When Georgia said "Dick" in front of Grandma!

It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, I’m never alone these days.

Recently I’ve had to catch myself saying, or doing, something that I wouldn’t want my nearly three year old repeating.

For example, a couple of weeks ago Georgia told me “you’re being a dick”, as I chased her, butt naked, around the house trying to get her into her pj’s. She was laughing of course as she said it, and I had to fight hard to keep a straight face, but Grandma had a few questions as to who she’d heard that from.

(“You’re being a dick” is something I often say to Jasper, my 9 year old Rat Terrier, normally in response to something “dickish” that he’s just done - I’m going to have to watch myself in future).

But it’s not all bad. I also recently overheard Georgia talking to Booda, the black lab in the photo above, telling him “It’s okay Booda my love” as she walked slowly with him through the snow - a scene that could melt any cold heart.

What I’m trying to say is that our actions, both the good and the bad, are constantly being monitored and replicated.

This has never been more evident than a couple of nights ago, when Georgia systematically stuffed every one of her toy puppies into the bottom of her sleeping bag before she climbed in and went to sleep.

This had been going on for a few nights, when suddenly it dawned on me what was she was doing:

Every night once the kids are asleep, I let Jasper into the bed. He snuggles under the covers, down by my feet, often with his nose sticking out from under the duvet. Georgia loves waking up in the morning, finding Jasper hidden at the bottom of the bed, so much so that she’s now playing this game with all her stuffies!!

Georgia and I constantly talk about, and practice, interacting with dogs safely, especially when we have a new dog visiting. She’s getting really good at letting a dog come to her, instead of chasing after it, and only touching with one hand, never hugging.

But talking about, and practicing dog safety with children isn’t enough.

Young children are constantly watching us, and taking cues from our behaviour, especially when pets are involved.

How often do you kiss your dog on the nose? Or roughhouse with them when you come home from work? What about touching your dog while they sleep, or taking away a toy they’re playing with? All of these are behaviours maybe safe for us, but can be highly risky if your toddler or grandchild tried to copy them.

So what’s the solution?

Be mindful that if kids are around, you’re probably being watched. Don’t do anything you wouldn’t want Grandma catching you doing. That goes for swearing, as well as how you interact with you dog.

Now I’m not saying that you shouldn’t kiss and snuggle with your favourite pup, just don’t do it when kids are present. I personally leave the roughhousing and smooching for when Georgia’s at school - these are not behaviours I want her copying, especially with Jasper.

~

I’d love your feedback on this topic. Did you ever get bitten by a family dog as a child? If so, what were you doing, and was there anything that could have been done to prevent it?