Why does my dog lunge at kids?
Sarina Kertzmann
2025-06-07 13:17:01
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It is fear 99% of the time rather than aggression.
The main thing to do is to make this training exercise safe for the child, your dog and yourself, so ideally set it up with a fence between the dog and the child, so the dog can't get at the child even if you lose control of the leash.
Find the distance at which your dog is still comfortable with the child, i.e. well before it starts lunging or showing any other warning signals.
When you do get it wrong and your dog reacts to the child, lead it away to a safe distance and start again.
Keep in mind that this might be a long and slow process for the simple reason that when you're actually out on a walk and your dog is forced into a situation it's not comfortable with and it lunges, the kid will probably run away, meaning the dog's response just got reinforced and you have to undo that again.
Dog is scared of kid, dog lunges, kid runs away => dog achieves desired outcome.
Wayne Stroman
2025-06-07 09:39:30
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Harper comes from two high energy breeds. Next we discussed the structure that was in place and like the overwhelming majority of my clients, there wasn’t much in place. I saw this a few times and Id classify it as reactive and not aggressive. But to the unsuspecting child, the movement forward can be unsettling. Stopping a dog from lunging towards unexpected movement is a more challenging dog behavior problem to address. He seemed to lunge at her the most and my hope is that this positive interaction will help him start to see her as having more status than he does. If the kids take turns and each week one of the kids trains him to do a different trick or command, he will also see them as having more status and develop more respect for them as authority figures.
Summer Cummerata
2025-06-07 09:01:36
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Grom is a 4-year old pitbull I rescued from the SPCA last September. There was no background information on him, as he was found on the street. The only issue I'd had with him until now was reactivity to animals, though I had also noticed a bit of anxiety and discomfort around children when we're on walks. He'd just get a bit of whale eye, some lip licking--and get closer to me. Prior to this the only aggressive behaviour involving people was directed to my stepfather and boss, who share a bit of a physical resemblance. So does the father in this story--white bald dudes. From the moment I got him he showed some signs of abuse, and it may be that the person who did this looked physically similar.