# Barking at young children



## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

Sorry if this has been posted before. Bear has been aggressively barking and pulling whenever we pass any young children. He has never had time to really meet and interact with kids, as there are no young children in my family or OH's family. 

He is fine with teenagers and also with toddlers in strollers, but I think he gets scared of kids because they move fast and are unpredictable. I would hate to have him avoid kids forever, as I plan to eventually have one (of course, I would never consider giving away my pup).

What is the best way to deal with this behaviour? He really seems aggressive towards them, so I wouldn't want to just let him meet a child unless I was 100% sure he won't nip at them (which I am not).


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

Beemer is this way. He is getting better but he just isn't a very big fan. One of the things I did was enlist my nieces and nephew with training (touch, sit, down, stay). Eventually he wasn't best friends but he realized they were sources of treats so not to bark at the ones I'm related to. 

When we are walking and see kids coming, I keep him close (I have a regular leash not the retractable kind) and then I have him sit and then look at me. He has to hold the stay for a while and then when I see his body language relax we start moving again. If he starts up, I immediately stop and have him sit and look at me again. 

Truthfully the best thing was a family who brought their four year old boy to the off-leash dog park and I knew that Beemer just barks at them from about 5ft away. The thing is most kids get startled and then run away, reinforcing Beemer's bark and I'm giving attention because I don't want my dog to bite some kid. Let's not even start with my reaction to people bringing their small children to an off leash dog park and who get mad that my dog barks at your screaming kid. But this kid kept playing and running around and ignored Beemer. Basically Beemer wasn't rewarded for it and eventually just ignored him. so now if kids come into the area he barks from far away but after a couple of barks he ignores them. 

It's still a work in progress but I think Beemer is just more sensitive than Lexi and reacts to all stimuli just more. 




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## bearthecockapoo (Mar 17, 2015)

Lexi&Beemer said:


> Let's not even start with my reaction to people bringing their small children to an off leash dog park and who get mad that my dog barks at your screaming kid.


Haha, tell me about it. Some mother decided it was a good idea to let her 2-year old go into the dog park I frequent and let him run around at one end while she was at the other end. He went straight for a group of unknown dogs while she was busy talking to someone else... talk about irresponsible parenting.

Unfortunately, I don't have any friends or family with small kids, but I will try your advice about the sit & stay.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I have them do that when we pass other dogs too during our walks. Off leash my dogs go into flight mode. But on leash it's total fight mode. 


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## Sassy (Mar 20, 2015)

First of all, how old is Bear? The pattern of behaviors gets eatablished early and remains more or less fixed until you can release it over time consistently. That is, Bear may always be wary of young children until he has consistent positive exposure. Even then, he may be quite cautious. That doesn't mean he won't stop acting aggressive, but it takes longer to undo the more he's away from young children. 

When introducing Bear to new things that make him nervous, like young children, pick a mature young child who really enjoys young puppies. Tell this youngster that Bear is nervous around children and you picked her especially to help. (Girls tend to be much more patient and nurturing with puppies.) Then, ask the youngster to give Bear a treat. That's all. No petting since that might seem too invasive for Bear. 

Try to have a short, casual conversation each time with the child so Bear sees it's an easy-going relationship (without any attention on him). Don't display any anxiety because Bear will pick that up too. Over time, Bear will ease his anxiety, but it'll take at least 21 days of consistent practice for it to become routine. (I forget the actual amount of time, but it's at least 21 days.)


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

Nice advice from Sassy - but can I just make one change - you give the treat not the child.

Lots of reasons for that - you want to build good associations but not push things, you don't want your dog to think they can generally take food from children (who frequently wander round with it at dog face height), worried dogs are more likely to snatch and young fingers are delicate. The most important reason is one I learned a very long time ago in dog training and the scar on my finger reminds me - anxious dogs are conflicted if you offer them treats, they may take them but they are not comfortable about it and that can lead to bad decisions by the dog as they are closer to the person than they are happier with.


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