New puppy and kids

[Tomb82]

Hi I just got my new 4 month old springer spaniel home last night and introduced him to my boys today and he's not taking to them to well. My boys are 5 and 7 and he just seems to not be comfortable with my 5 year old. He growls when he try's to pet him. Seems better with my 7 year old but still nervous around him. I picked him up at the national field trial and he was around people all weekend and was happy as can be. Any suggestions on what I should do?
Thanks Tom

[markj]

Give it time,caution the youngster as nobody wants to have a child bit by a pup. Let the kids offer treats once in awhile, maybe even let kids put food in the food bowl. Things pup will associate with good feelings. Some dogs never take to a child so be carefull of this. Dont yell at pup or do anything to make any child association a bad one, be gentle, maybe hold pup and child in the lap together.

[MonsterDad]

If a blunt answer is ok, I would take the puppy back. Puppies shouldn't behave that way, sporting breeds in particular.

Getting a 4 month old pup can be risky if the early socialization isn't there.

Others may have different suggestions but sporting breed puppies and kids should go together without any trouble.

You can always work around this with your kids, but I would worry about the kids' friends and people you meet out.

I just re-did my homeowners insurance and there were as many questions about pets as there were about the roof.

They even took pictures of the dog when they inspected the house.

[Labs4Me]

^ +1

If it were me, the pup would go back post haste. Whether it is genetics or socialization, no 4 month old puppy should be growling at children unless severely provoked. IMO

If you decide to keep the puppy I suggest you not force interaction. The children should not interact at all without your close supervision and even then they should not be reaching for the puppy until the puppy reaches for them first. Keep all interaction positive. Low key praise and small amounts of high value treats. Maybe have the kids sit against the walls of a room where the puppy has space to ramble and toss treats to the puppy when he makes eye contact with kids and remains relaxed. Make it a game but ask your children to be calm and quiet.

One more suggestion if you keep him, really work a program to avoid the puppy becoming a resource guarder. Conditioning the puppy to accept all humans around his food bowl, teaching "trade" with treats and toys, that sort of thing.

[Tomb82]

Thanks for the help. We just took him out to the field and he seemed to do much better with them. I'm going to give it a few days and if it doesn't improve he's gone. I can't have a dog that I can't trust.

[Susie]

Hi I just got my new 4 month old springer spaniel home last night and introduced him to my boys today and he's not taking to them to well. My boys are 5 and 7 and he just seems to not be comfortable with my 5 year old. He growls when he try's to pet him. Seems better with my 7 year old but still nervous around him. I picked him up at the national field trial and he was around people all weekend and was happy as can be. Any suggestions on what I should do?
Thanks Tom

I really hope you contacted your breeder first before posting for help on this forum. If not, CONTACT YOUR BREEDER! From my experience when socializing not only should big people be included but especially little people

[Tomb82]

I did try and contact him at the same time I posted this. I'm still waiting to hear back from him. I figured I would try to get as much help as fast as possible being this is a pretty important problem.

[Tomb82]

Well in the last few hours he has lightened right up and acting like a puppy should with the kids! I had the boys feed him and give him a few treats out of there hands while petting him. Going to bring him everywhere I can and get him around as many people and kids as possible. He was moved around a lot the last few days so hopefully it won't continue now that he's in a permanent home.

[NLsetter]

At 4 months the breeder should have had him socialized with children, in which he sounds like he wasnt. By the sounds of it your kids may have been his first introduction to these miniature humans and he was just unsure of things. Keep an eye on him, I dont mind growling from a dog especially if the kids are doing something he doesnt like. The ones that dont growl but just react are the ones that scare me.

[Tomb82]

I'm definitely going to keep a close eye on him and not going to let the kids be alone with him. I spoke tk the breeder yesterday and he has been around children just not many. He won't leave the boys alone now and just wants to play. Not sure if I over reacted yesterday or not I just wanted to get as much help as fast as possible.
This is a pic from this morning before the boys headed off to school.

[DougB]

I don't know how deep your snow is, but if you get the kids and the dog working a field together or just playing together outside, the pup won't feel trapped too close to the kids and can work up some pack togetherness. Patience gets more done than hurry. It's not always the dogs fault. My ESS gets along fine with some of my grandkids. They tend to be quiet and keep out of the dogs face. The other are to forceful, and the dog air snaps, growls, and backs off. Let the dog come to the kids.

[Tomb82]

Thanks Doug. We took the boys and the pup out in the field last night and let them play. He got much more comfortable with them and now he just wants to play with them.

[aulrich]

It's always best to act with some caution, a 4 month old should not be alone with kids regardless, just to cover exuberant play. I bet this is the start of a long friendship.

One question I have is that with mine he got a little snappy 6-9 month sexual maturity stage (nothing serious but most certainly a testing the boundary challenge), do you crank the monitoring back up or with smaller kids would it show up as protectiveness.

[markj]

See, sometimes moving a pup from its surroundings into a strange place will make a pup hesitant. Ever har a calf just was separated from its mom? bawls forever. same with pup. Dont dump pup just cause it was anxious. Give him time to acclimate to his new surroundings.

Cant belive some of the stuff I read on this here forum lately. As if none of you ever had a pup....

[kensfishing]

Most young kids move way to fast around all new dogs and pups. It's not the dogs fault, kids have to be told how to move and approach new animals.