CsVs and children...
 

Hi all,
Some breeds are naturally good with kids but most have to be acclimated to them at a young age in order to be tolerant. Not having a tremendous amount of experience with Vlcaks, I don't know which category they fall under - I would LOVE to know what others out there have experienced regarding children and vlcaks.
In my recent experience (I have no children of my own nor do any of my friends) both Luna and Pollux have been exposed to children at the local dog park. Most of the kids are OK with dogs, but a few have posed some shocking situations...
For instance, there is a couple that bring their 9 month old infant to the park - cute, chubby little boy - both vlcaks react in different ways to the baby. Luna sniffs him and walks away as if he is stinky. She is neither attracted to him nor worried - just neutral. Pollux, for some reason, always greets the baby gently and submissively and licks his face, as well as that of the hunched-over mom.
Then, the other day, a dad and his 5 year old daughter came in with an old Labrador who just wanted to lay in the dirt. The little girl (who was NOT being watched appropriately) grabbed a big stick and swung it around. Luna kept her distance from the girl, but Pollux went over to her. She swung the stick AT him, to hit him, but missed. It was clearly an aggressive move. My heart was in my throat - Pollux plays rough with us and toys - I was afraid he would do something like knock her over - but all he did was give her submissive body language and he smiled as he took the stick from her and trotted back to us. The girl threw a fit that he stole her stick, but in the meanwhile I loudly yelled for her NOT to hit the dog. Pollux was proud that he stole the stick, of course, and I praised his restraint (though I am sure he had no idea why I was praising him)... it seems my vlcaks are OK with little ones - though of course I always monitor interactions - it would be unfair to put them in a bad situation...

With vlcaks you best acclimatize to everything, just in case. You may be lucky and your vlcak will be OK with kids even though never meeting them before, but you may also be unlucky.

My Frei is great with children, but needs to be watched - she is too enthusiastic and somehow does not understand that they are easily scared. When she was young we didn't have any small kids in the family, so she learned only from passing strangers and their children. Just this Sunday her wellcome brought my little niece to tears (being sleepy didn't help either). But she tolerates a lot from little kids, likes to kiss them and even lets them play with her small pups, just making sure from time to time that both pups and the kid are fine.

Regarding kids and vlcaks - I remembered a funny situation from the summer camp 2009, the kids were running around, coming to their respective dogs (which were tied at the porches of our huts) and showing to each other that the dogs are not aggressive, by sticking hands into their mouths. And the vlcaks were great - either wagging their tails at kiddies, or if they didn't like it, moving a bit away and lying down there.

Just a picture ...
 

To the posts before i just want to add two pictures of my good old late Cwd "Lupus"... - first shows my daughter at the age of one and half years playing with him in the garden and second is my brother and his two children being friendly with him...

At the moment I am busy with work, may be I will write something more to this thread in the evening.

Bye, Silvester

Vlcaks and kids
 

I'm quite sceptical about asking general questions like "are vlcaks good with children". Some are, and some aren't.
It's like asking "Are vlcaks shy?" or "Are Americans fond of children?" or something similar.:p

CSV are pack animals and this fact determines their attitudes to pack members. I suppose it also depends on the position of the kid within the pack.

However, if they like or dislike children from outside their pack is probably an individual feature, rooted in genetics, the level of socialisation and earlier experiences. :|

I agree totally and word for word what Rona has posted before !

And i would like to add that I would NEVER leave alone children together with any dog(s) unattended !! (And I really never have done.)

Our Cwd are not different to other races in the relationship they have to children.

Rona already has said everything to this case in the posting before.

Originally posted by Rona:
"However, if they like or dislike children from outside their pack is probably an individual feature, rooted in genetics, the level of socialisation and earlier experiences. :| "

Nice weekend to all !

Bye, Silvester

I don't trust any dog with a child unsupervised, either. I was just surprised to see the affectionate and thoughtful behavior. None of my dogs were raised around children and some like them and some don't. Even with my dogs who like children, I closely watch the interaction. Children do stupid things and I do not expect my dogs to tolerate painful situations.
That said, there are folks who insist that their breed should always like children. Personally, having had one myself, I find collies very tolerant of children and the Newfoundland people say that sweetness of temperament is an important characteristic of their breed. My Finnish Spitz are always kid-friendly - something that mentors in the breed insist is genetic.
In the wolf pack, pups are raised by the whole group, so if a vlcak accepts children as pups, it would make sense they would be tolerant... just wanted to know what others have encountered when it comes to children and vlcaks...