Right. And I think it's imperative to teach your kids how to handle a dog and how to respect a dog.

i promise you all that i will heavily supervise my childrens interactions with the dog. i have not allowed them in his face and will not allow him in theirs.
you guys are making me very leary now. i know i should be but it' shard to have any comfort in the situation with all of the scare tactics

if that is what you are saying then i am with you 100%. but just for fyi, i have seen many posts saying " i would never" or only with one dog i have ever owned.

are there any podcasts or ebooks about teaching children how to interact with a dog ? what to allow and what not to allow ?

 Quote: carol boche

Bounette,

I do not see where any of us are saying "never, ever". I think what we all are saying is "never around a new dog". All of us have posted pictures at one time or another with kids and dogs in them. But we know these dogs well.

I was.It's not just the dog but the three boys are likely to forget the proper rules right away if its not in stone and never compromised.

Pack Structure for the Family Pet


Groundwork to Becoming your Dog's Pack Leader

I posted these links before, I think you need to read AND implement the groundwork article at the very minimum.

The pack structure dvd would be the next step, and I would encourage your kids to watch this along with you.

If you think that people are using "scare tactics" it's only because of all of the things we have seen when people were uninformed and too comfortable that dogs and kids make good decisions. Dogs and kids together can be a wonderful thing, but it's through management, education and supervision that it goes well. Unfortunately, a huge part of the dog owning population do none of the above................

My son (now 14) has been raised with all types of dogs and has had unlimited unsupervised contact with only one, that is his now 9 1/2 year old Corgi, Morgan. He's incredibly dog savvy and can read a dog's intent very well but I just never saw the need to tempt fate. It wasn't until Morgan was about 4 years old and Andrew was 9 that I let her start hanging out with him 24/7, once I was completely convinced there was no aggression on her part and that Andrew knew how to be a fair leader.

 Quote: Cindy Easton Rhodes

Pack Structure for the Family Pet


Groundwork to Becoming your Dog's Pack Leader

I posted these links before, I think you need to read AND implement the groundwork article at the very minimum.

The pack structure dvd would be the next step, and I would encourage your kids to watch this along with you.....

Excellent idea! It's not fair to only teach the dog it's boundaries. Kids should learn it too, and it will benefit them for life.

Don't feel nervous. If you have a crate, start using it. If not, get one asap. It's only been 2 days, and it will be much easier now for the dog and the kids to start on the right track, than in 1 month or more.

Janice is right about dogs litterally elevating themselves to test rank. I, myself do not let my dog on any furniture. If I want to hang out with her, I'll sit on the ground while she lays down.

i do have a crate. i strongly believe in the use of a crate. and i am so glad that he is very crate trained. i just have to go over to it and say go to crate and he runs right in. i think that is where he spent most of his time.

he is more at ease with pets from the kids than he is from me and my hubby. he avoids us most of the time we call to him or walk to him like we are going to pet him. he will turn and run the other direction. with the kids he is fine though. what do you make of this ?
it's also a project getting his leash and collar on. now i have it just on him all the time, but before i decided to do that i had to spend 10 minutes trying to get him to not run from me to put the collar on him. i think that his previous owners did not paint a clear picture of his background for me.

 Quote: Bounette White

are there any podcasts or ebooks about teaching children how to interact with a dog ? what to allow and what not to allow ?

What has been discussed throughout this thread are words of wisdom...

While you are waiting for your dvd's from Leerburg (highly recommend the Establishing Pack Order), I do know in The Dog Bible by Traci Hotchner, there is a list of 25 things kids need to know about interacting with dogs. You can likely find this at your local library. It's kind of a fun way (Scooby's List of Rules) to discuss these things with your children.