CLOSE ENCOUNTERS… OF THE POSITIVE KIND! ★
Toni Shelbourne has some expert advice if your dog is wary of children.
“Children can be incredibly touchy-feely...”
Particularly for those dogs who have had little contact with them, children can prove very unsettling — and sadly, sometimes, with devastating consequences.
However, there is much that dog owners can do to prepare dogs for visiting or — if circumstances change — living with children, so let’s take a closer look at what it is about children that makes some dogs uncomfortable.
WHY MIGHT A DOG BE FEARFUL OF CHILDREN?
Children are wonderfully gregarious, often moving erratically or making sudden noises. They can also be incredibly touchy-feely, wanting to hug or grab what interests them. To a dog, who may not have been socialised with children, or been frightened at a critical life stage by a child, these strange movements and noises can be incredibly unsettling. Humans forget that, as primates, we are naturally more tactile than canines. All this adds up to a dog who, at best, is confused by children or, at worst, feels the need to protect himself or his space being invaded.
WATCH FOR THE SIGNS!
As adults it is our responsibility to protect both child and dog from a mishap. Knowing what communication signals to look for in your dog can be key to helping him cope and managing interactions safely. Dogs are amazing at indicating their worries if you know what to look for. If you can learn to read the first whispers of concern, a negative experience for both dog and child can be averted.
● Breath rate — look to see if your dog is holding his breath or starting to pant around children. If he is, stop the interaction and increase space, or take your dog out of the situation.
● Eyes — does your dog’s expression change from soft to worried? This can involve his eyes seeming to dart back and forth, seeing more of the whites of his eyes, or a glazed expression.
● Stress signals — do you notice him yawning when he isn’t tired, usually accompanied by a furrowed brow and a worried look in his eyes? Is he looking away from the child, licking his nose, or blinking his eyes? These are just some of the signals that dogs give out when they are starting to be concerned about an interaction, so keep an eye out and step in if needed to stop your dog’s behaviour escalating. Many people only recognise a dog’s concern once they flip into the next level. This is where the body language is easier to read and a fear response exhibited — fight, flight, freeze (looks like a statue), fool around, flock, or faint.
The first three are self-explanatory, but fool around (acting the clown) is often misinterpreted, and flock is where a dog seeks the safety of a person for support.
HELPING DOGS BECOME FAMILIAR WITH CHILDREN
The difficulty can be in finding ways to familiarise a dog with children, especially if he doesn’t live with any, but much can be done to start the process without children even being present. If you have nieces and nephews, or friends’ children, who visit occasionally and with whom you know your dog will regularly interact, try the following two exercises.
● Scent — dogs gather so much information through smell; it’s their strongest sense and can easily be employed to help your dog get used to a child.
● Ask for an item of clothing to be sent to you that the child has worn. This needs to be in an airtight container. If you have a matching lid in which you can drill holes it will make the scent work