Hi all

My whippet Cashie is now 16 weeks and his training is going pretty well.  However I have a problem that I would very much appreciate some help with.

Cashie's breeders had 2 children (of 3 and 12), and he lived in the house with them until he was 8 weeks old and they played with him a lot.  He loves to play with children and there are usually quite a few in our local park when we walk him.  Most of the time the children want to play with him and I hold his collar until they ask (and their parents give permission), then I let him go but ask the children to stop playing with him if he starts to jump up at them.

What worries me is that there was one incident a few weeks ago where he saw a child of about 4 and ran up to him, jumped and knocked the child over.  It was on grass and the child didn't mind and wasn't hurt but I felt absolutely terrible as Cashie hadn't come back when I called him - he's usually very good.  I feel as an owner I am responsible for all his actions even though he's still a puppy.  The father was really nice about it but I still felt awful, and I know I need to teach Cashie that jumping is unacceptable.

We have no children, nor do any of our local friends, so it is difficult to teach him but what I have been doing is asking children from dog-owning families at my surgery to help me.  I get them to approach Cashie and pat him, then reward him when he stays on all fours.  If he starts to jump then I ask them to say "NO", then immediately stop the game and walk away.  I'm hoping that he will realise that jumping up means the end of playtime - is this approach the right way to tackle the problem?  We know lots of other dog owners in the park, many of whom have children and they are helping us too, and he is much better than he used to be, but I would hate a repeat incident, and unfortunately children who are frightened of dogs tend to either run or make very high pitched noises, both of which excite him more.  Running is especially a problem as he is a gazehound.

This week I had to take him to Edinburgh and I visited 2 houses with children.  The first had 2 girls of 7 and 2 1/2 and he played happily with them, without jumping which made me feel we're going in the right direction.  I also saw a friend who has a little boy of 4 who was obsessed with Cashie and kept trying to pick him up, but could only really get half of him at a time, and Cashie didn't seem to mind at all.  He also put up with his ears, tail, etc being pulled about and didn't snap or jump.  The little boy wasn't trying to hurt him, he was only playing but if it got too much for Cashie he just got up onto the sofa and curled up, or came to me to sit on my knee.  However both of these incidents were in fairly confined spaces so I think the problem is triggered when he sees a child run.

It doesn't help that he gets a lot of attention here as there aren't many whippets in London, and many adults will encourage him to jump up.  I try to explain to them not to do this but they don't seem to take it very seriously, and I feel that every time this happens he'll get confused and we'll be taking a step backwards.

Sorry this is long and a bit disjointed but I would really appreciate any help or ideas, as I want to nip this problem in the bud.

Thanks in advance

Mary-Caroline

Sounds to me as though you are going about this in exactly the right way. He is just a pup, so some backsliding will occur, but if you are firm & consistent with corrections and rewards he will soon know exactly what is required. Perhaps exposing him to children running around while he is on lead and you can get his attention focussed on you would help? With adults you will have to be really firm and tell them not to encourage him to jump. Ask them to get him to sit and then they can make a fuss of him.

Just one thing, I would not be happy to allow children to attempt to pick him up or to poke, pull, & prod him. Children should learn to treat animals gently & with respect. He is being very good about removing himself from uncomfortable situations at the moment, but he should not be put in those situations in the first place. One painful pinch or pull too many and & all your good work can come undone, and the child could find itself on the end of a nip.

Thanks Shadowboxer

Do you think it would be a good idea to take him down to our local primary school during break and stand near the gates, then get him to focus on me with lots of fussing and liver treats.

Regarding the child who poked around at him - I wouldn't normally have allowed this but there were extenuating circumstances - my friend (the child's mother) was very upset (about something completely unrelated) and my attention was directed at her - the little boy kept getting a hold of Cashie without my noticing.  Usually I would have stopped this behaviour but I was very proud of Cashie's reactions!

It's the adults who drive me nuts.  I've actually had people calling to him from across a road!  Not a busy road, granted, and he's always on a lead unless he's in a safe place, but still...

Keep doing what you're doing ;)

BTW - I'd be very surprised if a FULL GROWN whippet could knock over a 4 year old, let alone a 16 week old pup - maybe the child just tripped?

It's so difficult Mary-Caroline, when a puppy has already learned the rewards to a particular action before you actualy take him home! As others have said, you are working in the right direction. You cannot correct any fauly without giving a dog exposure to the trigger so the more children you can find to practise around the better. A dog club maybe? It's a bit late in the year now or I would have suggested an Exemption/Companion dog show. Both are places where dog friendly children are likely to be.

At 16 weeks old you still have plenty of time for training and as he gets older he is likely to calm down a little anyway so I have no doubts that you will get things right in the end. I get so many dogs as well as puppies come into my club who jump up. I stress to the owners the importance of getting people to greet the dogs AT THEIR LEVEL in order to reduce the incentive for the dog to jump up. Just by looking at dogs greeting other dogs, it is a face to face thing but of course our faces are some way above the ground. Hence the desire to jump up. It really is a most natural thing.

Regards, John

Thank you all for the advice - he is getting better by the day, although we had a bit of a backslide today in the park.  He was very annoyed at being taken out as it's pouring here and he hates the rain, so he was moody with me to begin with.  I couldn't see that well as it was really chucking it down and was half dark.  I couldn't see anyone else in the park but Cashie surprised a couple of teenagers who were having a right old snog behind a tree!  It must be love to put up with that weather!  I don't know who was more embarrassed, I was apologising for Cashie's behaviour and they were rearranging their clothes!  Cashie of course, sat there with a "Well you dragged me out here" look on his face :-)

Improvment is never a straight line graph! Don't worry, it will all come good. When I was out doing some gundog training with Anna at 6 months old some joggers came running past where I had left her in the stay. Anna popped up and started to follow along behind them and I got an ear bending! Did not take it to heart though ;)

Regards, John

Standing near the playground seems a good idea. However, I would get in touch with the school principal first and let him/her know that you are likely to be hanging around outside the gates. Just saves any potential confusion/worry/embarassment.