Argh! my dog got kicked!

[Maralynn]

I ran some errands this afternoon and stopped at the local Tractor Supply on the way home to pick up some dog food. The dogs love to go in there and the folks that work there love to see them.

 

So I'm standing in the dog food aisle (with my well-behaved leashed dogs) and theis kid (maybe about 6) comes walking up grinning. His mom is telling him to stop. I try to tell him that he needs to ask before petting the dogs and he walks right up and kicks Kipp in the face!!! His mom comes over and grabs him and tells me "sorry" (english was not her first language) and I'm standing there shocked. I walk around the other end and his dad is standing there and says "sorry about that". I very guardedly said "you know he kicked my dog". Them the dad says autism, I say I understand and walk away.

 

I don't want to be too hard on someone dealing with an autistic child as I know it's very difficult, but I was livid that the child was able to just run over and kick my dog in the face. I think (I hope) it bothered me alot more than Kipp.

 

And then there was a new guy working the counter. Of course the dogs were looking for treats. When one of the other workers asked him if he'd given the dogs their treats yet, he replyed, "I don't do that" Oh well, at least the one guy gave my dogs some friendly attention.

 

Sigh. I guess I stick to weekdays when visiting TSC from now on.

[mattinky]

Sounds to me like that kid needs his ass whipped.

[painted_ponies]

Yikes. That's a pretty scary story all around. Suppose Kipp had lit into the kid? Geez, I suppose there's a fair chance I'd have swatted the kid, purely out of reflex. His parents really ought to re-think how they're managing his interactions before he gets hurt.

 

Or before they come to my TSC store and Scot and I wind up in jail.

 

TSC is Scot's second favorite store - he likes Lowe's better because their aisles are wider. Scot uses shopping trips to get his kid fix, since I don't keep any. So I can imagine how shocked and dismayed you must have been to have your dog attacked.

 

How did Kipp react?

[powerfulgazelle]

Ow! Poor Kipp! Poor you!

 

I guess from what you described, it sounds like the mom might have been getting an inkling that the boy was beelining for Kipp and trying to stop him.

 

I imagine, for the parents, that was like the experience probably most parents have had when their kid has a complete, total, ape-poop, face-down-in-the-aisle-at-the-supermarket (or, better, in the sanctuary at church) kicking and screaming, bratful tantrum---except worse....that feeling where you really wish the earth would just open up and swallow you.

 

Neither of my children has autism...I can only guess...but, I imagine that the parents of the little boy were probably both mortified---and grateful that you handled it so calmly. And that Kipp was so gracious and well-behaved! Kipp sounds like a gentleman for tolerating that nicely!

[Ooky]

Not being there, I don't really know what happened, but if the kid was strongly autistic, I don't think it's reasonable to be mad at the kid at all. Mattinky, whupping the kid's ass (if he was autistic) would NOT help anyone. The parents should have controlled the situation better, but from my experience with families with autistic kids, the parents have about a 100x harder job than your average parent and it's easy, not being the parent of an autistic kid, to think they weren't doing a good job. He could have kept them up all night for several nights, he could have been doing really well just 30 sec. prior to the incident and thus they let their guard down. Etc., etc - it is just *really* hard to raise a strongly autistic child and the parents often end up feeling very inadequate and lost in any case. JMHO. I feel really bad for Kipp and hope he realized it was a child who did this to him and the child was not quite right, so that he doesn't generalize to other humans/kids.

 

I'm angry he had to go through that and not get his treat from TSC afterwards, though! What's up with that guy?

[mattinky]

Not being there, I don't really know what happened, but if the kid was strongly autistic, I don't think it's reasonable to be mad at the kid at all. Mattinky, whupping the kid's ass (if he was autistic) would NOT help anyone. The parents should have controlled the situation better, but from my experience with families with autistic kids, the parents have about a 100x harder job than your average parent and it's easy, not being the parent of an autistic kid, to think they weren't doing a good job. He could have kept them up all night for several nights, he could have been doing really well just 30 sec. prior to the incident and thus they let their guard down. Etc., etc - it is just *really* hard to raise a strongly autistic child and the parents often end up feeling very inadequate and lost in any case. JMHO. I feel really bad for Kipp and hope he realized it was a child who did this to him and the child was not quite right, so that he doesn't generalize to other humans/kids.

 

I'm angry he had to go through that and not get his treat from TSC afterwards, though! What's up with that guy?

 

I just call 'em like I see 'em, there's a lot of kids out there labeled autistic that are'nt. Just another ploy by the drug companies to sell their products. Nowadays whenever a kid acts like a kid, especially boys, we have to label them autistic, ADD, etc... and put them on drugs to calm them. Whatever you do don't dare discipline them. It's no wonder there are so many screwed up kids. I find it sickening. Sorry.

[hsnrs]

That's really terrible and I feel sorry for you. I know Home Depot in my town doesn't allow dogs; maybe all stores should follow the same procedure (not that it was your fault). I personally keep my dogs away from all kids until I know it is OK. My girl loves kids but not in all situations. Narita

[IronHorse]

mattinky;

I just call 'em like I see 'em, there's a lot of kids out there labeled autistic that are'nt. Just another ploy by the drug companies to sell their products. Nowadays whenever a kid acts like a kid, especially boys, we have to label them autistic, ADD, etc... and put them on drugs to calm them. Whatever you do don't dare discipline them. It's no wonder there are so many screwed up kids. I find it sickening. Sorry.

 

I tend to agree with you to a point.

All in all the situation sounds like it worked out ok, sounds like Kipp handled it like a gentleman and refrained from striking back.

It would piss me off if some kid came up and kicked my dog in a public location where my dog was allowed to be and I don't care what the kid's problem is. If he has some mental condition that would trigger violent behavior without warning then I don't care what excuse the guardian might have,they are responsible period.A situation where letting your guard down for even 30 seconds might wind up with tragic results is unfortunate but never the less the guardian of the kid is responsible, ya know they do make leashes for just such kids,perhaps this was an example of where the leash law should of applied to the kid as much as it does for the dog?

Its not that I am heartless and without sympathy,I realize that there are parents and guardians of children with special needs and its a rough row to hoe,just don't let your problem become my problem,you may not agree with my method of handling it.

Kipp deserved a bag of treats for his reaction to a kick in the face.

[AdmiralGonsiorowski]

I just call 'em like I see 'em, there's a lot of kids out there labeled autistic that are'nt. Just another ploy by the drug companies to sell their products. Nowadays whenever a kid acts like a kid, especially boys, we have to label them autistic, ADD, etc... and put them on drugs to calm them. Whatever you do don't dare discipline them. It's no wonder there are so many screwed up kids. I find it sickening. Sorry.

 

I agree with you on the ADD, but autism is really different from that. ADHD is a pretty mild behavioral disorder, while autism is a severe brain disorder more on the line with mental retardation. There is a spectrum for autism from mild social dysfunction to severe social impairment, language impairment, and repetitive behavior.

 

I wouldn't blame someone for whuppin a kid with ADD, but I wouldn't lump autism in with that.

[mattinky]

I agree with you on the ADD, but autism is really different from that. ADHD is a pretty mild behavioral disorder, while autism is a severe brain disorder more on the line with mental retardation. There is a spectrum for autism from mild social dysfunction to severe social impairment, language impairment, and repetitive behavior.

 

I wouldn't blame someone for whuppin a kid with ADD, but try not to lump autism in with that.

 

You're right and I stand corrected, in fact I read up on it tonight and some doctors link autism to child vaccinations. However, I will stand my ground on ADHD. I know some people that have 2 little girls with "ADHD", the doctors have them both on Prozac, Ritilan as well as other drugs, they've both been in mental hospitals because the parents say they can't control them. The reason they act the way they do is because the parents are either ignoring them or screaming at them and they have never had any kind of discipline, 'kinda like a poor dog that gets beat, gets no love or attention and stays locked up in a pen and then the owner can't understand why the dog won't mind or runs off if he gets out of the pen.

 

I'm 47 years old and when I was a child there was no such thing as ADHD, we went to church, we had manners, we had respect and if we got out of line we were disciplined, if we acted up at school we got paddled (and then got another spanking when we got home for acting up in school). We also got lots of love and attention. Children were'nt all wacked out and tweking due to mind altering drugs, we were taught to work through our problems and to deal with being told "NO" we did'nt go to school with guns and kill people and we were'nt out of control because we knew the consequnces of such behavior. If I had kicked someone's dog for no reason my mother would have beat me half to death for it. I'm not "mentally scarred" because I was disciplined as a child and it's amazing that those of us who are middle aged managed to survive without all these "experts" putting us on powerful mind altering drugs and telling our parents how to raise us. "Spare the rod, spoil the child"

 

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but the way children are treated these days really sickens me!

[diane allen]

Gosh, I'm so sorry you and your dog had to go through that!

 

I agree with the folks saying that parents of autistic kids have it harder than I can even imagine. Still.

 

What if the dog had reacted violently in return? What if the kid had been injured? THEN whose fault would it be??

 

I hope this doesn't result in the dog reacting badly to kids (likely not, unless it happened again and again?).

 

Then again, I just don't very often take my dogs into any place of business, even when they're welcome. But it should not have happened. I think the parents got off VERY lightly...

 

diane

[AdmiralGonsiorowski]

You're right and I stand corrected, in fact I read up on it tonight and some doctors link autism to child vaccinations. However, I will stand my ground on ADHD. I know some people that have 2 little girls with "ADHD", the doctors have them both on Prozac, Ritilan as well as other drugs, they've both been in mental hospitals because the parents say they can't control them. The reason they act the way they do is because the parents are either ignoring them or screaming at them and they have never had any kind of discipline, 'kinda like a poor dog that gets beat, gets no love or attention and stays locked up in a pen and then the owner can't understand why the dog won't mind or runs off if he gets out of the pen.

 

I'm 47 years old and when I was a child there was no such thing as ADHD, we went to church, we had manners, we had respect and if we got out of line we were disciplined, if we acted up at school we got paddled (and then got another spanking when we got home for acting up in school). We also got lots of love and attention. Children were'nt all wacked out and tweking due to mind altering drugs, we were taught to work through our problems and to deal with being told "NO" we did'nt go to school with guns and kill people and we were'nt out of control because we knew the consequnces of such behavior. If I had kicked someone's dog for no reason my mother would have beat me half to death for it. I'm not "mentally scarred" because I was disciplined as a child and it's amazing that those of us who are middle aged managed to survive without all these "experts" putting us on powerful mind altering drugs and telling our parents how to raise us. "Spare the rod, spoil the child"

 

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but the way children are treated these days really sickens me!

 

Having grown up a 'normal' kid among the many being treated chemically for ADD and later on Bipolar disorder (another one they tend to blanket diagnose ) I 100% agree with you.

[mbc1963]

I'm a teacher, and I see diagnoses go through these numerous 'fad' cycles. ADD is all over the place (now all called ADHD, though for the life of me I don't see the "H" in a lot of kids). I had a discussion with a neighbor once, explaining my skepticism about the rampant diagnosis of ADD. She said, "30% of boys have it!" Well, in my head I calculated that this means a minimum of 15% of the population. If 15% of people are a certain way, then is it really a disorder, or just an alternative way of existing? A different kind of 'normal?' (My personal take is that evolution provided for some people to be extremely active, need to be moving and doing things. It'd make sense, especially in boys who would be counted on to hunt and gather and such. I don't think sitting still for 6 hours a day is built into the genetic code of a lot of kids.)

 

A few years ago, all the boys who were acting out in a big way - arguing, skipping classes, taking drugs - were beginning to be labled "Bipolar." It was horrific, and we'd see them put on the same 4 drugs, which made them act very drugged up, very out of it. The new medical confidentiality laws now disallow us from hearing a diagnosis like bipolar unless the parents tell us about it, so I'm not sure about what the hot diagnosis right now. But I am pretty sure that as the med/psych communities start publishing and talking about new syndromes, the diagnoses go through the roof.

 

HOWEVER, autism is an entirely different situation, as noted above. I have autistic kids in my school, and I worked a summer program for small kids with autism. I would come home with bruises, exhausted from the sheer physicality of dealing with unpredictable masses of muscle who did not behave in predictable ways. I'd be upset if an autistic kid kicked my dog, because it's not fair to the dog. But it wouldn't be the fault of the parents, who probably walk around on edge 24/7, trying to anticipate and monitor what the kid is doing. And it's really not the fault of the kid.

 

Mary

[bcnewe2]

If 15% of people are a certain way, then is it really a disorder, or just an alternative way of existing? A different kind of 'normal?' (My personal take is that evolution provided for some people to be extremely active, need to be moving and doing things. It'd make sense, especially in boys who would be counted on to hunt and gather and such. I don't think sitting still for 6 hours a day is built into the genetic code of a lot of kids.)

 

My son has ADD not ADHD but ADD. He's 17 now. Hasn't been on any form of drugs in a long time, but we have talked about him taking a form of Ritalin again, as he knows it helps his grades. We've struggled for along time to get good grades in school. He is not hyper in any manner, and a very polite kid. Just because a child has ADD or ADHD doesn't mean the child can't learn proper manners.

 

I also totally agree with Mary about autism. It is not something that can be trained away, medicated or managed and ignored. I have a cousin whose child has autism, they struggle daily to live a semi normal life. This child can be fine one minute and act out the next. I feel for the parents. Amazingly his life has been totally turned around with the addition of a cat. It amazes the people around him all the time, he's now a caring animal lover, that is learning how to sympathize and have compasion for other living things, compared to the screaming child that first met my dogs. I'm only sorry they didn't get him a pet sooner.

 

Temple Gradin is austic. If you want a good understanding of the impairment read some of her books. You'll at least get an idea of how it is so different and hard to manage in normal life. But also a wonderful example of how it can be over come.

 

I've accidentally kicked my dogs before, maybe not in the head or face but many times I've stepped on them, fallen over the top of them and I know I've hurt them even if it was accidentally. I'm sure Kipp will get over it as long as it's not made into a big deal. I'd be quite proud of him for not acting out in that situation. My dogs seem to know if a person is handicapped. They change how they behave, sometimes being extra gentle and sometimes leaving the area as it's to stressing for them. Sometimes ignoring the handicap and treating the special needs person as normal, which with children, seem to make them very happy.

 

I do think ADHD is a widely used daig. for bad behavior but I also know that if there is brain mapping done, you can see distinct differences in a brain with ADD compared to what is considered "normal".

 

When I was devastated with my sons diag. His doc really gave me a good way of looking at this issue. It was very similar to Mary's way of describing just a different normal. My uncle is also extremely ADHD, he's one of the most successful people I know, making millions in his career using his disease to his advantage. In his retirement he flies children in need of surgeries all over the country(Angel flights). Taking care of his ADHD needs and creating miracles at the same time.

I feel ADD is no reason to have badly behaved children. Bad parenting is a better reason. Please don't judge Autism with the old fashioned mindset of it's all in the parenting unless you try to live with a child having that disability.

[claire24]

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes but the way children are treated these days really sickens me!

 

I completely agree. I know a few people (including current bf) who were put on prozac, etc at extremely young ages. I'm actually shocked at how young some children on these medications are. It affected their abilies to grow up normally and develop their personalities like "normal" kids. One of these people even started overdosing once he realized what the medication was doing (after several years) so the doctors would take him off it. All the people I know swear they didn't need the medicine, they were just bored or quiet or something of the sort, but this was not "normal" so the doctors told the parents it was something that needed to be fixed.

[Jumpin Boots]

Poor Kipp, but is sounds like he handled it like a champ. The lack of cookies however, is clearly quite rude. What a punk at the store, it's not like he's paying for them. Our county dump has quit giving cookies out after one of the employees was bit by a dog from the back of a truck. Our guys always look so devastated when we go there now, they really put on their serious begging faces hoping the cookies will come back even though it's been well over 6 months since they've had one there.

 

As far as the discussion on autism vs. ADD/ADHD, I definately think that these are two completely different birds. While autism is being diagnosed a lot more than it use to be I think that has a lot to do with the technology the medical community has and the current knowledge that there are different levels of autism. ADD/ADHD however, completely seems to be pushed by the parents who just want to plug their kids into tv/video games and drug companies that want a little extra money. Not that I don't think there are valid cases out there, but I tend to believe that most mental problems can't be completely fixed w/ drugs. The family as a whole needs to be involved in counciling and teaching that person to deal with the issue, be it ADD, depression, anxiety,... I realize some may never completely come off of the drugs, but I feel that just taking a prescription isn't going to help in the long term.

 

An interesting book, a little dry at times though, that has to do with the issue of people diagnosing themselves b/c the internet and tv ads make is so easy for them to see what could possibly be wrong with them is Overdo$ed America, The Broken Promise of American Medicine, How the pharmaceutical companies are corrupting science, misleading doctors, and threatening your health, by Jahn Abramson, M.D.

 

On a side note, I realize you were devastated with what happened and didn't really know how to handle it, but if your dog is good with kids, you may have offered if the parents would like to correct the situation and let the kid meet the dog properly. I know some will say this is bad, and that you could be liable if something happened, but it sounds like you know your dog well and he is well behaved so why not try to help out a bit. I did this one time with a kid who was scared of dogs, apparently nothing had ever happened, but the mom had always told the little girl not to touch dogs, they could bite. So this poor girl turns 5ish and would see a dog and start screaming and trying to run the other way. The Dad asked one day if I had a few minutes to help 're-train' the little girl, she never touched Smudge, but she got about 5 feet away and had a smile on her face as he calmly sat there waiting to lick her face, he loves kids.

[powerfulgazelle]

Ah, the issue of what we "medicalize":

 

My DS, who is 14, has Tourette syndrome (TS) and ADD. Brief PSA: Tourette is a neurological disorder which is inherited. Often times, TS co-occurs with ADD and obsessive compulsive d/o. Not everyone with TS has the tic most often "glamourized"---repeating curse words, the tics can be anything.

 

My older brother also has TS, ADD. When we were kids, honestly, we just accepted my older brother for, well, who he was. He was not ever medicated for anything, though, in hindsight, I wonder if some symptom relief might not have made parts of his life easier/more comfortable/less distressing. He was valedictorian in his high school class, finished a double major in college in 2.5 years and finished top in his class in law school. He is a successful attorney and accomplished fiction author, a dad to 5 beautiful kids.

 

My DS is also a terrific kid. (Not that I am biased, of course.) He is an honors student in an academic magnet school. He is active in the Y's Leaders Club. He sings beautifully--solo, and in his school's high school senior choir (as an 8th grader) and with a select high school-age group as part of one of the country's oldest choral festivals. (And, yes, he can suppress his tics when performing, although lengthy performances are tough.)

 

We did elect to treat some of DS's symptoms with medication---mostly to alleviate his distress---as one of the symptoms he experienced pretty young was compulsive counting...when he was reading, or listening to someone speak, he had a compulsion to subdivide the words into uniform multiples of eight. He could do it and still learn in school, but it was getting on his nerves, so he started taking an SSRI, and that went away. (I am always a little in awe of that one. Can you imagine having read the paragraphs I just wrote while silently dividing the words into groups of eight, and if you could not, subdividing certain multisyllabic words so it came it out even, without even having to go back and read it twice?! ) He and his neurologist have kicked around the idea of Ritalin or something, as the inattention stuff leads to a lot of frustration for him (works hard on a school paper, then loses it, has to do it again) but DS is concerned about it increasing the tics, which thankfully have subsided a lot as he gets older. At this age, we let him have some say so in it.

 

His medical issues are not in some way free pass to behave badly...which he doesn't anyhow, most of the time. He is a good kid and is expected to conduct himself appropriately. He got busted for reading a novel behind his choir folder...twice this year. The first time, I let serving his after school detention serve as punishment enough. The second time he did it, he served his detention and got consequences at home for being disrespectful of his teacher and her time.

 

But, I realize as a parent, that having a kid whose only brush with discipline is for reading Harry Potter in Latin (borrowed from his Latin teacher) behind his choir folder gives me much to be grateful for.

[Smokjbc]

Hi all,

 

I realize there are probably alot of kids labeled ADHD that are not, but as a person whose brother was diagnosed wtih ADD (not hyperactive) when he was 5 years old- I am a little sensitive that all parents are not judged because SOME kids are a discipline problem, not ADD. My sisters and I grew up in a very disciplined household and my brother was no exception, in the beginning. But two medical challenges, one in which he nearly lost his life as a 3 year old, resulted in some pretty significant issues with him. ADD was just one of them, and I can attest that it was genuine and real what was going on with him. The Ritalin helped a little, but did not make him normal. He managed to graduate high school, but still has significant challenges. I think it would be really easy when my brother was acting out to judge my parents as unable to discipline effectively- because David did not respond to normal discipline in the same way my sisters and I did.

[Kyrasmom]

I agree that kids are way overmedicated these days but you've also got to wonder how many kids were given a good "whoopin" in days gone by who really did have a physiological disorder that was not identified or diagnosed and who grew up misunderstood or worse.

 

I'd be upset also if a random kid came up and kicked my dog, in fact, years ago, one such child did and he had no excuse beyond being a spoiled brat and it angered me to no end and spoiled my dog, then a one year old, on kids for a long time. What angered me even more was his mom making excuses for him...and she was my "friend". He has since grown up to be a spoiled and arrogant young man...who could have used a good 'whoopin".

 

Maria

[Maralynn]

Yikes. That's a pretty scary story all around. Suppose Kipp had lit into the kid? Geez, I suppose there's a fair chance I'd have swatted the kid, purely out of reflex. His parents really ought to re-think how they're managing his interactions before he gets hurt.

 

Or before they come to my TSC store and Scot and I wind up in jail.

 

TSC is Scot's second favorite store - he likes Lowe's better because their aisles are wider. Scot uses shopping trips to get his kid fix, since I don't keep any. So I can imagine how shocked and dismayed you must have been to have your dog attacked.

 

How did Kipp react?

 

That's about what I felt like doing, but I was just shocked at the whole thing I was speechless. If they had spoken english well or had not offered the explanation they did, I think I would have had a bit more to say to the parents.

 

Poor Kipp just stood there. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body when it comes to people and sees all people in TSC as treat dispensers. I'm sure he'll continue to be that way as most of the reguar employees make a beeline to him with treats when we're there.

 

I agree with the folks saying that parents of autistic kids have it harder than I can even imagine. Still.

 

What if the dog had reacted violently in return? What if the kid had been injured? THEN whose fault would it be??

 

I hope this doesn't result in the dog reacting badly to kids (likely not, unless it happened again and again?).

 

That's what I wondered, too. The thing that bothered me most was that the parents knew the dogs were in the store, and seemed to know what the child was up to when he came towards the dogs, but hadn't taken steps to move the child away from the vicinity. I just hope they realize what could happen with a dog that may not be as forgiving as mine.

 

Kipp is around lots of kids frequently, so I'm sure he'll continue to be just fine with them. But I'll be alot more guarded when I'm out and about. The whole thing just seemed so bizzare.

[mbc1963]

Yeah, now that I think about it more carefully, the parents were really lucky that the kid didn't get bitten - and badly. And doubtless your dog would have to pay the price for being kicked. ::Sigh::

 

A very scary situation all around. I hope it ends fine for Kipp, and that he's not scared. I know that having a reactive dog, I'm always aware of situations that could go badly, quickly. Most parents around here train their kids not to run at dogs - but not all of them!

 

Mary

[somewhereinusa]

But, I realize as a parent, that having a kid whose only brush with discipline is for reading Harry Potter in Latin

 

Someone actually took the time to translate Harry Potter to Latin? Why?Wasn't it written in English in the first place?

 

Someone has waaaaaaay to much time on their hands.

[powerfulgazelle]

Someone actually took the time to translate Harry Potter to Latin? Why?Wasn't it written in English in the first place?

 

Someone has waaaaaaay to much time on their hands.

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

Evidently, DS spied it on the bookshelf in his Latin teacher's room and begged her to borrow it...then promptly tucked into it during his next class.

[muddy bob]

As some one whose older brother had a form of autism I can tell you what a harrowing experience it could be for my very young parents to have to go anywhere in public. The stories I could tell you! Really and truly I am surprised we made it to adulthood with a father who did think smacking the hell out of a kid would help us and a severely depressed mother who could sometimes not function. Back then the medical establishment was much more ignorant and liked to blame mothers for just about everything so she carried a lot of blame. My brother died over twenty years ago and my reaction was relief because no more assholes with no sympathy whatsoever for the disabled could ever hurt him again. Life is cruel isn't it?

I am sorry your dog got hurt. I would also have been upset. But what upsets me more is the assumptions many people have about ADD ADHD Bi polar and other disorders. Just because it is overly diagnosed does not mean it it not a real problem.

I'm rather sensitive to the subject as you may have noted.

[Lenajo]

If the kid is sick, sometimes things can't be helped. so....

 

you learn to be proactive with all kids when my dog is defenseless (leashed and unable to get away). I almost reflexivly step between my dogs and kid that come up like that now and say "whoa mister!" LOL Body blocks work for kids too!

 

Then I teach them how to ask before approaching, and how to give the dog a cookie. If you do this calmly the dog isn't going to react to your behavior either.

 

This is another example why dogs need tons of exposure to good kids early on. Then you have the socialization reserve to bounce back if something unexpected happens.

 

Good dogs - as in the kind of good temperament thats born and raised both, are very forgiving of sick children. The late Meg, one of my favorite students and boarders, worked the childrens psych ward at a major hosptial several times a week. Part of the job was the inadvertant pinches and hair pulls that children like that deal out even when well supervised. She took it in stride and did a tremendous service. She is much missed.