Should dogs automatically be rehoused if they go for a child?

[nothercules]

no matter what the background is? What do you think?

No pack theory is not out of date - just how it is dealt with. Used to be told to take food regularly etc, now told to add food and not remove so they are used to it being interfered with without it being a negative thing.

The thing is, regardless of which theory is right, I have to make a decision based on safety not who's to blame.

I am impressed that you are being so strong about this, especially if you know that your Dh is not going to be totally onside.

You are right it is the decision that is hard. I do feel for you, it is a nightmare situation, one I have thought about quite a lot as have rehomed older dogs in the past - and will probably do so again.

Hope that some of this is of some use somehow to you.

I personally wouldnt put him down. I do think he thinks he outranks your daughter in the pack and he needs to know his place is at the bottom. HOw did you react to him when he did this to your daughter?

Something that my mum did when we were young as part of the dogs training was to make sure the dog knew and allowed us to stand/sit in dog bed and kennel and touch toys and food. As part of early training and the dog might be commanded to leave food mid sitting and the was allowed to return, to enforce the pack status. I didnt understand so well as a child but I do now.

I also know that if any off the dogs truely went for us my mum would have gotton rid of (re-homed) or if bit even considered putting to sleep. It never happened and I have fond memories of dogs.

At the end of the day tho if your dog cant be trusted with child (although at such a young age they shouldnt really be unsupervised together so may not be an issue) I would certainly consider re-homing the dog. Your daughters face is much more precious and in terms of pack mentallity she had more right to the bone than the dog iyswim.

hth

Securelurking - it is interesting about how the food thing has changed. Havent got a dog at present but does make sense re adding it, although in terms of removing it surely it re-inforces the pack status.

It really depends how you do it and whether what you replace the bone (or whatever) with is of higher value to him.

From what you say it sounds as though you would be happier if he was rehomed. If you deal with the situation wrongly, it's true to say that your kids might be in danger from being bitten, so it's really about how confident you are/how much of the right help you get...

I really appreciate the posts from everyone. It is easy to bury your head in the sand and good to be remineded of the meaning behind what happened. I cant look at him anymore as a loved member of the family but see him as a threat. My daughter is so beautiful.

2labs, it's not just me and dh. My 70 year old looks after my dd in my house.

You absolutely need to do what you think is best - however, if you do ever think about getting another dog, then do read The Dog Listener - I have trained two of the most settled, relaxed and wonderful dogs using her methods and it might be worth a read. She fully explains the whole feeding issue and how to claim the "alpha" position with your dog and it is slightly different to what you were doing. Don't know if that would have made a difference or not. for your lo's who are going to lose their doggie and for you too.

oops, 70 year old mum

NOthercules, dogs only walk away if they have been "trained" to do it (which basically means the dog see you as the leader of the pack). I can remove food from my dog's mouth without him growling but I also know very well that while dogs are eating it is not a wise idea for DS to play with their foods, and yes my dogs are soo protective of bones and squeaky toys that both are banned from the house. However... DS is still a bit young to learn the floritures of doggy interpretations of human acctions. So in the mean time we have to keep an eye on both child and dogs.

I don't think the dog really wanted to hurt your DD, he is big enough to really cause damage and he only snapped, that only seems like the average warning from a grown up dog to a "puppy". If it happens again try to intimidate the dog making lots of noise, he will learn -eventually- that your children have a higher place than it in the pecking order of the house. But also explain to your DD that dog food is out of boundaries.

HTH

If you see him as a threat then you have answered your own question IMO.

At the end of the day regardless of anything else he also deserves to be a member of your family, if you are going to be on edge around him and dd/other children then it is just going to add stress etc to the whole ituation, making it worong for you, your children and him.

Yes, he could have really damaged her had he wanted to and if we were really careful with total supervision it probably would never happen again but I dont know if probably is good enough.

My dh gave him a good telling off when it happened and we all ignored the dog for a long time after it happened. But my mum wouldnt be able to react in the correct manner if anything happened.

the whole idea with the food thing is as follows - in a pack ,the alpha always eats first and then the rest of the pack eats the leftovers.
With the dogtraining, what we did was prepare the dog bowls and then, while the dog is watching you and waiting for the food, I would take a biscuit of some sort, and make it look like I was eating from the dog bowl - a few minutes of this and then would put the bowl down for the dog to eat - that way, I have re-inforced my position as alpha- I never interfered with the dog and his food after that. They were left to finish their meal on their own. I know you hear conflicting things, but this was the one that madet the most sense to me and worked fabulously well with our dogs.

I dont want to be responsible for him being around other children as I dont feel we know him enough anymore.

I think everyone is saying more or less the same thing - that it's your feeling about him and whether he's safe with your family that is important.

Pack theory discussions for another day, I think .

If there was a method that would guarantee my daughters safetly I'd keep him but I feel I cant take a risk with her.

When did this happen?

Tuesday evening.

ok, so you have been thinking about it for a couple of days. Just wondered if had happened today as sometimes harder to think things through at the time. Sorry for you all tho, really unfortunate to have happned as the becaome so much a part of the family. THink you are right to think of what you will feel happiest with and safety of the kids xx sorry that you have a diff decision to think over ((hugs))

2labs - a whole new thread?

Just an idea here - what would you say if this as the dog of a freind? ie someone you knew you would be taking dd in the future - perhaps your mums dog? So take away a lot of the emotional content, where would you be then?

Yes, you're right Awen. Our first reaction was he has to go, we then slept on it and spoke to behaviour person. Dh is okay with it now and confident whilst I cant let it go.

That's why I said earlier that I wouldnt tell anyone but family about what he did as I know what they would say and think ie why on earth is he in your house still? Also I would never allow my kids to visit someones house who's dog had done this.

That's how I think I would react too.

At the end of the day none of us can help all that much, I think you should follow your gut instincts - but that is just my opinion, and I am lucky enough never to have gone through this. Sorry that you are