Dog Community

A Great Kid

Jan

Posted : 8/30/2006 9:59:58 PM

I know many of us have had negative experiences with kids jumping on our dogs, grabbing them or the like. On another thread, I've shared a negative child experience I had. As it turns out, tonight, I had a particularly great child experience that I wanted to share (in the interest of being an equal opportunity poster!).

Jess and I are at class, and I notice right away that there is a woman with two kids, maybe 8 and 6. With 40 dogs in class, I am always VERY aware when we have younger kids around. I've always been pretty watchful with kids anyway, because it wasn't so long ago when kids were something of a concern with Jess. And while she has evolved, I have other dogs in class that aren't there yet. So I make a point of watching to keep kids separated from iffy dogs and vice versa. Anyway, when we've got a big class going, you really have to stay on top of where the kids are and what they're doing, because even well behaved dogs can knock a child over when there are 40 of them running around during playtime or during heavy distraction exercises like the chaos heel.

So class is fine, the kids aren't wild or badly behaved, the difficult dogs are good, everyone's happy. And then class ends and it's play time for the dogs while the people hang out and chat, ask questions, etc. So I'm standing there talking to someone, Jessie sitting by my side, and the little girl comes up to me, looks at Jessie with that longing look that kids always seem to get around really big dogs, and which usually leads to them reaching over and grabbing them and hugging them around the middle with their face in the dog's face. But after giving Jess The Look for about a minute, she turns to me and says, "Excuse me, is it okay if I pet your dog?"

Man, I just lit up like a Christmas tree, because I LOVE to meet kids like this, and I love to let Jessie socialize with well behaved kids and build up good kid experiences, and I love to see a child whose parents have taught their child dog appropriate behavior.

She petted Jess, again, very appropriately, no grabbing or pulling fur. Then Jess got her a ball and the girl checked with me about whether it was okay to take the ball that Jessie dropped at her feet (Jess is a ball whore and will play ball with anyone, but some dogs are ball aggressive, so she was right to check before grabbing), then they played ball for half an hour. Before she left, she got down on the floor and kissed Jessie's face, and Jessie kissed her face, and I just felt incredibly warm and fuzzy inside to watch all this because my dog definitely did NOT arrive "good with kids." But having spent a lot of time and work with her, and having had the great good fortune to find some terrific kids to work with her, she's become quite the child friendly canine. And with the right kids, she really delights in playing with them, which is a win win for everyone.

But this child was just amazing in general, she treated all the dogs there with respect, she was gentle, she wasn't grabby, she didn't do the hover over and stare thing...at one point, another dog came over to where they were playing ball, and I immediately moved to step in, in case the dogs got into a "it's my ball -- no, it's my ball!" moment, but the girl picked up the ball right away and said to the other dog owner "I don't want to throw the ball when there are two of them, because they might fight over it."

I was just in awe of this kid. She'll probably grow up to be a trainer or a vet or something. I made a point of telling the mother what a terrific kid she had, and Jessie actually went over to kiss her goodbye when she was leaving (which might not sound all that impressive, but if you knew my dog, you'd realize what a big step this was).

But mostly, I just went home feeling really good about these parents and this kid. Man, I hope I end up having a kid like that one day!

So yes, Virginia, there ARE some great parents with great kids out there who will do the canine world proud, and give our dogs yet another reason to find their inner Lassie.

Jan

nyiceprincess

Posted : 8/30/2006 10:08:02 PM

What a wonderful story! I glad you had such a great experience! Is this child up for adoption???

keedokes

Posted : 8/31/2006 12:04:11 AM

LOL

Jan

Posted : 8/31/2006 12:59:18 AM

Is this child up for adoption?

I admit, I momentarily thought about kidnapping.

Seriously, I have, from time to time, thought about adopting, but I've always felt Jessie would do better with a baby that she can help "raise" than an older child who already has all those child like erratic behaviors. But if someone could guarantee me a kid like THIS, all bets would be off....

corvus

Posted : 8/31/2006 2:50:45 AM

That's so lovely. There's hope yet! I think a lot of it depends on how the parents teach their kids. My project supervisor brought her twins over to my house when I was moving away. The kids were about 3 years old, so still prone to being a bit rough with dogs, but they had a border collie at home, so they were used to dogs and just wanted to be friends. Their parents watched closely as they started crowding my corgi and were careful to tell them to be gentle and pat her one at a time because she was a lot smaller than their dog at home. I was supervising my dog and they were supervising their kids and what could have been a scary moment for my dog was quickly diffused by them cautioning their children to give my dog some space. It was nice to feel like it could be so easy to have little kids and dogs getting on so well without being anxious that it was going to be entirely my responsibility to step in if things got out of hand.

Incidentally, the moment my housemate's BC cross came around the corner, the twins shouted "Border collie!" in glee and tried to give him cuddles. He's not used to kids and found it threatening and the twins were disappointed when they were told to leave him alone because he didn't like them. I just thought it was cute that they knew a border collie when they saw one. It's never too early to start teaching kids more detailed names for things! I met a 3 year old once who would tell us disdainfully the name of every bird species we asked her to identify. She seemed very disgusted that we would even need to ask her what those terribly common red wattle birds were called. I guess she knew because her birdo of a mother had bothered to tell her, just like the twins knew what a border collie looked like because someone had told them what kind of dog their dog was.

Barbara Wiesner

Posted : 8/31/2006 8:14:23 AM

Way back in the dark ages I was one of those kids. My parents still remind me that when I was four I used to go next door and ask if Ruby (some kind of terrier dog) could come out to play.... The people on the other side had a Great Dane called Duke and I used to play with him also and when Duke moved Jocko (a large French Poodle) moved in..... I still find it interesting that I still remember the dogs names when I can't remember half of the people I went to High School with or any of my Hich School teachers.....

Selective memory for dogs I guess.
barbara

houndlove

Posted : 8/31/2006 9:55:36 AM

ORIGINAL: corvus

I just thought it was cute that they knew a border collie when they saw one. It's never too early to start teaching kids more detailed names for things!

I went to a dog show last year and there was a kid sitting next to us who could identify every single breed as soon as it came into the ring. From what I surmised just overhearing his family, they don't even have dogs, his parents don't particularily like dogs, but this kid is just obsessed!

The kids in my neighborhood are usually really good about asking and my dogs just loooove kids and are really excellent about standing nice and still and allowing a kid to pet them. Even toddlers. I actually often seek out places with kids because it's so enjoyable for all involved. There's a lot of dogs where I live, so parents tend to teach their kids pretty quick about dog etiquette. You can't walk a block at any time of the day or night without passing someone walking a dog.

dogslyfe

Posted : 8/31/2006 10:23:48 AM

My parents still remind me that when I was four I used to go next door and ask if Ruby (some kind of terrier dog) could come out to play....

There is a very sweet little girl on my street that comes over most afternoons to ask if "Zippy can come out and play". She's just delighted with his kisses, and he just wiggles all over and kisses her, and torques himself back and forth in Pappy delight just to hang out on the porch with her. Sometimes if Zippy can't come play for some reason she'll just hang out and talk with us. Methinks she's lonely. She's very gentle with him.

dogslyfe

Posted : 8/31/2006 10:24:48 AM

But mostly, I just went home feeling really good about these parents and this kid. Man, I hope I end up having a kid like that one day!

Jan, that's awesome! I wish I could have seen it!

Xerxes

Posted : 8/31/2006 1:19:48 PM

What an awesome story. Isn't it funny how someone behaving politely, and doing things the right way, will brighten your day? Amazing kid, perhaps she's available for a "How To..." video.

ron2

Posted : 8/31/2006 5:21:00 PM

3 cheers for Jessie, 3 cheers for the girl, 3 cheers for her parents, and 3 cheers for you. Success is a beautiful thing.