Help/advice please - our dog bit (nipped) the baby....is there only one answer?

[bloggingmamatotwo]

Aghhhhh so stressed, trying to avoid drip feeding....so adding detail... we have had our miniature short haired daschund 5 years, loving, never showed aggression, never bit, never anything...DS was born nearly 3 years ago she got a little grumpier and started eating the post, chasing people as they left the house, but all manageable and calmed down....DS1 is 9 months and yesterday, at stress o clock, teatime,end of the day, waiting to go and puck OH from the train etc completely out of character she nipped yes I know that is the same as a bite, but a bite makes the end result appear much worse than it was the him on the nose, it was a warning nip/bite rather than a bite to hurt, but it was a bite and it was my baby......so there are two small bloody cuts on his poor nose, little teeth marks......

So does this mean, I rehome her ASAP? Or is it worse than that?
Does the baby need a tetnus?

For info; the baby is fine in himself and was after the initial shock.....

Today I've kept the dog in the study and during the baby's nap time she has come out......

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated....

there is a difference between what you said first
"change dogs behaviour so the situation you describe never happens again "
and managing the situation so the dog never needs to bite.

Both have the same result the dog will not bite again. Without assessing the dog, family, environment and situation it is not possible to say which would be appropriate in this case. However the assumption that a dog has bitten and it will again is nonsense.

Seriously Snoopy, you're being completely out of line.

The dog will NOT be put to sleep by a good breed specific rescue. Not at this stage. All it's done so far is nip.

Dachs are snappy - I know some are great with children, but they are very toothy and have a reputation for nipping/biting. The baby is 9 months old. For the next 18 months the baby and the dog are going to be at the same level most of the time. the child will have food the dog may want, will be running around the house, and the dog will end up muzzled all the time or shut away. And if another incident does happen it's going to be a hell of a lot harder to rehome and could end up with the dog being put to sleep.

Far better for the dog to go to a home that has experience with dachs and no small children. It can have a full and active life.

How many purebred minature dachs have you seen in rescue places? The breed rescue people will find a healthy 5 year old bitch a new home, and hopefully the OP will be able to keep her dog until that is sorted, so it will go straight from one loving home to another.

100% what Nagoo said

The reality is that one dog an hour is put down in this country every day because it can not find a home. In our rescue we have 3 dachs out on foster and one in the rescue ....................

Just wanted to mention that one of the dachs was turned away from breed rescue for being aggressive and they would not be able to rehome.

I wish the world is like you imagine it to be and not the reality I am dealing with right now.

Snoopy I am sorry that you deal with the arse-end of dog-ownership. It can't be nice at all. BUT the OP does not deserve to have this brought up on her thread. She has said right from the start that she would re-home the dog within her family. She is not being irresponsible about this at all IMO. I think it is upsetting enough for her without people bringing up the fate of dogs that end up in rescue :(

Seriously ? I've never seen minature dachs in a rescue place. I thought they were one of the lucky breeds . Are the ones you've got ex-breeders? I do know elderly dachs (who aren't used to children) + pain (common with their backs) = a very bad mix.

Family have rehomed from breed specific (not dach) rescue before and biting was never an issue. It's actually one of the reasons I was suggesting rehoming now when all the dog has done is nip. Dach lovers will understand that that's not an 'aggressive' dog.

Thank you NagooIsBuildingAnArk for your post :) and snoopy I appreciate this is an emotive subject and your work at the dog home is admirable, but can you see my situation is different, I am not adding to the 'dumped' dogs or hourly putting to sleep, or burdening a dog home....we are responsible dog owners and responsible parents, and the tone of my post as always been doing what is right for our lovely dog, we have had her for 5 years we do know her and do know dogs/daxies and they are very food orientated, we do already put her in a crate when the baby is in the highchair, try and keep the dog safe, out of the babies way when he is being very active, but and this is the bit that is the honest hard line, it is incredible difficult to watch two children and one dog 100% all the time, even with a lot of precautions in place, the baby could get v.close to the dog again and the dog could give another warning nip/bite again, even if it is in 1 week or a 1 year and even if it is a 1% chance it could happen again, which is why I feel rehoming amongst relatives feels like the most sensible solution. I'm not 100% about any choice yet and the PTS option is not an option. But it is hard to know what's best, yes the ideal solution would be all carry on in a Walton style family life way, but surely the warning of the small bite, should be the one to act on, rather than give it another go.

I'm not saying I'm anti the behaviourist, but what I'm trying to say is that is only one factor and even if the dog had some treatment, the children are still children they still may get too close, wave a biscuit too close, crawl under the table and the dog is also there etc etc etc

Tomorrow we have the vet, we have ordered the muzzle snoopy suggested from amazon which will arrive tomorrow and will continue to pursue/discuss options.

I feel the last two days have been much more unfair on the dog than moving house to a new family where she can be the centre, the last two days she has had to be kept away, locked in the crate for much more time than she is used to, excluded from what she is used to, she does nt love the garden or being outside so even if I put her out there she wants to come in and be with us all, as she is used too....this feels worse for her wellbeing to me?

This is all so confusing, and nothing feels quite right, my OH is home tonight so will I'm sure discuss nothing else, all night I thought about what is/was best......

It is a difficult thing. I could understand a dog nipping a child who had pulled it's tail hard or hurt it in some way. But presumably your baby didn't do that. So I wouldn't be keen on having a dog if it bit a child for no reason. If anything more serious happened you will only blame yourself for not acting. I know I would. Not saying anything ever would but I think it's a risk. Rehomed is the best answer I think.

I have to agree with Snoopy, though I am in Qatar the sentiment is the same. We try so hard to find a solution within the home before rehoming. Many rehomes here are not ideal, everyone wants a good looking pet and the little dogs very often get chucked out the first time they growl. I am not saying the OP should do one thing or another, OP my heart goes out to you. Please don't do anything rash, you are obviously a sensible person with a big heart.
I have not had to rehome any of my dogs or cats because of this, as for cats, you pull their tails and you get scratched. My dogs are so used to foster puppies I think they view children with the same amount of indifference and disdain. Maybe more interaction is needed rather than locked doors and separation, before you all go off on one i obviously mean in a calm and controlled environment.

What worried me about the scenario was that the dog went for the child's face.

A warning nip- OK.
A first nip- OK.

But there are other parts of the baby that the dog could have reached if it's message was "bu**er off and leave me alone"
Was there a growl? A whine? A "let me get away from this child?" scrabbling at the door or walking away?

If it was a straight for the face, first offence. Well that raises alarm bells!

Just saying.

I would at least ask the breed rescue their opinion. People who have put their names down as possible adopters have had dachs before and have experience of the breed. They are more likely to get support if problems do occur. The rescue may well be able to home your dog with people who have no children.

Dachs have the teeth of a much bigger dog. They can take down rabbits easily. If the dog meant to hurt it would have done a hell of a lot of damage. The problem is that small dogs are at face level with small children and baby skin is delicate. It was a warning nip rather than a bite.

So if the dog bit the baby on the nose, I'm assuming the baby was on the floor ? I'm also assuming you dog has legs about 4 inches high ?

I think it's your fault & not the dogs.

I would get a babywalker for the baby & keep baby away from dog. Baby is too young to learn not to poke /pull, so it's down to you.

I had my nephew over, he's one & he loved chasing my cat, I just said to bil, she will scratch if he pulls her tail or bashes her (he was trying to stroke her). Nephew was kept away & all fine.

I think you are totally doing the right thing OP, it is very easy to criticise others and make suggestions etc etc, but as a parent your responsibility is towards your CHILD. As i have said upthread, i think it will be better for your dog if he is rehomed.

I was in a very similar situation, we had an older DD (15) and a rescue rottie that we knew had issues. We had him for about two years and i became pregnant with DD2 - we talked long and hard about what to do (this is not a little nippy dog we are talking about here, this is a huge powerful dog with a history of aggression) and we thought we could keep him, if vigilant etc - something in the bottom of my heart knew this wasnt the case. Anyway, fast forward about a year and my DD1 (17 at the time) phoned me in tears - "mum, Dog has bitten me, it wasn't his fault, he was asleep at the bottom of the stairs and i accidently trod on his foot", so i said, ok don't worry (we were visiting inlaws) is the dog ok, are you ok "yes mum im fine but ive had to call an ambulance" Cue major panic on my behalf and a sinking feeling as i knew my dog would have to go :( She had over reacted a bit but she was scared as the dog had bitten her foot and gone between her toes. We arrived home just as the paramedics were finishing off, it wasn't a bad bite at all, well it was obviously but not the scenario that was in my mind - rottie bite, ambulance called :( She had put the dog in the kitchen (on my advice) and was mortified because she felt it was her fault for not being more careful. Which to a degree it was, the dog was asleep, she trod on his foot and his reflex was to snap. So i had a year old baby who was becoming more mobile and a broken heart because this dog that we had invested so much love and time and money in had broken the cardinal rule and just could not be allowed to stay with us. I phoned battersea (thats where we got him from) and they told us that they would not be able to rehome him as he had now been recorded as having bitten - so i had a horrible choice to make. Stuck between a rock and hard place and with a small amount of time on my hands I set about doing what i could to find my dog a new home - enlisting the help of the behaviorist who had helped us get him right in the first place. Fate however intervened and it turned out that my poor dog had bone cancer, in the very leg that my DD had trodden on, it must have been agony for him - so he stayed with us until the end. Had he not, we could not have kept him. I felt like the worst sort of bitch on the planet, having a dog then rehoming when a baby came along.

So i know that actually, when it comes to it, despite having been of Snoopy's opinion before this happened (have worked as a vet nurse and have had to PTS dogs for snapping at grandchildren FFS ) I found out the hard way that when it comes to it, we have to put our families first every time. Ok so a dachsie is not a rottie, but can still cause significant damage.. I would definately recommend a vet check though. Although sadly this sounds like a territorial aggressive, i dont like you dont come near me type bite.

OP, i really dont think you have any choice despite what other people think, and your dog will ultimately be happier in a new home anyway x

Disclaimer :I am not, and never have been a dog owner.

I think this all very much depends on what you think happened. If you thinking there is any possibility your dog might savage your child then get rid.

If it was just a warning nip, for a valid reason, and you are sure it wouldn't escalate beyond that in the future then keep.

DD is nearly two. When she first started crawling she was scratched (blood drawn) several times by our grumpy elderly cat when she got too close or rough.

She was also bitten on three occasions by our rabbit when sticking her fingers through the bars, rabbits have sharp teeth so lots of blood, and deep puncture wounds which took ages to heal.

Never at any point did the thought of getting rid of the animals cross my mind. None of these incidents was their "fault". I was reasonably wary, but none of the biting was life threatening /disfiguring so I didn't worry too much.

DD learnt pretty fast to be gentle with the animals and respect their space. She is not at all traumatised, she still loves to go and see the cat and stroke it, and she feeds and strokes the rabbit every morning.

I think in a long winded way I am trying to say that a few nips while your DS is learning is perfectly normal/acceptable and I wouldn't worry as lomg as you trust your dog to take it no further.

Could all mums that are thinking of getting a dog, please read this thread ?

Boringnickname, that's a sad story, I'm glad your DD was ok & Aldi glad your dog stayed with you.

When I was about 9 I was playing with our westie & he mistakenly bit my little finger. I recall I had his squeaky toy & my finger quite literally landed in his mouth. We were both shocked - there was no aggression & I remember him wagging his tail in a 'didn't mean it' worried way. I was too scared to tell my mum & whilst finger had a big lump of pus on it the next day, no harm was done...Perhaps I was more careful, but it never happend again.

My point is, OP, I believe it could be ok & being vigilant never stops.

such a sad story boringnickname

I trust my dogs and horses 99.99%, I have to be able to as we work with people who have mobility and learning problems.... but we have to be aware of that reaction like your rottie that means startle or reaction might cause a bite. ..... just like we jump and might lash out is someone jumps out and grabs at us in the dark !

absolutely tazzle, like you say, there is never 100% I think for us, it was a straight down the line decision because of the size of our dog, a warning snap from a rotweiller could be devestating. Our JRTx that we have now has a tiny mouth (even by JRT standards because these can actually have quite strong bites) so a reaction like that may well have been something that i could have lived with, with all the appropriate vigilance about never leavin toddlers and dogs etc, but an unprovoked bite to the face is something very different indeed.

The problem with dogs and toddlers is that they are at eye level and will get in dogs faces, this is not good for the dog and makes them feel threatened, they may not bite on that occasion but start to associate the toddler with feeling scared and therefore one day when they feel under par, for no apparent reason may just snap.

Willowwisp I have said it was my fault, I know that and I have never blamed baby or dog....just the situation, for whats its worth the can't go in a walker as he has bad hip/feet so not advised by his physio...so him and the dog are often on the same level....I've had my mother here today, who has 4 dogs and has always had dogs, who has observed the children and the dog and does feel the dog is unhappy and is giving 'warning' looks and she does feel to rehome is best.....she has looked at the babies nose and said if it was worse, even a tiny but worse then he would need to see a doctor and if that was the case the situation would have escalated out of my control....therefore I need to prevent it happening again, I know the common theme is keep the dog and be 100% vigilant but the reality is that accidents happen during that 1 split second when your eyes are on something else. I am responsible up until this point it has been a easy mix, I' not left them all together with some meat in the room while I'm trying to watch TV somewhere else, I'm parenting and looking after the dogs needs, however now something needs to change, as I would be completely irresponsible to not reflect and respond to what has happened this week.

For those that are interested I will update tomorrow what the Vet said and will ring the breed adoption centre for their thoughts.

Bloggingmama, sorry if I sounded blunt. Yes appreciate it's very difficult. The thing is that most pets are unhappy when babies come along -noisy, new smells, different dynamics.

I hope you find a solution very quickly

Thank you Willowwisp, as you can see/tell v.emotional topic.....!

The baby is in bed, sitting cuddling the dog ready for wine.... :( what a week...

NagooIsBuildingAnArk I am just telling it like it is. I am not saying anything to upset anyone just stating the facts. Yep the reality is upsetting but that does not mean we must not face up to it.

Private re-homing is not what a responsible knowledgeable dog owner would do.

So what do you suggest the OP does then? Put her dog in the pound? I was/am a responsible and knowlegable dog owner, i was faced with a situation where i either rehomed my dog privately or had him PTS. To be honest, i would much rather rehome privately than turn my dog over to a rescue. That way I would know that my dog was going to an appropriate home and wouldn't be stuck in a kennel for months and some places have a no euthanasia policy so an unhomable dog could end up in a kennel for the rest of its life - no thanks.

The reality is that this dog has showed aggression towards children and is unhappy in an environment with children in it. Short of having her children adopted the OP is doing what she needs to do for the welfare of the dog and the safety of her children.