Young Dog Behaviour With Kids - Interesting

[pepe001]

I take our 8mth (1 mth ago rescue) border collie to my daughers school some afternoons for socialisation. She is wonderful with children (a dream for my 6yo daughter) and never shown any fear/aggression etc. Last Friday it was interesting. Lots of kids coming up and patting her and Lily sitting quietly beside me and taking it all in happily. Then a 6yo girl (who has dogs herself and loves dogs) comes up. Lily dropped to the ground and was clearly fearful of her. To me the girl seemed completely normal and in fact quite dog savy and seemed to be no reason for Lily's fear. Lily was shaking and eyes were wide. The girl didn't realise anything was amiss and happily told me about her puppy a bit bigger than Lily etc. As a scientist of animal behaviour (not dogs but still of interest to me) it was very interesting. Why was a dog who had never shown fear etc suddendly taken a dislike to a little girl who looked to me to be dog-friendly. No staring eyes, no fast movements, not rough or loud, not pushy. We don't think Lily was abused as she was a stray-puppy why spent time in the council pound and then 2 RSPCAs before we adopted her. A very kind and submissive dog who is easy to train and eager to please. A treasure to own but it takes a 6yo nice kid to turn her into a shaking mess with potential to bite if cornered (I believe).

My daughters reaction was nice for a mum to see. She noticed Lily's discomfort and immediately but calmly put herself between her friend (the girl) and Lily and moved the girls pating hand away from Lily's head. She didn't comment but adopted the actions I would do. I then pated Lilly's head (holding it but looking like pating) myself and the girl pated her body. As she moved off Lily relaxed against me and turned normal again.

Why I wonder? Thoughts and any others experience something like this?

[Guest lavendergirl]

Was the little girl any different in appearance to the others - racial features etc? Would she have had any particular doggie odour about her? Just some thoughts - it is very hard with rescue dogs who were strays to know what they have experienced before coming to us.

[fuzzy82]

Maybe it was a scent that reminded her of something from her past?

[RubyBlue]

You never know with a rescue dog. Mine has a thing for short stocky men with beards. she has met two with me who are both lovely and dog savvy but her reaction has always been to rush up barking then hide behind me. No amount of high quality food rewards will encourage her to approach (after her initial reaction) and if they get too near she growls and backs away. she is the same everytime she meets them.

Really makes me wonder about what may have happened to her at the hands of someone with a similar appearance.

[Red Fox]

Scent

[juice]

Scent too. I also don't let anyone pat the dogs head, too comfronting, they are allowed to stand at the side and pat their back gently.

The dog looks to you for guidance and protection, don't be afraid to say no if the dog has had enough.

[pepe001]

Humm, maybe she (the girl) smells funny. She was at school all day so I would have thought she would be like all the other smelly kids. Lily was found as a young puppy and shows no sign of fear so I really don't think she was abused. I will continue to take her for visits and see if she changes with more meetings. Maybe next time I will pass the girl some treats (but ensure she is not in danger of course).

To me it makes me think of all those times people say (and media say) 'but the dog has never been aggressive before - it just snapped'. We just can't predict what dogs are scared of and don't like.

[kiesha09]

Are you 100% sure she isn't giving any other signals of stress around the other children? Ie. lip licking, yawning, looking away - they can be so incredibly subtle and are often hard to spot.

[juice]

Dogs never just snap, the warning signs were just never noticed.

Its like the vidoe's on tv of kids climbing all over a dog, who is looking away, licking its lips etc, its not amusing its an accident waiting to happen.

Edited May 14, 2012 by juice

[Erny]

Maybe it was a scent that reminded her of something from her past?

That was my first thought as a suggested possibility. We tend to look for things we can see, and forget about other things.

ETA: The scent can be from something she ate; from her home environment (eg. cigarette smoke) etc.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Erny

[W Sibs]

Scent was the first thing that popped into my head too

[Jigsaw]

Was there anything else happening in the background? Kids screaming, car horns? Perhaps someone threw their bag on the ground nearby causing a noise? There could have been something else happening around you, that you maybe were not aware of (and the dog was) that occurred when the little girl came up and the dog was responding to this and perhaps has paired this with the girl approaching.

[MishB]

what about glasses? I was told that sometimes kids wearing glasses can be frightening for dogs because their eyes look bigger or reflect or something, I cant remember exactly. I am interested about this too, my youngest son seems to rub a few dogs the wrong way for some inexplicable reason except the glasses theory.

[dancinbcs]

My guess is the little girl reminds her of one that has frightened/hurt her or has the same mannerisms. Borders pick up on the most subtle body language that you might not notice and they never, ever forget anyone that mistreats them. With a rescue you have no idea what history the dog has so anything could have happened to her. It is very risky letting young children mill around and pat her until you have owned her a lot longer and worked out what she reacts to.