Very proud of Dempsey!

On yesterday's afternoon walk, we were approached by two young children on bikes. Demps has had a real dislike of bicycles for as long as I can remember, but he was as good as gold!

The little boy, I think, has autism. He was very loud, with lots of clapping, shouting, foot stamping, sudden movements, etc., but it didn't bother Dempsey at all! Not even when the boy started to bounce his bike forwards towards Demps to get a reaction. It got within half a foot of him, but he barely flinched!

I did nicely let them know that Dempsey was a little bit scared of bikes and the boy stopped immediately, bless him.

Demps was completely thrilled with it all! He was bouncing around, whining at the top of his lungs and spinning in circles because of all the excitement. I made sure I kept my shins out of the way while I laughed at mum, who was on the other end of the lead.

The only problem I could ever see with Dempsey and kids is that he just gets so excited and boisterous. We always let kids know that they should keep their heads away from him, as he might accidentally head-butt them. But he's completely, 100% friendly with children and that's all I could ever ask for.

He's also so amazing with disabled and special needs people (I hope I didn't use any offensive terminology there - please correct me if I did!), regardless of age. The little boy was very, very energetic, so Demps sort of joined in with that. He paid more attention to him than he did with the little girl, although he still said hello to her.

He did the complete opposite to match another little boy's energy levels, though, a while ago. On one of our walks, a man was about to go into his house, carrying his disabled little boy. He saw Dempsey and bent down to lower the little boy to Dempsey's level. The little boy looked so happy! And Dempsey was really gentle, wagging his tail and sniffing him.

It's just so nice to see the way he reacts. When he was very young, he used to get a bit scared of children, as I don't think he understood them and their loud noises. He barked a couple of times when kids were too boisterous or made sudden movements. Now he'll tolerate anything and everything from them!

Hope he got an extra treat for being such a good boy

Well he had a bad stomach again, so no treats... He had a couple this morning, though!

It was actually a bit awkward, as I was just waiting for him to poo himself out of excitement!

Well done Dempsey
It's amazing how well they can read people and adjust their behaviour

Eleanor wrote:Well he had a bad stomach again, so no treats... He had a couple this morning, though!

It was actually a bit awkward, as I was just waiting for him to poo himself out of excitement!

:lol:and there I was thinking it was bad that Bella wee's every time someone says hello to her hope he's feeling better now

If he'd been raised around kids, he'd probably be even better - maybe not as bouncy - but I'm perfectly happy with the way he is. It really is amazing, isn't it? Dogs are so incredible.

Don't worry, Bella's not alone in her lack of control! Demps pooped on me once, when he saw a cat on a garage roof.

He seems to be better today! Just one of those dogs who has a sensitive tummy.

He met another child today - a little girl who loves dogs! She was the same height as him!

He accidentally bumped her with his paw and she went back to stand by her mum. She was okay, bless her, but I think it took her by surprise. Dempsey had been bouncing around before, but he quietened down straight away, his ears back and his eyes all soft, stretching out his nose towards her. She smiled at him as we said goodbye.

I'm hoping, now that the kids are back at school and we'll be seeing more of them on the afternoon school run, we'll be able to get him a bit more used to 'playing' with children, so that he isn't as bouncy. I used inverted commas because we couldn't let him actually play physically with a child, as he's too big and heavy.

I'm wondering, does anybody else's dogs get this excited?

Well done Dempsey!
Yes, Tyson gets just as excited but he is now trained to sit & shake to avoid jumping or knocking anyone down.

Aww, he's doing well. He's learning really quickly how to be around kids  
my two haven't been around kids so I'm really cautious with them. Millie is quite calm around them and when I met one of my friends pushing a pram she walked alongside the pram moving with it as if she was attached with a piece of string then barked a little when the baby was lifted out. Bella gets really excited but she is a very excitable, sort of highly strung wee dog.

Yeah, he's getting there Always very friendly, but he's starting to show some restraint, which is great!

Thinking of taking a little bag of treats on walks, to see if we can get him to sit still

Demps isn't the only child-friendly furbaby then!

good idea about the treats. Bella only stays still long enough to half swallow the treat she has zero restraint with anything in life.

I'm hoping it'll work - he doesn't always take much interest in food when he's outside!

Some dogs are just completely crazy.

Millie is like that, she has no interest in food outside the house.

Inside is a different matter, of course!

of course!

awww well done Dempster

He had another chance to say hello to kids today, but he was exhausted and flat out on his side. I don't think he even noticed them!