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Original poster

HELP!!!! boy biting dog!!!!

22 replies

daisynut · 10/02/2007 09:17

never mind the otehr way around, not sure this should go in parenting anyhow.

J has decided yest/today it would be a good idea to bite our GSD. fist time dog whined second time dog done the same. i'm worried dog will think it's ok - it's obv not, J likes to pat etc dog, but also likes to pull him, (ears, tails, mouth, etc it's all the same)

J is told no and taken away form teh situation, the dog just lays there and puts up with it all - but i'm worried one day eh won't iycwim.

dog's both have a lot of attention when J is in bed/napping etc

any ideas I suppose this is really a parentring thing DH says to stop telling J off and tell the dog off - WTF dog hasn't done anything thou and is happily laying down only for J to come over and grab at him.

(dog normally gets up and moves thou I must admit when he see's j crawlling over now)

OP posts:

PinkKangaroo · 10/02/2007 09:54

Not sure if this is a wind up, but I'll answer it anyway.
Your child should be stopped from abusing your dog or else the dog is going to retaliate big time and you will have a very seriously injured/dead child.

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 10:06

no it's not it's serious, this is why i'mn asking, i'm worried the dog will one day turn on the boy, (obv) the boy is remioved and told no but at 11.5 months how much is he really understanding iycwim???

(I name changed about 2 days ago to this one which is why there's isn't many posts form me yet)

which it the best action to keep as we have been - removing and saying no firmly?

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WriggleJiggle · 10/02/2007 10:09

How old is J?

dd has tried occasionally to teeth on our dogs, but at 6 mths she didn't know any better.

You have to be firm with J and continue removing him/her.

WriggleJiggle · 10/02/2007 10:11

My dd is 10 months, so I understand where youre coming from. Just keep praising child for appropriate behaviour and removing with a firm NO when not. If you are using the word 'no' frequently you must make sure you reassure doggy that he is being good.

fortyplus · 10/02/2007 10:12

You need to remove him from the dog and tell him no very firmly. He'll cotton on eventually - even though he doesn't understand yet, children that age don't like raised voices and cross expressions, so he'll soon associate his biting the dog with 'cross mummy'.
You need to stop this now - it's not the dog's fault but eventually it will bite back.

fortyplus · 10/02/2007 10:13

xp with WJ - agree re: praising dog - best swiftly remove child to next room an say 'no' there?

WriggleJiggle · 10/02/2007 10:14

Does your dog have somewhere he can get to where he can not be got at? Ours go under the bed when they want a bit of piece and quiet. It really important your dog gets lots of reasurrance whilst he is around the child, and always has an escape route. Try and avoid him being cornered.

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 10:16

fp - that is exactly my worry - my dogs are good - yes they play fight etc but neither have shown any tendancies (althou obv they're animals iycwim) but I feel the prob is teaching J to respect them as animals if that makes sencw?? we've been sititng him on our laps and then patting the dogs etc and praising both him and them - you knwo good boy J well done S type thing) als we're not sure if ti's right but praising the dog for ignoring J and telling J no and lifitng him away.

how long will it be before he actually grasps the issue iycwim? (obv I never leave them alone together and tbh the dogs are brilliant with him - we've had lesss worry than what i'd initally thought but it still doesn't mena that i'm accepting the boy treating the dogs like this - I know the boy is a baby and obv my proprity but by that notion I don't wan thim to grow up thinking that it's ok to treat dogs like this - cos obv not all dogs are placid.

OP posts:

Muminfife · 10/02/2007 10:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 10:19

FP - yes actually it's prob confusing to both as I say no to J first (dogs ears go down) and then praise the dog and J obv thinks that's cuddles and things are OK again - which they';re not iycwim.

as for an escape route - it was up stairs we have a sofa up there - however as boy can now climb the stairs we've been having the gate shut - so really there's no where during the day (and when they need it) perhaps I need to rethink their bed maybe putting it in the hall way or something? (it's been out in the utlity bit but it's a bit cold there so they've not ventured out there.)

OP posts:

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 10:21

we have a GSD and a staff - the staff he's not bothered by it's the GSD he likes inparticular. both are laid back/happy dogs, the GSD is protective over the house (but not really badly iycwim - barks at the door that type of thing - both play nicely out/with other dogs. (apart from 2 inparticualr which keep jumping our fence)

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Madoldcatlady · 10/02/2007 18:07

Years ago we had a GSD X Lab. He was a wonderful dog and was brilliant with DD (14 months at the time). DD would sleep with her head on him! She was never allowed to hurt or abuse him in any way. Also, she was never left alone with him.

One day DH was watching TV in the same room as DD. The dog was in the hall outside the room. I went upstairs to the loo. DD sneaked out of the room without DH noticing and in a split second something happen (DD may have stood on him or startled him whilst he was sleeping). I heard to dog snarl and snap. I ran down stairs to find DD covered in blood. He'd bitten her face and head. His tooth had punctured her fontanelle (soft spot on her head) and she was leaking spinal fluid from the wound!!

She was admitted to hospital for 5 days and treated for meningitis due to bacteria from the dogs mouth possibly getting in contact with her brain.

She was discharged with no lasting problems, but I would have said the dog was absolutely as trustworthy as they come until that incident.

We never knew what caused him to flip but felt that we had to put him to sleep after that. It was tragic is every sense. That DD was injured and still bears the scars and that our lovely friend had to be destroyed for what was essentially our fault for not supervising DD.

Madoldcatlady · 10/02/2007 18:09

So the moral of my story is NEVER let DS be alone with the dogs EVER, and even the sweetest animal has it's breaking point.

Teach DS to respect them and never to hurt them. If it means you have to remove him from the dog 100 times an hour then do so.

hercules1 · 10/02/2007 18:33

Dogs are dogs and you cannot trust them no matter how placid they seem. Really you should never ever leave them alone at all. You are very lucky nothing has happened yet. My 3 year old dd is beginning to get the rules surrounding dogs only now and she has been snapped at before by a previous dog we had (our fault).

The dog will warn your child but your child wont understand the warnings then the dog will bite.

You need to supervise 100% and teach the dog to walk away.

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 19:03

Mad oh go. that's awful - tbh if either of us needs a loo stop he goes up in his cot - screams the place down cos he doesn't like it but at least he's safe in there. iycwim (failing that i've been known to take him in with me) that's honestly terrible thou, and i'm v v aware that the dog might now give warnings one day this is why i'm keen to nip anything in the bud. (from them or J)

Her - the dogs do walk away from him - tbh now when they see him crawling over they walk away. we do supervise them both (well I do DH is normally at work).

how do you teach a baby to respect the dogs? - are we going about things the right way by saying no and removing J from the situation?

will also tell him 'no' away from the dogs now so as not to confuse either of them. as I don't want dogs to think they're being told off for not biting iycwim?

OP posts:

Madoldcatlady · 10/02/2007 19:23

Respect for the dog would mean never letting DS pull the dogs "ears, tail, mouth etc" as you've said he does. Not to bite it either! Remove DS and give him a sharp "no, don't hurt doggy," then show him how to stroke it gently, with lots of "ahh, nice doggy",
stroke, stroke....
You know what I mean,

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 19:25

that's exactly what i've been doing mad when we see him doing it it's no striaght away no questions - but when will he get it?? (as in he's not to go over, he's not to do that??) I truly want him to learn this (and it can't come soon enough) but I know at 11 months his mentality is not up to much. iycwim.

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BuffysMum · 10/02/2007 19:31

Have you got room for a playpen? You could put J in it for harrassing dog so he learns quickly that he will get a no and a short period of time in the playpen? It would also give you somewhere safe to put J if you have to nip out other than his cot/highchair. Alternatively can you stairgate off your kitchen and encourage your dogs to nap/chill in the kitched during the daytime?

Original poster

daisynut · 10/02/2007 19:35

yes BM that's an idea actually I could move the stair gate to the kitchen and shut teh front room door as it's a circle in our house. wiould then give the dogs a place for a time out - infact they'd have the rest of the hosue and we'd have the front room/dinning room, so that's prob the better idea - play pen - we've not really got the room for tbh - it's the storage for it even broken down. would definatly solve a lot of the problems I think (silly I didn't think to do that before)

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hercules1 · 11/02/2007 07:39

For our last dog we had a behaviourist person come round when dd was 2 and a half. He said that kids of that age couldnt really get the whole dog thing properly and I agree it is only recently now she is over 3 and more 'experienced' does she better understand the rules ie she no longer goes running up to other dogs to say hello.
He taught her a mantra she still chants every couple od days "dogs do not like hugs".

That also goes for pulling of ears etc. They may tolerate it.

Also we taught her to stroke dogs under the chin rather than on top of the head which is meant to be aggressive thing to do.

LittleB · 11/02/2007 16:32

My dd knows how to treat my dog - she's 20mths, and she's been good with her for many months. She knows that if our dog is in her bed she leaves her completely alone, if she's out she can stroke her - they're both fine with this. We taught her this from an early age, and how to stroke her gently - if she was rough our dog goes in her bed and she deosn't get to stroke her anymore. I think it helps that our dog has barked at her a couple of times when she's overstepped the mark - she fell on her accidentally the other day and got barked at - this scared her so she's very gentle. They aren't left alone together either. I think you just need to help your ds to be gentle with your dog - don't let him treat him roughly - take your dog away if he does - and I do think your dog needs somewhere safe to go - whether its his bed or another room.

WriggleJiggle · 12/02/2007 04:10

In terms of separating them is it possible to put a low barrier up, high enough to stop J, but low enough for dog to get over? I am about to create a 'dog space' by pulling out the toy box and putting a piece of wood in the gap. Dd won't be able to get behind the box, but the deefas will easily be able to jump over.
A GSD could easily jump a child gate if you taught it, but it may not be a good skill to learn !

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