Last week at training, Julie asked me how Zeta gets along with young/small children. I had to think a little as she (nor Niro and Kora) does not get to see/be around young or small children anymore. They did when they were younger and were being introduced to anything and everything, but not so much now.
Whilst at Kensington Metro Park this weekend there was a walk to promote allergy awareness in children. It was a surprise for us to see so many people there, but as Julie’s conversation was fresh in my mind, I thought I would take the opportunity to take both Zeta and Niro towards the walkers although it was not my intention to have them interact at this point.
They both sat there watching everyone pass by, but I could tell that so many people, stollers, young children etc were getting them a little stressed, but it wasn’t long before a small group of people and children decided they simply had to come over and pet them. They did ask prior to, thank goodness, but both were getting a little too excited at this point so my response was that it was probably not the best time to pet them as they were in training and do not usually see this many people.
Within a few minutes though, three adults and a young girl came over and asked to pet them. Before I could answer, Zeta had positioned herself at the feet of the man, wriggling all over the place as he scratched and petted her. Niro was happy to be petted also. Both Zeta and Niro loved the little girl, licking her hands and face (she was just a little taller than Niro’s head).
It turned out that one of the ladies is a puppy raiser for Leader Dogs for Blind and between her and her mother, has raised 22 puppies for them. She also knows of Julie and her dreadful loss last year.
Isn’t it such a small world? Of the hundreds of people on this walk and of all of the times for us to decide to take a few minutes out of our own walk to watch the procession, this happened to be the time when this family walked by and decided to come over to us.
It was also very interesting for me to see how both Zeta and Niro reacted to the first group of people who wanted to approach them, compared to the second.
In answer to Julie’s question, Zeta appears to love everyone – tall, short, young and old, but we certainly need to take a leaf out of Lynda and Jack’s book and continue to socialize both Zeta and Niro so that I can immediately say to Julie “Absolutely, you can put Zeta in any situation and she is 100% reliable with everything in her path”.
Thank you for posting this, Andrea! I’ve been thinking about this issue a lot, too. The park across the street from our home has a playground alongside it, and kids and strollers are frequently coming in and out.
Batman is very good about ignoring noisy kids and strollers. However, I have never attempted to socialize him with the kiddos. I’m not really sure how. Parents tend to keep their kids away from us, and I’m fine with that. I’ve taken Batman to stores where he’s encountered children. In those cases, I give Batman treats while the child pets him, so he forms a good association with being petted by kids.
Batman is rather aloof. He will tolerate pets, but very rarely will approach strangers for attention. When he does, I know those people are dog people! It sounds like he would have loved that second group of people, just like Zeta did!
Big hugs to you all!!!
I need to work with Ava on her socialization, she is too exuberant and for non-dog people or people not keen on being tongue-mauled. I love her friendly exuberance, but not everyone appreciates it.
So polite greetings with Ava are my socialization task.
Hugs to you too Jennie!
I can relate to the tongue-mauling incidents. And even though it isn’t preferred by all, I’d rather have that than worrying about someone getting the evil eye. I think more polite greetings come with a little more maturity (and practice!).
You are right Carole, practice is definitely the key here. Niro is a lot more reserved, you could even say cautious, than Zeta, but if he feels comfortable and his tongue gets going, you’d better watch out for his teeth because his excitement can quickly translate into a little nip with his front teeth. He never breaks the skin when he ‘kisses’ but for unsuspecting recipients, it might be a little bit of a shock!
Just like you, I tend to use treats as both positive reinforcement and a distraction depending on the situation.
I need to practice ongoing socialization with both Zeta and Niro independently of each other though, as I see that they feed off each other. This can be good, but on the other hand this can be bad.
In a perfect world, it would only be when each were reliable in all situations, that they would be put in what could be a stressful situation together, but in the real world, for the most part, they are out walking together.
I love your post Andrea! I asked if Zeta was good with kids because I had a suspicion that she would be…she is just such a social butterfly.
Great post! I have no doubt she would great with kids. Remember the first time Andrew met up with Koda? He acted like he knew Andrew his whole life! I am very impressed with the S litter, the temperament is outstanding!
You are so right. The ‘S’ litter dogs I know, have absolutely delightful personalities and I have noticed on your photographs that Koda has the same beautiful, gentle eyes as his sister.
I agree about the “S” kids. Libby is a smoocher and she loves being the center of attention.
I have really enjoyed taking Ember to festivals, parks, benefit walks, and the ballpark. She loves crowds and behaves better the more people there are. She’s the mauling type and even gets teeth involved when she’s really excited. We’ve really worked on that and she’s gotten much better. Taking her to the elementary school as a puppy has helped immensely and now she loves kids. She still sneak attacks some when they are in wagons because they are at the perfect height for her tongue to get their faces. Our problem has been with other dogs, because she’s even more exuberant, wanting to play with them. We went to a benefit dog walk last weekend and she was a perfect angel. Her manners are coming with time… 🙂
My expectations for Pieka (or any other dog, for that matter) are neutrality and self control. I don’t expect my dogs to be physically friendly/social with random people, including children – but I do take great efforts to expose my dogs to various sites and sounds, including solo children, groups of children, ball games, etc. Pieka is utterly stable with people and has excellent judgment, though she is appropriately reserved and has zero interest in having any stranger touch her. I certainly have other dogs that are more…exuberant…but I am absolutely fine with Pieka’s wishes. She has reacted with good humor and patience on the few occasions that a young child has interacted with her. I do not abuse her tolerance – nothing irks me more than people who let small children (stranger or their own) climb on dogs, pull their tails/ears, pester them, etc. It’s just not fair to the dog. Sorry for the long post – I might have some different views from others on this! 🙂
Fenris has been pretty regularly exposed to young children. Most of the friends we spend time with have children between the ages of 5 and 13. Not only that, but whenever we go out, there are usually a few children who are brave enough to come up and ask if they can pet him.
We actually had a pretty interesting experience with Fenris and a 2-year-old toddler at a BBQ this summer. The little girl was *so* enthusiastic about him, squealing and running around like… well, like a 2-year-old. She ended up being a bit rough with him: tugging his tail and ears, trying to ride him like a horse, etc. Before we and her parents removed her from the area, Fenris simply got up and walked away from her without hurting her or toppling her over.
Overall though, Fenris fails at being an ‘aloof’ dog (not that it’s such a bad thing). When people even look at him for a second too long, he wants to run up and say hello. He’s a jumper and tongue lasher with everyone. I’ve tried channeling that energy into a routine of “Platz… watch me…Go say hi!” and it usually works, but it’s still hard to keep his energy levels down when there are new people to say hello to.
It’s not the best habit of his, but I’d much rather have a dog that’s *too* personable than too cautious.
What we all need are reliable children who know how to act appropriately around dogs, so our canine family members have the best possible chance to learn how to react correctly in what may be stressful situations for them.
Just for the record, if anyone knows of any ‘reliable’ children or bullet proof dogs for additional canine socialization, you know where to find me!