Kids Kids Kids

Even if you don't have children or aren't planning on it, your dog needs to be good with kids.  You will meet hundreds of them throughout your dog's lifetime, outside of stores, on walking trails, at get togethers, dog classes, etc.

I speak from experience when I say socializing your puppy to children over the next 6 months is vital to their comfort with kids longterm.  Many playgrounds and schoolyards have large signs posted that dogs are not welcome.  This is likely due to doggie doo and perhaps bad experiences with dogs and children in the past.  The rule-makers just decide that no dogs makes the environment safer for kids.  So we have to abide.

When your pup is meeting children, you must supervise closely.  Do not allow the puppy to make the child uncomfortable by nipping skin or clothing, climbing up on them or jumping up.  The children should be instructed to be calm preferably sitting on the floor or a chair and not allowed to pick the squirmy pups up or carry them around.

IDEAS to get your dogs around kids

• Ask your friends, family and neigbours if your puppy can meet their children.  
• Call local daycares or elementary schools to ask about a puppy visit (or a weekly visit is even better) so the kids can meet a puppy and learn about dogs, and so that the dog can meet children.  The kids can sit in a circle on the floor and take turns petting and feeding the puppy in a calm environment.
• Take your puppy to public places, such as streets with storefronts and coffee/ice cream shops where you can plan to spend an hour or so outside meeting folks.  More than an hour might be too much at once depending on your pup's age, so be sure to guage when s/he has had enough.

SOCIALIZING in GENERAL

• Puppies attract oohs and aahs from people.  Be open to this, and try to help people understand dogs and to get your dog exposed to folks of all sizes, shapes, and ages. 
• Bring a few small cookies or treats (Zukes Minis are our fave) and give them to people to give to the dogs.
• Dog to dog socialization should wait until your puppy is 5 months or older, unless you know the dog well and the interaction is closely supervised.
• The more things, places and experiences your puppy and adolescent dog has, the better adjusted s/he will be and easier to take places, have friends care for, and live life with as s/he ages.
• One of Topaz' early friends was a young homeless man who grew up surrounded by dogs on an Indian Reservation.  Topaz would just have a happy fit every time we saw this man in our neighbourhood.  Just because I wouldn't necessarily have made him a friend doesn't mean my dog wouldn't!  lol