cocker fearful of children

Question
Hi Dolores
I wonder whether you can help. Our cocker spaniel is 16 months old and has
begun in the last 2 months to react strangely to children aged around 5-10
years. There is no particular instance we can relate this back to but I think her
fear of bikes, roller blades (and things with wheels) may be the root cause as
many 8-10 year olds we meet often are on bikes etc.
When out for a walk we try to distract her with a treat when children this age
approach and she is getting better, however recently she has growled and
barked at children visiting our home. This has included our dog walker's
daughter who knows our dog well outside the home and has never
encountered aggression from her before.

I am expecting our first child next week and have read up on what to do to
ensure our dog doesn't feel put out by the baby, but I am still concerned. She
was initially very fearful of the buggy but leaving it in her territory and
wheeling it around the house has been helpful and she no longer barks at it.
We've also tried to introduce her to babies - one 5 month old by whom she
wasn't that bothered and one 10 month old (more boisterous) at whom she
barked and growled for most of the period he was in our home.

We've always been very keen to socialise our dog and from an early age
brought her on holidays, introduced her to different situations etc and had
thought that introducing her to some children aged 3-10 would help, but the
regularity of these introductions are sparse as we don't have many such
acquaintances. Any advice you could provide would be very welcome.

We love our dog and want her to feel comfortable with the baby without
stressing her out too much.

Thank you!
Eva

Answer
First of all, don't worry about dog & baby - she's obviously fine with family members and will have lots and lots of time to become familiar with the baby.  You did exactly the right thing with the buggy and she overcame her anxiety about that.

As to her reaction to older kids..don't forget they're strangers and usually noisy strangers.  The first rule is do not comfort/soothe/pet/give treats.  Be very matter-of-fact and on walks either make her sit or give a leash correction and just keep moving.
It's possible she's being protective of you but whatever the reason your "attitude" is what she'll pick up on.

When people/kids arrive it's "exciting" and the best thing to do is tell them to pay absolutely no attention to her - no chat, petting, or even eye contact initially.

This is definitely something to work on with her but I don't think you have any immediate worries about the baby.

Eva, if you'd like to chat about this further in more detail, feel free to write me directly (DeeBeck7765@aol.com).
Delores