Puppy vs Grandson

[wendystation]

Our 8 month male sheltie has been with my husband and I for 3 months and is doing very well. We're discouraging continuous barking, which he seems to do, continuously, when our 3 year old grandson visits. Our grandson is not aggressive, and stands at a distance saying, "Grammy, he just saying hello to me, isn't he?" A walk this afternoon entailed one barking dog, short leashed on my left side, with a frightened grandson walking at my right-hand side, trying to "stay brave." Grandson finally caved into tears, and I carried him home, barking dog at my side.

This dog's a charmer and just a puppy... but... can someone suggest how our sheltie can be trained to cease this barking?

 

[Ann]

One of our four barks all the time at our 7-year-old granddaughter. She's spent time with us regularly since she was two, and at first, it was a free-for-all. Some dogs don't like the quick, jerky movements children make and a Sheltie's reaction is to bark, and frequently to herd as well.

As time has passed, three of them have gotten used to her and even the barker loves her and goes to her when she's sitting still. We have a hard and fast house rule of no running, jumping, or chasing the dogs. Perhaps if you encourage your grandson to sit quietly and feed your puppy some treats every time he sees the dog, it will speed the process of accepting that this tiny human is part of your pack.

I should add that we now have a one-year-old granddaughter who's been around the dogs since she was born but I expect it will be interesting when the walking process starts...she's crawling now and the dogs look very confused!

 

[jomuir]

Maybe try high-value treats for both. Grandson holds some liver treats or something so delicious to the dog, that the dog just has to approach & take one. And of course, grandson could be rewarded for his bravery. Also, at quiet times, when grandson is curled up on the sofa with you, watching a movie or reading a story, encourage the dog to come close & cuddle. Even if you can get the dog to cuddle with you on one side & grandson is on the other side, that brings them closer & they can use you as a bridge. You could see if grandson can get involved with a game with you & the dog outside-throw a ball, etc. That could help calm the dog down. Or at least, tire one or both of them out!

 

[Jess041]

My parents' border collie used to bark at small children, probably about the age of your grandson, when she was a young dog. We figured it was because she hadn't been around such small people before! She eventually got over it, but we also figured out how to get her to stop. Give the kid a Frisbee. That bc is a Frisbee maniac, so eventually it didn't matter how small the child, she didn't care as long as they were throwing the Frisbee for her. Now she's 9 yrs old, and she's been to so many Frisbee demos with small children, participated in their church VBS, and she even does a demo for my Mom's kindergarten class every year, that she's not bothered by small children. So perhaps you can have your grandson offer your dog treats, or his favorite toy. Make your grandson somebody that brings "good things" to your dog, not scary things.

My sheltie met her first "baby" at Easter. This baby turned 1 in March. She's my Aunt's niece from her husband's side, so technically no relation to me, but since I'm very close to my aunt we'll just say this baby is my cousin. At the time, she wasn't walking yet, but she has 2 dogs at home and loves dogs, so she kept crawling to get Missy. My sister and I sat on the floor with Missy and let the baby crawl over, and kept praising Missy for letting the baby "pet her" and then also make sure the baby didn't pull her hair. Then Missy was done, and the baby wanted her, but Missy can walk much faster than the baby can crawl, so Missy kept circling from the kitchen to the living room, and all we could hear was "click click click" really fast on the tile. We let her go outside to play with the dogs after that, because I didn't want to stress her out and make her afraid of toddlers. When we saw the baby again at my brother's graduation party, she wasn't as anxious about the baby and kinda just ignored her and scavenged for dropped food.