# Bichon frise attacking small kids



## nnobakht (Jul 2, 2011)

Hey guys, 
I have a bichon Frise that is almost 2. For the most part he is a very smart, quite dog and avoids most people (he will smell them but he refuses to let anyone pet him). There is one problem which I am having a problem training him for, when there is small kids around (under 7) he will lung at them and attack them. At first this looked like a playfull lung as his tail was up and wagging but it's not. I have tried to get him to sit and made him submit as soon as he does this but he still does it and I have no idea what to do. 
We don't have any kids around usually but a familly member will be having their first kid and I do not want the dog to attack or harm the child. 
Any ideas or advice will be appreciated.


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## siberiankiss (Sep 24, 2010)

What do you mean when you say you 'made him submit'?


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## nnobakht (Jul 2, 2011)

I make him lie down, put him on his side, and if the kid is not scared I have tried to get the kid to pet him while he is on his side, otherwise (this more often) i leave him on his side, and make him stay for a little bit then tell him ok, and he starts to move around again.


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## Jazzy (Apr 15, 2009)

Bichons are usually very friendly little dogs, maybe he needs a behaviourist to access him. Has he always been like this or just recently? I've got two Bichons and they are both excellent with children.


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## nnobakht (Jul 2, 2011)

He has always been like this with kids, I have had him since he was 4 months old.
As a kid he was okay with other dogs (very curious) but barked at kids and old people with wheelchairs or walkers and ran away but because there wasn't any kids around I could not notice it after the first month.
He was about 9 months old when the first kid came and he barked but nothing major, and then there was no kids untill about 3 months ago and now he full on lunges at them.


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2011)

Bump.
In the hope that some of you trainers will see this and actually help someone


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## Rottiefan (Jun 20, 2010)

Okay, first things first, forget about the making him submit tactics. These are old, out-of-date methods, still promoted by silly men on TV, and have no scientific or ethological value whatsoever- wolves (or dogs) don't physically make others submit to them, so why do we? This is more likely to make the situation worse and only suppress the behaviour, until a peak of frustration is hit and your dog bites/attacks when being placed on his back.

Your dog sounds like he has lacked socialisation around children. If he has never really experienced them when he was a young pup (8-12 weeks old for the socialisation period) he may well have developed an anxiety around them, which is why he is reacting as he is now. Forcing a dog to submit here is basically holding him down whilst something that he is terrified of comes closer- this is a very nerve-racking experience for your dog I'd imagine.

I would recommend you work on a programme of desensitisation to children, counter-conditioning (changing his emotional reaction to children) him in the presence of children. I like clicker training for these exercises, or you can use a marker word like "Yes!". Here's how it works: 
YouTube - ‪What is clicker training?- dog training‬‏

In your context, here are some videos showing exercises that will help you: 
YouTube - ‪BAT training with Grisha‬‏ 
(In this video, the sound is bad but what they are doing is clicking and treating everytime the dog looks at the stranger and offers a social-calming signal- anything like looking away [even just a glance], licking their lips etc. However, you can also do this exercise by clicking and treating as soon as your dog makes eye contact with the children, then move away slightly as an extra bonus to him- if looks at children without barking or lunging, he gets food AND gets to move away )





 (this dog is not as reactive as yours I'd imagine, but the premise is the same. However, she doesn't seem to be using a clicker, but her voice by saying 'Yes' and other praise. I would use either one word or just the clicker to make it simpler, every time your dog glances at children.)

YouTube - ‪Counterconditioning‬‏ (this is a dog that is reactive to other dogs, but, as ever, the premise is the same. Interestingly, the guy is using a toy as a reward, which is good if your dog enjoys toys more than food treats. However, your dog does need control so that he releases toys on cue, so the reward time is short and snappy and you can get on with training- we don't want to be persuading the dog to give up the toy all the time )

Hopefully these help you. If you use food, try a mix of his daily meal food, some chicken and/or cheese, and just watch that you're not feeding him his full meals each day or not at all, if you can use all the food in training. I would spend time making sure the clicker is appropriately charged, i.e. your dog knows exactly what it means. Feed him his dinner by clicking before each piece for a day, and he'll get the message  Good luck!


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