Dog driving me mad, bot sure whether I'm being U want him rehired

[ginplease83]

I am very bloody cross. I gave my 22 month old a mini milk this afternoon and sat her on the sofa in our open plan kitchen watching tv whilst I did some food prep. She's in the same room and easily accessible. Our dog was in his bed the other side of the room.

I turned to put something in the fridge and she started screaming. I turned around and our labrador who is obsessed with food, has half jumped on the sofa and is taking her ice cream. I jump on the dog and remove him and reassure her. He knows that this was wrong as soon as he saw me noticing, he sprung up.

I don't think he can be trusted around our kids anymore and want him gone. My DH thinks Im over reacting and that i don't give the dog enough attention. He's walked very regularly but i don't have time to sit there and stroke him. Theres nowhere else for him to go in the house apart from a large kitchen and family room area. If I put him in the garden he rams himself into the fence to try and get to a neighbour's dog or he makes every attempt he can to get into our bins.

[idontlikealdi]

I feel sorry for the dog. Re home home him so can go to a family who want him and has a good life. You never ever leave a dog and child and food unsupervised.

[Out2pasture]

what does anyone's life have to do with the OP....well most of us seem to have dogs that are not being considered for rehoming because they like ice cream....
to me unable to trust a dog involves nipping behavior, guarding their dog food.
yes dogs that beg can be a nuisance, but not rehome worthy.

[newtscamander]

You're a complete idiot.

[orangebird69]

When 4 of my cats were kittens they'd crawl over hot coals to get to our dinner... so I used to put them in the hallway until we'd finished eating. Or when I wasn't home, dh would lock himself in the hallway with his dinner because he couldn't herd them as efficiently as me. It's a bit outrageous to jump to the rehoming option. Especially when some common sense and a bit of effort could've avoided the whole icecream stealing situation in the first place.

[INeedANameChange]

Even trained dogs can be challenging. I have a cocker spaniel and he knows what he SHOULD do, but if there's food around it often goes out the window.

You can't rehome a dog because he ate food that was wafted in front of his face when you weren't supervising him!

[RestlessTraveller]

Do your dog a favour and rehome him with someone who actually likes him.

[ghostspirit]

op do you think if you spent more time with the dog you might feel diffrent? maybe take the dog and your toddler to the park. or maybe even just the garden and throw him a ball.

how old is your dog? maybe some training might be a good thing. my dog is well trained he walks next to us without a lead. and stops when at all the roads. people have commented on how well trained he is and it makes me feel quite proud. just trying to say training may be a good thing and make you feel more positive towards him.

could your dd maybe have waved the ice cream about a bit so maybe the dog thought she was saying having my cream... maybe not. just a thought. but if you ever have given him bits of food when eating/cooking it could have been where he picked it up from.

i see up thread someone said about him being in his bed whilst you all watch tv. if tht is the case i think he needs to spend more time with you all as dogs are part of the family and they need to be as socialise as much possible.

people are saying about rehoming him. im on the fence. maybe the ops partner really loves the dog maybe he gives it lots of attention.

maybe the op is normally ok with the dog but shes having an off day.

[Notwavingimdrowning]

This makes me sad ! We have 3 dogs and some days they drive me insane, however I would never think to rehome them for doing something that I haven't trained them not to do. Love, training and patience are needed along with positive reinforcement to show your dog what is expected and acceptable behaviour and what isn't. Our male dog is 16 stone and I'm 5'2 yet I have no issues walking him (and I have 4 children, although older than yours) because I trained him !

[Mycraneisfixed]

Your mum's dog us unusual! Most labs are forever foraging for food. It's in their nature. I have two small well-fed dogs. One of them is always on the look out for more food: even worked out how to open the bin. You won't change your lab so don't waste your money on more training.
You'd be doing the dog a big favour by rehoming him.

[idontlikealdi]

Notwaving - what is that gorgeous huge dog?! If I had a bigger house is want him!

[smudgedlipstick]

You want to regime your dog because he took some food from a kids hand? wow you sound like you already don't like the dog. It seems pretty obvious to put him in the garden for 5 mins whilst your child is eating, or in the living room

[smudgedlipstick]

Regime? I meant rehome

[Notwavingimdrowning]

Idontlikealdi she is a Saint Bernard :) we have 2 of them lol and they think they are lap dogs

[gonetoseeamanaboutadog]

I think you probably should re home him as your attitude to managing dogs plus children is rubbish and your expectations are hilariously unrealistic. I wouldn't leave my retriever with my toddler eating food, let alone a Labrador! What were you thinking? Of course he will try to take it. He's not going to recognise your kid as above him in the pecking order for ages.

Have you considered a crate method for SHORT periods if you must be so ambitious as to leave a toddler alone eating icecream in front of him?

[IHateDoors]

NotWaving I think that is the best photo I've ever seen 😂 I'm assuming that's you flattened under a St Bernard?!

[JellyBelly89]

'He just creeps out' - there you have it, you aren't being firm enough.

None of my dogs would dare to come within three feet of anyone eating, and they must lie down if we eat too. This is because every single time they break it I stop everything and put them back where they should be. Creeping happens if you allow it to.

[Notwavingimdrowning]

IHateDoors 😂 Yes that's me ! Oh and hers one of my husband, son and daughter too ! They like to be on your knee 😂😂😂

[orangebird69]

Notwaving, can I come to your house and be sat on too? PLEASE!!!??

[Badbadtromance]

If you're not heppy and can't put the time in regime him

[Anonymouses]

In my experience even the best trained labs can't resist food. It just seems to be in their Dna that they see food and go for it. You have to keep food totally away from them. They also need a lot of affection and walks compared to smaller dogs. If you can't provide this he meds rehousing for both your sakes.

[hungryhippo90]

OP, you just cannot rehome the dog because he took an ice cream. That's really quite an awful thought.

I've always been a dog lover, just started dog walking and boarding, speaking with one of my clients the other day I likened getting a dog to do what you want, with parenting children.
Love and strictness, love and strictness. And repeat until it works.
Use this time with him, rebuild a bond and work with him.. it will ready you for when your child is a bit older, and will just not listen/ do as told.

BTW, the poster who recommended bacon bubbles, thank you. I've found and ordered some for one of my boarders who comes on Tuesday!

[JenLindley]

Who the fuck leaves a dog (a lab at that!) in a room with a child who is eating and gets mad at the dog when he does what his instinct tells him? Idiot. The dog isn't the problem. As usual.

[Houseconfusion]

dollybarton of course because getting the dog walked is all to takes to raise a sentient sensitive sociable animal into a trained loyal companion.

Different support systems bullshit. Not a speck of family on this side of the country and continent respectively and she says the dog can't be cuddled and stroked because of different fucking contexts.

What Ddog? Need an old sock to chew maybe?. There must be one lying around.

[Muddledupme]

I used to walk the dog each day with a double buggy and one hanging onto each side ( four kids under five) which was a bit of a handful so I trained the dog to walk off lead. She was amazing and one hundred percent reliable unlike my two year old who needed a wrist strap.
Crate training was amazing as the dog went in for each mealtime to stop the temptation ( from her trying to pinch food and the kids slyly dropping veg etc on the floor) but it also gave her a quiet place when she wanted a break. It can be done but you need to do the legwork before you get results.

[Mommawoo]

poshpenny So amazing that you gave him another chance though. I used to volunteer at Battersea and the amount of dogs they pts is shocking and often for no reason. One small snarl or over enthusiastic greeting, straight to the needle. These dogs are locked up 24 hours per day with maybe a short walk so they get kennel crazy, in a home setting they are different dogs.