Dislike of children

[ChorltonDom]

Hi,

My mini schnauzer is 9 months old and a complete softy. That said when ever at the park, the moment he sees a child he runs straight towards them and starts barking at them. I am confident that he would not bite them (he's never bitten anyone ever) but it's still a concern. If only because it scares the child and often more so the parent. He's also started barking when he sees a child in the street and he's on his lead. Any tips how I can iron out this unsavoury behaviour?

Thanks

[Pawsitive]

You need to do a bit of desensitization and counterconditioning with him - have you got any friends/family with dog savvy kids?

You need to keep a distance from the kids - and they need to ignore your pup completely - and be far enough away that your puppy isn't reacting to them even if he is looking at them (i.e. go for a walk and 'bump into' some 'stooge' kids)

You reward him as they pass by (even if they are yards away across a field! you need to keep him under his reactivity threshold) and can add a cue of 'watch me' if you want him to look at you (in which case reward him as soon as he looks away from the kids/ towards you) or a 'just watch' command which means he can look at them but is rewarded for not reacting.

(open bar / closed bar game = if children in sight, bar opens and doggy gets lots of treats/toys/praise. As soon as they are out of sight, bar closes and all good things stop).

The distance will be able to be decreased incrementally over a period of time.

In the meantime, if he does happen to meet kids, get them to ignore him completely but drop treats round their feet which he is allowed to eat. Basically, you need to work on building up positive associations with children - so if he sees a youngster he thinks something GOOD is going to happen.

If he is on the lead and does start reacting, just walk away calmly until he is out of his reactivity zone.

It may take some patience and effort but DS/CC will help change his emotional response and help him to feel confident around children and understand that children = good things.

Goodluck and keep us posted!