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Aussie And Kids

by James
(Utah)

Milo loves the snow

We love our Milo to death but have a problem with him barking and growling at kids that he doesn't know. We have an 8 month old daughter who he is just an angel with and as gentle as can be, but when he sees kids that he doesn't recognize his immediate reaction is to get defensive. Which you can imagine is very frightening for a child that just wants to pet your dog.

I was just wondering what the best way to train him on this would be. I've heard that carrying around treats that the kids could give to him is a good idea. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Comments for Aussie And Kids

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Protective
by: Kay

I have a rescue Aussie that does this with all people. I put him in a down and make him stay in it until I can tell he is calm and then I release him. When I do that he will calmly walk over to the person and sniff them instead of barking at them. I Also tell people not to pet him right away, he does better being ignored for the first five minutes or so.

Aussies and kids
by: Claudia

My Aussie is 3 years old and he is awesome with adults but dislikes children because they tease him through the fence, yell and once they asked me to allow petting him and the little boy insisted on doing it and kept looking at the dog to the eyes. The dog felt the child as a threat and pushed him away. The kid started to cry, I was very surprised seeing my dog acting that way and therefore took him to an ethnologist and she told me that I if dogs are not raised with children since they are 3 months old, they usually develop a sort of aggressive problem and she insisted and not obliging the dog to accept children.
Giving a treat to hand the dog works with adults but be very careful with children.

Loves Children
by: Anonymous

Our Aussie is 9 months old. I do some tutoring with a couple of students. My dog knows when they arrive and goes crazy, yelping and even has moaned like a wolf for attention. He is very spoiled and anticipates their attention.
He won't stay outside, alone. We have to put him in a crate inside so he doesn't wreck the place. But, he loves children.

Another aggressive aussie
by: Anonymous

I have a 5 year old female aussie who is aggressive towards children also. We don't know anyone close who has kids so she's never been around them that much. We are avid hikers and when I see kids on the trail that we have to pass, I either keep her by my side holding her collar or put her on a short leash. She seems to do ok that way, but if not she will nip and growl at kids. I also agree that giving the child a treat and definitely warning them that the dog isn't used to kids so no petting.

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