Lucky Dog Blog

I will be your friend

I think that's where this is going to end up,   We were worried there that Calvin wasn't going to get over his fear of Cash, but a friendship seems to be forming. They can sit right beside each other on the couch and are not above giving each other "kisses". Actually, they do it all the time so these pictures were easy to get.
It's not totally all there, Calvin will still walk away when Cash gets tooo close or comes at him tooo fast but this is PROGRESS over him growling and snapping at Cash when ever he was close. Whew. Really, I can't imagine much worse (with respect to dogs and kids) than having a dog in the house that is so afraid of children that he can't be trusted not to snap. We used a lot, A LOT of treat therapy, which made Cash pretty popular pretty fast. Pretty funny cause Cash will hold them out for the dogs them pop a few in his mouth then hold out more for the dogs..and it's okay.

There is hope for dogs that fear children. Cool.

Lessons in child proofing dogs

Well okay, these lessons work best for toddlers...

NOTE - Even if you don't have children, keep these lessons close. They're excellent tools for making sure your dog gets along with any child, cause it's pretty uncomfortable and potentially dangerous for everyone when they don't...let me tell you!

I emailed the breeder we got Ruben and Calvin from and told her about the incident with toddler and Calvin and she sent me back some really good suggestions for getting Calvin used to and more importantly, confident around children. I didn't realize it was a confidence thing...

She said he's showing us that he doesn't know what to do with a kid.  They make loud unusual noises, scream, jump up and down, giggle, squeal,.....things he doesn't know the meaning of...and to add to it he's been teased by them in the past.  He doesn't know what to make of them.  Hell, he's not even sure they are the same species as you. 

Getting your dog to love kids


Lesson #1: Snatch the Cookie 

1. Give a treat to the child, ask the child to stand still, say nothing, and make no noises.  Have him/her hold out his hand and let Calvin take the cookie.  Very important that the child stay quiet during this 1st step, and that Calvin be allowed to CHOOSE to interact with the child.
2. Once he's good with taking the cookie, progressively build on it.  Have the child start talking and interacting with him.  If the child started out standing, have him sit.  Don't be surprised if Calvin retreats for a moment.  Have the child start petting him UNDER the Chin...not on the head or body at this point.  The head comes last after he has full confidence that the kid isn't going to hurt him.  ***Don't allow ANY sudden movements from the kid until Calvin is totally comfortable with petting.  You don't need to stick to any kind of schedule when doing this. Whenever you see a kid ask if they would offer your dog a cookie.  If that's the only part of this training you ever do, he will still learn to love kids because they have FOOD..yum, yum. Gradually the 2 can turn it into a game of "find the cookie". 

The breeder tried this with her dog, Ruben's sister Lonnie, and at first she was quivering then grabbed the cookie and ran but withing minutes she was much less fearful, wagging her tail, and approaching the child's closed hand looking for more treats.

Lesson#2: Kissy Face 

1. Have the child lie face down with hands over his ears/face. 
2. Dog's love it when kids on the ground, especially if they are giggling.  The dog will usually go over to lick the kids face which makes the kid laugh more, and the dog enjoys the challenge of trying to get to his face. 

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about .... you've probably done this with your own dog. They get soooo excited, it's pretty fun!

She emphasized that it's very important Calvin that is allowed to approach the kid at his choosing, to build his confidence.  The child must not jump up and scare him, or grab at him until Calvin is totally in "Play mode".  She said I could invite Ruben too.  Calvin would learn from seeing how much fun Ruben is having, but this won't necessarily work if you haven't already done "Snatch the cookie". This is is all to build his confidence.  She said I'd be surprised at how fast they come around..like days or weeks. Pretty cool!

She said when Calvin starts to interact physically with the kid he will most likely "Mouth" the kid (put his mouth around the kids hand, arm etc).  The "mouthing" is a reaction to his shyness.  Just give him a stuffed toy.  The toy will give him something to do with his nervousness.  Lonnie still grabs a toy every time someone visits.  ***Always start an introduction by letting Calvin take a cookie from the kids hand, especially if it's a new kid.

I'm super pumped about these lessons!! We have the biscuits, we just need to find a toddler!!  Actually, we've started by getting our 9 mo old baby Cash to hand biscuits to the dogs but I hold his hand so it's not quite the same but promotes good interaction none the less.

I'm still on the search for good lessons for dogs and babies. If you have any, I'd love to hear them.

It's a beautiful day here in the Greater Vancouver area. We're rushing to get work done so all of us can go outside and PLAY!

Have a great day,
Bonnie

How do you baby-proof a dog?

Or should you even try to? Should I just keep them separate? Is there hope for a dog that's bit two children now?

Let me tell you the stars have NOT been aligned this week in the Holtslag household! As you may know, we've recently relocated to British Columbia and are living in a one level suit temporarily until we find out... well, find out what the heck we're doin!

Calvin, our younger Vizsla snapped at our nine month baby this week and caught him in the forehead. Two days later, he growled at him. I'm at a total loss. A loss because you hope like heck it won't be your dog that has shows aggression to your own baby and a loss because Calvin is also a baby and we'd really love it if everyone could get along. Cash was crawling in front of him and over his legs while he was sitting. He didn't pull or pinch him or anything like that when Calvin snapped. Cash wasn't even reaching for him. When Calvin growled at Cash, they were both on the bed and Cash was crawling towards Calvin.

 

Just before we left Winnipeg, Calvin snapped at a toddler. This toddler was reaching for Calvin to give him a hug, and I just caught that sight out of the corner of my eye when Calvin snapped at him and caught him around his eye. Now, to Calvin's defense, he was dragged around by toddlers when he was 16 weeks old at a family Thanksgiving dinner. I thought the parents were watching and we didn't feel comfortable discipling. We told them multiple times not to mistreat the dogs but dogs still got some mistreatment. As a retailer once told me, dogs are like horses: they get traumatized once and it sticks for life. Believe you me, next time I'll be far more firm!

So now, until I figure this out, I need to keep the baby out of the dog's way if I can't watch 247. I really don't want to separate the dogs from us but I think it's my only choice until I can find some techniques to help Calvin feel more comfortable around Cash. At the moment, I can't tell if it's a dominant thing or a fear thing but either way, its too dangerous to not do something about. Not to mention, the baby found the dog dishes this morning for the first time(one level suit, not a lot of places to hide things!), and that's just asking for trouble.

Thank goodness Ruben likes the baby. He puts his head next to the baby and lets him tug away and even gives him little licks. Cash is too young to teach him how to be gentle with dogs, although we are constantly trying. At nine months, he's got kissing and crawling down pat but "please be gentle with dogs" hasn't quite stuck yet.

I'm off to figure this out. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish us luck!

Bonnie