C.A.R.E Focused Education for Dogs & Their People
Inspiring Curiosity, Agency, Reflection, & Empathy
Have you ever thought of your dogs as your kids? Or maybe you brought home a puppy and are cursing yourself, thinking it's like having a baby all over again and another baby wasn't in the plans. Well, me too. Now, don't get me wrong - if you had asked me pre-kids whether I thought getting a dog would be like having another kid, I would've said ABSOLUTELY. Ask me now and I'll even more enthusiastically say ABSOLUTELY!! Gosh. having dogs and young kids is hard work! I have a daughter who is just about 4 going on 16. She's smart, (often too smart for me), driven, emotional, sensitive, eager to please, driven, stubborn. A border collie of sorts. Then I have a 20 month old. He's loud, always moving, equally stubborn, slow to warm up, clumsy, attention seeking, clingy, smart. A German Shepherd, by my classification. And then, lets see - there's Cora, who is 5. She really is a dog. She hates men, barks at trucks, likes to chase squirrels, but she's great on leash, and really great with other dogs. There's Felix. He's 9, going on 2. He is food driven to an aggressive degree if he weren't kept in check. He pees on everything, has a sensitive stomach, is sensitive to the touch, will bark at strangers and protect the house if I'm not home and then will love on them and shed all over them when I bring them in. Oh, and he's defensive around new dogs until he realizes they're not all like his older "brother". That brings us to Fletcher. He is 10, also going on about 4. He knows all kinds of tricks, is excessively smart, but is a bully to other dogs. Not aggressive, just a bully. He will stand his ground, will posture as necessary and doesn't back down. He'll get into a fight if the other dog also wants to stand his ground but has GREAT bite inhibition (the wonderful trait that separates dogs from the bully category to the vicious killer category when they scare with their teeth vs maul with their teeth). Finally, last but not least. There's Milo. He's a cat. He will find food anywhere, acts like a dog, doesn't learn quickly (I can't tell you how many times ive climbed into bed on TOP of him just for him to go sprinting out). Phew. I'm exhausted just mentioning everyone. I love my animals.. All of them, I do. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. But my goodness, having dogs and kids in the same household. Management skills need to be top notch! And my kids and dogs are great together. They all love my kids. My kids were taught from day one not to steal toys or bones from them, not to climb on them, not to pull tails, etc etc. My son is in the stage now of thinking any attention is funny and often having to learn things the hard way. But since crawling on or using my dogs as a step stool is not an option, no matter how much they seem to "not mind", guess what? He gets a lot of time outs, and so do the dogs. They still go in their crates for down time, mine and theirs. Fletcher has recently been randomly taking off to explore the back woods of where we're staying, so guess who gets a long line when going outside again? Until I can work on the behavior, management. I can't go get him when it's just the kids and me at home, and rather than allowing him to scour the neighbors yards for some doggy friends... Leash. Sorry, kid. 10 years old and back on the leash like when he was a teenager. Hey, my dogs aren't perfect. Almost half their life or more, they've had to share with infants, babies, toddlers, a preschooler. And these are dogs that were here first, with a mild (Cora) to moderate amount of time spent training them. And that's with me knowing what to do, knowing how to read them, knowing how to respond to them. I'm not the average dog owner. Management is an ESSENTIAL skill with all dogs because your dog, too, will have strengths and weaknesses. Maybe he's really great on leash but has a really poor recall because you live in an area where it's just not safe to practice off-leash training. I'm not all high and mighty and going to tell you that you'll be able to do it all. Raise kids, have a perfectly behaved dog. That's a hobby. Train what you can and what you need to, manage the rest. Maybe your days will get less hectic and you can do more of the former and will need less of the latter. But maybe not. Maybe you want your dog to clean up your kids crumbs under the table but don't want a dog who begs. Well.......you have 3 options. He can beg (granted, he can be trained to lay down and not be drooling in your lap) and get the food. He can learn not to beg and never get the food, or he can be crated, gated, MANAGED and then given clean up duty. That's life. Life with kids and dogs? It's HARD! Anyways, that's my spiel for today. Hang in there with me! 
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