[dawn27]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

Sorry for the novel!

I wanted to add my big rule here with dogs:

Noone, absolutely no one touches approaches or bothers my dogs ever if they are on a dog bed.

Dog beds are the dog's safety zone, period.

If the dogs want attention they are more than welcome and mostly do come to us jump on the chairs couch, laps etc, but the dogs are well aware when they don't want to be bothered they go to a dog be-at least one in every room here.

Here too, we have a cage in the kitcen that they can go into any time of day or night. We have several beds in our living space that I teach all of my little ones that those space are off limits !! That when they are there you dont touch. If and when they want to play or to be petted they will come to you. I introduse my four dogs to the little ones slowly throughout the first week or so. I let the two more laid back ones into the room for the first few days and than the lippy ones. aka: Miah & Ruby. I have gates that I use if I feel that the dogs need a break from the kids or vise versa. My main priority is the safety of the children who are in my care and by raising my dogs to be well socialized, behavied and trained to be around children of all ages has worked wonders and I wouldn't call that Luck, I'd call it Knowledge, Teach and they shall be taught.

I dont think that a small breed dog should be kept from knowing the love and tenderness of a child !!

But that is just my opionion....

Edit: thats too funny...
Of course Princess has figured out it's good fun to snatch something (mostly my shoes) and race for a dog bed..BASE/SANCTUARY!

Originally Posted by Britster

I think it just all depends - on the dog, on the kids, on the parents. I think it's a bit more maintenance with small dogs, just because of their size... it's easier for them to get hurt, even by a well meaning child. But then again I think that too often people are way too lax when it comes to big dogs and kids. They have a Golden and just think "oh he puts up with everything and doesn't care!" and then allow children to climb on, pull ears, etc. Every dog has a breaking point and I think ALL dogs and children should be watched together very closely. So if you are doing so, there is not much difference between a small dog and a bigger dog, because IMO they both need to be watched just as much. But of course there is going to be breeds that ARE more tolerant than others. Jackson is fantastic with kids, but will get nervous with really loud, obnoxious kids, and I NEVER allow him anyone to pick him up. He's big anyway though so most kids can't. However if a child were to hurt him accidentally even, he most likely would snap. And he's very sweet and trained and well mannered, but his threshold isn't as big as, say, most Goldens.

I think it just takes common sense, teaching children right from wrong, and socializing dogs to children.

So very true...