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Interaction with kids at stores..

1K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  erfunhouse 
#1 ·
I took Dinozzo to Home Depot today. He loves greeting people with kisses while sitting or rolling on his back for a belly rub.
The last group of people we greeted was a family with two sons about 10-12 yrs old. The greeting started out great. The one boy was telling me about their family dog while the other started to say "paw", which Dinozzo responded accordingly. However the kid started to say it over & over really fast while darting both his hands back and forth. The darting hands alarmed me. Dinozzo is really good when it comes to meeting people, but when he plays he is still nippy. Not hard nips but still more mouthy than I'd like. I pulled Dinozzo back fast and sure enough he tried to nip at the kids moving hand, but then sat when I pulled him back. Kid/puppy were both trying to play, but I'm guessing Dinozzo was equating the darting hands as the equivalent of a moving toy.
Nothing was said between us after that & we just walked our seperate ways. Wish I handled it better. I think I would of said something that would of made the kid stop before the need to pull Dinozzo back like "Oh wait! He gets a treat if he gives a paw." Or "Oh sorry he cant play. He's learning to be calm in stores." When I've had him around kids before and they want to play I usually give the kids a long tug toy, but didn't have one on me this time. He is currently 14 weeks old.
Anyways any tips how you deal with children interaction in stores? Or what you would of said? Im thinking of just saying he's still a bit too nippy to people who ask to pet him that have kids with them. He met no more than 20 people that day & that was the only not great encounter.


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#3 ·
He's a baby..don't feel bad. In the future just go with your gut if you think that he will react in a way you don't want. As they get older they stop with the mouthing.
 
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