Are Labradors Good with Kids?

Table Of Contents

What Makes Labradors Great with Kids?

Can Labradors Be Aggressive?
Safety Tips for Children Living with Dogs
Your Complete Family

If you are thinking of adding a dog to your young family, it is important to choose a breed that is good for young children. You need a dog that is friendly, and gentle but has a lot of energy to play for hours with children and is also strong enough so that children cannot accidentally hurt him. Luckily, that breed of dog exists, it is the Labrador Retriever. The Labrador is the most popular dog among American families and this is no accident. Labrador Retrievers are the perfect dog for families.

If you have owned a Labrador before you had children, you probably already know that this breed is easy to train, is active, fun-loving, and provides great company. But now that you are thinking about having children, you may be wondering if your farmer is going to be good company for your children. Well, the answer is yes. Read on to find out how Labradors are the perfect dog for children. Related post: Why Are Labradors So Popular?

What Makes Labradors Great with Kids?

Labradors love children. They are extremely patient and careful with the little ones and know how to play gently. As with any dog, they must be supervised by adults when they are around children, but Labs are the best breed to accompany our children, let’s see why this is so:

Gentle Nature

Labradors are known to have a cool temperament, which makes them jovial and friendly. They are also generally not aggressive, which means that your kids are in a safe space with your lab around. This gentle nature further makes labs compatible with other pets. So, if yours is a large family with multiple young children and other animals, the Labrador Retriever is one of your best choices as a family dog. Related post: Are Labradors Good With Cats?

Young children can be quite mischievous at times and this can be a problem with house dogs. If, for example, a child pulls the tail of a small dog, it could hurt the dog and it, in turn, could react aggressively and bite the child. Labradors, on the other hand, are so patient that they would hardly react aggressively even if the children annoy them. In addition, Labradors are big and strong, so they can withstand abuse from children. This does not mean that it is okay for children to go around pulling the dog’s tail or poking it with a stick. One of the jobs of a parent is to teach children to treat animals well and with respect.

Protective About Children

When you have a Labrador around your children at home, you can sleep peacefully knowing that your faithful dog is watching over the kids. Yes, Labradors are typically not aggressive, but they come to love the family so much, that they will always be protective of its members, especially the children. It has something to do with its giving and loyal nature, but you can go further and train your lab to become an excellent watchdog.

Labs are intelligent creatures that learn quickly. So, if you train your Lab to know the difference between a friendly and a harmful person or animal, it will always be on the alert. Anytime it feels that harm may befall you or the children, it will bark, and keep barking until you pay heed to it. It may not bite anyone but will raise enough alarm if it sees any kind of threat around your children.

A Child’s Best Play Buddy

Infants and babies may not have much need for a dog as a playmate, since they are mostly happy snuggling with it or mischievously prodding it. However, when your children begin to grow, they are always bursting with energy. This is when the jovial nature of the Labrador comes in handy. A young adult lab is full of enthusiasm and makes the perfect play buddy for your children.

Children always tend to actively run around and spend time doing things that require high energy levels. It is not always feasible for parents to keep up with them. Playtime becomes even more difficult to handle if you have only one child. Well, your Labrador to the rescue, because aside from protecting your kid, it will be a loyal companion, your child’s best buddy, and “partner in crime” for all the sweet little mischievous things your child does. Related post: Are Labrador Retrievers Good Family Dogs?

Can Labradors Be Aggressive?

Although Labradors are widely known for their low aggression levels, every dog has a unique personality regardless of the generic traits of the breed that which it belongs. Labradors, like any other dogs, must be trained early and well. If you have adopted an older dog and it has not been trained well, there may be a chance (not always) that it turns out to be aggressive. More often than not, this aggression results from past experiences of fear.

In some cases, the genes make a difference even when you get a pup. If your Lab puppy has had aggressive parents, the chances of it retaining those aggressive genes are relatively higher. Sometimes, ancestry also matters. For example, American Labradors were bred as working dogs and hence, are typically considered to be more trainable. English labs, although not typically aggressive, can be harder to train because they were bred primarily for dog shows. Labs can also show some aggression later in life when they suffer from chronic pain or go through an illness. Related post: Signs of Arthritis in a Dog

Safety Tips for Children Living with Dogs

Even though Labradors have a loving temperament and can prove to be the best friend your child ever can have, accidents might still happen, especially because Labradors are larger and have high energy levels. Here are a few safety tips that might help when you have dogs and kids living under the same roof.

Try to minimize the time your child, especially infants and babies, spends alone with your dog. It is not a good idea to leave a child and a dog alone unsupervised. This can help prevent accidents.
Teach your children to respect the dog’s privacy, which means never to disturb the dog when it is likely to be aggressive, for example, when it is sleeping or eating. Also, teach your children to treat dogs with kindness and care.
Teach your child to behave well with the dog, which means no poking, pinching, pulling its ears, climbing on it, etc.

Your Complete Family

Your children are the apple of your eye, but so is your Labrador. Bring a Labrador home without any hesitation if you want a loyal, watchful, and intelligent companion to grow up with your child. Although most labs will get well with your kids, be sure to check the nature of the dog or the pup before you bring it home to reduce the chances of ending up with a rare, aggressive Labrador. Once you quickly train your lab to look after your children and teach your kids to be polite and friendly with the dog, you will then have memorable days with a complete and happy family.

Related post: Are labradors good apartment dogs?

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