My dog just 'warned' my baby - help!

[ineedalifelaundry]

My 9 month old DD simply adores our dog, a ten year old mongrel. But our dog has always been very wary of children, the smaller the warier. Although she's a very gentle dog, she's also very nervous and highly strung.

Now my baby is crawling she spends half her day in pursuit of the dog, who spends half her day getting out of the way.

Yesterday I caught the dog bearing her teeth at the baby (the baby was trying to get in the dog's bed) - only a tiny bit but it scared me.

Today my baby touched my dog's leg annd the dog actually opened her mouth around DD's arm. She didn't bite down. She is ten years old and has NEVER bitten a human, or any other living creature.

Should I be worried? I am worried sick.

sorry but, rehome the dog IMHO, not worth the risk. have you got an older relative/granny/whoever who might like the companion and could take it on?

hc its ok

I always find myself saying the same thing on these threads.

To all those who think the dog has committed a terrible sin and must be sent to live elsewhere, I respect your views but think your expectations of behaviour from dogs are completely unreasonable.

ineedalifelaundry - your dog warned your baby because your baby invaded her personal space, frightened her, and made her feel cornered. Be thankful that she did warn you - other dogs go straight for the biting option. Your dog took the opportunity to make her feelings known more gently than that.

When a dog growls in a situation like this, it's saying "I don't like this, please deal with this situation because if it continues I will bite". If you don't respond to the growl by removing the threat it's effectively left with no option but to bite - it's been trying to tell you!

With regard to your dog, I would invest in a stairgate or room divider. Your daughter is far too young to learn the golden rule that dogs beds are always out of bounds. It is therefore your responsibility to protect your dog from your daughter. Your dog may live happily with your child provided she does not feel threatened or cornered. You cannot leave a dog and a child of that age alone together, and you need to find some way of allowing your dog space which is absolutely sacred and cannot be reached by your child.

In our case we pushed two sofas together so the dog could jump into the space between them but our son couldn't reach him. He then had somewhere to retreat to if he wanted peace.

These incidents aren't a dealbreaker IMO, but they are a reminder that we cannot expect our pets to understand human motivation or exercise restraint in the face of fear.

personally i would keep them separate until your dd is at an age to understand not to touch the dog . You have had this dog for ten years and it would be devastating to it to simply rehome it ,especially as it has really done nothing wrong. Its only going to be a few months before your dd understands ,i would be moving her away every time she went near the dog and be really firm about it . My daughter was biten by a dog ,not our own , and i do understand your worries ,but it breaks my heart to see so many dogs rehomed when children come along . Also your dog hasnt had that long to come to terms with the massive change that your dd has brought .