Excited Dog And Children

[Guest StewiesCareTake]

Our four year old greyhound Izzy is a very excited anxious dog at times. He gets really excited around young children. He thinks they're toys...

 

Tomorrow we have our nephew's coming over, they're 2 and 4 months old.

 

Last time we had our nephew over he was 1 1/2 and his brother wasn't born. Izzy got really excited and thought that he was a toy. We kept him muzzled the whole time, he would whine and click his teeth trying to get at the 1 1/2 year old (my SIL wouldn't listen that she shouldn't be holding the child up in the air).

 

I think he's calmed down a lot since the last visit, but he hasn't had any exposure to children. Any advice as far as calming him down? For common sense sake we'll always keep the muzzle on him around infants.

 

In preparation for the visit we've been crate training him. We've succeeded in getting him to relax and sleep in the crate while we're home. I guess worst case scenario is we crate him. make sure the 2 year old stays away from his crate and enjoy the whining

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Wow, I would keep the dog crated if it has that reaction. I'd also probably use a stool guard in the muzzle so he can't take a nip. But that would really scare me if he still reacts that way. It would only take a nano-second for tragedy to unfold.

 

How long are they staying? She definitely needs to chill with the holding the child up over the dog's head while the dog is all wound up. I gave the same advice in the other GHs and babies thread. That's the absolute dumbest thing you can do!

[Trihounds]

Gosh - though is the teeth clicking more chattering in excitement (as some of them do) or is it out of agressiveness like prey drive. I would hope not the latter as that is simply an accident waiting to happen. But chattering is just excitement. Still, you need to keep some distance between the two, at least at first until Izzy calms down and relaxes. If he doesn't, well, then the crate is the only alternative until he demonstrates some manners.

[Guest StewiesCareTake]

I think it was snapping as in prey drive. He doesn't have a high prey drive (squirrels, cats etc are fine), but has a high toy and food drive. It's probably partly our fault. We have toy, that is the size of an infant and often hold it up high to get him excited. We haven't had it out in quite a few months. He does fine with 3-4 year old children running by him at the meet and greets. I hope it was just the squealing noise that a 18 month old makes combined with being dressed in white, and dangled over his head.

 

They're only staying for dinner, so it shouldn't be too bad. Maybe we'll just keep him crated the whole time and see how he reacts in the crate. We're planning on having kids in the next year or two, so we're hoping he's okay with them. He's a super marshmallow in any way possible.

[JAJ2010]

That does sound a bit scary. I would keep him muzzled and at least baby gated in another room. Maybe have the kids toss some treats to him over the gate to build a good association?

 

Any time I've ever introduced a dog to a baby I make sure the 1st impression goes well. There are no chances for error. Make sure the dog is very very calm/submissive and they got the idea that the baby is a respected thing to be careful of. Bring the baby down to their level and do not let the dog approach until you say so. No holding the dog back they need to be respectful all on their own. Make sure they get a really good sniff so they can identify it as human. Dog nose wetness/slobber hasn't hurt any kid yet!

 

Rainy even gingerly stepped over the babies to quietly lay on their blanket with them. Holding her breath of course waiting to be yelled at to get away from the babies. I love this dog! It worked so well that Rainy got extremely stressed when the very first 3 month old twins she met were crying themselves to sleep! She kept running back in to the bedroom and back out to us not understanding why we were letting them cry. I was a lot more stressed at the introduction than the parents were. At first I was worried the running back to see the crying babies was a prey triggered action, but she was just being a worried mother hen.

 

Sunshine has never been introduced to a baby but my guess is she would be terrified of them.

 

Just remember you can't be too safe! It only takes a blink of an eye....

[Batmom]

Almost certainly NOT prey drive.

 

Holding a living thing up in the air is the one sure way to get a dog overexcited about it (child, other dog, cat, whatever). So don't do that.

 

Introductions -- with muzzle if you are uncertain about either party's behavior -- when everybody is calm and obedient. Don't see any need for a stool cup.

[Guest StewiesCareTake]

Thanks for the advice.

 

Izzy's really a big baby. He's afraid of my parents cat (rightfully so), won't even walk into a room if the cat's in the doorway. I think we'll keep him crated at first and when he's calm let the 2 year old toss some really good treats into his crate. He'll always be muzzled when not in the crate.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I only suggested that because I have had my dogs nip through their muzzles (not at human beings).

[Batmom]

Wasn't a bad suggestion. I'm assuming someone will be monitoring the young human as well as the pup .

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Yup that is every bit as important!!!!

 

It's the four month old that concerns me most. They cry, they smell weird, and their mamas hold them all the time- largely because they aren't mobile yet anyway.

 

I think it is a lot different when it's YOUR baby.

[Guest StewiesCareTake]

Of course! There will be six adults two young ones and one greyhound. It should be manageable.

[jenn8]

If the child is making a squealing noise, I would keep the dog in another room.

 

Jenn

[Guest Lovey_Hounds]

What we have done to introduce our 15 month old greyhound pup to really little kids is to keep her on a leash and not let her approach the child until she has calmed down, she is kept on leash because at her age she will forget and clobber the small child and goober all over it not realizing she may be hurting it. I also introduce new dogs the same way but with muzzle on because she play nips with dogs. We have had times where DH has had to stand back away from company for a while until the pup has calmed her self and greeted everyone nicely.

The big thing is the more you dog meets smaller kids the less exciting and new it seems.

[Guest StewiesCareTake]

Well we survived without any injuries to the dog or humans. We had Izzy in his crate for the first couple of hours and had the toddler throw him bits of food. Izzy was very attentive to the toddler, and was calm while he received food. When the toddler wasn't giving him food, he was very anxious (panting, whining, barking and lunging towards him). After that we transferred Izzy out of his crate to the gated in kitchen. Unfortunately we never got to the state of zen where we could have the two really meet each other. Every time he saw the toddler he'd bark and get really excited. I guess we'll have to take him to more meet and greets so he can have exposure to children. It gets to be a bit much for the humans and the dog when the dog whines, barks, pants and paces for almost 7 hours straight. I don't think my in laws will ever believe me that he normally sleeps 20 hours a day.

 

Does anyone ever use Valium to calm their dogs around children?

[Batmom]

Once he meets the kid, he'll probably be fine.

 

Many many many very people-social dogs of all breeds are apt to go bananas wanting to meet somebody new. Once they get to meet, it becomes a non-event.

 

Next time, I'd probably let the dog meet the kid on the way back from a nice long leash-walk. Firm hand on dog's collar, let him have a good sniff, teach kid to properly pet neck/shoulder rather than hugging etc.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I would either do as Batmom says (with a muzzle obviously) or crate the dog in a back bedroom with the lights off, the door shut, and the TV or radio on.

[Guest amour]

Ihave 4 grandchildren and they visit. Every visit we start of with the rules regarding the dog. It never fails evertime one of them will have "forgottten" the rules (ages 1-9). My philosophy is that A CHILD IS A CHILD AND A DOG IS A DOG no matter how well we think we know them I just don't trust them together without supervision.

[Guest BorzoiMom]

My grandparents would keep their Boston Terrors crated whenever company came over. The dogs would simply be way too over happy to meet people. After a few hours the dog would calm down and we could play indoors and I would be able to take the dog outside to play on the leash. The dog would spend the next 2 days sleeping.