Barking at neighbor's grandkids

[klnst3]

Twice last year, we had my husband's cousins and their less than 1 year old crawling baby stay with us while they were visiting from out of town. Reggie did fine with the child, despite once trying to hump her, and maybe mouthing a little too hard when she put her hand directly in his mouth. (Not actually biting her, just thinking she is playing and mouthing the way he would if I shoved my hand in his mouth.) In fact, he seemed to like her, and of course... LOVED her toys!

However, over the summer and up to now, when I have Reggie in the yard and our neighbor's grandchildren are being picked up, Reggie runs up to the fence and barks ferociously at them, runs back and forth and sometimes jumps up at the fence. It scares them, and they run to the car holding their ears, or they won't even walk to the car, Mom or Dad has to carry them. (Even though he can't get to him through the chain link fence.)

I feel bad that he's scaring the kids, but my concern is what in the world is going on here. Is this natural because there is a fence there and he can't get to them to visit with them? Or has something suddenly changed and because he hasn't been around a child since April this year, he's not too friendly with them now? I'm not into my reading enough to understand where this is coming from. The same cousins and their now 1.5 year old little girl are coming back to stay with us in January, and I'm concerned. (Especially since we now have also have the 8 month old puppy around to worry about with her too.)

I don't think it's any kind of reactive thing, they've never let the kids near the fence to stick their hands through or anything like that, so it's not like they could have beaten up on him or anything along those lines. We do have other neighbors who walk by and will stop and pet/talk to Reggie, or who will bring their dogs to the fence so they get to be nose to nose (which I hate, because then horrible barking ensues then as well.)

Thanks!

[klnst3]

And why isn't the picture I put in my signature showing up when I actually post?

[Snowshoe]

My guess is it's normal behaviour for a dog to bark and warn of strangers near his yard and he doesn't see the grandchildren often enough to know they live there. It's called Alert Barking. When Oban got to about one year old he began to bark and at that time all three households abutting us changed hands and new people moved in. Plus we have a church, community centre, park and trail access right beside or near our house, strangers coming and going all the time.

My solution was/is to laugh at the dog.

Ho, ho, ho, you big silly goof, they live there now and they are nothing to bark at. You made a mistake, you silly.

I make it a bit mean kind of laugh, like the kid at school who laughed when you fell down, in order to chastise the dog. A friendly laugh might encourage him. I spoke to the neighbours as well in case my laughing while my dog barks at them might be taken the wrong way. We usually need a bit of refreshing each spring when people start to spend more time outside again but this works for me. Now I often only have to say "Silly" in a disparaging, ashamed, disappointed sort of tone and he quiets. Mostly he doesn't bark at them at all now.

Oban never sounded like what I would call ferocious and he certainly never humped or mouthed a child. This kind of behaviour could get you into serious trouble. If you think its more than what I describe then perhaps a trainer to come in and observe and help you is warranted. Certainly vigilant supervision when children are around. Children do torment dogs so it's the adult's job to protect the dog from being put into a position where he feels he has to react.

Good luck. I'm sure others will offer some help soon.

[Annette47]

I agree with Snowshoe on all of it (including the humping and mouthing) and would add that if he isn’t around kids much, that might contribute to why he feels the need to alert when he sees them. I also use the “you’re being silly, they live there” thing at mine when they carry on. If that doesn’t work, a firm “that will do” usually quiets them. Working on exposing him to kid noises/actions at a distance (running, yelling etc) and rewarding if he stays calm might be a good idea, too.

Edited to add that Mulder ONCE attempted to hump my eldest daughter when she was a baby. He got a pretty firm correction for it and never tried it again. It’s unacceptable behavior, but not necessarily a sign of bad temperament or aggression.

[Maxx&Emma]

I would be concerned if my dogs humped or inappropriately mouthed a child, it is just not acceptable. The barking would not concern me as long as my dog responded to a correction. I second a trainer.