Of all the hundreds of pictures I have of the dogs, there actually aren't that many of them with kids. And the reason for that is when my dogs are around children, my focus is mostly taken with supervising. It’s not that I don’t trust my dogs, it’s that children can be very unpredictable.
It’s important to socialize dogs with all types of people, but children are especially important. I’ve talked before about the importance of parents teaching children how to properly interact with dogs, but it is also the responsibility of dog owners to monitor interactions between their dogs and children. Kids can get easily exited or afraid around dogs and the dogs will feed off that energy. Even the most well trained dog shouldn’t be left alone with someone else’s children.
Ares and Chaos have been around children since they were babies themselves. They thoroughly enjoy spending time with kids but as the kids get giggly and high energy, the dogs can start to get high energy too. Ares is a small dog but he can still easily knock over a small child if he jumps. Chaos is 55lbs of muscle and doesn’t realize his own strength. We say he sometimes loves little too hard because he tends to jump up or go into a licking frenzy when he’s in an excited state and that can be a little scary to a kid.
The funny thing is that both of the dogs seem to instinctually recognize a baby. Ares met a baby only a few weeks old when he was about 2 months old. The baby was in a pumpkin seat on the floor in the corner of the room where Ares was playing. I was watching like a hawk because he was just as bouncy and energetic as a puppy as he is today. I turned my head for a second and when I looked back, there was my black and white furball with the front half of his body in the pumpkin seat with the baby. He was gentle and didn’t make any sudden movements. He just wanted to be right by the baby.
Chaos was just about 2 months old when he met a 4 year old little girl who did everything children should be taught not to do with dogs. She pulled his ears, yanked on his tail and chased him around the room. But all that and even poking his belly and screaming, giggling and running around him in circles didn’t really faze Chaos. And he learned to accept this type of behavior from children.
Pit Bulls were known as nanny dogs long ago and also have an exceptionally high tolerance for pain. Boston Terriers have been called the American Gentleman and are widely known for being happy go lucky family pets. Ares and Chaos have been around children many times and have never gotten irritated, scared or upset by anything of their antics. But this doesn’t mean we ever leave them in a situation with children unsupervised.
Too many things can happen accidentally or unintentionally so it is our responsibility as pet parents to be vigilant. Ares still sometimes has a penchant for mouthing and although it’s with a soft mouth, catching a child’s finger the wrong way could hurt. Chaos could view a happy kid slapping her hands on her legs as an invitation to jump up and then cause her to fall over and possibly be injured.
Kids and dogs can be a great combination. They can learn from each other, play together and form strong bonds. But in order to make sure the interactions always stay position, being a watchful owner is the best way to go. I’m not always for the old saying better safe than sorry, but in this case, I think that pretty much sums it up.
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