I've been taking Jenga with me pretty much everywhere and until recently there was no problem. We recently encountered two toddlers (two separte occasions, one toddler each time) that were afraid of dogs. I had Jenga on leash of course, and we kept our distance, but when he observed them peeking out from behind their parents and then screaming, and running off, he did something new. He laid down and then tried to pounce forward (he was on leash, so he couldn't, and the children were far out of reach). I gave a verbal correction for the attempted pounce and for the "prey stares".

First of all, is it alright for me to correct him for those "prey" stares? Or do you not think he makes the connection?

Secondly, is there any way to get him used to fearful children aside from corrections for the stalking behavior?

Finally, for your information, he's a 4.5 month old rhodesian ridgeback. I know I can't expect him to be perfect, but I really want to eliminate the stalking behavior towards children while he's young.


Thanks in advance

PS. Just to be clear, he's never ever around children without being on lead and under MY supervision. Also, he is very calm and friendly with children who are comfortable with dogs.

I would say so. I correct my dog for prey stares towards hamsters, rabbits, and other household pets (we've never had issues with her and little kids), so I would go right ahead and correct your dog for prey stares.

Think about it: the end result of a prey stare, if the dog is left completely to its own devices, is an attack/kill. This is obviously something you want to avoid, so I think you should correct at the beginning of this chain of behaviors.

I would also try to find dog-friendly toddlers for this dog to interact with, i.e., kids raised in homes with a big dog or two around that aren't frighten and know how to react a little better.

I agree, and I would add that since you don't have young children running around in your own home for the pup to acclimate to, you should really be heavy on the GOOD kid socialization (as Katherine suggested, try to restrict it to calm kids that are comfortable around dogs, big dogs especially). It's not so much that he needs to be OK around fearful children - he needs to be OK around ALL children.

Oscar, my RR, did the SAME thing when he was young. Are you using the term "laying down" for a play bow? Oscar would play bow lots, followed immediately with a play pounce, when he was little (we didn't actually let him pounce on any children :eek , but it was all an attempt at play, he didn't so much do "prey stares"... until he got older. He LOVED little kids, what little interaction we could give him, until he was about 18 months old, then out of the blue he became VERY leery of them and began low growling if he decided he didn't want the attention. We were really taken aback by his behavior - it was NOT cool, and I chalk it up to his going through adolescence without persistant socialization to things he didn't encounter every single day (my bad). We're working diligently now to make him comfortable around kids, but it's much harder undoing what he's established at this point.

My advise: do as much as you can to socialize him with *calm* kids and absolutely correct him (lightly, he's still a puppy) for even starting to look sideways into prey drive - nip this one EARLY! Seriously, it's scary having a big dog who's not cool with kids.

Do you have friends/family with dog-savvy kids that you could visit with regularly? Is there a playground or school nearby that you could walk past a few times a day to get him used to the sounds and activity? It's really easy for busy kids to overwhelm a dog, so go slowly and really pay attention to Jenga's body language and comfort level. Lots of peripheral exposure and your calm attitude will help him understand kids are nothing to get worked up about.

I'm sure there's lots more great advise here - this was just my (not so good)experience (and I don't know how many other RR owners there are here!)

Good luck,
~Natalya

Thanks to both of you.

Jenga loves kids for the most part. I have a 12 year old brother whose friends come over and Jenga is just in heaven when they play with him. He's very gentle with them. He comes with me everywhere, including on buses and subways, so he does encounter a LOT of children.

The only time I've seen this behavior was with the two unusually fearful toddlers I mentioned. He did the play bow and leap forward for one, and the other, actually laid down in a crouch and then leaped up. Both times he was on leash, as I said, so the child was safe.

I will try to find more dog-savvy children to introduce him to. your point about having him used to ALL children as opposed to focusing on shy children is a good point, I had it in my mind that they must be totally separate...but it's probably their actions that triggered his behavior, and all children are going to dart around like that at some point.

Thanks!

Heather, The kids that are fearful display behaviours (& maybe odors) that really bring out the prey instinct to the point that a dog who is usually good with children might break. Think of a frightenened baby goat running away. Pretty much irresistable to many dogs. Regular kids unwittingly bring out prey drive better than most helpers with so many bizarre sounds, and darting or disjointed movements. They scare me.

 Quote: susan tuck

They scare me.

Ditto!! lol (can you tell I'm not any where near mom status yet?!)

Heather, it sounds like you're doing the right things - just keep it up! Jenga WILL change as he matures and you'll want to stay lock step with him so that all his hormones are met with equal opportunities to experience and "play nice" with kids, other dogs, and everything else for that matter. Be vigilant! Sounds like you have a great pup on your hands!

~Natalya

~Natalya

Personally, I'd rather have dogs!!!!

I'm always going to have dogs and never kids (or men if I can help it!)

I saw a great PBS dog show recently that described dog's behavior as a "chain" which makes sense and the stalking was one element of the behavior chain for dogs when they are hunting. With any unwanted behavior it is better, easier, and more educational to interrupt the chain earlier rather than later. Even with a zappo e collar you cannot always stop a dog that is engaged in the full force of agression or a snap reaction in response to someone's sudden fearful (or thoughtless) reaction.

Hah, well thanks again for the advice - I'm definitely going to interrupt those stares so I can snap him out of it before he gets too far along.

You guys crack me up, kids aren't THAT scary! Okay, maybe a little. There's a kid down the street who was asking all sorts of questions about Jenga, and it seemed really sweet at first, but then he tried to feed him some strange plant, and I asked him not to in case it was poisonous to dogs as I backed away...which prompted him to try even harder to get Jenga to eat it while I walked away from him. He followed us down the street and finally I turned around and said "STOP!" in my angriest voice. Haha, even Jenga was thrown off guard!