[Dailydrool] Need advice with a hound who hates kiddies

[Esther Strom]

I agree with everything Anita said. Waldo (now ATB) was exactly the same - he had been in a home with an abusive family, and although he was fine with teenagers, he could not stand to be around younger kids. It worked out fine for me, as I don't have kids and my family with kids was too far away to be visiting frequently. What I learned to do was manage various situations. When friends with kids came over, Waldo was gated in a bedroom with a Kong, and the kids were very closely watched to make sure they didn't try to get back there. I learned which routes we could take for our walks during various seasons - avoid specific parks during spring and summer because of soccer and baseball games, skip certain blocks because there are always kids playing in the front yards who wanted to grab at him, things like that. 

It wasn't always easy, but I wouldn't have traded a second with Waldo. If you really feel a bond with this dog, I would go for it, as long as you're willing to take responsibility for keeping kids away from her, and vice versa.

Esther, Waldo ATB, and Basil





----- Original Message ----

  
Okay, I’m talking from experience
here, I’ve adopted several severely abused dogs in the past, and they are
wonderful, loving dogs, but you have to understand and accept their
limitations.  This dog doesn’t hate kids, she’s AFRAID of kids,
which probably means there were small children in her previous home who were
allowed to hurt her.  Can you teach her to not be afraid of small
children?  Depends on how severe the abuse was, but she’ll probably
always be afraid of little kids.  Can she learn to be around your young
nieces safely?  Because of how young they are, I’d be concerned,
kids under 4 years old are very unpredictable and don’t think about their
actions or consider consequences, so it’s very likely they’re going
to do things that frighten the dog.  You would always have to make sure
that you watched her and the kids very, very carefully and never left the kids
alone with the dog.  She might learn to accept the kids, or she might
always be afraid of them, you’d just have to give it time and see.  To
be honest, if you like the dog and want to adopt her, I’d suggest crating
her or putting her in a separate room with a closed and latched door any time little
kids are around.  
 
Anita Woodrum
a.woodrum at sbcglobal.net

________________________________
 
From:dailydrool-bounces at dailydrool.org [mailto:dailydrool-bounces at dailydrool.org] On Behalf Of Paul Chinn
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 9:24
PM
To: dailydrool at dailydrool.org
Subject: [Dailydrool] Need advice
with a hound who hates kiddies
 
I lost my elderly hound to cancer about a month or so ago.  For
the last few weeks I've been looking at other dogs to be a companion to my
cocker spaniel.  I've looked at other breeds, but I keep being drawn back
to various hounds and particularly bassets.  Their generally ambivalence
to everyone is something I love for some reason.  Anyway, I met a female
hound in the local shelter today.  She love belly rubs and sniffing
anything she can get her nose into.  Typical basset.  However, she
doesn't seem food motivated at all.  I had a container of treats sitting
on the chair in the meeting room and not once did she go after it.  She
sniffed it, then went about sniffing the other items in the room.  She
also hates kids apparently. They said they had her meet a family earlier this
week and when she saw the kids she hid under a chair.  When the kids
approached her, she growled and bared her teeth.  I've got three nieces
under 4 who would be around the dog at some point.  Is there any way to
train this out of a hound?  They tell me she has no problems with older
kids (13+).
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