# Stark and the kids



## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

After work today a neighbour came over with her 2 year old Lab that they had just got a few weeks ago. Stark and Mya (the Lab) have had a few play dates and absolutely have a great time together. They were headed to the bush for a hike with our other neighbour and Stark’s bestest friend in the whole world; Buddy his Golden Retriever friend. I agreed and got ready to go.

I noticed that my neighbours all had their kids with them. One two year old toddler, and two 10 year old girls. This made me second guess my decision. Stark is very leery of children. He is very nervous of them, I don’t think he would ever bite but he will bark at them. Buddy’s owner and his kids know Stark and how to be calm around him and how to pet him so I wasn’t too worried about them but I was totally nervous about Stark being around the toddler.

After a pep talk from Buddy’s owner (I have known him for 2 years now) we all headed into the bush. I kept Stark on lead and had a tone of treats in my pockets and gave some to the kids to give to Stark, including the toddler.

And you know what…. Stark surprised me!

He wasn’t tense, he wasn’t even that interested in the kids! Maybe it was the distraction of his two buddies or the fact that we were in the bush hiking but he was at total ease!

After about a half hour on lead, we let the dogs off leash. Stark was so good around the kids. He kept running up to the two girls who went off a ways away. He made friends with one of the girl’s friend that came with us too. She would call him over and he would comply. It melted my heart!

He never once looked nervous, unsure or scared of them. He didn’t try to jump or mouth or bark at them. He looked like he was having a great time running with them and chasing the sticks and snowballs they threw for him! 

When the toddler went off to play in the snow and climb a hill, which I was nervous about (sudden jerky movements, making “weird” sounds, etc.) Stark went over, tail wagging, licked his hand and then ran up ahead of him and waited for him to catch up!

I even had the toddler feeding Stark treats and petting him during the hike!

I was about 40 feet away from the two girls and Stark when Buddy’s owner (who knows Stark VERY well and with whom I train with almost every night since Stark has come home) leaned over to me and said, “I wish I had my camera. Stark really likes the girls eh? He looks like he is in heaven playing with the kids and that’s all on you. Good job.” I almost started crying right there.

By the end of the hike he was following the girls where ever they went and ignoring his doggy friends. He would go down into the meadow (a 200 foot drop) with his doggy friends sniffing around and the girls would call up for him and he would come tearing up the hillside at them and then follow them up the next hill or pathway. The girls told me at the end of the hike that they loved Stark and wanted him to come and play with them again.

I am so unbelievably proud of my boy today. I was so upset because we couldn’t go to our first trial this weekend because of my work but this just made my week, maybe even more! I am still beaming and ecstatic that he was able to be around children playing and laughing and being silly and be so calm, confident and at ease with them. I can’t stop smiling right now.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I swear, Elisabeth~every weekend you have the best experiences with Stark! They far outweigh any problems and you should be very proud of the both of you!
What type of trial did you have to miss?


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Thanks Jane, that means a lot.

I try to give Stark as many experiences as I can. He sure does surprise me though (some days good - some days bad!). He always keeps me on my feet! Haha.

We were going to be going to our first Rally trial near Hamilton, ON this weekend (19 & 20) but my worked booked two other people off before me so I had to work. The kicker is I only worked a few hours and I am sure they could of managed without me so I feel like we should of been there. But I guess it just gives us more time to practice - I think we are more than ready. There is another in March as well as in May that we are going to enter as well. I better get the time off or else!


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## cassadee7 (Nov 26, 2009)

Stark's doing awesome! That's great how friendly he was with the kids. You should be proud!


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## Mac's Mom (Jun 7, 2010)

I agree. You should be very proud of yourself and Stark. Great story.


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## Runswithdogs (May 8, 2010)

That is so amazing! What do you think helped him get to this point?
Your story makes me smile too, and gives me hope, because Regen is the same with kids and I hate to think that she'll never get over it.
Go, Stark!


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

Amazing! Totally agree with Jane. You are a good doggie mom!!!


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

Great job!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE stories like this - gives me a serious boost!!! Great work and great inspiration


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

great story! great job! thats just awesome and so good!!! congrats!


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Runswithdogs said:


> That is so amazing! What do you think helped him get to this point?
> Your story makes me smile too, and gives me hope, because Regen is the same with kids and I hate to think that she'll never get over it.
> Go, Stark!


I am not at all going to say that Stark is okay with kids but with THESE kids he did awesome!

I really basically just gave him opporunities to watch kids and people from safe distance (think thresholds).

I worked him (obedience - fun stuff) and played with him at HIS level of comfort around these things (people and kids) and each and every day we took 1 step closer. Some days we needed to take SEVERAL steps back for awhile but we always moved forward in the end - even when we were back at the starting point.

It's getting better but we still are not at a point where I trust him with strange kids so it is definitely a work in progress. I don't have kids or know a lot of kids (I'm 25 and most of my friends don't have kids) so it is REALLY HARD to work on, plus who is going to offer to allow their children to help me work on this with a big old mean scary GSD who will bark if their kids stare at him or move the wrong way? 

I also noticed talking to him really helped. Keeping my voice normal - no baby talk, no high pitched talking, no "Ooooh looks!" which I tried too - it was so out of the ordinary for me it just ampted him up more. So, I went with normal toned voice and lots of just talking.

Another thing I did/do is play the LAT game which is a BIG help. I started with the clicker but that didn't work so well for me in this particular situation so I basically just used my voice. This is what I do:

1. Spot a person/kid
2. Say to Stark, "who's that?" in a normal toned voice
3. Point or 'show' him the person/kid
4. Use my marker word "YES!"
5. TREAT 
6. Keep talking to him (yes, I get some strange looks from people)
7. Repeat until the person passes by enough to get Stark comfortable again (ie. ignoring them and doing his own thing)

I am also starting to understand WHAT makes him react. 

He is TERRIFIC in crowds, I can bring him to pet stores and farmer's markets (thousands of people here) or agility class or to schH and he is fine. Confident, friendly, aloof but definitely relaxed. 

Now, if there is a lone person walking towards us, he reacts. It's happened in the hallways in our apartment building multiple times so now I wait until traffic has cleared out (playing the LAT game at a good distance) then proceed on my way. Or if we are on the sidewalk, we walk on the road.

I tried just standing there treating him until the person has passed but he reacted a few times when I did this so with Stark the way to go is to keep moving and keep him busy.

I have used the halti, the prong, and now the gentle leader (used this before too) and all worked for a bit but nothing really stuck. The gentle leader is proving to work though, he seems more relaxed with it on and i think it has to do with the pressure around his chest. I rub his chest to calm him usually and I think this is kinda like that. It is working for us for now.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

:thumbup: Good job Stark and Elisabeth!!

Elisabeth, while I totally get being extra careful around kids no matter how many good experiences you have, I don't think you give yourself enough credit. You have done an awesome job with Stark!


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Thanks for that, it means a lot.

Although I grew up with GSD's my whole life, Stark is "my" first dog, and we are learning every day.

I always tease and call him my *tester dog* because I try to do EVERYTHING with him and he is so different than my other GSD's that I am learning so much with him.


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