What do children do to dogs?

[kathmom26]

I am years away from getting a dog, but I do like to window shop. Why is it so many are not good with children. Either that or recommended with a home with children over the age of 12?

Kathy

[piggly wiggly]

If they are from a rescue itis usually a precaution incasr something ever did happen, then you can't come back on them. I foster dogs for the miniature pinscher rescue, and some of our fosters will not adopt to a family with kids under 8. Since I have 4 kids, age 10, 8 and 2, I do adopt out to families with kids since I have not had 1 foster dog that was not good with my kids. If I did get a grumpy gus, then he/she would not go to a home with kids for sure, but a tleast I would know for sure and not deem him not good with kids, when I didn't really know for sure. Some places would rather say no to kids rather than temperment test the dogs, also not all foster homes have kids, so it can be hard to find out if they are kid friendly.

[samoews]

It's because children, especially young children, do not always understand that animals are living, feeling creatures, and will react to protect themselves when kicked, hit, having their ears pulled, etc. I understand that there are always those dogs that "let the kids do whatever", but all too often a child either hurts or scares the dog, the dog reacts, and there goes another poor dog to the shelter. As far as certain breeds, some breeds are higher strung than others, some are more tolerant than others, just by nature of their breed. It would benefit any family to do their homework before adding a dog to their family, and to teach their children the proper way to care for and handle the new addition.

[wheekincavy]

I agree with the posts above. But sometimes I think it has to do with the breed and the publicity they have. For example pitts or pitt mixes, at my Humane Society the pitts and pitt mixes can not be adopted out to families with children under 12. Even the puppies of this breed.

[rabbitsncavyluv]

Some breeds are higher strung than most, and can be too hyper or don't know their own strength and can hurt a child.

Some kids can't recognize the signs that a dog may give before snapping or biting. It helps if the dog is older or trained, but some kids can tug on the dog's ears or tails - like testing or playing and some dogs will snap.

Some shelters or rescues will test the dog, but you have to be careful and teach the children proper behavior around the dog. The smaller 'toy breed' dogs are generally not good with kids.

[manicmedic]

Some breeds don't work well with children, just like some children don't work well with dogs. With young children, you have tail pulling and using the dog as balance to stand up and accidental hitting while they're just trying to play with/love the dog. Aggressive or high-strung dogs might not take well to these well-intentioned actions, and a small dog might be injured accidentally.

The best kind of dog for a family with small children is a medium-to-large breed female. In my experience, a mix breed with either collie or sheltie in them is the most mellow, and labs are good as well. They're more likely to tolerate a little bump, push, or pull, and also more likely to walk away when aggravated rather than snap or bark. A few dogs I've known even work as temporary babysitters (my grandmother had a collie who used to take my aunt out of her walker and put her on the grass, then lie next to her so she could "keep an eye on her"). But, there are exceptions to every rule, and it's probably best to ask the previous owners/shelter workers what kind of temperament they've seen in the dog, as well as letting the kids around it, supervised, for short periods of time.

Thus endeth my speech.

[piggly wiggly]

I have to kind of disagree with the mutt versus oure breed, it all totally depends on the dog itself. I grew up with all different breeds as a kid, my parents were of the pure breed mind, mind you some of them were from the shelter. My favorite was my english mastiff by far. But now with my kids, we have 2 min pins, 1 doberman and 1 german pinscher. Germanpinscher sites invludng the breed club says not good with children at all, well I must say my dog a male now 5 is the best dog in the world with kids. Even toddlers. Myfemale german pinscher was only good with my kids, and would go after other children if given the chance. Ther is no such breed where every dog willbe good or not good with kids, it is the individual dog. In my above post I mentioned I foster dogs for the min pin rescue, the site is called IMPS, there are only a few fosters in Canada as it is an American based rescue, so would be easy for you to find if you were interested...wink wink