Ways to Encourage Good Behaviour in a Dog Playing with Children
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A strong, active dog can use children to satisfy his need for exercise and excitement. He loves to run, so he learns to steal things so he will be chased and have the fun of trying to outwit his pursuers. The children tend to hold their toys over their heads when they see the dog coming but the dog sees this as another step in the game and jumps up to get the toy, perhaps knocking the child over as he does so.
To discourage this behaviour, have the chid put the toy on the ground without any fuss when the dog approaches and walk slowly away towards another toy. If the dog picks up the first toy, there is no chase, so all the fun goes out of the game from the dog's point of view. If he goes for the second toy, this should be put down and the child might walk back to the first. All the children and adults should never chase the dog when he has taken something. If a valuable article has been taken, get something like a tennis ball and bounce it about, inviting the dog to come and play with it. He will usually drop the valuable object; but don't rush to pick it up. Play with the ball and the dog until you can get close enough to casually pick up the object you want.
To satisfy the dog's need for exercise have the children teach the dog to jump over objects on the command "over". Set up a course of obstacles round the garden so the children can safely run beside the dog, calling on him to jump over each one. At the end, tell him to sit and give him a reward. In this way the dog is having almost as much fun as before but now the children are controlling the play, not the dog.
If you have a strong tree with a branch, a stick tied to it by a rope can provide safe fun for dog and children. When the children shake the rope, the stick dances and most dogs will grab it and pull. All the force is taken by the tree and all the children have to do from time to time is to shake the rope so the stick feels "alive".
Playing hide and seek is fun for the dog and it is a game where the children are in control and the dog obeying their command to go to them. Treats when he finds them should be mildly interesting, like pieces of dry dog food rather than cheese so he takes it gently and, as with the jumps, he should be given excited praise.
see also
Aggression towards children
and
Jealousy of your child
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