Pregnant and dog can be aggressive

[Ellie23409]

Hi all,

Please don’t judge me. I have a dog who has shown signs of aggression towards strangers in the past. I am currently pregnant and unsure how my dog will react to a new baby.

I hope that I can manage the dog by baby gating the house etc. Then I’m thinking about when the baby is mobile could that be a trigger for my dog.

Am I being unrealistic to keep the dog? I feel so torn between my head and my heart!

Re-home the dog. You will never, ever forgive yourself if something happened.

My problem with rehoming is who is going to want a dog that dislikes strangers. I must add my dog is nervous and shows the aggression if pushed too far.

I appreciate that’s probably the right thing to do but I’m just finding it super hard as with us he is the perfect pet 😔

Honestly, you need to rehome the dog quickly.

You will probably get a lot of people telling you that rehoming your dog is a terrible thing to do, but I would, because if your dog gets distressed and attacks your child, not only would you have to live with what has happened and your child could be killed/severely injured, the dog would get destroyed anyway. If your dog is easily upset by strangers, it’s just not a fair situation to keep him in and is a massive safety risk to your baby too.

My dog hates strangers but adores DD. He is really much less reactive with her than anyone else.

Thank you for your replies. My dog is actually great with kids that he knows so that’s not the issue it is just strangers. Was very poorly treated in the past so trust is a massive issue for him. Makes him difficult to rehome but we are exploring our options.

I don't think you need to go straight to rehoming yet.

When you say your dog is aggressive - is it genuine aggression or is it fear/reactivity? They're different things (though can appear similar) and the latter is far more manageable than the former.

I would want to speak to a good behaviourist for their advice, maybe several to see what the consistent advice is.

It fear aggression. He would never just lunge but perhaps bark and creep around. The only time he has snapped was when a friend insisted ‘she was good with dogs’ 🤦🏼‍♀️ I normally actually shut him away when I have visitors because I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable or my guests to feel awkward.

I have seen a lot of trainers and he has improved but perhaps will contact one for advice on this.

I will never put my baby at risk or put my dog in a situation he feels frightened in.

Thank you for all the replies

If me I would rehome him rather than take the chance. Its stressful and exhausting enough having a baby without this additional worry. You can never say an animal wouldnt do something. You dont know how he would react to the crying etc.

You could give him to Battersea to rehome - we just got a lovely cat from there and found them so wonderfully caring about their animals. They would find a suitable home for him. There are lots of people looking for pets right now.