How Bonding to a Dog is Important For a Child

     If you have decided to add a dog or puppy to your family, it is important to realize that children do not know instinctively how to bond with the new dog. Therefore, you will need to help the bonding and be a part of making sure both the puppy and child are safe while bonding. While most dogs and children bond effortlessly, you also need to monitor to ensure this bond takes place safely for both. People have unique temperaments and personalities, so do dogs, and some dogs are naturally more patient with children than others are. However, by supervising the situation, you can make sure that both your child and the dog are bonding safely.

Make sure your child or toddler knows and understands that when the dog is eating, they must never approach the dog. Some dogs are very territorial when it comes to their food bowls and having a small toddler begin taking some of the dog's food out of his bowl is not a situation you want to put your toddler in regardless of how great of a temperament the dog has. Food time needs to be taught to your child that the dog should be left alone.

In addition, approaching a dog that is sound asleep by picking the dog up can cause snapping with some dogs. Therefore, it is important that your child understands not to pick the dog up or approach the dog in a sneaking way when the dog is sleeping, because a frightened dog could instinctively snap. Moreover, you should always monitor young toddlers with the family dog, because many dogs are can become frightened of children because of their unpredictable nature. Therefore, before you bring home a dog to your home, you need to make sure it is one that will fit in with your family and a breed that is known to mesh well with children.

In addition to obvious ways of interacting with the dog, your child or toddler should know how to pet a dog. You may assume that the child will automatically know, but they do not because the dog appears to be a stuffed animal to very young children. Therefore, you want to show them how to pet the dog gently, and do not allow the child to pick up the dog, because they could hurt the dog and not even realize that they did so.

You should also teach your child how to speak to the dog, this means approaching the dog with a happy tone that is very gentle. Toddlers and young children mimic your behavior, therefore, if you are talking to the dog happy and calmly, your child will imitate you. Any interactions with a toddler and a dog always needs to be supervised because this is the best time to teach the child how to pet the dog, approach the dog, play with the dog, and bond with the new dog. This teaches that child early on that being too rough with the dog is not acceptable or desired behavior.