Young Children And The Puppies Next Door

As your child gets used to your puppy, a extremely delightful bond will form between them. However it carries with it one danger. The younger your kid is, the much less she will understand that the feelings she has for her puppy, the way she behaves with him and the way he behaves with her, do not apply to the puppy next door or the dogs and puppies she will meet on the street. This does not mean you ought to teach your child to be afraid of strange puppies. But you must teach her that strange puppies don't know her as well as her own beloved puppy does, and that she need to approach puppies she has in no way met before with the very same caution she has been taught to approach individuals she does not know.

The very initial rule to teach the child is to in no way approach any puppy she doesn't know if the puppy's owner just isn't present. Puppies take their cues on how you can react to strangers from how they are treated by the puppy's owner. If that owner is not around to reassure the puppy about this unfamiliar face, the puppy will react with wariness and maybe even aggression as his "territory" is invaded. This is especially true of puppies on a leash or confined within a modest region and left alone in that condition for hours on end. Your child need to also remain away from puppies that are eating or sleeping, and steer a wide berth from mommy dogs looking after their own babies.

If the owner is present, your child should first ask him if she can pet the puppy. If that permission is given, it can be an excellent thought if the owner is with his puppy as your child as she approaches him. She and you must make certain that the puppy sees her drawing near to ensure that he is not startled. She really should not look the puppy directly in the eye (dogs associate this with threatening behavior.) Your child really should not impose her petting on the puppy. Instead, she need to just hold out her hand in a fist and let the puppy approach her hand, sniff it, and choose on his own that she is friendly. She can then open her hand and stroke the side of his head. She really should not pat the top of the head. That's an additional action a puppy might misinterpret as aggression.

As your child matures, she will a lot more readily recognize to steer clear of the puppies that might be dangerous and the way to treat the puppies that could possibly be her friend.

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