Living with Kids and Dogs...Without Losing Your Mind: A Parent's Guide to Controlling the Chaos

by Colleen Pelar

At last! A kids-and-dogs book for parents written by someone who "gets it." This is a wonderful book. Useful, useful, useful information—all the main points in an extremely easy-to-read style. As a trainer and a mom, Colleen sees the full picture." — Dr. Ian Dunbar Living with Kids and Dogs . . . Without Losing Your Mind by Colleen Pelar, CPDT, covers more than introducing a baby to the family dog. It has chapters devoted to each stage of a child’s life with parental pointers for setting their family up for success while raising kids and dogs together. ~ Parenting books say control your dog; dog-training books say control your kids. The reality is far more complex and goes way beyond placing blame on either children or dogs for being who they are. ~ Living with Kids & Dogs . . . Without Losing Your Mind provides busy parents with simple, realistic advice to help ensure that the relationship between their kids and their dog is safe and enjoyable for all. You will learn how to • Help your child and dog develop a strong relationship, built on trust and cooperation • Set your family up for success with a minimum of effort • Recognize canine stress signals and know when your dog is getting worried about normal kid activity • Identify serious behavior problems before someone gets hurt • Provide specific help for managing the interactions with dogs through each stage of your kids’ lives from infancy through the teen years • Prevent your child from becoming part of a growing statistic—children who have been bitten by a dog.

Genres: Parenting, Dogs, Animals

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2005

Reviews

[Elizabeth Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I read this book about 2 years ago, but I just re-read it again. It is so, so good. I wish I had read it before ever having kids in the home. Seriously, get this for parents at a baby shower.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful with great tips! And now I know I do not want a puppy.

[Krista Ehlers · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever had your dog do something to your child that scared you, or had your child do something to your dog that made you wonder about a cruel streak, or both, this book is for you. Paraphrasing the author, most dog books say, “control your kid!” and most parenting books say, “control your dog!” In reality, “good kids and good dogs can get in trouble because of miscommunication” – Fluffy may well be doing what she was bred to do, and Johnny is just being age-appropriate, but it’s our job as parents to form a relationship, and use management and training techniques to help these two mesh safely, and this book can tell you how. “Kids rarely try to bother the dog; they just act like kids.”

This book is laid out in a very parent-friendly way. She begins with an overview of this topic, and then has four chapters focusing on key topics: choosing the right dog, preventing bites, identifying serious behavior issues, and the equipment you need to make life easier. After that, she offers four chapters of age-appropriate tips for helping your kids to interact with your dog: babies and toddlers, preschoolers, elementary schoolers, and teens. Finally, she ends with a chapter about saying good-bye – a topic all pet owners dread, but she addresses it with compassion and honesty.

Finally, as a courtesy to tired parents, she ends each chapter with a short list of tips, just in case you don’t have the time to read the whole book, but need results now. All in all, this is a well-crafted tool, and you are bound to find some practical tips if you are seeing some friction between your kids and your pets.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite as detailed as I wanted it to be, but it was a good starter resource. It has a lot of practical information on how to monitor and encourage the relationship between babies/kids and dogs and the list of additional resources at the back of the book is great. I do wish it had a little more information about training specific skills.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reccomend by Our Trainer

We haven't met our trainer in person yet, but we were given this books as homework. While our dog is great with our four year old, this book was incredibly insightful. I would say this book is a must read for people that have both a dog and child. It gives all of the ways a dog can communicate that it is in distress, along with photo examples.

[Hillary Maalouf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This really helped me get ready to have a dog in my house with all of my kids. It was a great introduction to positive/clicker training, and now I'm taking a class. I actually think the book is better than the class!

[Lil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read if you have kids and are thinking of getting a puppy. Especially the info on early warning signs of a dog being overwhelmed/uncomfortable and how to intervene. Her website has some good info, too.

[Monett · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are getting a puppy, and this book was a great guide for housetraining, and teaching young children how to interact with puppies. I would buy this book.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely organized with a section on children's ages/stages. Lots of helpful tips.

[Sarah Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m sure I will be referencing this multiple times throughout the next decade or two! So thankful for the suggestion to read it!

[Mary]

Very good book. The author has great advice for all famalies - whether your thinking about getting a dog or already have one.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good information