How to Help Your Dog Get Along with Your Children

A friendship between a child and their dog is special. Kids often form very close bonds with the family pet, and the relationship is beneficial for both of them. However, you must take the appropriate steps to ensure the relationship is off to a good start. It’s also important that both the dog and your child understand the ground rules from the beginning to ensure everyone’s safety. Here are some tips for making this work.

Choose the Right Dog for Your Family

It goes without saying that you must choose the dog that is right for your family. Dogs come in all shapes in sizes, but they also have different personalities and temperaments. While it’s not nice to stereotype, some dog breeds are also better suited to be family pets. This has to do with their disposition and their task in life. For example, breeds that were traditionally used for herding other animals may easily adopt your family as their herd and care for it just as much. On the other hand, a hunting dog may not be as likely to be the children’s playmate – unless their favorite pasttime is exploring the neighboring forest.

Let Them Meet before You Adopt Your Dog

A shelter is probably not the best place for young children for various reasons. Some kids don’t like loud noises, and a shelter full of dogs is certainly not a quiet place. Additionally, it can be difficult to cope with the fact that all of these dogs need homes. A child may want to save them all, which is understandable but not necessarily feasible for your family.
Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to let your child or children meet the dog before you adopt them. Maybe you can take the dog on a walk together or spend some time with the dog in their kennel. It’s okay for the dog or your child or both to be nervous, but neither should exhibit hostility or terror at meeting the other.

Give Everyone Personal Space

It’s important to make sure that your child and the dog always has personal space to retreat to when they feel overwhelmed or need to be alone. You may want to make your child’s room off-limit to the dog, at least in the beginning. This ensures that your child won’t be unsupervised with the dog and gives them a chance to have the room to themselves.
Your dog also need a retreat that nobody will follow them to. It could be a dog pillow underneath a desk that doens’t get used much or a cozy blanket next to the fireplace. The best hiding place is an area that doesn’t get any walk-through traffic to ensure your dog feels at peace. This could be the same spot your dog sleeps in at night, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s important that every member of your family respects the dog’s place and never disturbs the animal when they’re hiding there.

Take It Slow

It takes time to get to know someone knew and form a bond to them. It’s no different with a pet. Even if your child has wished for a dog for a long time, they may not fall in love with the new pet at first sight. That’s okay, because it takes time to build a friendship. Given some time, your child will get attached to the dog. As they play together and get to know each other, they’re bound to fall in love. Incidentally, it may take you some time to appreciate your new dog, too. It will also take your dog some time to get to know you and adopt you as their new best friend.

Teach Them about Each Other

It’s important to teach both your child and your dog how to behave around each other. For example, your dog must learn not to jump on your child, because that can be very scary – especially with big dogs and small children. Your child has to learn to be gentle with the dog, because pinching and pulling can hurt him – unlike a stuffed animal. These teaching opportunities will present themselves sooner or later, and it’s important not to miss them. The sooner your dog and your child learn how to behave around each other, the more likely it is that they’ll become the best of friends.