# Maltese and Children



## miko's mommy (Feb 8, 2005)

I admit that I didn't think everything through when we got Miko 2 yrs ago. But now he is a huge part of lives and I am concerned about having children in future. Very recently, Miko began growling and barking when he sees young children







. When he was younger, he would play and get along just fine with kids of all ages...so I don't know when this transition started. In the last few weeks, we were visiting family (I have a nephew and niece, 8 and 3 yrs old) and although Miko was okay with them...he definitely seemed cautious. I am very concerned. Is there anything I can do now (I worry about exposing him to other children b/c I wouldn't want the liability if he bites them)!!

For those of you with Maltese and children - is it difficult?? And for those of you in my age range (who plan to have kids in future) - do you worry about how your maltese will get along with your children?


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## Holliberry (Feb 5, 2005)

I thought the same thing when I got Holli 15 years ago







and she would have been fine. I still think one day it might happen for me (having kids). I hope I can love the kids as much as Phoebe  I have thought about what you are saying, and I really dont worry too much about it because I figure she will adjust. I'm sure Miko will too, especially once he learns the baby is there to stay. We cant be the first people to have children with a dog in the house after all







Phoebe does like kids but Holli didnt. Even so, I dont think she would have ever hurt anyone. I'd be more worried about the babies growing up and hurting the puppy!


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

Most of you know that I have young kids...5 and 8 now.
Brinkley has been fine with them!
Does he growl at them? SOMETIMES
Does he nip at them? SOMETIMES
Do they deserve it? EVERY TIME!

I AM glad that he is in the larger/sturdier range of weights. It makes me much more at ease when they are playing. They adore him, and he adores them. He loves to play and be silly with them, and can hardly wait for them to get up in the mornings for the fun to begin. But he does warn them often when he has had enough with low growls. When they don't heed his warnings, he has nipped them, but that has been very few and far between. Most of the nippings that occur in our house are during play, when Brink gets too excited and wound up.

I DO wish that all other children knew how to approach dogs though. 
That has been a problem for us at the ball parks and such.


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## littlepeanut (Dec 5, 2004)

Peanut is afraid of kids that he doesn't know. All the running and loud voices really scare him. I could never take him to a park where kids are playing because he gets so nervous and shakes the entire time. But he is great with my bf's daughter. He'll take commands from her and they do really well together. Tic Tac loves everyone, he's just way too friendly and loves any attention.


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

My first Maltese Rosebud just adored kids. She would snap at me but never at a child. She just would melt if they came near her and then would shower them with kisses.


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## miko's mommy (Feb 8, 2005)

Thank you!! I think that Miko (like Brinkley) would growl to warn if he wasn't happy. Can you tell that I obviously spend too much of my time think about when we will be having kids? We are waiting for a few more years...


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## HappyB (Feb 28, 2005)

Last week, I left Dee Dee with my daughter and grandson who is three. My Dee Dee is a dainty little one, just under four pounds. This is the first dog my grandson has ever liked. When I got back from my meeting, he had to take her for a walk. She pranced around the yard on the show lead (only type I own) as if she had always been on it. In truth, she has probably had one on once or twice in three years. She thought Peyton was great, and he decided that was his dog. He gets up every day asking about her, and he includes her and her new son, "Secret" in his prayers. He also gives me a call to check on her and the baby, and he's asked me to bring them for a visit. I'm not sure that I would leave one this size with him if his mom was not right there, but it did amaze me that she adaped so well, as she has not been around him before. 
In your case, I would imagaine Miko will learn to adapt to a baby, as he will see it as a part of your family. When my children came along, we had a nine year old Schnauzer/Poodle mix, and he became their dog. He had been my spoiled baby during graduate school, had adjusted to my marriage, and finally the children. We lost him at 16.


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

Well I don't have a worry with Scooby, we are past the having kids stage, but he adores the children in the neighborhood and loves to visit with them on his walks. Back home in Aust. I had a little Malt x Shih Tzu and it was just me and him for over a year. Then my daughter wanted to come home with her brand new baby son. I agonized over how Alfred would be with a new born babe. Well, I worried for nothing because that little furkid became so very attached to my grandson and they are now inseparable. So much so that when I moved here to the US I couldn't break that bond and bring Alfred with me because that would have been so sad. My grandson is now almost 4 and Alfred is 5 and they are still the best of pals.

















This is Alfred and my grandson. As you can see Alfred is not too far away.


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## kodie (Aug 24, 2004)

I think i'm gonna have the same problem if I have children in the future... Kodie is only 2yrs old and I'm 24... soo Kodie will be alive when i'm at the age that I would like to have children... and i dunno what i'm gonna do.. Hes not into children. He gets scared of them.


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## Brinkley & Neyland's Mom (Jun 14, 2004)

> _Originally posted by Kodie_@Jun 29 2005, 04:02 PM
> *I think i'm gonna have the same problem if I have children in the future... Kodie is only 2yrs old and I'm 24... soo Kodie will be alive when i'm at the age that I would like to have children... and i dunno what i'm gonna do.. Hes not into children. He gets scared of them.
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I think if the infant grows up with them, it will be different...but just my opinion. It won't be like a walking toddler all of the sudden. There will be time for Kodie to adjust and get used to the child and you can teach him/her how to act with Kodie.


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## msmagnolia (Sep 8, 2004)

> _Originally posted by tlunn_@Jun 29 2005, 03:35 PM
> *I think if the infant grows up with them, it will be different...but just my opinion. It won't be like a walking toddler all of the sudden. There will be time for Kodie to adjust and get used to the child and you can teach him/her how to act with Kodie.
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I agree with this statement. We had a cocker spaniel for 2 years before we had kids. Ebony was our baby and we were pretty worried about her when our daughter was born. She got used to the babies before they were able to infringe on her space. Unfortunately Ebony wasn't a lovely, nice dispositioned dog - she was kind of mean and snappy. She would snap at us, she would snap at other people, but she NEVER, EVER snapped at either of our girls. I think that she sensed that we would NOT put up with that and our girls learned very early that they had to be careful around her. Still, it was pretty difficult because for so many years I had to be careful of the friends that came to play. They wanted to love and hug all over her and she was not that kind of dog.


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## miko's mommy (Feb 8, 2005)

> _Originally posted by msmagnolia+Jun 29 2005, 02:55 PM-->
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I agree with this statement. We had a cocker spaniel for 2 years before we had kids. Ebony was our baby and we were pretty worried about her when our daughter was born. She got used to the babies before they were able to infringe on her space. Unfortunately Ebony wasn't a lovely, nice dispositioned dog - she was kind of mean and snappy. She would snap at us, she would snap at other people, but she NEVER, EVER snapped at either of our girls. I think that she sensed that we would NOT put up with that and our girls learned very early that they had to be careful around her. Still, it was pretty difficult because for so many years I had to be careful of the friends that came to play. They wanted to love and hug all over her and she was not that kind of dog.
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Susan,

That is exactly what I wanted to hear!! Thanks, Olga


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

It is different when it is your own child. Before the baby comes home, you'll want the dog to get use to you carrying a wrapped up doll around. Playing tapes of crying babies can also help. If you have a hospital delivery, have hubby bring a blanket with the baby's smell home before you come home. 

Supervise, supervise, supervise and you can have a very happy relationship between dog and child. Crate train your dog well before hand and the crate is someplace that will always be off-limits to the child so the dog has a safe haven. Baby gates will also help (dog in kitchen while baby is crawling). When the child is a bit older, practice with a stuffed animal how to pet gently before bringing the dog into it. We did this with my niece and Mikey does GREAT with her. He tends to like kids, but not crawling babies. Because we could work with her, he did fine even through the crawling stage and now that she's 16 months and running around, they're still fine together because she learned not to chase and how to pet gently. Of course, somebody is always right there. I'd never let Jonathan near a child if they didn't want to be bitten LOL nor most adults.


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## clharter (May 14, 2005)

keep hearing concerns about Malts with children. I have to tell you my first encounter with malts. I was working as a preschool teacher. I had kids from 18 mo. to 3 years in my class. Every summer we would have all kinds of fun activities come to the school. One of the favorites was the puppy people. They would bring 6-8 pups (not really pups full grown malts) they would set up pens and let 6 kids at a time go in and play with the malts. The kids were supervised and the Malts would sit in ther laps and crawl all over them. This is when I fell in love with them







They were sooooo cute and fun and I could play with them without sneezing







. Well it took me a few years to have the funds and find the right dog. But Duke is the best. He and my 11 year old son are best buds. all my sons friends love Duke and they play chase and catch with him all the time. I also have friends with very young children and Duke is great with them. When he has had enough of them he just comes to me to sit on my lap. Malts are just great all around dogs. Don't worry your babies will love each other


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