastic, he's super gentle and will just walk away when he's done.

Feist is very comfortable/really loves the 7+ set, she can be a little less into toddlers and younger, but I wouldn't say she doesn't like them, just doesn't flip for them.

 

[ruffiangirl]

Gage is good with kids, but he is 170lbs and has no idea he is bigger then them so he tends to inadvertently knock them down, and/or step on them so have to watch him and stop him from getting too excited.

Diesel is ok with kids and will play with them, but i don't know if he was ever around them as a pup so I watch him closely as well, and if I didn't know they children, or they were very young I would keep him separate.

Bristol, Bristol frigging LOVES kids, she thinks that they are fantastic because they don't pick her up lol. She will climb all over them for pets when they sit down.

 

[Laurelin]

Summer is great but kids can get rough and she'll just squeal if they do. But she's really good with them and will let them pet her, hold her, do tricks for them, etc.

Mia hates kids. She avoids them at all cost.

 

[Beanie]

Auggie is great with them so long as they don't run or scream or generally do anything that makes them look like something that requires herding.

Payton, I don't know. He hasn't been around kids since he was younger. At the time he loved kids, and when he ran around with them, he still was showing some herding behaviors but he wasn't acting like an obnoxious jerkface about it like Auggie does. He's still loud but doesn't act like he might bite (I don't think Auggie would actually bite, but I don't care to find out.)

Pepper I have zero interest in getting around kids. She met my friend's kids once and she was terrified of them, but she was also terrified of my friend and just about everybody else, so.


Luckily no kids here ever, and I don't really like them anyway so I don't want my friends to bring theirs over LOL. So it's not a problem.

 

[Shai]

Kim is bombproof and tries to adopt them and bring them home so she can snuggle them forever.

Webster actively avoids young children who are unstable on their feet, and doesn't care for kids in general.

Mira is generally indifferent (same with adults) but is up for a scritch if offered. Also kids like to throw toys and watch a dog retrieve them...a practice she likes to encourage. She has been around kids the least of any of our dogs.

 

[Red.Apricot]

Elsie LOVES kids, the younger the better. She wants to climb in strollers and snuggle them forever.

 

[Pintage]

Circus pisses herself in excitement sometimes *sigh* She lowers herself to the ground, tail wagging furiously and when they bend over her she springboards up and boops them in the nose. I should probably be more forceful when I tell strangers, "Wait, let me make her sit first"

Lugia likes kids too, especially if they have a ball or disc of some sort. She loves playing catch, fetch, and return with them and she's super gentle. She's also helped get some shy kids get over their fear of dogs too.... she's so great <3

 

[GoingNowhere]

Boo has never (that I know of) been around toddlers or infants in a home environment, so I don't know about that...

That said, I wouldn't trust her with mobile, but uncoordinated small children. With slightly older (strange) children, she seems to consider them less intimidating than strange adults. She is fine out in public if a child asks to pet her and doesn't seem to feel the need to bark at younger kids coming into our home environment (strangely, she also does well with the elderly), but she has shown that she will bark if she gets hugged or otherwise treated in a way that she feels is confining/frightening.


I think to her, kids (by virtue of size, etc) are less intimidating than adults, so long as they're acting like mini adults. I don't think she'd be too keen on a kid acting like a kid around her (or with her).

 

[Whisper]

Millie is pretty indifferent. Though once when she was working a little girl fell and hurt her knee in the store. Millie went up to her and let the girl hug her. That warmed my heart. <3
Fable is skittish around all people, especially small people who shriek, so I don't let her be around kids much.

 

[BostonBanker]

Meg is pretty reliable. She will get up if they are really in her face and leave if she's bothered, which is good to know. She adores my cousin's daughter, who is quiet and loves to just lay on the floor next to Meg petting her. She tends to get overwhelmed by her brother who is a bit of a shrieker.

Gusto gets very wound up by active children, so I tend to keep him on a leash around them. His reaction is to get very jumpy and darty around them in play mode, and has jumped on kids and scratched them before.

 

[PWCorgi]

They don't.

 

[Dagwall]

Jubel is pretty indifferent to kids. Only encounter them while out and about really. He will sit and let them pet him, occasionally give toddlers a few kisses, but for the most part he really just ignores kids. Usually he's actively trying to get the adults with the kids to love on him though while the kids pet him and try to get his attention. Unless they have food he hardly acknowledges them. He is very much a people loving dog but kids just barely count as "people" to him it seems. I haven't determined what the age/size cut off is for him to when they become "people" who must love on him. Maybe around 8-10 but depends on the kids.

The only kid who has been in our house is the 6 year old in the family who adopted my last foster. He was fine with her, gave her lots of kisses and wanted attention from her. A bit too rough seeking that attention but he was also still all amped up about new PEOPLE in the house, very exciting and happy time.

 

[GingerKid]

Snowball is cautious, curious, and tolerant. He's very interested in sniffing children, but he's not much for being pet in general. He is very tolerant of man-handling (not that I'd ever let a young child be rough!). My cousin's 10 month old baby has used him to stabilize herself for standing, and put her hand in his mouth. He stood still with his tail wagging the whole time.

 

[gilles]

Bono the bichon frise loved kids but as he got older (8 years) he started avoiding them and he gets annoyed by them , but he does not hurt them. he still likes older kids like above 13 and plays soccer with them.
volka my CAO is still young less than 6 months but he is very big and so far he loves everybody and he is specially careful with small kids he never jumps on them while playing, he is very gentle with them and he just lays down in front of them and wags his tail.

 

[speedydogs]

Cricket loves kids - she is very tolerant and makes a great demo dog, because she'll work with just about anyone. She is very gentle and especially good for kids who are a little unsure of dogs. Journey likes most kids but isn't a big fan of toddlers/very young children. Newton is fine with them but mostly indifferent - out of the three, he's been around kids the least.