Quote: Sam Smith

Not sure what to say here, but this goes against of how dogs reacted in our family when growing up......maybe dogs have changed over the years

No, they are the same, but they are also individuals.

Not trying to humanize, but I don't really care to talk to new people a lot. I love my kid, but kids in general.....well, they smell funny, are sticky, noisy, cry too much.....

It doesn't sound too far fetched to me for a dog to be similar.

I'm not one to let my dog tell me how things are going to be, but I do listen to him when he is telling me to proceed towards a fear or unsure situation slower or not at all.

Sam, dogs haven't changed. I think people have changed.

The dog is new to you and certainly new to the children. Better to err on the side of caution.

A crate is not a punishment for a dog.

My 3 year old grandson is here lots and has been with my dog lots. My dog now loves him. However, I still have to give them constant supervision. Eyes are always on kid and dog, and she is a small dog.

When she tires of him, she 'sneaks' off to her crate in a hidie place where he can't find her and naps or just gets away.

Good luck. I don't think this is about fairness but, rather, about reasonableness.

 Quote: sam smith

Not sure what to say here, but this goes against of how dogs reacted in our family when growing up......maybe dogs have changed over the years .....we had hunting dogs such as Irish Setters, Blue Belton Setters etc and they were great with family and friends alike....

One of my daughters has two smaller dogs and they are also great with strangers.....

 Quote: debbie high

I don't allow my dogs to be around my grandkids at all. They are either in their crates or outside pens. It is really hard to explain to small children how to act around dogs. They tend to forget what you said two minutes later....it's just not worth it to me.

We have our grandkids coming for a week in Easter, I don't feel it is right for me to crate the dog because they are coming, there must me something I can do to diffuse the situation with our pup.....

Sam, every dog is as different as each of us. Some kids have great manners, some are hellions (NOT saying ANYTHING about your grandchildren - you know what I'm saying here...) Just like some children are naturally shy and some are loud and precocious, so goes our k9 family members.

There is always a happy-medium-middle of the road approach to everything. If your dog is not comfortable at THIS moment around children, do your best to let her grow, little by little, toward being okay around the little human "rug rats". Maybe this Easter will not be Norman Rockwell, picture perfect, but what you do and how you act this year will certainly set the stage for NEXT Easter. We all crawl before we walk, etc...

It is VERY hard to be patient and to take baby steps, but it will pay off in the long run.

Sam, I just have to work around the kids. I'm a candy ass about dogs and kids. Their little faces are even with my dogs faces I don't feel that any of my dogs would be trustworthy around small children, period....I take the dogs out, hubby watches the kids or visa-versa. It takes some doings. I also have outside pens for the dogs....or maybe the kids.LOL

 Quote: randy allen

Sam,
Not to discount your experiences but I kept and been around gun dogs most of my life, some of them generally known at face value as being good with children. I've only had one I could trust with minimum supervision with youngsters just learning about dogs.
I want you to note; I said limited, not no supervision, but limited supervision. Just one dog in a line of many.

Never have I had a GSD I would expect to sit still for the crap children can and do engage in to antagonize a dog.
A dog by nature will react to protect itself. It's not fair to expect anything less from them.

Give your dog a break, don't force him into a losing proposition.

Randy

Randy, in no way am I experienced in the handling of dogs, what I am saying is I can't understand the behaviour of our GSD(pup), she is so scared of everyone, she will go in her crate and not come out, she will go and hide away, she will hide behind me and my wife, when I call her to go potty she will start to come and if one of my grandkids comes out of their room she will run back to her crate again.....we are really worried about her....

 Quote: Sam Smith

.... if one of my grandkids comes out of their room she will run back to her crate again.....we are really worried about her....

There are some very knowledgeable folks here who can give you a world of suggestions in this area.

The dog has only been there a couple of weeks, right? Too early for this exposure.

Sam, for now, I think you have to respect what your pup is telling you, which is that she is not comfortable around new people (kids or adult, right?)

So that means, keep her crated for much of the time during Easter. This will be much less stressful for her than if she is loose with 4 kids running around. If you need to, put the crate in a quiet place if the pup seems distressed.

If you can do this one on one (just you, the dog and the child), perhaps you could ask the 9 year old to help with your pup's shyness.

First thing is, tell your 9 year old (or any new person, for that matter) to ignore the pup. No eye contact and no talking to the pup.
Have the grandchild sit in a chair with a bowl or baggie full of treats.(good treats, like bits of cooked chicken or very small slices of a cheese stick - little pieces the size of the tip of your finger)

If the pup comes over to him/her, have him give the pup the treat, but still no talking or petting. Do this a few times until the pup is more interested in the child. Then let the child pet the pup; a good way for a kid to pet a pup is to give the pup a scratch behind the ears. No petting on top of the head. This is annoying to many dogs...

One final word; make sure that you are not encouraging your pup's shyness by inadvertently rewarding it. ie, when meeting new people and the pup acts shy, don't comfort her or pet her or try to sooth her. If you are doing this, you are reinforcing the shy behavior...instead, just ignore her behavior and carry on a conversation with the person like she's not there, and have the person do the same...

You do have a couple weeks before Easter. Whenever you have time, load up the dog in the car and take your daily walk in a park where there is a busy playground. Pass by the playground and ignore it until the pup seems comfortable with the kids noises, and then start putting in training breaks near the playground. Slowly decrease your distance to the playground.

This isn't going to completely solve your problem in two weeks, but it will help your pup get used to the noises and movements of playing children, and be a little less stressed when they are around.

You can always use baby gates and doors to partition off a larger part of the house for the dog if you don't want to crate him, but you probably want the kids to have free roam of most of the house. He should be fine in his crate if you've been working on crating all along. You could also thread his leash over your belt and keep him with you. You might want to practice this ahead of time so you don't trip over the leash when going to reach for an errant grandchild.

Sam,
You've had the dog for two weeks. Did you pick her up at the breeders? The airport? Hmmmm, not real sure it matters.

When did you start noting her fearful behavior? Or has she always been like this?

How does she act once you get her out doors, playful, typical curious puppy, do noises put her in flight?
How does she act around the house with no strangers present?


Is the crate the only place she really wants to be?

Could you give us a run through of a routine day for the dog?


If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy