Unruly dogs

[Mamabearinthewoods]

when I met my husband he had two spaniels- boys that weren’t neutered. I had a female Westie that was very quickly spayed. After two years and living together we had a baby girl. At some point before she was born the spaniels started fighting. They only fought over territories such as the back of the car or food. We are fortunate enough to have a cellar so in spite of my requests to have them rehomed, they live in the cellar- the cellar is actually just the ground floor with loads of daylight and access to the garden. They come upstairs when the kids are in bed.
They are actually great with the kids but I am still wary- one but my little boys cheek the other day. I know it was an accident and my son was holding the toy close to his face when the dog tried to grab it.
My husband has just called one of the dogs and I put my foot out to stop the argumentative dog coming in the room. The dog turned and had a massive fight. I’ve been blamed!! Blamed for his awful dogs.

You need to manage this situation better for the sake of your child and the dogs, otherwise there could be a very serious accident. Don't put the dogs in any situation where they could pose a risk to your child. Don't allow your child to interact with them, teach him to ignore the dogs and make sure you are rigorous in stopping him invading their space. Work out a set up for your home so that the dogs and your child can be kept separate. And get a behaviourist in to advise how to manage/minimise the fighting between the dogs.

Fighting in multi dog households is actually far more common than people care to admit, but you as the owner have to take responsibility to manage it and minimise the risk of serious injury (to the dogs/yourselves/your child).

I'll get flayed alive on here but a dog that bit a child on the face should be PTS or at the very least rehomed away from children permanently.

Depends on the context @MolliciousIntent - I would say in the scenario the OP described it's hard to decide as 'bite' may not be what happened - our dogs have scraped my fingers on occasions by accident when going for a toy etc enthusiastically. Obviously since having a child we have discouraged any playing with toys and they are never in a situation where they could get that close to my child's face. Sounds like owners fault here rather than dog...

I’m not being funny but the dogs were there before you or your child. You’re obviously not an animal lover, because if you were, you wouldn’t banish them. You would train them to behave, whether the carrot (treats) or stick (spending time crated alone to calm down) method works best depends on the dog. That coupled with teaching the kids how to behave around them. Despite our dogs being calm 90% of the time, they have their moments. DH would never trust even a well behaved dog and would always say “Keep away whilst they’re eating” etc. There’s usually no such thing as a bad dog, just a bad owner.

From what you described, the bite to your little one was a pure accident. Spaniels do get excited easily, but how’s about teaching your kids how to hold the dog toys, not to hold them near their faces, watch out for nibbled fingers instead of blaming the dog for not knowing something it hasn’t been trained in? The dog will not learn unless you teach or train them, they’re not psychic yet you’re blaming them for not reading your mind? From what you said, they’re excitable and getting a bit territorial with each other. They’re male dogs fighting each other and you’re unlikely to get hurt unless you get in the middle of it. My ESS is 12.5 yo this month and she’s still learning new tricks…she’s also getting more grumpy and snappy with us because she’s an old girl now and doesn’t like hassle so much (aren’t we all as we age?). So don’t let anyone tell they won’t change, spaniels are very intelligent. Should I get her killed at the vets or rehome her? 😡 Why don’t you get them castrated are they breeding dogs?

My girl was my baby before DH came along but if he suggested I got rid of her, unless she was genuinely a dangerous dog he’d be going first with a boot up his arse.

Suggest you change your attitude and work together to train the dogs because at some point those DCs of yours are going to grow up and want a pet. Sadly Pets4Homes don’t advertise psychic animals.

How much exercise and stimulation is your DH providing for his dogs. Spaniels need lots of both.