Kids And Dogs
This week Petra Burke is our moderator, with Liz Palika, Kate Abbott and all of the trainers and assistant trainers from the Kindred Spirits Canine Education Center pitching in to help. We asked everyone to add to this show because we’re talking about kids and dogs and wanted a lot of input on this sometimes controversial subject. Should a child be responsible for a dog of his/her own? How can we prevent kids from being bitten by dogs? With dog bites at an epidemic level, especially with children, this is very important. Tune in to hear what was said.
Transcript
Announcer: You're listening to PetLifeRadio.com.
Announcer: It's a big world out there and you're just looking for a pat on the back or head, you run around the city, searching for a place to bark, working your tail off with your nose to the ground, sniffing for a few scraps, hoping that someone will throw you a bone. You take each lead, collar after collar, hoping one day to take a bite out of success and become the top dog.
Fortunately, you come home each day to open arms, open cans, a drink waiting for you and a comfortable place in front of the TV set. You know you got it good, really good, because after all, it's a doggy dog world out there. Pet Life Radio presents “It’s a Doggy Dog World” with your host, pet expert and award-winning author, Liz Palika, and this week’s co-hosts, Kate Abbott and Petra Burke.
Petra Burke: Hi! Welcome to “It's a Doggy Dog World” on Pet Life Radio. Today or this week, I am your host, Petra Burke, and with Kate Abbott. Liz Palika is here but this topic is going to be interesting so we decide not to include Liz. But today, we’ll have our whole group of assistant trainers and dogs here today. So we're going to be talking here from Kindred Spirits Canine Education Center. We're going to be talking about dogs and children, the pros and cons…
Liz Palika: Of children!
Petra Burke: Pros and cons of dogs, that’s why Liz isn’t the host today. So we’ll have everybody put a little input, everyone who’s raised children. Liz has raised dogs. I personally have a teenage daughter, so we can put in a lot about this.
But before we go into details, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to talk about children and dogs. So stay tuned.
Announcer: Sit, stay. “It's a Doggy Dog World” will be right back after a short paws. Well, four to be exact.
[radio break]
Announcer: We know you're begging for more, so back to “It's a Doggy Dog World” with your fetching host, Liz Palika and this week’s co-hosts, Kate Abbott and Petra Burke.
Petra Burke: Hi, welcome back to “It's a Doggy Dog World”. I'm your host this week, Petra Burke, and I'm with Kate Abbott, Liz Palika is here as well and our group of helpers and trainers.
Announcer: Hi, everybody!
Group: Hi!
Petra Burke: There's the group. We also have two additional helpers who are teenagers, Maggie and Kayla, my daughter. We're going to be talking about children and dogs. Private first thing, and I'm going to start off with does everyone believe that a child should have a dog while they're growing up?
Group: No!
Petra Burke: Not really true. I started dogs way before I had my daughter so I had dogs when I had her. I think I raised her more like a creature than a child. But, I already had dogs in my life when I had my daughter. Some people who’ve never had dogs and decide that, “Well, I've got a child, so let's get a puppy!” First, having a young child and a puppy is like having two puppies, so that can be mind boggling, pulling your hair out to kind of crazy. Not every kid needs to grow up with a dog. Some children these days unfortunately--allergies are a big issue with kids. So unless you are a dog person, unless you've already had a dog or have one when you have a child, that’s understandable, but don’t assume you should have to have one.
Then, there's the aspect of the people who have a baby or a toddler and get a puppy so they can grow up together. How Many pregnant women have we come into class with a puppy because they wanted their baby to have a puppy.
Liz Palika: So that the baby in the stroller, with a puppy in their arms…
Petra Burke: Pulling and yanking and biting and jumping and doing what puppies do. I think sometimes new parents forget how much work--or they don’t understand how much work a baby is. Never mind a baby and a puppy. So I think that’s got to be kept in mind.
Liz Palika: How about a parent?
Kate Abbott: One of my pet peeves is getting a puppy for the young child so that it can learn responsibility. The entity that pays for that is the puppy. If a child is not old enough to take care of themselves, they're not old enough to take care of another creature. Now, if you're willing as the parents to assume the primary responsibility and then teach your child some responsibility for helping to take care of the puppy.
Petra Burke: Oh, this is going to be interesting.
Kate Abbott: I'm showing our own prejudices. That’s pretty much the way--when I was a child, my mother had dogs. I understood they were her dogs, I was allowed some responsibility if I earned it to do stuff with the dogs. But to have them as my own responsibility, heck, I'd be watching cartoons and I'd forget something.
Petra Burke: Well, and having dogs like I did before I had Kayla, she grew up respecting them. You definitely don’t leave a child with dogs. I had a German shepherd, an Australian shepherd, and a Rottweiler. I'm not going to throw in my 2-month-old baby in the middle of it and everything is well. So you still got to be there, you can't leave the kids alone with dogs. Not that your dogs are mean and they're going to injure the child, but two of them were big! They could just step on a dog while going over them, knock him over, who knows? So don’t leave your child with dogs, but they can grow up to be respectful of dogs and learn not to pull ears, tails or poke their fingers in their eyes.
Liz Palika: So let's hear from a parent. Deb, you and your husband raised kids and dogs?
Debra: We've had three sons and three dogs in that time frame. The first dog we got when our son was about five years old, and that was actually a good time. He was a mellow child--not quite as mellow dog--but they grew up to be just best friends and the dog was a great outlet for my son to share his problems and his issues with the help to give him an outlet and that was a great companion.
When our other two sons came along, the dog then was about six or seven and he was more mature and able to deal with more rowdy children, so that was a great fit. Then again, it was a good responsibility builder but don’t think for a minute when they say, “I'll clean up the poop and I'll feed them” that they will because they won't.
Liz Palika: Even if they mean well.
Debra: Yes, yes.
Liz Palika: Kids are kids, and they forget. Right, Kayla?
Kayla: Yes.
[Laughter]
Petra Burke: Yes, even at the age of 15, “Kayla, did you feed the dogs? Kayla, go out and clean up the poop!”
Debra: One of the other things that we found those when we got another puppy when the boys were about six and nine, is that they play too rough with the dog and would break all the training that you'd done. They thought it was fun to rough house and to wrestle and pretty soon, little nips were happening with our Australian shepherd especially. The rough house with the little boys, you have to be really strict about. “You can't do that. You're going to get hurt. You're going to get the dog in trouble.” So that’s a real key point about timing of bringing in a puppy into the household.
Petra Burke: So, training the kid and the dog.
Debra: Yes.
Petra Burke: Both!
Dan: Well, [++] on that, too--I'm Debra’s husband, Dan--Deb took a few classes that like the Y(?) and we thought we knew how to handle a dog and they were all from taking these classes the wrong kind of training. I hated going on the walk with the dog when you're caught in paradigm in a very strong dog and a very aggressive. My son decided to put on his rollerblades and pick the dog for a walk and just…
Group: Oh, no! Oh, God!
Dan: …dragging down the street. So when we took this class, it was just for me now, it's a pleasure to walk with the dog because dog listens and you’ll know what you have to do with it. You’ll know it's your responsibility, dog just doesn’t know to walk.
Petra Burke: And kids love to have their dogs pull them on the skateboard, the rollerblade. Like say, Kayla grew up with dogs and so she now helps teach them and restrain them. She does it with her skateboard, she locks him up on a harness and pulls, but the dogs know what to do. They’ve got obedience and learn--they know their collar as you can say. So, they know pass, slow, when to stop, but if you get a dog that hasn’t had any training like you got, Roseanne, go full force whooo down the street, that’s potential--yes, that’s dangerous.
Female guest: So, they’ve gotten up in an emergency room visit?
Petra Burke: No, but a really bad road [++] on his arm, yes. And it's scared him that, it made him more leery to play with him for a while.
Female guest: Oh, that’s too bad.
Petra Burke: Yes, yes. They learn how to interact.
Liz Palika: So let's have some input from kids. Maggie, what do you like about the dogs, what you don’t like about the dogs? How do you think they affect your life?
Maggie: Well, I'm actually the youngest of three and my family made a mistake. I was 10 months old when we got a puppy, and we had a German shepherd when I was growing up, I remember he knocked me over. But I also remember going through classes and sitting in the back. I learned a lot about dog training and I knew more about dog training than a lot of adults do.
Liz Palika: And you still do.
Maggie: Yes. So I definitely learned a lot from having dogs around when I was a kid. So there's something to it.
Liz Palika: What do you think besides him knocking you down, were some of the biggest problems with having dogs as a kid?
Maggie: Well, I was lucky that my Mom didn’t think I was going to take care of the dog because I didn’t.
Liz Palika: At least, she's honest.
Maggie: Yes.
Liz Palika: Still might be consistent about it.
Maggie: No, I'm not, and it's sad to think that some people expect their kids to be able to remember to feed dogs because kids can't.
Liz Palika: Right from the kid’s mouth.
Petra Burke: When you teach them responsible dog ownership, to a kid, they had to learn to be a kid.
Liz Palika: They have to be responsible for themselves first.
Petra Burke: Yes. So don’t assume the puppies going to fix up the problem.
Liz Palika: Yes. So let's have a word from Maggie’s mom. Kay, what’s the other viewpoint?
Kay: Well, Maggie begged for a puppy for about three years before I gave in, and when she had the puppy for about two weeks, she came in crying and said, “It's too much pressure, I can't take it.” And I said, “No, it's your dog, you begged for it, I'll help you. But it's your dog.”
Kate Abbott: That’s the attitude, though. You got to help the kids learn their responsibility.
Kay: Right, when she started going to puppy class, I came with her. If the dog wouldn’t sit still while instructions were being given, I would hold the dog so she could listen. Then after class, she could do everything with the dog. Then we started bringing an older dog so that we could both come at the same time and I wouldn’t be constantly interfering with Maggie and her puppy.
Liz Palika: And I will say over the last few years, we've seen a big change in Maggie. Maggie’s grown up a lot and Maggie’s become a very good dog trainer.
Petra Burke: That’s also the advantage of having a dog for kids who are withdrawn. Well, there's advantages to having a dog that is calm, patient that can bring children out, like in Maggie’s case, though we can't shut her up.
[Laughter]
But to build confidence for a child, the dog can do that. Sure, we just assume that every child needs the dog is incorrect.
Liz Palika: Sure. Well, before we take our break, let's have a word from Petra’s daughter. What's your take on growing up with dogs?
Petra Burke: And growing up with the dog trainer, as a mom.
Kayla: I do have to say growing up with dogs, I felt a little more different because I have to admit I did chew on raw hides.
[Laughter]
Petra Burke: [++] the dog trainer.
Kayla: And dog hates--sitting with dogs, learning how to walk with my Mom’s favorite dog just--it will happen like that. Quite frankly I've learned just how to understand dogs a lot more, I guess I don’t how life would be without one. It's probably the one thing that’s kept me--like a lot of kids do drugs now and I don’t do drugs because I'm more caught up with my dog, I'm worried about would do. So they're pretty much my antidrug, it keeps me busy, it keeps me away from stuff I shouldn’t be doing.
So really with kids, it's good for them to socialize with the dogs, it's good for them to keep busy because what everyone should do is to keep your kids out of trouble.
Petra Burke: The thing with Kayla like listening I've noticed, she's not afraid to stand up in front of people and talk, and Liz had shared the experience with speech class, that you talked about your dog and you're comfortable up there and that Kayla has done the same thing.
Liz Palika: Amazingly enough, when I was a teenager, I could not talk to people. I was very very shy, very introverted and would hardly say a word in public. I took my gag to my senior high school speech class to give my first speech in front of people because otherwise I wasn't going to be able to do it. I think my teacher was wise enough to realize I wasn't going to be able to do it. I took my 100-pound German shepherd with me, he got to spend the day in school with me, and son of a gun, I gave a speech and it was fun! And it's been all downhill since! So yes, a dog can be a wonderful companion for people in that respect.
Petra Burke: Also, if you are going to get dog for your child, wait till they're a little bit older first of all, so that they can be involved in the training and the raising of the puppy. Or it doesn’t have to be a puppy, it can be a rescue, go in your local shelters or animal rescue groups, dog groups around your area. But then, have the child with you when you go out to check out these dogs. You need to be able to have the dog and child to click. There can be times when just personality wise, they just do not like each other and you'll know a lot. We've seen in the class where it's just like, “Forced upon, don’t gets the dog and it's forced upon the child, child want a dog, “Well, you can have this dog.”
Liz Palika: Well, let's talk about Keely and Kayla. Kayla bought Keely and it’s supposed to be her dog.
Kayla: I had bought Kylie from one of my friends who’s Pomeranian had puppies. I wanted the dog, I thought maybe she’d be a good dog but she ended up being a little miniature Wolverine towards me.
[Laughter]
So quite frankly, Mom and I ended up training dogs, I got the brat Australian shepherd and Mom got the Pomeranian.
Petra Burke: It worked, because the personalities with the dogs and us fit. So right now, we're going to take a quick break. So don’t go away, we’ll have more to talk about. We’ll see you in just a few seconds.
Announcer: Sit, stay. “It's a Doggy Dog World” will be right back after a short paws, well, four to be exact.
[record break]
Announcer: We know you're begging for more, so back to “It's a Doggy Dog World” with your fetching host, Liz Palika, and this week’s co-host, Kate Abbott and Petra Burke.
Petra Burke: All right, welcome back to “It's a Doggy Dog World”. I'm your host today or this session, it's Petra Burke, and we do have Kate Abbott and Liz Palika here as well. We're talking about dogs and kids.
Next we want to hear from Nicole. Nicole who was a registered pediatric nurse, am I correct?
Nicole: Yes, pediatrics and emergency room as well the as the critical care units, way in excess of 20 years along with developmentally delayed, but my specialty is--besides ER work--oncology and nephrology. The interesting thing, during my emergency room years was this is one of the largest areas that you see children coming in to the ERs from dog bites.
My experience having been raised as Liz was with dogs, I thought I was one of them. I still feel like when I hug somebody, my tail’s going, too, and I think that’s one of the…
Liz Palika: That’s a picture I didn’t mean.
[Laughter]
Nicole: I always feel like still--now I lost my point. The emergency room, one of the most common things was to see dog bites and they were often the people’s own dog and often--and majority of it for me--was seeing kids who in fact when you talk through what happen--the kid had brought it on because the parent wasn't observing--by sticking their fingers in the eye, in the nose, in the anus, just horrible things. So you're basically need to stay there to protect the dog, and then you will protect your child.
The face is the most common bite site due to the fact that most of us especially children had for everything close into their mouth. I've seen toddlers and infants, even small infants, that were left along with the dog, and mostly the toddlers tend to be the most aggressive with their behavior and chase. You can talk about children in the ages of toddler through 10 or 12 who are not well controlled or hyper(?) to birthday party, if the adult isn’t there watching it, you see terrible bites because they’ll chase the dog, the dog gets into a playful state and starts treating them like they're another dog, and it's just very destructive.
So I feel that dogs are really good positive play, they certainly have been in my life, I feel as Kayla does in that way. I feel that it's given me great insight and a lot of responsibility, but I also would like to recommend that first of all, if you're going to get a puppy, do some research, go take a class for someone like Liz or Petra and Kate and talk about breeds of dogs. If you're going to buy a dog, then get a dog that has a history of good adoption to being with children.
If you're going to get a rescue which I also recommend, all the rescues, there are lots of dogs out there that have lost their owner through death or some other thing and would be a perfect dog to bring into a family.
My biggest emphasis is you do not leave dogs and children alone with each other.
Liz Palika: Do you have anything to add, Jerry, as far as experience with dogs and children?
[Laughter]
Petra Burke: [++] I just want to tag on to that, too. If you have children, don’t assume that the friends that they bring over to the house necessarily understand how to interact with dogs.
Kate Abbott: Sure.
Petra Burke: So you have to really check and make sure that their kids that are socialized, the dog as well socialized the kids, so they know how to behave and if they don’t, then just take the dog out of the situation. It's just not worth it.
Kate Abbott: Yes, exactly.
Liz Palika: Then another point is that, when kids are playing, dogs don’t always interpret play correctly. If the kids are rough housing, playing roughly, screaming and hollering, the dog may think that these kids are attacking his kid, and you could have a bad situation simply because the dog is misinterpreting what's happening.
Petra Burke: Then the other one with kids, they're always want to go and hunt the dog’s head and that’s where a lot of the bites on the face because I've worked in the ER as well, and that’s where it happened. “No, no let the dog and they hug up.” Not all dogs can tolerate hugging, anyway your dog ducks, it doesn’t like to be hugged.
Nicole: No, she doesn’t like anyone to grab her head because she’ll pull away, and she’ll actually duck out form under the [++].
Petra Burke: And many, many dogs are like that.
Nicole: The other area where dogs are often abused, I think, generally by unknowledgeable people is when dogs are chained up, and this is the other area where we saw the largest number of bites with children. Personally, I feel like a dog should never be on a chain, they should be in a kennel or something more safe than a chain. But children have an aptitude to approach dogs that are unchained.
I think whether you have a dog now or you're waiting for the dog to come in to your life, to be an addition to your life with your children, train your children in advance. If you have the option of having children first before you have the dog, start teaching your children compassion and understanding of how to behave around the dog that they meet either on a chain, behind the fence or with someone who’s walking that dog. The training starts all at once.
Petra Burke: And also wrestling [++] the child to wrestle with the dogs. They’ll go, “Oh, he's cute! He's little.” Yes, that’s [++] but the dog bites. Taunting, if you know you have a child that likes to taunt animals or tease dogs, then you’ll know whether it's a friend’s dog, a neighbor’s dog, just watching your child. I wouldn't say that if I get in a situation to get a dog about [++] tell you teach the right [++] to your child.
Liz Palika: Let’s move on to another aspect of it. Debra, your work was special needs children.
Debra: Yes, I have, and I wanted to let you know that a dog can be real beneficial when working with a child that has autism, for example. I have one little boy that tends to keep his hands in a fist and [++] his mouth. He was sitting next to my dog, Caleb, one day and all of a sudden, he spreads his arms and put them around Caleb, and just gave him a big hug.
What I would suggest is if you have a special needs child, contact someone who can bring their dog and do pet therapy rather than go out and get a dog for your child.
Petra Burke: Excellent. Good point, good point.
Debra: That way, you won't have to be dealing with the dog at the same time. You could just focus on what your child is doing.
Liz Palika: That’s an excellent point. We have a friend who does classes with us who has an autistic child, and she has had some problems, her son, because of his disability, has been too rough or too mean with her dog. In fact, the last time they were here at class, I had to catch and correct the kid [++] [laughter] and they don’t like me to put collars on to his, but I did interrupt his behavior and redirect him. So, that’s a very good point.
Kate Abbott: Therapy dogs are absolutely wonderful in those situations.
Petra Burke: Yes, so you have your child exposed to dogs but you have to own one.
Kate Abbott: Right, right.
Liz Palika: Let's talk for the last few minutes on how we can safeguard kids. Petra, you and I used to do visiting programs--and I'm sure we will again when we get some spare time--going to the day cares and the schools talking about how to dog bite proof kids.
Petra Burke: Yes, being the number one injury that children these days is all dog bites, we [++] what Kayla growing up and going to elementary schools or her friends coming over. First and foremost, I was told of her friends and Kayla, knowing this growing up around dogs is, “Don’t run.” If you see a dog and even if the dog is standing there staring, kids who are not exposed to dogs will scream--first I get the dog’s attention--and the prey drive kicks in and also when the child turns around and runs, then the dog chases him. And if it's a big dog, it can chase up, and even if it's not an aggression, just go, “Hey, what's wrong! Do you want to play?” Jump on it and knock them down, child’s screaming and that turns into a complete disaster.
So first rule, we teach the kids don’t run from a dog. Stand there, hold still as if…
Liz Palika: Be a tree.
Petra Burke: Be a tree. If it's a dog--and you see it on TV that is going around and waiting to bite or showing some aggression, we tell them to lay down on the ground, be still as you can, put your arms around your head, bury your head in your arms and don’t move at all.
Liz Palika: And if parents can practice this with the kids, because a child is not going to automatically remember all these points. But if a parent can practice with the kids, “OK, I'm chasing you, what are you going to do?” Have the child assume the position, that can help.
Petra Burke: And I've done it actually with my dogs because they're not rough and they're really good with children. So I have my dog unleashed and walk towards the child and say, “OK, now, drop down to the ground, hide your face and then I'll just walk up to the dog and let them sniff so they have some experience in what it's going to feel like. I would never take the chance and let them off leash, but I'm there to control the situation but they can at least know what to expect when the dog’s sniffing with their noses, going around the head, and that type of thing.
Liz Palika: As a child, I was always taught also to ask permission before petting a dog. We do have some kids come to the classes as they come visit with our therapy dogs that do this, but it's amazing how Many still don’t. How Many kids will just see a dog and run up to the dog, “Doggy, Doggy, Doggy!” and charge up, most dogs don’t like that. They really don’t.
Petra Burke: In class when we see it and also [++] and I'll go, “Ahh!” [Laughter] And all the kids freeze, “What happened?” Don’t run, don’t touch the dog.
Liz Palika: Yes, always ask permission. Debra, you were going to say something?
Debra: Yes. When your child is learning how to approach a dog, please caution it to never carry a stick about its head.
Kate Abbott: [++] than a toy.
Debra: Or anything that will threaten a dog, because you just don’t know their history, you don’t know if they’ve been abused at some point and you don’t know how they will react when it sees a child with that.
Liz Palika: And a lot of people throw sticks for dogs to retrieve. If the kids got a stick or a toy and hold it up, that dog could jump up on the child to grab the thing, the item, all in play, not being aggressive at all.
Petra Burke: Yes, they knock the kid down, and then there's an injury.
Liz Palika: The kid’s scared and the dog’s freaked.
Petra Burke: Yes, and there's the disaster again.
Petra Burke: Mary, you want to add anything to that.
Mary: No, but we just the program WACS.
Debra: Yes, and it was watch, ask, [++] safely. And after the kid have been watched the dog, is it behind the fence, is it on chain? They ask the owner, “Can I pet it?” If the owner says, “Yes”, then you talk about not bring your hand above the dog’s head and bring it down, and instead either approach straight forward or to the side, so that you're not threatening the dog.
Liz Palika: Well, the approach straight on to a dog, a dog who is extremely dominant or aggressive will approach straight on with direct eye contact and stand tall. If you’ll approach a dog on a diagonal and you're not making hard eye contact, whether this be an adult or a child, then you're less threatening to the dog. So especially if you're greeting a dog you don’t know, you don’t want to go up to him straight on staring.
And kids don’t understand subtleties. They see the dog, they love the dog, they're looking at the dog. Well, they're at the same eye level as the dog, and the dog’s going, “Oh, this kid is staring at me. Oh got to be a problem.” So the kids can learn that.
Petra Burke: Kids don’t know how read body language of dogs.
Liz Palika: Sure.
Petra Burke: So, if you're there and your child wants to say “Hi” to a dog and the dog is holding still and staring this stupid stare, at that point, turn your child around and go away. Right there, the dog’s already telling you and giving you signal it doesn’t want to be petted.
Liz Palika: Let’s look at things from Walter’s point of view. Kate’s Cockapoo Walter, doesn’t like kids.
Kate Abbott: Children are aliens from another planet. They're talking different voices and they move differently and they rush at him because he's so cute. So one of the things I do with Walter is I protect him and then protect the child. So if I see a child rushing, I'll put my hands around Walter’s head and on his collar and say, “Hang on, kids, while I get him under control.” I'll allow them to pet his shoulders and back while I hold Walter’s head. Well, he looks at me as though I'm torturing him beyond belief.
And the nice things is every now and then, we’ll meet a call, we met a 6-year-old I think the other day and he was very calm, very sweet, very dog savvy.
Liz Palika: And Walter was wonderful.
Kate Abbott: Walter enjoyed her very much. So protecting the dog as well, if the child is out of control running at you. Put your hands on your dog’s head, keep their head turned in toward you.
Liz Palika: [++] I think Nicole wants to say something and then Kayla wants to say something.
Petra Burke: Go ahead, Tim.
Tim: I was just saying the one thing I noticed when I was out here is that when the parents set a very young girl and she’d got the treat and she was just wondering around and one of the dogs think that they're getting the treat, and they just went over there [++] and the dog took the treat out of her hand and scared her.
Liz Palika: Sure.
Time: So that parents’ responsibility, if we need [++] around any dog is to be responsible for their child.
Liz Palika: And the dog owner needs to be responsible because when kids are wondering around with food and it's right at the dog’s head level, the dog’s going to go, “Oh, that’s a freebie!” So yes, it means responsibility on both sides.
Nicole: That was exactly in my line of thinking, too, because I look at the fact that we've all had this wonderful opportunity to have dogs in our lives. I think every experience I have walking my dogs, interacting with other people, my dog and I are working as a diplomat for the canines. It's sometimes embarrassing because I do not hesitate when I see children or even their parents to act as if it's one of my kids. I’ll say to them, “Wait, or this is the way to approach the dog” and physically show them the thing. In most cases I think in all the years I've been doing this, maybe one or two parents said, “What are you doing with my child?” But majority were very appreciative and I think we need to act that way.
Liz Palika: Well, that’s because you're so nice about it. I just go, “Aha!”
[Laughter]
Kayla?
Kayla: I always thought though, see if someone like some little kids try to run up your German shepherd and they try to hug them around the face. I have a tendency to do like a human barrier, so you go in between the dog and the kid, settle down your dog and then turn your dog around, let them pet the dog. Just make sure that there's no problem.
Liz Palika: That’s a very good point. Yes, you can put your legs between the dog and the child. Yes. And we have to keep in min--as Walter is a good example--not every dog likes kids. A lot of the breeds that we have today were bred to be cautious with strangers, were bred to be protective, were bred to be reserved. I somewhat jokingly say that Riker, my middle Australian shepherd didn’t read the breed standard because I was suppose to be reserved and cautious to strangers, and he’ll love and kiss anyone.
But Bashir, when a stranger comes up to Bashir, he’s not happy with strangers. He steps back, looks at me, says, “OK, Mom, are they good people or bad people? What are we going to do about them?” So kids running up to him, he doesn’t grab, he's not afraid but he's like, “[dog sounds]. What are you doing?!” Of course, I think he thinks kids should be as well behaved as puppy should be. But that’s Bashir.
Petra Burke: Well, that makes our half hour, we could again talk about this all day. We all have so Many stories and experiences to share. So, for now, Liz, Kate and myself would like to thank our producers and sponsors for making the show possible and the experiences and ideas we could share with you, guys. So again, thank you to everybody and our listeners and thanks for our assistants and their trainers today for everybody being here because you're awesome. Again, thank you, our listeners for letting us talk about our favorite subject, our dogs.
So everyone, have a happy and safe holiday and we’ll talk to you again next week.
Group: Bye!
Announcer: Having a rough day, longing for that dog days of summer? Think your fun furry friend lives a dog’s life? Well, find out everything you're begging to know as Pet Life Radio presents “It's a Doggy Dog World” with pet expert and award-winning author, Liz Palika. Every dog has his day, and you’ll find out how to make your dog’s day fun and rewarding, every week on demand, only on PetLifeRadio.com.
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