Minature poodles and kids..a good combination? Yes or No

[lostshowfan86]

Just curious.

We have a 1 1/2 year old minature poodle. He loves kids but hasn't spend much time around them. But is always well behaved with them.

He loves to be petted by them and given treats but he doesn't like to be handled by them (as in picked up and held) He doesn't trust them enough for that and he has had some bad tummy issues in his life.

Other than that though.

My concern is when we have kids. Not so much when our child is a baby (He loves babies) but when the kid becomes a toddler. I'm honestly more concerned that my poodle might get hurt.

How early do you start to teach both dog and child how to interact with each other?

(My friend wants to set up a playdate with my dogs and hers problem is she won't leave her baby at home or be away from her baby who is 15 months old and I don't want my dogs around the toddler because they aren't used to toddlers...I declined she was offended but I declined)

So how good are Minature poodles and kids together?


And how to make things work in the future when we have children?

 

[PoodleMommy]

It depends on the dogs socialization with kids and teaching the kids how to treat dogs.

We got our first toy poodle when I was 8... my parents taught me very early how to behave around animals... she was truly my best friend... I adored her, she adored me.

 

[Romy]

Depends on the individual dog. When I was a kid my grandma had 4 miniature poodles. Happy was just...happy, and loved kids. Cocoa was horrible and wanted to actively attack and destroy anybody under the age of 15. Puff and Gretchen were both fine with children, but definitely timid and liked quiet. I would have considered them potential fear biters, they never bit anybody though.

What worked for us is:

1.Constant supervision and vigilance.

2.Proofing for situations you don't want happening, but will probably happen regardless of how careful you are.

This involves things like lightly hitting him with a pillow while he's sleeping and then shoving a glob of teriyaki duck skin in his mouth when he's waking up. Or tugging his tail and fur softly while feeding him something nice. Aurelia pulls Strider's hair and he drools.

3. Baby gates will save your sanity. We have 6.

Pretty much, if you can't be right there then separate. As soon as Aurelia noticed Strider we would talk to her about how to be nice and soft, helping her "pet" him and praising them both. I also fed Strider a lot of treats during these sessions. He started out loving her, but the treats didn't hurt as far as strengthening the bond.