Heartbreaking dog problem

[Laurendawn1]

I have a 3 year old female rescue dog ,She's very good despite being a little hyper active and needy! She mostly just wants cuddles ,Shes a boxer cross staffy ,We didn't know a lot about her only that she didn't get along with a former homes 10 year old who had autism and ADHD and was too boisterous around the dog ,I was told they didn't get along because she was simply too much for Kia (the dog) to cope with but she was doing so well with us but now I'm pregnant and my family have been visiting a lot and Kia has started being unpredictable around my little sisters who are 3 and 5 she used to just growl and warn them she wasn't happy but we worked on it and they started to play nicely although you have to be very vigilant because Kia gets very hyper! She's gotten worse recently and even started to jump on the kids when they're just sitting there doing nothing ,She ran and jumped on my 3 year old sister pushing her right out of the door!! I started to cage her when they arrived so she didn't jump on them . Kia has now fully gone for the three year old completely unprovoked without warning! Luckily I managed to step in but Kia was looking to bite the three year old and cause damage ! She then carried on growling after and barking ! My partner is reluctant to rehome her but how can I trust this dog around my family and my baby when she can attack without even a warning ! I love her but my babies safety and my family is more important .She also takes ages to adjust to strangers and when out walking will growl at people so it's not just these kids in particular

That all sounds very stressful! It seems you've tried to work on the behaviour, but as you say a dog of those breeds could cause some serious damage to an adult never mind a child/ baby.
It is worth taking her to the vet to make sure there is not a physical problem, but if not I would be talking to a breed specific rescue to see if they can help with rehoming. I'm not a behaviourist but I suspect something happened before you got her which has affected her.
You will never be able to leave her alone near children (which you shouldn't do anyway) but it sounds as though she shouldn't be with young children even with supervision. I'm sorry, but I would think it is not at all sensible to have her in the house with a baby - it wouldn't be fair on anyone and would make your life very stressful.

Our dogs have become more aggressive since I've been pregnant. I spoke to the owner of our daycare about it and he said they often see behaviour changes with pregnancies but they tend to go back to normal once the baby is born.

At the moment we keep our 2 away from visitors and on the lead at the park just in case.

How did you have no warning??!! The dog has been growling and leaping on small children yet you say it attacked a 3 yo with no warning, you had plenty of warning to keep them apart.

Anyway back to the point, I wouldn't and couldn't allow the dog near a baby. You can't re-home as I would doubt a shelter would re-home a dog that has attacked a child, albeit you luckily prevented damage, and to lie about it would be hugely irresponsible.

Do you have the space to keep dog and baby totally separated at all times?

Though I have to say I would PTS personally but I know many on here would disagree and offer alternative solutions.

I'm not a doggy person but if you decide not to keep your dog there's a charity in the north east called SHAK who may be able to help.
Sorry you're having to deal with this. I would certainly be worried about having a baby with a dog behaving like this around. Do see your vet to check there are no physical symptoms.

You really need proper behavioural advice from an APBC registered behaviourist. Www.apbc.org.uk

Unfortunately the 'work' you've done to force your anxious dog to play with children may have made the situation worse

She's been telling you for years she's worried around kids and you need to listen. For now, keep them separate. Get proper behavioural advice ASAP

I love dogs, (i have 2) had them since I was a kid, BUT I wouldnt keep a dog that had properly "gone for" a 3 year old (or anyone for that matter) A friend of mine recently was attacked by one of her Staffs, she a sensible midle age woman, the dog make a huge mess of her face. She had the dog put to sleep, said she felt guilty, I told her, and I am telling you, this dog could easily kill and child. You have had plenty of warning as previous posters have said.

I don't agree with euthanising the dog, he needs an experienced home, not with children, as that's where his problems lie. It's not fair on your family, nor the dog. My mum has a dog and I've never trusted him with any of my children and have never left them alone in a room with him, no matter how soft, or well trained the dog is, you just don't know. Find a rescue ASAP willing to take him on, explaining your concerns, who will be able to work with him, which i'm sure will require a behaviourist, your dog has shown you he is willing to potentially hurt a child, the warning signs are there, so it's only the right thing to do for the situation.

What food do you feed your dog as that can affect moods make them hyper and aggressive. I won't feed my dog missie commercial dog food as it's the doggy version of macdonalds. 13 additives definitely affect any dog.xxx.

I'm in a predicament with our dog. We have a cocker spaniel and we've had her since she was 8 weeks old, now 3. I brought her home and my partner wasn't too happy about it but we kept her anyway. I didn't know weather I could have children or not but my other half promised me that if I could conceive then one day we would have children. The dog has always been a clingy, hyperactive pooch And when she was 1 I took her training but as I had to work on some of those days I asked my other half to take her and he refused saying I'd bought the dog so it was my responsibility. As time went on I found out I was pregnant. We had our baby 15 months ago and I continued to try and train our dog at home and took her out daily with our baby and they started to form a nice bond. I recently found out I was pregnant again and due to give birth any day now. I continued to take the dog out everyday with my daughter but got to the point where I told my partner I needed him to take over and take her out or take her to work with him to give me a break while running round after a toddler. He never did so at 38 weeks is had enough. Exhaustion had taken over and I took it out on the dog and told my other half unless he meets me half way with the training at home and takes her out she needs to go. I can't do it anymore. He told me she wasn't going anywhere and if she did, he would go too (I'm ready to drop) I've done everything I can do and bare in mind my sister tragically passed away when I was 5 months pregnant so in top of everything. I really don't need this. I think I already know the answer to this. The poor dog has been confused with myself and my partner not being on the same page and because he has shown he's not supporting me she has taken the brunt of it. Can you believe it, he has gone with the dog (I did demand he left as is had enough) but I haven't seen him or the dog for almost 5 days now. How pathetic and sad. I'm focusing on my babies and will be fine but can't believe that after all this he never tried to hear me when I said I needed help.

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