Category: Parent Talk
Hi everyone,
I was wondering if i could get some advice .
As you are all probly aware, i have an 18 month old son. The problem is that i also have a guide dog and my son is to rough with him. He keeps on jumping on him and hitting him. My dog can take it sometimes but sometimes isaac has hit him so hard and pulled his fir that he starts to growl. At the moment i have had to resort to putting luke in another room so isaac wont hit him. When he does hit him me and my partner have shouted at him and i have even come down to his levil to try to tell him not to do it. To be honest, i am at my wits end with this. i don't want to keep on putting my dog outside but at the same time i want my son to learn but not get hurt.
I would appreciate any suggestions that anyone may have.
Cheers, Paul
I am guessing your not wanting to spank him so here is another thing that might help.
When he does something, your son, then clap your hands really loud if you can right above his head or right behind him. At the same time say sternly, No! Stop! Lower your voice and then say, Bad Zack, Do Not do that to the dog. Then Pick him up and sit him down in your lap and tell him that he is bad when he does that and what ever else you can think of but say it in a soft tone. Then end it with telling him that you love him and you don't want him to hurt the dog. He may not understand all that you are saying, but he will understand the tone. Remember to end it with soft tones and love. Because he is a baby, and he really should learn not to do this before the dog goes as far as to bite him. I hope you find a way to get him to stop.
hi paul. have you thought about talking to other pet owners who have dogs? maybe they can give you some advice. i understand your reticence towards not letting the situation get out of hand, and my usual, let him learn the hard way, probably doesn't apply here. maybe talking to other guidedog owners or talking to the guidedog school might help in this instance.
hi paul. agreed with post two, though post two didn't exist when i was posting. love the internet for that.
Hmmm, maybe time out for the child instead of the dog. Placing him in his play pin or time out chair? The dog is doing nothing wrong, yet is the one being punnished.
I remember tending for a little boy and harming my guide dog was out of the question. I reacted swiftly and fiercely. I made sure I was consistent, at no time was this behavior acceptable. I didn't want to confuse him. I think there was about 3 insidents.
Also, posative interaction is great. Reinforce and create posative experiences between child and guide dog. I remember teaching soft petting. I remember Jesse came with me when I relieved my guide dog. *Grin,* it got to the point that the little boy would say, you missed a poop. It's right there! I let him help me feed my guide dog and the 3 of us played together at times. I showed Jesse fun games that Darby would like. Look, Darby has toys too. Showing him the kong was Darb's fave and the frisbee.
Good luck with this situation. I agree with talking to other pet owners and maybe your guide dog school as well. A dog trainer may be helpful.
Hi, I agree with the third and the last poster. I think that each time he starts to hit the dog the loud clapping and stirn no is good, and also removing him from the situation and placing him in time out in a play pin or something like that will be a big help. If you can be consistent each time and quickly react by removing him each time, then he will learn that hitting the dog is not an exceptable behavior and will realize that if he wants to be around the dog that he can't hit. I hope this helps.
Blessings,
Angela
You can always use redirection or distraction techniques. The other thing we've done with our son is to tell him clearly that hitting and climbing on the doggies is not nice and hurts the doggie. Then we show him how to "be nice" to the doggie by taking his hand and petting the doggie's back & rubbing his ears. Clapping and all that is pretty lame really. My son would laugh in your face if you clapped above his head.
but each child reacts differntly to startling noises like loud clapping.
hi Paul,
hope you the situation between Isaac and Luke is improved.
i think clapping above zac's head will actually send a different message. clabbing for most kids are something award for them, cause of things that they done well, and you clabs, but the next second you tell him that what he done is wrong, just, didn't make sense to him. and clabbing will sometime send an excitement message to a dog too. there's no way to take the risk, you don't necessary want to have the dog reacts too much towards zack's behavior.
i would suggest the best option is to talk to the professional about this matter. approach the guidedogs school for example, is a good way to go. one of the poster suggested that play with the dog and son in the same time will help too. this will help both your son and dog to understand that they are in a family, no thret to each other, and need to respect each other space too.
my experience with Yasmin my dog and other kids thats around the same age as yours was too explain to them how important the dog is to you, and how great the dog helps us in our daily life. even though they might be young, they might hardly understand, but keep reinforce the idea, eventually they will understand.
for them, they might think dog is somewhat their toy, if they can pull and push their toy, why not the dog. therefore, is important to send a firm and clear message that its aint right.
good luck
I hink clapping is crazy! im sure zack isnt deaf so y clap? Y he might find clapping funny! My 23 month old will just clap just cauz he wants to play so I wuldnt suggest this one. Time out works wonders but the "KEY" is "PERSISTENT!" persistents works wonders! Yah h might get back up, bu just kep putting him in time out he will adventually get hey if i dosomething naughty, then i will get a conciquence i dont like! also askzac would u like it if u wee a dggie and he was mean to u? wouldnt that ak u sad? n lesse f word.