Playing roughly with dog not proper way to train

Dear Cathy: My daughter and her husband have two rescue dogs younger than 2. One is a pit mix and the other is a Rottweiler mix. Both dogs are sweet and well-behaved.

My husband and I feel that our son-in-law plays too roughly with the dogs — tugging on their ears and tails, pinning them down and carrying them around. He says it’s to condition them to being around children one day.

Recently, he was playing with the pit mix by taking a piece of cloth and waving it around his head and mouth. The other dog got excited and bit the pit mix and he, in turn, bit my son-in-law. My daughter was the voice of reason, saying the dog was not at fault and that her husband shouldn’t have been playing so rough.

What are your views on this? I see people treating larger dogs roughly by slapping them on their flanks as trainers do with horses. I think this does hurt them and is inappropriate. — Beth,

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Dear Beth: Your sonin-law is well-intentioned, but dogs do not need to be roughhoused to learn how to behave around children. They don’t learn how to act around children from being around adults, as kids’ behaviors are quite different. Dogs also won’t make the connection that because his master can pull on his ears that a child can also do it.

Dogs need two things to be ready for children: training and exposure. Your son-inlaw can get both dogs more comfortable with someone messing with their tails, ears and paws simply by touching the ears and tails and giving them a treat afterward. It’s better they learn that something good happens when they are touched.

Next, both dogs should receive basic obedience training: sit, stay, down, come, etc. Dogs should be trained in all sorts of environments, starting with training in the house and yard and eventually training at a park where the dog can see and hear children at play. Training not only provides more assurances over a dog’s behavior, it builds a relationship between the dog and his family.

Dogs also should be trained to heel on a leash, to “step aside” when a person is passing by, and to “leave it” when something off-limits falls to the floor. Training your dog for potential conflicts ensures he is less likely to overreact when something does occur.

As for exposure, going to the park or inviting over friends and family with kids are better ways to prepare dogs for children in the home. Training should occur in the presence of children as well, so the dog learns to listen when children are around.