It’s easy to assume that because a dog is small it will be good around children. This, however, is not always the case. Just because a little dog is less likely to bowl a child over or play too tough a game of tug-of-war or chase, it doesn’t mean every small dog is suitable for kids. In fact, more of the larger breeds are considered kid-friendly than the small breeds. This is, in part, because larger dogs tend to better trained. Why? Because large dog owners can’t let their pooches get away with misbehavior like small dog owners can. A Great Dane who hasn’t been taught not to greet guests by hugging them is a danger, while a small dog who jumps on a guest is less likely to cause harm. So, small dogs owners sometimes let important training go.
The size of a small dog can actually be detrimental at times when it comes to young children, as the dog is more likely to see the child as a canine playmate and play often includes nipping and scratching. But not all small dogs perceive kids this way and there are many other things to consider when determining whether a breed is good with children.
What Makes a Small Dog a Good Kid Dog?
Temperament: You don’t want a small dog that can be high strung and wary of strangers. This counts out breeds such as the Pomeranian, Brussels Griffon, and Chihuahua. What you want to look for is a breed that is gentle, friendly, affectionate and cheerful. It can help if the dog is also fairly calm, though high energy dogs, such as some terriers, can also make very good playmates. (Note: This is not to say that there are no exceptions to the rule, there are always dogs and mix breeds out there that defy the stereotypes.)
Attachment to You: If you get a small breed that tends to attach itself to one person, namely you, you’ll it is far less likely to get along with anyone else in the house including children. Some breeds that are one-person pooches are the Pomeranian, Schipperke, and Miniature Pinscher.
Trainability/Intelligence: These are actually two different traits – a dog that trains well is not necessarily intelligent but trainability is far more important. Start obedience training when your pup is about twelve weeks old or as soon as you bring an older dog home. Absolutely get the kids involved so the dog understands that they are mini-alphas. Your small dog should obey your child – it’s up to you to make certain your child is using his responsibility well. Some small breeds that are not often easily trainable are the stubborn Pekingese and Yorkie.
Patience: Patience ties into temperament. If a dog is not patient with children, there is risk of a bite. Though you should teach your children how to treat a dog before you get one, there may be those times when other children who are not so learned are around. Patience comes in handy in these situations. The American Pit Bull Terrier used to be called the “baby sitter” because of their devotion to and patience with children. You want a small breed who also has this trait. Though wonderful in other ways, breeds such as the Affenpinscher and Lhasa Apso are usually not patient with little ones.
Some Small Dogs That Are Good With Children
* Bichon Frise
* Toy or Miniature Poodle
* Cairn Terrier
* Boston Terrier
* Pug
* Tibetan Spaniel
* Havanese
* Maltese
* Shih Tzu
* Dandie Dinmont Terrier
If you get your small dog as a puppy and socialize him with your children early on, it matters less what breed he is. Usually, when a dog grows up with children, it is at least tolerable with children. But keep in mind that means your children – your dog may not be as suitable around other children. A lot of that depends on how the children behave. Calm, slow behavior is essential as are no poking, no sticking fingers in ears, no tail pulling – you get the idea.
If you are ever with your dog and a child misbehaves, gently correct them and remove your dog if they won’t follow your instructions. You will be doing the child a favor, teaching him how to treat dogs properly, and if his parents object, remove yourself as well. Small dogs and children go hand-in-hand and a good dog will be your child’s companion, protector and comedic relief.
When people hear the words Pit Bull, they usually picture an aggressive dog who will go after anything that moves – but honestly, these strong and often times even-tempered animals are not bred to be vicious, it’s just how some of them are – unfortunately – raised.
A Pit Bull in Port Charlotte, Florida set out to change people’s first reaction to his breed recently when he jumped in and saved a woman and child he had never met from an attacker.
According to reports, a man cornered a Florida woman who was leaving a playground with her young toddler at knifepoint, but before he could steal anything from her or use his weapon, a Pit Bull charged the man, growling and baring his teeth like he meant business. The attacker ran off, and when the woman jumped into her car for safety, the dog jumped in the back seat and sat with her until police arrived.
“You hear about family dogs protecting their owners, but this dog had nothing to do with this woman or her kid,” an Animal Control officer who arrived on the scene explained to media sources. “He was like her guardian angel.”
Judging by the dog’s friendly demeanor (towards non-threatening people, that is) and its relatively robust health, police decided that it was a lost pet instead of stray. The Pit Bull, who was named Angel by the woman he saved, is waiting for his owners to claim him at a local shelter – and if nobody comes forward, the woman has made it clear she would like to adopt him.
It’s stories like this that make you want to go out and hug every dog you see, even the one that’s peeing on your lawn, because what would we do without them?
Your furry bundle of joy is now leaving not-so-joyous bundles and puddles throughout your house. What steps should you take to ensure puppy house training success for your favorite canine?
Both with puppies and dogs with established potty problems, a combination of management, training, and appropriate sanitization is recommended. For adult dogs that have had reliable potty behaviors and suddenly begin having accidents inside, a veterinary visit including urine and/or fecal samples is advised. Instead of thinking of “how to housebreak a puppy” think about how to housetrain a puppy! It is the training, not the puppy that is broken.
Assuming a healthy dog, you’re ready to start training! First, you’ll need some supplies:
Crate/Ex-Pen
Tether (a six foot leash is fine)
Nature’s Miracle enzymatic cleaner
Treats, toys
Notebook/record keeping forms
Patience
Now you’re stocked, and can start training appropriate elimination behaviors.
Step one: Feed on a schedule. Dogs that eat on a schedule eliminate on a schedule.
Step two: Use a notebook or chart to keep track of when your dog eats, drinks, and eliminates. Also note what the dog was doing before the elimination – dogs frequently must “go potty” after: meals, naps, and playtime. Look for “pre-elimination” behaviors and note these – many dogs will sniff around, paw at the ground, or offer other indicator behaviors pre-elimination. These behaviors should become a cue to you to take your dog out for a potty break. Look for patterns; find your dog’s elimination schedule by reviewing your notes after a week or two.
Step three: Management. Use a crate if you are unable to supervise your dog. Purchase a crate that is just large enough for the dog to enter, turn around in, and lie down. Too large crates give dogs enough room to eliminate on one side and relax comfortably out of the mess on the other side. Crating takes advantage of a dog’s natural desire to live in a clean environment.
While crates are great housetraining aids, avoid crating your dog for longer than he can reasonably be expected to hold bladder/bowel movements. Generally, puppies can last one hour more than they are months old up until the age of 6 months, but this will vary for each individual (toy breeds especially may have difficulty “holding it” this long).
If you are gone all day at work and your dog cannot hold it that long, you must either arrange for someone to take the puppy out mid-day or provide a “safe spot” (many people use “potty pads”) until he is mature enough to control his elimination behaviors for the duration of your workday.
Use tethers for management when you are home. Freedom in the home is a privilege that should be earned after potty reliability is established. Tethering the dog to you allows you to recognize pre-elimination behaviors and thus, provide well-timed potty breaks.
Step four: Reinforce all correct responses. Every time your dog eliminates outside, have a party! Wait until the dog is finished before you reinforce. If you clicker train, click when he finishes and offer treats or play with a favored toy – with some practice, you can put eliminating on cue! Even if you don’t clicker train, please reward every correct response with treats, a favorite game, or a walk around the block!
Step five: If you catch him in the act, interrupt (not with yelling, a simple “oops!” generally works fine and is difficult to say in an angry tone), take him immediately to the designated potty spot and reward when he finishes outside.
Step six: If you find an accident after the fact, just clean it up. Avoid rubbing your dog’s nose in it, dragging him over to it or swatting him with a newspaper. If you missed the event, you’ve missed the training opportunity. Clean up with an enzymatic cleaner designed specifically for pet accident clean up.
Let’s review. The five steps of potty training are:
Feed on a schedule
Management: Crates, tethers, potty pads, dog walker/pet sitter
Reinforce correct responses: Every time!
Interrupt mistakes: Reward for finishing outside
Clean up with appropriate products
There are only five steps on the road to potty training success. What are you waiting for? Start your dog off on the right paw today, and you’ll be well on your way to a clean house and a well trained dog!
A way-cool invention called the Park Spark was unveiled last week in a Cambridge, Mass., dog park. The methane digester converts dog poop into energy, and that energy is now powering a gas-burning lamp at the park. Because of this, people can see where their dogs poop at night, and feed the machine, for a sort of never-ending flame. It’s kind of like an Olympic torch, only with more humble, odiferous roots.
Here’s how it works: Your dog poops. You scoop it with a specially made biodegradable bag, deposit it into a feeding tube, and turn a hand crank so methane rises to the top, and is available to be burned by whatever you connect to it. It’s that simple. You have made poop into light.
How amazing is that? The Park Spark is able to convert something that was not worthy of the bottom of your shoe into energy that can light up your night. And it prevents the greenhouse gas, methane, from doing environmental damage. The infographic below shows the contrast between scooping the poop, and making it into energy:
According to Fast Company, the Park Spark team can also envision dog poop being used to power portable tea stands, and popcorn (poopcorn?) stands. But it will never power large projects like lighting up an entire block. Poop is grand, but apparently it has its limitations.
The Park Spark in Cambridge wasn’t an underground number, but a couple of large yellow tanks above ground. Check it out below.
It’s brilliant to have a big, above-ground demo like this for people (like me) who would find it harder to imagine how dog doo can light up your life if the setup were below ground.
The Hartz Mountain Corporation is voluntarily recalling one specific lot of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs due to concerns that one or more bags within the lot may have been potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Hartz is fully cooperating with the US Food and Drug Administration in this voluntary recall.
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, all of whom are at particular risk from exposure and should avoid handling these products.
Salmonella symptoms may include fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and nausea in both dogs and humans. Anyone experiencing the symptoms of Salmonella infection should seek immediate medical attention. Owners of dogs exhibiting these symptoms should also seek veterinary assistance.
Hartz Mountain Corporation is recalling 74,700 8-oz bags of Hartz Naturals Real Beef Treats for Dogs, lot code BZ0969101E, UPC number 32700-11519, which were imported by Hartz from a Brazilian supplier, Bertin S.A., and which were distributed to a number of customers in the United States. While regular testing conducted by Bertin (prior to shipment to the US) did not detect the presence of Salmonella in any packages of this product, random sample testing conducted by FDA did indicate the presence of Salmonella. Hartz is aggressively investigating the source of the problem.
Although Hartz has not received any reports of animals or humans becoming ill as a result of coming into contact with this product, Hartz is taking immediate steps to remove the product from all retail stores and distribution centers. Dog owners having purchased this product should check the lot code on their bag, and, if the code is not visible, or if the bag has lot code BZ0969101E imprinted thereon, they should immediately discontinue use of the product and discard it in a proper manner.
Consumers can contact Hartz at 1-800-275-1414 at any time with any questions they may have and for information on how to obtain reimbursement for purchased product.
