Last weekend we had a party at our house, a birthday party for my brother-in-law’s twin daughters who are now 6. There weren’t a lot of kids, I think only three plus the twins. But all of them were begging Den to pleeeaaassseeee see the doggies. So Den took them in the bedroom a couple at a time to say hi to the dogs.

Zoe didn’t like that. Her crate was open, and while she wanted to see and be with Den and me, she was already nervous from all the people in the house (whom she could hear, even though she couldn’t see them). Kids like to try petting her, and that makes her nervous. She ended up under the bed.

Zeeke was barking to be let out of his crate. Den did let him out for a very short time, holding him by his collar to prevent him from knocking any of the kids over. Zeeke licked them excitedly. He was just so hyper.

So later, when the kids were outside, I leashed up Zoe and took her out to make a potty run. The kids followed us and I had to tell the one boy to back off and cut it out, he was trying to chase her (and he was the oldest of all the kids, he should know better). I just stood outside with Zoe and let her try to soak it in a bit. As much as kids make her nervous because they move a lot, she actually seems less intimidated by them, in a way. She won’t let adults pet her, but she’ll let kids - I think because they’re smaller and inherently less intimidating. She sat between my legs as the little girls gently touched her.

Then Den brought out Zeeke. That’s usually a good plan, it distracts kids from Zoe. And Zoe got excited that Zeeke was out there too - she just wanted to stick with him. The girls were generally a bit intimidated by Zeeke and as much as they wanted to “pet the doggy” they were too nervous to go up to him. When he tried bounding over to lick them the’d back off. But the boy liked him. So Den gave him the leash, explained how it worked (the flexi leash) and let Zeeke and the boy run around our yard for a while.

Now that was one HAPPY dog. Zeeke had an absolute ball. He just loped around beside “his boy,” running back and forth and exploring the yard together. His tongue was hanging out and he had a huge grin on his face.

I guess that eases many of my fears about Zeeke and kids - it’s obvious he adores kids, at least older ones. This is not the first time he’s played with older boys and LOVED it. But that’s the one hitch - older boys. He still is just too excitable and boistrous for small kids. And with infants we have no idea, I am well aware that for dogs an infant and a child can be two very different things. I said to Den that Zeeke will have so much fun when our kids are older and Den just gave me a quiet look and said, “Honey, he’ll be dead.” It was a bit of a shock to realize that. German Shepherds live to about 12 or 13 in general, and Zeeke’s already 3.

Zeeke and I are on pretty good terms lately, strangely enough. He’s listening to me, and he’s cuddling with me - well as much as a very large, gangly dog can cuddle. He head-butts me and lets me give him hugs and kisses on the nose while he tries to lick my chin. He’s just been acting slightly deferential to me. Which is very good. He still can be a major brat, he’s still harassing the cat every chance he gets and stealing food that he shouldn’t have, but in relation to me he’s been good. And he’s taken very well to not being on the furniture… we moved his dog bed from Den’s office to the bedroom, so he’s been sleeping on it every night. Both dogs really love that dog bed. And Zeeke looks so adorable all curled up asleep on it.