Our dog bit our dd. - Page 2

[greenmagick]

So glad to hear you have a plan

The only thing I want to mention is make sure when you switch the dogs to being separated from you.....make sure to make it as positive as you can...have you or dh spend time with them in the new run. Dont let them think they are being punished by separation.

[lab]

Originally Posted by saraann

Thank you for all of the supportive comments. They really are helpful to me. We took her to the vet today and they did a full check up, drew blood and did a UA. We'll have results soon. They also stuck a needle in her "lump" that they previously thought was lipoma and they seemed very surprised to find that it was full of fluid. They strongly suggested having it removed as they did not know what it was and found it to be very unusual. We're getting estimates.

In the meantime, DH has gotten started with a "dog area" (an over sized dog run) in our yard which will attach to a dog door into our basement. After walking the dogs in the morning, they will spend their day in there, I think it will be good for the dogs to have some space from our high energy daughter and make it possible to actually supervise all of the time that dd spends around the dogs. I think that her energy is too much for our old dog to handle on a constant basis. We're also keeping the dogs away from the kitchen during food preparation times since that has triggered some dog on dog aggression in the past. They have been banned from our bedroom and we are giving them space to sleep in another room so that they won't be bothered since sleep is a sensitive time for the dogs. Our oldest dog goes to bed at 8PM every night like clockwork so making sure dd stays away from her at that time will help avoid any bad interactions. We've also been working with our daughter about dog safety and she's been receptive for the first time ever. When she wants to pet them she tells us and we are right there with her supervising.

I'm feeling much more calm and level headed about things and feel like we have a lot of work to do as far as training and taking preventative measures to ensure that everyone's needs are met and that we can keep everyone safe. The fortunate thing about our old dog is that her biting is predictable and since it's predictable we can take measures to prevent it from happening. I've also realized that the bite was really a nip but because the nip happened on dd's eyelid it bled. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just looking at things through a less clouded lens. I'm feeling like our plan is a good one and we may have to make adjustments along the way but as of right now I'm no longer thinking that euthanasia is our first and only option. If things aren't working as far as training and prevention then we will have to revisit that option down the road. I'll post an update when I get more information. Thanks again for everyone's input and support. It has helped me so much.

YOU are awesome. I think you are doing the right thing for the dog and your family. And this is coming from someone who put down a dog that had a history of biting.

[saraann]

Thanks, I will. I'm thinking that I will walk them in the morning and then feed them in the dog run so that they'll associate it with food, something they love. When DH gets home I'll feed them again in the run and then we'll walk them right after and then they can come inside since there will be 2 of us supervising. I'm hopeful that things will work out.

[saraann]

We got the results of her blood work. The vet said that her results indicate a likelihood of Cushing's Disease. We have to get some more testing done to confirm it and/or rule out other possibilities. It certainly does explain a lot of the things that were concerning to us.

[carfreemama]

How are you doing? I've been following your situation and just wondered how you and your family are making out.

[PlayaMama]

Originally Posted by saraann

We got the results of her blood work. The vet said that her results indicate a likelihood of Cushing's Disease. We have to get some more testing done to confirm it and/or rule out other possibilities. It certainly does explain a lot of the things that were concerning to us.

ouch. cushing's is not fun for dogs. my mom's chow had it.

s for you and your family!

[saraann]

Thnaks for all of the support.

Originally Posted by carfreemama

How are you doing? I've been following your situation and just wondered how you and your family are making out.

Things have been going a lot better lately. We don't have our dog run built yet but we do have a dog room with a dog door and a bed for each dog. They spend from 10am until 4pm outside (or in their room). This has helped keep dd away from our dog and given our dog a reprieve from the stress of being around a high energy kid. We've also kept the dogs out of our bed and managed to keep dd from bugging our dog in the evening as our dog likes to go to sleep early.

We still need to follow up on the additional vet testing and hope to get that taken care of soon.