How do I make my dog good with kids??

A common question I get asked is, “How do I make my dog good with kids?”. The honest truth is, it’s 100% normal for dogs to struggle around young children. If I asked you if you loved the sound of noisy toddler toys, the smell of dirty diapers, things being thrown at you, or being treated like a jungle gym, I’m sure you would cringe at the thought. Dogs’ sense of smell and hearing are vastly better than ours, so you can understand why having young children in their living quarters would cause them distress. Unfortunately in our society, we have normalized the idea that dogs should be ok with things that we, ourselves, aren’t ok with. It’s not fair to expect a dog to tolerate having their hair pulled at or having their food randomly taken away. In order to help them, we first must listen to them. Learn their specific sensitivities, understand their cues of discomfort and pleas for help. It is only then that we can offer them support. So if you’ve found yourself Googling, “How do I make my dog good with kids?”, let’s instead, ask “What changes can I make to support my dog through this phase of childhood?”. If you’d like to learn how to accomplish this with your dog, let’s chat!