German Sheps and Kids

Growing up I had a neighbor that had a big white German Shepherd named Beowulf. I never got to close to him because he was just too big for me to handle. I loved my neighbor and their kids, but just steered clear of the big white beast. Sadly, a few years later my rural little neighborhood just on the outside of the city limits had a rude awakening. Beowulf chased a woman on her bike and nipped at her heels. From that point on we all were under strict leash laws.

Now let's be honest...I still see a lot of violators around my parents neighborhood who ignore the leash laws. I remember as a kid trying to ride my bike around, some of the dogs would chase you...and it could be kind of scary. In the back of my head I remembered what happened with Beowulf. I remember my neighbor being angry and sad over the situation. The dog didn't hurt the biker, but they made a huge deal over it. Beowulf was certainly NOT the only dog in the neighborhood to chase bikers or be loose...but he was the only one who got the police called on him.

This is many people's image of a German Shep, and mine too when I was a kid.

So fast forward many years later and Andrew tells me the best dog he ever had was a German Shepherd. That the only dog he wants would be another German Shep because they are such great dogs. Here I'm thinking NO WAY! They are scary, and could be dangerous. They would scare our children and probably knock them over. My mind was made up, the Corbins would not have a German Shepherd.

Well we all know how that ended up. Archer is my baby, and I couldn't imagine our lives without him. But, I still wasn't sure how he would be with kids. My parent's dog, a cocker spaniel, can be quite aggressive toward my nieces and nephews. Something about them being on her level and getting near her bed or food. I didn't really think that would be much of a problem considering how much Archer loves people, but you never know...

This weekend I had some coworkers and their families over to our house for dinner. My good friend Kerissa brought her not quite 2 year old daughter with her. I made sure on the invite that I let people know about Archer. I wanted to make sure that people understood a big dog would be there.

As the day approached I was more nervous about Archer and his behavior than the food or cleaning. This was our first real get together at our house, and Archer wasn't used to company coming over. The few times I've had my cousin or friends stay with us...he's usually so hyper the first few days, and often in his excitement he jumps on people. (Yeah, I know that's our bad...we're working on it!) I kept imagining Archer jumping on our guests and hurting them with his long nails. (Yes, another problem, but I swore the first time I hit blood would be my last...)

My game plan was simple, Andrew would get home early and run Archer outside so that he would be tired by the time our guests arrived. Great plan, right? Not so much. Andrew got home late, and Archer was still in his crate when I got home 30 min before our guests were arriving. Talk about stress...but whenever I'm working with Archer I know that I can't let my feelings project or Archer will pick up on it, and it will be that much worse.

It turns out all of my fears were for nothing. Archer was excited yes, but he was a perfect gentleman with all of our guests. He even made a new BFF. So it turns out Archer is wonderful with kids! Kind of makes me excited to have some of our own....kind of. :)

Archer has a new BFF