Kane with Kids

[shawsdanes]

I have three great danes, two out of the three are great with kids, but Kane is another issue. He has never tried to bite anyone, but when he sees young kids he instantly gets a look of fear. If they even try to approach him he barks and backs up and hides be hind me and continues barking. I have looked into getting a behavioralist trainer, but there just isn't any around. The only one I found around is booked. Does anyone have any suggestions? As I know fear can turn into aggression very easily and I don't want that to EVER happen.

[VTJess03]

It seems that he needs to be socialized with kids...has one ever hurt him before or something, maybe when he was really little (well, young...Danes are never really little, right :D )? How often does he come in contact with kids? If it's just a matter of that he just doesn't know how to deal with them, try the following.

If you have any children that you can count on to remain calm and are willing to help you out on a regular basis, I would suggest giving them some of Kane's favorite treats, and (carefully supervised, of course), maybe let the kid sit on the sofa with the treats, and ignore Kane totally. Whenever he gets over his own fear and comes to them, let him have the treat (gently taking it off their lap or from a hand held still). No petting, no sudden movement, no loud voices, no fidgeting, especially the first few times. Just let him have the treat and softly say "good boy". Do not try to restrain him or force him to go to the child, and make sure that the child remains calm. Do not intervene and take the treat from the child yourself and give it to Kane. If done consistently, there may be a time when Kane will allow the child to pet him...be patient, and try to work on this with different children, so it's not just one that he gets used to.

I would also not let the other two pups in the room at the same time, as they would probably get the treats first, since they're not scared of the kids. :)

[petpsychologist]

Hi, I think the suggestion you just got is great - i would have told you the same. Just one thing i would like to add: never try to calm him or to stroke him when he is in a fearful situation - ignore it - as hard as it is for you, i understand that, but that is the only way to show him that this is not a problematic situation for you. If he tries to hide behind you, do not let him. Try to be as relaxed as possible and as calm as possible.
Also try not to train too much or too long. As soon as you see that it is enough for him, let him have a rest - he needs it. Training can have a positive effect if it is short and clear - too long, too much ruins everything.
I wish you all the best!! If you have any further questions - just ask.
Greetings, Michael

[shawsdanes]

Thank you for the wonderful advice. I wish I had a kid that could work with us, but unfortunalty I am not so sure that will be possible. A short story on Kane. We have had him since he was 5 1/2 weeks old. He has really never been around kids, but neither has the other three that we have. Kane turned 2 yrs old in March. To my knowledge he has never had a bad incounter with a kid, since I have never had him around kids. I just feel he doesn't know how to handle them. I go to the petstore every other week and take turns taking a different dog with me. They have all been to dog parks and he seemed fine as long as he wasn't on leash and could control the situation and keep a certain distance from kids. He just acts so fearful. I thought about taking him to parks and such were kids were, but then thought that would probably be to overwelming for him.

In the meantime I will brainstorm on finding a younger kid to help me out, although most kids I know are intimidated by their size.

One question I do have though. Say for example I am at the pet store and Kane sees a kid and starts barking. How should I handle the sitation? I understand not to comfort him, but do I repremend him?

[VTJess03]

Belle has a 'leave it' command, for whenever I want her to ignore something... it's a lot easier than training her to behave a certain way about one particular thing, and it seems to work...

To train 'leave it', interrupt the undesired attention (whether it be sniffing, picking up something he's not supposed to have (especially something gross :) ), barking, etc. -- you're training him to drop his immediate interest in whatever you want it to be) in whatever way you can...a sharp pop on the leash, wave a treat in front of his nose...whatever works - you know what will distract your dog better than anyone else does.

As soon as you have the attention on yourself, rather than on whatever, praise and treats, of course. It won't take him long to learn what 'leave it' means, especially if he's rewarded for leaving it alone.

In essence, I wouldn't comfort or reprimand him, just have a command ready in case you need it, so he will know how you expect him to react.

[KittyGurl]

Where did you get Kane? Was in a pet store or did you get him from a breeder? I was thinking if you got him from someone, their kids might of been mean to him. Did you ever see a child hurt him?


One question I do have though. Say for example I am at the pet store and Kane sees a kid and starts barking. How should I handle the sitation? I understand not to comfort him, but do I repremend him?

Teaching a "leave it" command is a great idea! You can also get his attention away from the child. Lead him somewhere else in the store.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[lizbud]

Kane might just be "wired different" than your other two Danes.Some
dogs seem to be more fearful then other dogs, even from the same litter.
i hope the right training helps Kane to adjust to the things he fears.

[clara4457]

One thing you can do is make seeing children a positive experience for Kane. Jean Donaldson in her book "Culture Clash" talks about counter conditioning your dog. More than likely, at some time a child probably did something that scared him - it was probably something absolutely innocent such as running after a ball or playing hide and seek or just being a kid.

If you take Kane to the park and see children playing get just close enough to the children so that you start seeing Kane get a little nervous and give him really good treats (and I mean REALLY GOOD treats). You know your dog better than anyone, so make sure he is just at the point where he knows the children are there and just starting to feel a little anxious, but not so close that you have a full blown case of anxiety. The mistake many people make is trying to push the dog too far too fast which will actually increase the stress and condition a response that is opposite of what you want.

If the kids move away stop treating. The trick is that you want Kane to associate the children with good things. Kids = treats. No kids = no treats. Slowly over the period of several days or weeks or even months, move closer and closer to the children - treating as you go.

It is the same process you would use when training a dog aggressive dog. When he starts realizing that children = good things, I think you will find his anxiety decrease. You have time - don't force it. Forcing a dog to confront something that is very scary to them and not giving them a means to retreat could cause a dog to bite.

Good luck. I think you are seeing it early enough to work with it and it sounds like you are dedicated to trying.