Forumites and their Dogs

[-Deborah-]

Biased!

[romster]

True ;)

[Malto Marko]

Cool, Tony!

The newest member of our family (she was in my avatar but sorry, replaced it just this morning before I got to this thread) came from a shelter and she was named Charlie also. Tailgunner renamed her to Lola as she was not attached to the name Charlie anyway.

I wonder if the people who accept the doggies that do not already have names, name them the same name so other workers within their facility know who processed the dog?

[Drew]

My black lab snapped at my 22 month old grandson yesterday. He didn't draw blood, but he made two marks on his hand.

I let the dog know, unequivocally, that he was wrong, and then I tied him up outside.

It's the first time he has done anything like that, but I think we're gonna get rid of him.

...thoughts or advice? ...

[-Deborah-]

Ugh. That's tough. Obviously you need to protect the child at all costs. But I know how much a dog can be part of your family. I'm not sure you can trust the dog to just know he can't do that again. I don't know if there's a way to train it out of him or not. Is it possible there's some other issue that you CAN treat? Like maybe he has a sore hip and the child knocked up against it? And if it wasn't sore anymore, he wouldn't have reason to snap?

Do you have any friends without small children around who may be willing to take him?

[Malto Marko]

My black lab snapped at my 22 month old grandson yesterday. He didn't draw blood, but he made two marks on his hand.

I let the dog know, unequivocally, that he was wrong, and then I tied him up outside.

It's the first time he has done anything like that, but I think we're gonna get rid of him.

...thoughts or advice? ...

My experience has been when a dog of mine that previously showed no aggressiveness suddenly becomes aggressive (and both times it was with a toddler) it is because the toddler was poking an eyeball or butt and the dog was trying to back him off.

My remedy was that there was always supervision when the dog and child had access to each other and when the child started to mess with the dog, intervention was made to show how to pet, not prod. When it was not possible to supervise, the dog was removed from the household and either tied up in the back yard or put into the garage until constant supervision was possible.

One of the dogs especially did not like to be tied up or left in the garage and learned very quickly to go in the other direction when the toddler came around her and found a spot in the basement where she could have refuge and the toddler could not access.

[CGVT]

Drew, you can never let that dog near kids again. Period. Your dog sees himself as the alfa dog and he is putting the kids in their proper place in the pecking order. This is okay with dogs/dogs, but not dogs/small kids.

My dad had a two labs one had established himself as the alpha dog. Overall he was a big baby and one of the family. One day when my daughter was small she crawled into his crate. He nipped at her head-didn't draw blood but scared the hell out of her. A couple of years later, when Jack was a toddler he did something to the dog that he didn't like. The dog bit him on the face. It wasn't viscious bite, but it drew blood. Jack is 8 now and still somwhat scared of dogs. I told my dad that he could never let that dog near children, he agreed. A few months later the dog and a child crossed paths again and it bit one of the other grandchildren.
None of the bites were viscous, they were just the dog putting other dogs in their place. Jack's bite was on his cheek, an inch away from his eye...

My dad couldn't find anyone to take the dog that could gaurantee that he wouldn't ever be around small children.

He had the dog put down for the safety of the children.

[Tony G]

Did anyone see the whole incident prior to the snap? We don't have enough info to go on now

[CGVT]

Does that really matter, Tony? Even if it's not the dogs fault, it's still the dogs fault. If it happened once, it will probably happen again. You can't take the chance that you dog will seriously harm a child.

[Tony G]

Yes, it matters absolutely. If the child did something that harmed the dog and dog's response was to grab the kid's hand then the incident bears understanding. I see the perspective you are coming from but they are not all like that

[CGVT]

If the child did something to harm the dog and the dog didn't walk away, you have a problem. If the dog did it once, what will stop the dog from doing it again, maybe with more serious consequences?

If you cannot absolutely keep the kids away from the dog or the dog away from the kids, there is a chance it will happen again. The question would be, how willing is a person to take that chance?

[Tony G]

Yes, you have a problem. failure to monitor the child

[CGVT]

Sorry, but I disagree. You are being unrealistic

[Tony G]

I know

[Drew]

I never felt I needed to worry about it. He had been around small kids before without incident. Our other older dog, which is the first dog I had ever owned, never snapped at anyone.