Puppy knocking my children down

Question
Hi, I was wondering how do you stop a 7month old 65 lab from knocking down our children and dragging them . They are 7,6 and 3 .  I know he is only playing with them but he just knocked down one of my sons and he cracked his head on the sidewalk . Now its becoming a safety concern for me . Wrigley is in obedience training and nothing seems to be working .  

Thanks
Kim

Answer
Hi Kim.  I hope your boy is OK.  Your pup is only going to get bigger and stronger, so you need to find a way to correct this situation ASAP.  

Labs are high energy dogs.  Be sure he is getting plenty of exercise that doesn't directly involve the kids.  A long walk or jog in the mornings and evenings, chasing a ball in the yard for as long as he'll do it, mental stimulation through food puzzle toys and of course, training sessions.  By exercising the dog, he'll be less apt to jump, chase and knock the kids down.  He's going to need this type of exercise for the next 2-3 years at least.

I hope you've found a good obedience training class that teaches the dog to do something else instead of jumping when interacting with people and kids.  Most often this is a sit, but any behavior that involves keeping all 4 paws on the floor is acceptable.  Most good puppy classes teach this through positive reinforcement or clicker training, rewarding the dog for good behaviors and managing the situation so that the dog doesn't practice the unacceptable behavior.

Your 2 older children are old enough to be involved in training the pup.  When the pup approaches, they can cue him to "sit" (which he probably knows already) and reward him with a food treat when he complies.  I like kids to practice this with their arms folded or at their side and keep very still and calm. Once the dog is really good at this level, have them take a few steps away from the dog and cue the sit again.  Dog practices approaching child and automatically sitting.  This then becomes a default behavior.  Anything other than a sit gets ignored or the training partner goes away.  You should jump-start this behavior yourself before having the kids involved.  Be sure you have a nice solid sit each time puppy approaches.

I would recommend that your baby not be involved directly with the dog in any play sessions at all.  Supervise all interactions and when the pup gets excited, stop the game and redirect his attention elsewhere.  Once your pup has better self-control, you can begin interactions with the baby.

I'm concerned about the dragging you mention.  Did the pup get a piece of your child's clothing in his mouth?  Teach him that mouth on clothing means game ends, playmates go away, and a possible time-out in his crate.  Be very consistent with this and he'll learn to control his mouth.

Your dog sounds like a typical lab puppy that desparately needs an outlet for his boundless energy.  Get him exercised, mentally stimulated, possibly even day care a couple days a week to help him burn that off.

Please let me know if you have follow-up questions or comments.  Good luck.