Dog help

How do I get my dog comfortable around kids? or strangers?

My dog does fine with children she knows, my friends kids (ages 1-6) and she is good with my neighbors kids, but that took a long time but they also have a dog and she immediately likes adults with dogs.

But today I was walking her and two little girls come up and ask if they can pet her, and then she started barking like crazy, I told them that she is nervous around strangers and just to stand still and let her sniff you, but whenever she would get close the girls would scream and run and then Bella would get all rilled up again. They kept saying she was mean and wanted to bite, but she has never bite anyone! It makes me upset that she comes off as a mean dog, but she is totally fine when someone wants to pet her and they also have a dog with them, its strangers and kids by themselves she is scared of!!!

Re: Dog help

i think you dog knew they girls were excited so she fed off their vibes. Maybe telling children to be quiet and have them pet her on her body instead of her head and tell them not to stand over her.

I think its more the kids than your dog. good luck!

Re: Dog help

I think in this instance your dog was already nervous and the girls weren't the best role models. You need to find some kids that are calmer because you were doing the right thing, the kids weren't. If they can't stay calm I would immediately end the training session because that kind of nervousness from the kids could make your dog more fearful.