Need Advice w/ the Dog / Baby Relationship

Just because he's from Hawaii doesn't mean he's there now.

 

How did you introduce the dog to the baby..?

That's really important, as the baby should have the same amount of respect that you and your wife command from the dog. Although it's a tad late for a new introduction, there still may be hope.

You would need to know how to read your pups body language, and if a correction is needed, it has to be timed exactly right. getting the baby to be a pack leader is not impossible, but it would have been easier in the beginning.

If it were me, I would give it a shot with a Well Qualified trainer, before condemning your dog to death, cuz if you try to rehome him/her, it's gonna be really hard, and most likely you'll wind up having to release the pup to a shelter, as most rescue groups are either full, or won't take a dog that has shown aggression, my guess is, your pup is afraid of the baby, that's just a guess.

So in the end if you give it up, it will be put down, which imho is a sad thing.

When and if you seek out a trainer, get at least 3 references, then contact those people to get their opinion of said trainer. Best of luck, I hope it works out for you.

 

millions of dogs and babies cohabit peacefully. there has to be a way to sort it out that doesnt involve the loss of either. employing a muzzle may provide the immediate peace of mind that you need. since babies pretty much require 100% supervision, i'd like to think its more manageable than not.

good luck.

vince

 

I also have to ask, was this a playful snip? That's not a REAL bite. We have a Golden Retriever that's about 8mo old. He and my son play rough constantly. He's always PLAYFULLY biting my son, just like he would another dog in play. He and my son are like best friends basically. He doesn't even begin to do that with me, he knows he'll get the stuffing knocked out of him if he does. Point being, that dog could have ripped your kid's head off if it was a real bite. I wouldn't call that aggression, just behavior that needs to be curtailed. I have no idea how to do that though, I don't have little kids anymore.

 

Never mind...

 

I have a 3 year old german shep female and a 5 year old boy that has pulled and tugged on her for 3 years with out any anger.


On the other hand we had a 5 year old pekingese that attacked the boy at 2 years old just for touching the dog's tail.

The pekingese found a new home 2 days later.

 

If you want to give training a try, by all means, give it a go. But, I wouldn't leave the dog alone with the baby, ever, until you are absolutely sure the dog wil not attack.

 

You said it yourself; the dog is semi-aggressive and already responded poorly to an eleven month old. When your child is up and around and at face level, there will be all manner of mouth/ear pulling. What is the likely response for this dog? What are you willing to risk?
No amount of post event rationalization will save your pain should something happen to your child. Take your risks on the track; protect your child, always.

Work hard to find your dog a good home; move forward knowing it is the only good move here. Sorry dude.

 

Hank would be taking a dirt nap already. When you have kids, dogs are just dogs again. He just moaned at her a little bit when she rolled over on him once, but I bet he doesn't do it again.

 

Not all cases are the same. Dumping a dog at the pound is not the answer in all cases, that's one reason why the shelters are over flowing, and asshat owners too.
I don't know about some of you guys, but my pup is like a member of the family just cuz he or she does something they aren't suppose to isn't a reason to get rid of them, they deserve a chance at rehabilitation, just as a humane is imho.

 

I actually deleted that...but it's true. The other post I DIDN'T mean to delete was:

my neighbors' have an adult mini schnauzer that was afraid of kids and would act aggressive towards them. When they got pregnant they hired a local trainer who is great with aggression cases. Long story short, they spent a LOT of time working with the dog, very no nonsense. Now the dog and their daughter are best buds and the dog is bomb proof. Getting rid of the dog just wasn't acceptable to them.
It can be done if you can put in the time.

That trainer says "the number one cause of death for dogs in the US is euthanasia. The number one REASON for euthanasia is aggression."

A smart phone and yuengling don't mix well from a posting clarity pov.

 

I'd want to know what happened in the 5 seconds before the bite happened, but your problem goes back way before that.

Your dog has placed the new addition to the family at a status below her own. She showed that with the snarl upon introduction, and she showed it again with this nip. My guess is, the kid did something to PO the dog, and she'd already used up all her other non-verbal signals and the kid kept doing it. Either that, or it was something the dog felt needed an instant correction. That bite looks exactly like what an adult dog will do to a misbehaving puppy.

These are not the words you want to read, but I am going to type them anyway: That dog and that child (or any other child) should never be allowed to play together again supervised or not.

As has already been jokingly (?) suggested, I'd probably get rid of the kid & keep the dog, but seriously... the dog has to go. Either that or permanently be kept separate from the kid. Here in a few months, that child is going to grow a bit, begin to walk, and will be right at face level with the dog. Then, even worse, her head will be at a level above the dog's head. Then, you'll find out what a your dog will do to protect her perceived place in the pack's pecking order. Chances are, she'll realize she's been displaced... but there's a fair-to-middling chance that she won't, too.

Worse, no rescue group is going to attempt to place a dog with this history. Legally they can't, and logically they won't try because the liability would shut them down if something did happen. Your best bet is to cross post this to every other BBS you can find, and find a person who has no kids & never will. The only other responsible option is humane euthanasia.


Sorry to bear this bad news, but that's the way I see it.

 

It was a warning snip. We moved the dog's food outside, we try to keep the baby off the dog bed, but I wasn't home so I don't know exactly what happened. For all I know the baby could have poked the dog in the eye. I'd be upset too, but kids are kids and I'm sure my daughter will do all manner of pulling, poking and pinching in the next couple years.

We introduced the baby blanket from the hospital a day or so before we brought the newborn home. Then they were pretty much kept apart for a couple months. So I don't know that we intentionally introduced the two of them. Which probably means that was a mistake.

One of the 3 dog beds is in the living room where the baby likes to play. Mom was right there, but apparently not paying attention. I'm pretty sure the dog was sleeping and the baby startled the dog.

I'll be talking to some trainers as soon as possible. I know of a pit rescue group in NorCal that I could call, but that is a very LAST resort. For now, until we get some training and peace of mind, the dog will be kept outside until the baby goes to bed. Do you think this will make the dog resent the baby? Maybe that's not a great idea.

 

I have a situation very similar to yours, that being a "boxer mix" living in the house and a baby with the real difference being that my dog was introduced to this brand new baby just over a year ago at a time where he was 6.

My single piece of advice--> don't let the kid get up in the dog's face like in that pic and if you do, don't stand back 5 feet to take a pic.

You wanna have someone the dog respects in VERY close proximity during these moments for a few reasons....one being that the dog is less likely to "warning bite" when the "leader of the pack" is present.



Trainers aren't entirely necessary so long as someone has verbal and physical control over the dog.

During the months when my lady was pregnant, I spent a lot of my time teaching her to be in command of the dog.....not in an aggressive manner, but my dog had to be shown that he must now listen to someone else as well. I've had my dog since he was 6 weeks old yet all 3 of us had never lived together...it was just me and the dog for the most part.

Needless to say, my pooch had some adjusting to do and once Katy was on top of getting my dog to listen to her, introducing the baby was made that much easier.

After a year of having a baby in the house, my dog has adjusted much better than I could have ever anticipated however, as parents, we have chosen to minimize letting our daughter get in the dog's personal space.

He has his days where he's not really into the kid and those days are the ones where we make the adjustments to reduce their level of interaction.

It won't require a trainer or keeping the dog outside (or elsewhere) to straighten this out. That will very likely have negative results as far as the dog is concerned. It will take time, patience and a different approach in order to maintain the peace.

 

How about just getting a crate for now? Make it a party every time the dog goes in, soon enough she'll dig it. Temporary solution anyway.

 

From a guy that had a Chesapeake that turned psycho for no apparent reason.

Dog has to go. Don't fuck around with this.

 

In the end the choice to have the kid is going to affect his ability to keep the dog. Were they being supervised when this happened or was the 11 month old left alone with the dog? Valid question I would think.

But the simple answer is you can't keep an animal near the child that can't be trusted.

 

I had two Dalmations when my daughter was born. We had one big problem and still do. The 6 year old female thinks she's her mother. When anyone but me or my wife got around her the female dal would snap and bite to get them away. She still does this. The male will just lay their and let her climb all over him. She would even poke him to wake him up and neither one has ever snapped at her except playing. The female dal did leave marks on her arm once but she did it from holding her from falling. Dogs are smarter than you think! In your case my opinion is your dog thinks your child is lower in the pack than it is. Your going to have problems. Try a trainer but if it was me I would let the dog go. It's just not worth it if somthing bad happens. Think of it like this... Would you want to be laying in bed one night thinking " shit if I had just gotten rid of that dog a year ago my child wouldn't have 60 stitches in her face. Im glad she's alive and hope the scaring will go away." I wouldn't. I will say this, I have had these dogs for years but if one of them bit her in anger they would be gone before she stopped crying. Dogs are dogs but your child is everything.

 

The dog has shown a propensity for aggression toward your kid. No offense, but how is it even a question?

I love my dog and grew up with some great dogs, but all dogs even within the same breed are not the same and you have to be able to recognize a bad situation. I would have gotten rid of it yesterday.

 

If that was my wife, she would have called to tell me where the dog was, cause it sure as hell wouldn't still be in the house. I have border collies and they've always been good with my son but they tend to nip and bite when they play/herd. We always kept the kid away from the dog when he was little. Accidents happen and any breed will bite instinctively if it gets hurt.