Our Dog Snapped at My Baby... Please Help - Page 2

[shannon0218]

I agree with Tara. Wholeheartedly. In my opinion you either keep this dog and do what every wrok you may do--and NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER trust this dog--not with adults or children. Or you put the dog down. Adopting him out is a wonderful idea, however, like Tara said--hundreds of dogs who are not aggresive get put down on a daily basis--hundreds. Secondly there is simply NO WAY you can guarentee that dog will not be in contact with children. What often happens is first off the people get him home, in spite of your warnings, they find the dog to be a big sweetheart and begin to figure it must have simply been something you did wrong with the dog causing it to be aggresive, then they suddlenly have grandchildren or a neighbor with a child--or hell they just go for a walk one day and sometimes those little 2 legged short people are just running loose with no parental supervision! What if that bite is a horrible bite--a bite that makes the papers or the evening news--how will you feel knowing it had been your dog who bit. Currently this dog is your responsibility, passing the dog along--he still in my opinion remains your responsibility--you knew about the aggresion, the responsible thing to do is to put this dog down. I know that may not be popular, but this dog has now "snapped" at a WHOLE lotta people, it is only a matter of time before these warnings escalate.

So, everyone can flame me too, but I have been working and training dogs for many years and also working with rescues. You need to aks yourself some questions

1) Am I prepared to either keep this dog crated in a room where the children have NO access?
2) Am I prepared to muzzle this dog when he is anywhere near children or on a walk (because both children and dogs do the unpredictable)
3) Am I prepared to defend myself if this dog attacks someone in it's new home and the new owners come back on me saying in a law suit that I didn't "properly describe the dog's issues" (happens all the time--especially if a bite occurs within the 1st year after adoption.
4) Can I live with my responsibility (the dog) hurting or even possibly killing someone, be they my family or someone else's family
5) Can I live with a healthy, happy, friendly dog being killed so my "snapping" dog may continue to live.

[corwinegall]

We have three dogs, only the little one (he hardly has any teeth!) is allowed to be around the kids, the others we keep separate (our house if full of baby gates for the dogs!) They'll play with dh and the kids will watch and get involved, but we don't let them hang out together unless we're on top of it. Even the kindest, best family dog can have a moment.

If you think you can do that, then I'd suggest you talk to your vet about it a bit and have the dog checked over, sometimes hip pain can make a dog a bit on edge.

[Parthenia]

Originally Posted by sagewinna

There is a great book, recomended by our dog trainer, called Childproofing Your Dog. It's a must read!

ITA it's a great book. But the key to getting success with that book, or any other training method to childproof a dog, is that the training has to begin before the baby arrives. This book helped us prepare our late rottie for life with our new baby. We never had a biting or aggressive incident until she was very old and in pain. They were never left alone.

I think your first step would be to never ever ever let your baby and dog be alone together.
The next step you be obdience classes, and maybe even one on one training with a trainer. If you cannot afford training the dog then you cannot afford to have the dog in your home with your kids. And know that training may or may not solve this. Training helps get rid of bad behaviors, not necessarily agression.

My SIL has a dog who should have been put down years ago. She's worked with a trainer. She has this dog completely under her countrol. I don't trust this dog with my kids even when SIL and I are both in the room. He's bitten too many people (most recently that I know was last year when we were at the family cottage, the was outside unattended and ran into the street to bite a passerby). SIL has the best of intentions, but her unwillingness to have him euthanized makes for a dangerous situation, strained relations in the family...I love my SIL, but if her dog is around at family gatherings we either don't come, or I call ahead of time to get my MIL to put the dog in the car. It really sucks and I honestly can't wait until this dog is dead.

[Milky Way]

I may be wrong but it sounds like your dog may possibly have sleep/space aggression. I say this because you said twice the dog has growled when you woke it up. Also you said the dog growled when having objects taken away from it right. I've delt ALOT with both instances as I'm a foster home for a rescue. This type of behavior can be delt with but you must be willing to do certian things like crating, usuing baby gates to keep dog/child seperate, always calling the dogs name first to wake it up etc... Are most people willing to do this NO so the eaiser thing may be to re-home the dog. As for having the dog PTS unless you have had the dog evaluated by a proffestional and thats whats been recommned please don't do this. Find a rescue that can place the dog in a home that can handle the situation. It can be done as I've placed sleep aggression dogs before. ALSO a sleep agrression and toy aggressive dogs IS NOT TRYING to hurt you or your child they don't know what has happened untill after it's over.

[KayleeZoo]

We had a client at the clinic- huge dog lover, all her dogs were rescues, a lawyer who educated herself about the breeds she took in, etc. She adopted a purebred yellow lab. Very sweet. Very. Had snapped at one person in it's former home (a child)- owner relinquished dog to lab rescue. Our client took him. Never had any trouble with him. One day, her boyfriend's 8yo son startled the dog- had his face next to the dog's- and the dog bit half of that boy's face clean off.

That dog should have been destroyed before our client adopted him. You can NEVER guarantee that a dog who is rehomed will not come into contact with a child, or a person that they "dislike", etc. It is not worth the risk. Not to your child, not to another one who may wind up in the vicinity of this dog. Unless you can do all of the things that Shannon mentioned every single day for the rest of the dog's life, I would 100% recommend that you have the dog euthanized. Dogs are very important members of our families, but children's safety has to come first. s I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

[stirringleaf]

i skimmed, but i just wanted to say that when you said youd dog is "more reticent and shy than aggressive" that set of warning bells in my mind. reticent shy dogs in my experience seem to have an agressive side there as well, because something is out of balance so they feeel easily threatened, you know? i agree with others who said that you should either keep the dog but NEVER trust it again, keep it separated from children, etc, or you should find an owner who can do that. sorry this happned to you! i am glad though that you have a warning and can act on it to protect your child.

[polka123]

the OP still does not know what happened so.....
as I mentioned earlier

there's too many variables in this picture...

[Milky Way]

I read though your original post again and have a few questions. Was your son crawling near Jessie, if so how close did he come?

Was Jessie asleep? This is vitale to me helping you!

The other incidents please tell me more about them did the person picking up the object pick it up from where Jessie was laying, was the object Jessie's?

As I posted above I have experince dealing with space/ sleep agression. It's a form of agression but not one that the dog can in all cases control. In reality my inital feeling is that your son starled Jessie or invaded Jessie's space. This is why crating and NEVER allowing young children on the floor near the dog unless you have your eyes on them is SO important. I tell adopters this all the time however very few people believe me or listen. The largest problems occur when children start to crawl they crawl near the pets or on the pets. The golden rule let sleeping or laying dogs lie is SO important but people don't listen, then I get their dog back. I'm not calling you out or putting any blame on you I'm simply stating a fact from my experinace as a rescuer which may in the future help you or someone else on this board.

[Mindi22]

It was a hard decision, but we made it.

Well, the update on this saga is that we got rid of our dog. With the history of aggression, I just couldn't allow my son to not be safe crawling around in my house. I am still sick over this, and have been crying all day. I spoke with a dog trainer this morning, who told me that if it were her dog, that is what she would do.

We took the dog back to the shelter from whence we got him. They were not too optimistic about finding him a new home with his history, and the fact that he has snapped both at adults and now a baby. It makes me horribly sad, and I can't even begin to share what I'm feeling right now.

More important than anything, however, is that Brian is safe.

I miss our furry baby more than words can say, but Bri is far more important.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in and offered advice. Trust me when I say this was not a decision that we made lightly, even if it was made quickly.

-Mindi

[chasmyn]

Oh Mindi, I am so sorry you had to make this tough choice.

[Mindi22]

Thank you, Chasmyn... I appreciate the support!
-Mindi

[tboroson]

Mindi,

[Girl In The Fire]

I am glad you made a good decision and your son is now safe. It is hard to loose a pet you just get so attached to them. They say the right thing to do is always the hardest thing to do.

[JoAida]

I'm sorry you have to go through this.

[BlueStateMama]

I can imagine how hard that was.

FWIW, I think you did the right thing...but I'm a huge animal lover and I can understand how you feel.

[aisraeltax]

Mindi,
this was a decision you had to make quickly and we all know it was not made lightly. i am sure you guys will find a more suitable pet when you are read.

[Peepsqueak]

I know it hurts to have to give away a pet, however, I feel your decision was a responsible one. Children are definately worth the precaution. There is no way of knowing all the time if a pet fits in your family life. If they do not, it is merciful to give them and yourself a different option.

Hopefully in choosing another pet, please be careful and choose a good breed for children. It is well worth the time and saves heartaches. I also would not want my children to fear and hate animals and even mistreat them because of a bad experience.

[kate~mom]

[Naughty Dingo]

Mindi, I believe you made the right decision. Obviously without knowing the dog, family, or situation, I agree with Milky Way's assessment of the situation. Your dog has given you lots of clues that he is stressed in certain situations. A baby/toddler/preschooler does not have the self control to ensure that your dog would not become stressed out and aggressive in the future. As Shannon described in her response to you, it takes a huge amount of work to work with these dogs to try to get them to overcome their triggers and anxieties. It can be done with some dogs, but you are a busy mother raising a small child. I think it might be a lot to do for you right now. It is more fair to the dog to take him out of a stressful and potentially devastating situation. I know it sucks, but think you made the best decision in this unfortunate situation.

[polka123]

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