Kid wants to do light sabers near dog? Scripts to keep both safe

Tl;dr: Keep kiddo swordplay far away from the dog!

Our four-year-old is heart-meltingly gentle with our dog almost all the time. Kiddo cues me to give Trixie treats if Trixie is scared.

Thanks to Rumi and Luke, our kid also is very into light swords (K Pop Demon Hunters) and light sabers (Star Wars).

If our kiddo plays light sabers close to our dog Trixie, that would scare Trixie. Way too much motion and sound. If Trixie gets scared, well, that’s sucky by itself. She deserves safety.

If Trixie’s scared, she may bark at our kid. Or jump up on our kid, which is scary for kiddo. Who also deserves to feel safe.

So how do I, a dog trainer, fix this? What dog training do I do?

Do I teach Trixie to like the sights and sounds of light sabering nearby? Not possible. Too scary for her.

Do I teach Trixie to move away from kiddo? Nope. If our kiddo is doing the light saber moves in the living room, there isn’t a place in that room where Trixie can get enough distance to feel safe.

Do I teach Trixie to retrieve a stick and spar? That’s silly.

So what do I do?

Management!!! aka setting up the environment so kid and dog feel safe. So Trixie doesn’t feel scared. So she doesn’t get triggered to protect herself and scare our kid. To helping them continue building their sweet friendship.

What management looks like: Our kid light sabers in a separate space. Behind a baby gate. Far enough away from Trixie she feels relaxed.

How does moving our kiddo away from Trixie actually happen? I use scripts that set boundaries while validating our kid’s need for play and connection (thanks Dr. Becky Kennedy!).

SCRIPTS for kid swordplay AND safe dog:

Scenario 1: Instant kiddo agreement

Dad: “First go to your room, then we do light sabers together”.

Kid: Okay.

[Dad and Kid walk to bedroom, close baby gate behind them, and start doing light sabers.]

​

Scenario 2: Kid does not want to move away from dog.

Kid: No, I do light sabers here.

Dad: You could walk there or I could run with you there.

​

Scenario 3: Kid picks up sword near dog while watching K Pop Demon Hunters.

Dad: It’s not okay to do light sword near Trixie. Too scary for her.

[Dad blocks + holds light sword]

Dad: We could watch more movie OR do light swords in your room.

[Kid drops sword.]

Kid: Okay, more movie.

Scenario 4: Kid tries to swing light saber in same room as dog.

[Dad blocks + holds light saber]

Dad: I’m not going to let you do light saber here. You could walk to your room and we do light sabers there or I could pick you up.

[Kid keeps trying to swing light saber.]

Dad: You're a good kid. I’m picking you up.

[Dad picks up and carries kid to bedroom. As they leave, Dad tosses treats toward a worried Trixie and blocks blows from light saber.]

Dad: We’re going to your room. I’ll stay with you there. We could do light sabers or trains.

Do you have hard moments with kid plus dog (or baby or teen plus dog)? You're not alone. Book a call today.