Kids and Dogs

For her 10th birthday outing, I took one of my nieces to the big Colorado Kennel Club’s Rocky Mountain Cluster dog show a couple weekends ago. She lives with two cats and often BEGS for a dog. Once she even drafted a contract of sorts, promising all kinds of sustained activity over 3 months as proof she was ready and responsible enough for a dog. It didn’t work.

She didn’t understand that merely writing the agreement wasn’t enough. She didn’t quite grasp that both parties needed to SIGN the agreement to make it viable.

Not being a parent, it’s hard for me to gauge how these negotiations go. My family always had a dog when I was growing up, so I don’t know otherwise.

I do know this, however … even in the BEST circumstances, the wife/mother in the family takes on the bulk of pet care. And, if there is No Joy in Momville, then a dog (or … gasp … puppy) probably shouldn’t go home.

Wanting vs. Needing a Dog

So, I tried to gauge my niece’s actual interest in dogs by how she responded to the various dogs we met. In my mind, there is a difference between liking dogs (or the idea of dogs) and really NEEDING one.

Many thanks to all my agility friends (and strangers) who let my niece engage with their:

• Border collies
• Australian shepherds
• Labs
• And, even a Basenji (named Zest)

I wanted to see if she leaned one direction breed-wise or another. I wanted to see if she found herself drawn to the dogs or if they seemed like any other form of “entertainment.”

She liked small Pomeranians and the one Leonberger we met equally … that’s 5-pound dogs and 140-pound dogs.

She seemed bored by the Schnauzers set up on tables and ready for the loving as part of the hourly Meet the Breed schedule.

The big Mastiff we met freaked her out a little big, even though he was just a big, leaning, love monkey.

She pointed out several shelties and one young pug.

Kids and Dogs Lessons

I’m pleased to report that as we parked the car … My niece asked ME about puppy mills. She already knew what they were. She already knew how bad they were. So, that’s good, but she still talked a LOT about puppies (more than dogs). It’s understandable … puppies are HARD to resist. And, if you’ve never actually lived with a puppy, I’m sure they seem like 100% fun all the time. (smirk)

Because I’d coached her about:

• Not petting dogs without asking first
• Not petting them on the head
• Not putting her face near theirs

She did great with her kid + dog interactions. Victory!

Housetraining Humor

As we walked out, I asked her what kind of dog she would want, and her list made me laugh because it included … a dog who is already trained (including housetraining).

She did ask, however, how you teach a dog/puppy NOT to potty in the house. I explained the basics, but she couldn’t get past why putting down a bunch of pee pads around the house wasn’t such a great idea long term.

One step at a time, I suppose.