I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO GIVE INFORMATION ON CHILDREN AND WOLFDOGS, THE PAGE YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS MY PERSONAL OPINION ON THIS SUBJECT, IT IS SOLELY FOR INFORMATION REGARDING THE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN WOLFDOG AND NO OTHER BREED OF DOG.
AS THE WOLFDOG GETS MORE POPULAR IN THE UK MANY PEOPLE ASK AS THEY DO WITH MOST BREEDS OF DOGS "ARE THEY OK WITH CHILDREN" AND MANY OF MY INITIAL ENQUIRIES DO COME FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE CHILDREN OF VARIOUS AGES. WHEN I TALK AOUT CHILDREN AND WOLFDOGS I REFER TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 6. IN MY PERSONAL OPPINION I THINK CHILDREN OVER THE AGE OF 6 SHOULD BE RESPONSABLE ENOUGH TO HAVE RESPECT FOR THE DOG, THEY SHOULD KNOW WHEN TOLD NOT TO DO SOMETHING THEY DONT DO IT. OK BUT KIDS YOUNGER THAN 6 KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG, YES MANY DO, BUT WITH DOGS IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE HIGHT OF THE CHILD, SMALL CHILDREN OFTEN SUFFER INJURIES FROM YOUNG PUPPIES JUMPING UP, MANY GET CLAWS IN THERE FACE, THINGS THAT OLDER CHILDREN CAN AVOID. " SO WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS WOLFDOGS SHOULD NOT BE SOLD TO FAMILIES THAT HAVE KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 6 " NO , THERE IS A WAY THAT YOUR CHILDREN CAN LIVE HAPPILY WITH A CZECH WOLFDOG I WILL EXPLAIN LATER .
SO FROM MY ENQUIRIES HERE ARE SOME TYPICAL QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC.
1 ARE CZECHOSLOVAKIAN WOLFDOGS OK WITH CHILDREN ?.
A} YES THEY ARE AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOW THE CODE OF ETHICS EXPLAINED TO YOU BY A RESPONSABLE BREEDER, AND YOU MUST ADHEAR TO THE ADVISE AND NEVER BREAK THE RULES....
2 ARE THE CZECH WOLFDOGS SAFE TO LEAVE MY CHILD WITH IF I NEED TO GO TO THE TOILET, THIS QUESTION WAS ASKED >> NO AGE WAS MENTIONED.
A} MY RULES WITH DOGS AND NOT JUST WOLFDOGS IS ALWAYS THE SAME, NO ABSOLUTELY NOT, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE SHOULD YOU LEAVE ANY CHILD ALONE WITH ANY DOG. LOOK AT THE CASES OVER THE PAST 3 YEARS IN UK. ALL OF THESE CHILDREN WOULD BE ALIVE TO-DAY IF ONLY THE PEOPLE WOULD HAVE FOLLOWED THE RULES.
3 WOULD MY CHILD BE SAFE TO GO NEAR A CZECH WOLFDOG WHILE IT WAS EATING.
A} NO,,, YOU AS AN ADULT WILL TRAIN THE WOLFDOG THAT YOU CAN REMOVE THE FOOD BOWL WHEN IT IS EATING, ALSO THAT YOU CAN REMOVE THINGS FROM ITS MOUTH, THIS IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT IN CASE YOUR PUPPY TRIES TO EAT SOMETHING THAT WILL HARM IT, AGAIN I NEVER FEED ANY DOG NEAR CHILDREN. YOU CAN TRAIN YOUR WOLFDOG TO ACCEPT TREATS GENTLY FROM YOUR CHILDREN BUT AGAIN UNDER SUPERVISION.
4 I SEE FROM YOUR WEB SITE YOU HAVE TWO YOUNG BOYS, THEY ARE IN WITH WOLFDOG PUPPIES ?
A} YES MY KIDS ARE IN THE BED WITH THE YOUNG CZECH PUPPIES, AT THIS AGE THE CZECH PUPPIES ARE CALM AND HAVE NOT STARTED MOUTHING YET, OR PLAYING VERY ROUGH.
SO I FEW QUICK QUESTIONS ON YOUR POINTS.
NOW SOME QUESTIONS FROM A WOLFDOG PUPPY TO YOUR KIDS........YOU HAVE THE ANSWERS THEY ARE YOUR KIDS,,,,,,,,
1 DO YOUR KID LIKE DOG FOOD? THEN WHY IS HE TRYING TO TAKE MY DINNER WHEN IM EATING?
2 WHY IS YOUR KID TRYING TO WAKE ME UP ? I AM TIRED AND WANT TO SLEEP....
3 TELL YOUR KID THE TAIL AND EARS ARE ATTATCHED, IT HURTS......
4 WHY DO YOUR KIDS KEEP TEASING ME AND GET ME TO BITE THAT TEADYBEAR, ITS GOOD FUN I MUST BE ALLOWED TO BITE AND SHAKE THINGS.
SO THERE YOU ARE COMMON SENSE IS IT NOT ?
BIT OF FUN, BUT ALL TRUE TO LIFE WITH KIDS AND DOGS, THE CZECH WOLFDOG IS SIMILAR TO MOST DOGS IN MANY WAYS, THEY PLAY, BUT THE CZECHS LIKE TO PLAY ROUGH THE HARDER YOU GO THE MORE THEY LIKE IT, SO PLAY TIME IS BETTER SPENT SHORT AND NOT TO EXCITABLE, AT THE AGE OF 8 WEEKS ONWARDS THE CZECH PUPPIES WILL START TO GREET YOU BY TAKING YOUR HAND OR ARM, IT IS THERE WAY OF SAYING HELLO, PROBLEM IS THEY ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU THEY OFTEN APPLY TO MUCH PRESSURE AND IT HURTS LIKE HELL,, YOU MUST TRAIN THE PUP NOT TO APPLY SO MUCH PRESSURE, THIS CAN BE DONE BY PUTTING HAND ON THE PUPS MUZZLE AND SQEEZE AT THE SAME TIME IN STERN VOICE YOU SAY {EASY}THE PUP WILL SOON LEARN, DO NOT USE THE WORD {NO} AS YOU WILL NEED THIS FOR OTHER TRAINING. HOW EXCITABLE IS A CZECH PUPPY? IF YOU LEAVE THE ROOM FOR 5 MINS AND COME BACK IN, IT IS AS IF YOU HAVE BEEN AWAY FOR A WEEK,,,,,,, THEY LOVE AND THRIVE ON HUMAN COMPANY,,,, WHEN YOU VISIT YOU WILL LEARN LOTS ON TRAINING AND LOTS ABOUT LIVING WITH WOLFDOGS.
SO HOW CAN MY YOUNG KIDS LIVE HAPPILY WITH A WOLFDOG. [THE UNDER 6 YR OLDS}
IF YOU FOLLOW WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ AND STICK TO THE RULES YOUR WOLFDOG WILL BECOME PART OF YOUR FAMILY AND YOU AND THE KIDS WILL ENJOY LOTS OF GOOD TIMES.
YOUR PUP HAS BEEN REARED IN A KENNEL, FROM EARLY AGE IT HAS BEEN GETTING USED TO ALL DIFFERENT SOUNDS AND THINGS GOING ON, IT WILL HAVE BEEN IN MY HOME AND WILL HAVE BEEN HANDLED BY MANY PEOPLE AND BY MY KIDS, SO IT HAS ALREADY HAD GOOD START, AS I STATED EARLIER THE MOUTHING WILL START AT ABOUT 6-8 WEEKS, I WILL HAVE STARTED TO TRAIN THE PUP NOT TO GRIP SO HARD, YOU WILL BE ADVISED AS TO THE REST OF THE TRAINING, TO KEEP A CZECH PUPPY WITH YOUNG KIDS YOU WILL NEED TO BUILD A KENNEL WITH A RUN, THE KENNEL SHOULD BE BUILT AS FOR AN ADULT DOG, {I KNOW YOU WANT A PET IN THE HOUSE BUT READ ON} the kennel living area or bedding area should be min 6foot by 4 foot,,the excercise area should be 6meters x 3 meters giving the dog room to run about, sounds a it big for one dog, No its just nice, and if anything happens you can not take the dog for walk then you know it has plenty of space to play about in, the perimeter fence should be min 2 meters high, so now you have your kennel and have collected your puppy, you have it home making all the fuss and have a play, so now put the puppy in his kennel make sure it always has full water dish, and of coarse things to play with, Czechs do not get on with soft toys, rubber toys,they will eat them, i use training blocks made of wood, dont forget your pup is used to living in kennel, but this time it is alone, so it may howl for a while, you can as i do place radio in kennel making sure all electrics are high up. At time when it suits you , you then get ready to let the puppy back out, not forgetting it will greet you by mouthing and as if you have been away for a week, at this time an adult will go into the kennel with the dog, you will get all the attension and the big welcome, you will stay there till the puppy relaxes and is not so excited, before you leave the kennel with puppy give him a play block to hold in his mouth, you can then take puppy into area of home to see the kids, it is best to have the kids sitting on sofa for untill you train the puppy it will want to jump up to greet as well, when pup is calm let the kids make there fuss ut remember not to over excite the pup, NO IT IS NOT EASY and IT WILL TAKE TIME, but it works,,,, when the puppy has had its time in the house put it back in kennel, how long you keep it in for is up to you but remember Czechs thrive on company so although its hard to put puppy out it must be done, when feeding your puppy prepare its food and again an adult will take the food to kennel, it means a one to one at food time and training can be done regarding feeding,, any training will be done one to one by adult, jumping up, basic training, as training progresses and the puppy is easier to handle and you can get it to calm down quicker,then it can be allowed in the house for longer periods and under supervision with the kids, it will not take long for all this to happen at most the pup will be only 3-4 months old, but it is worth every minute and pays of, this is only a very brief article but wolfdogs can live with young children, on your visit you will learn lots more and it is so simple as long as you STICK TO THE RULES,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
