Kids and dogs

[Funghoul]

My brother has 2 beautiful greyhounds. Both are rescues, one he's had for 2 years and the other for just 2 weeks. They are lovely dogs who've had horrific starts in life and are now looked after brilliantly.

My dd is just coming up for 8 months and loves dogs. I know she's young for learning but I want to go about things the right way and teach her to respect dogs, and animals in general. The children I know seem to be either too rough or absolutely petrified and I wondered if there was a way around this?

I'm also aware that being rescue dogs we aren't fully aware of their backgrounds, the new dog in particular had some appalling injuries that the previous owner tried to treat himself, so would hate that any of us would do something to upset them. I'm particularly anxious about dd grabbing one of them by the ears etc, the dog reacting then getting the blame. The dogs are family members too.

Sorry this is a bit garbled, but I've never owned a dog myself and want dd to treat them properly if this makes any sense.

8 months is really too young to teach her to interact with dogs. I would stick to teaching her to admire them from afar, and keeping her fenced in so they have a place to escape from her. I've had one rescue dog who, for all her other problems, loved nothing more than being around small children and babies (always, always, always with close supervision, obviously), but I suspect these greyhounds will opt to get the hell out of there. They must be given that opportunity. Especially do not let her approach them when they're in their beds, and probably keep them in a separate room while they eat.

If that all sounds a bit negative, there are nice things you can do with them. Ask your brother if you can get together to take them for walks... It's a beautiful thing to watch greyhounds moving, especially if there's somewhere where they can have a run and really let rip. And dog walking areas are just the place to see other dogs in action... You might be lucky enough to meet some, like mine, who would walk over hot coals to be allowed to wuffle small children and babies! You can also let her watch, from a safe distance while you groom the dogs (as long as they like being groomed), which models proper treatment of dogs to your daughter, and helps accustom the dogs to being near children in a non-confrontational way.

Try here: Kids and Dogs

Thank you. I know she's far too young to learn anything at the minute, but we're doing everything that you've said. My brother has had issues with the dogs and a family member lying saying the first dog went for her kids. He absolutely did not but watching her kids they had no respect for the dog at all and I don't want my dd behaving like that because it isn't fair on the dog. We always let the pair of them escape if they need to. My mum also has a lovely neighbour who's dog loves my dd so she gets her fix every now and then. Thank you.

That link is brilliant thank you.