A magazine I read, Clean Run had an article on introducing puppies and children. It was using positive methods and basically rewarded calm behavior from the pup and slowly introducing the child and pup by using barriers or a crate so the behavior of both can be controlled and things such as jumping on a child aren't allowed to happen. It is often easier to prevent a behavior than have to correct it later on. I believe you can purchase specific issues at cleanrun.com . The issue was Vol. 22, NO. 5 May 2016

 

I'd read everything on this blog! Blog | Dogs and Babies


Fantastic resource for helping dogs and children live together peaceably.

 

My 2 year old son LOVES Jupiter, my 17 week GSD pup. He was a landshark just a few weeks ago. Now, after daily short training,, starting with me. Everytime he would jump up i would say nothing and just gently raise my knee. He would jump up, chest my knee (correction) and I would silently praise him as soon as his feet touched the ground. half an hour later he would not jump up on me at all even with me trying to get him real excited. Brought my wife out and had her do the same... try to entice but he wouldnt take the bait. SO SMART! Start very gentle, very, and gradually build the intensity of the correction, making sure to praise him every time you get the reaction you want. (feet on the ground)

My 2 year old was different, obv he cant raise his knee to correct so I leash corrected Jupiter right before he was about to jump up. 5 times corrected gradually building intensity. Now he respects small children as well. gtg back to work right now though, i can elaborate the training for my son later!!!!!

Praise based training though. I do not treat train, never have, never will.

 

First off, Kudos on taking in Leonidas Love that name!

When I rescued Kai, I had a 2yr old and 5yr old. I may even have posted on here a few years ago asking for very similar advice as you regarding the best way to integrate him into the family.

I used barriers as Bramble mentioned. And took things very slowly and as controlled as possible. Leonidas is used to the sounds of you and him in the house. It can be pretty overwhelming adding in the chaos of kids. I kept a baby gate between him and my youngest for probably at least two weeks. That way Kai could get used to her sounds and smells and could watch and investigate (and vice versa). My 5yo was a little easier as he was more calm, could offer treats and Kai seemed pretty unfazed by him. I still kept introductions short and on a short leash. Pretty sure Kai had his leash on him in the house for about a month..just to be safe. He was never allowed unsupervised w either of them. It can be a long process but well worth it in the end. My son and Kai became best buds and while mostly kept his distance from my daughter...he was always keeping a close eye on her.

I'd highly suggest reading about dog body language, also. There are subtle and not so subtle cues that you can be watching for that will let you know when Leonidas is stressed or uncomfortable or has had enough.

Just take things slow and cautiously. Reward good behavior. And as others have mentioned, there are TONS of great articles to read on the subject. :smile2:

 

Thank you guys for your input so far. After reading up a bit, I think what I'm going to do is tether Leo inside the house and work on getting him less excited around my 8 year old niece. I'd like to get him to respect her as much or more than he respects me. Maybe I'll start with not jumping up and calm behavior, but eventually I would like her to be able to do our daily obedience training with him. I think he just needs to understand that even little kids are still people and they can provide him with all the same rewards that I provide him. My ultimate goal would be for her to be able to walk him (with my supervision) but I think that might be a long way off. I'm still kind of worried about the baby, as she's just getting to the toddling stage but I guess that's something that I can't really worry about until the time comes.