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....

I didn't mean that to sound anti rescue, they do a stirling job, but i would still do what i could personally to rehome a dog because a rescue centre can only do so much and are already overwhelmed.

Op you are absolutely right that you cannot supervise two children and a dog 100% of the time and of course your family comes first. You have to rehome, you are absolutely right.

I recommended the Adaptil colla to another poster on a different thread, perhaps this might make a difference ? I'm using one on my rescue cav & it's made a big difference.

Ref the rescue option, I think maybe contact a rescue but keep dog until foster home is found ?

However, I think there is a difference between nip & an attack. I think if it were me & could be me but with dc's of different ages, I would keep dog, buy the Adaptil collar, use the muzzle, keep baby off floor. Have you seen the Graco entertainers ? Your dc could sit in there (hips pending), with fit off floor, having a lovely play ? Use stair gates...?

Relax & enjoy your wine, tomorrows another day

Of course I am not saying go to a pound for goodness sake

A good rescue will have experience in vetting new owners. They will have experience in assessing the dog and what is best for the dog. They will be responsible for the dog for life so if anything changes with the new owners the rescue will take the dog back and ensure the best is done for the dog.

Private homing - the owners have already made one mistake and generally make an emotional decision to rehome the dog. You must all agree that is not sensible. There will be no professional assessment of the dogs needs and often/usually the owners are unable to do that as they have a problem they can not or unable to sort out hence the rehoming. There is no backup for the dog at all if the situation changes again. If the original owners say they will have the dog back - why give the dog away in the first place. If you give the same dog to a family member the chances are they will come into contact with the children again and so this major risk (sarcastic tone here) of being mauled by said dog will still be there.

I will personally sort out a place with a reputable rescue with a no kill policy and assessment of new home and a commitment to the dog for life if the OP will take me up on the offer.

Can I ask why the OP does not want to explain to us what happened in the biting of the baby?

Why the sarcastic tone? I don't understand - the dog has bitten the child in an seemingly unprovoked attack, although it may be a culmination of stress for the dog living with children when he wasn't used to it. So there is a very real risk of the dog biting again, i dont think there is any reson for sarcasm. When i had to rehome my dog, i was recommended by battersea to rehome privately if i possibly could because they will not take the responsibility for rehoming a dog that has a previous history of biting, which is what this dog has. So the OP may well face a similar situation as responsibly rescues will not want the responsibility of the dog biting again.

Snoopyknine, if we go to that route.... our rehoming choice is what not how you describe, our choices and we are lucky are a fair few, the first 3 we would consider asking are... are all to older relatives such as an aunt with one dog already who has fostered many rescue dogs, or my in laws who are having to put their 15 year old lab to sleep this week, so are perfect but we would like to wait a week before we ask or my other aunt, who rescues dogs from Spain and has none currently, we have a list of lovely doggy people who we would ask before we considered a rescue centre, we haven't asked any yet as we are not 100% but you paint a picture based on your own dogmatic emotional response and it is not a fair picture, I may not have the credentials of your job, but you are being unfair in your presumptions.

Currently the dog is curled up next to me, we are calm and are not making emotional descisons I don't think my husband has ever made a descison based on emotion anyway, I digress, the story, I have not told it, there really is no story as I've said in all posts the baby got in the dogs space, what my husband and I said tonight we always thought she would stay at the grumpy/warning stage and not go to the bite....but basically the baby had earlier pulled at the dog she growled, the rest of the day I kept putting the dog in little special places away from babies/children like the top of the sofa (she likes looking out) we even went upstairs for a while to give her space, she followed us up, she literally rolls onto her back in front of the baby/children hoping for a tummy stroke, anyway as i said in the op it was hectic a clock, hoping everyone can relate and the baby was crawling around the floor so I put the dog up on an armchair in the corner of the kitchen, with a blanket honestly I'm a dog lover/softy the baby pulled up to standing at the chair, the dog was still out of reach and yes shoot me down, my back was turned and I had put them at the same level, which i know is bad aghhh and within seconds a massive scream....

Does the story help everyone? Well in one way, yes more blame for me, as I put them at the same level, and no because for that split second did the baby hit the dog or was the dog fed up, anyway.....(I sit back and wait for further judgement)

No judgement from me - you did nothing wrong. What happens just illustrates that some dogs just cannot be around children, it is neither the dogs fault or the owners, sometimes situations just happen. It sounds like you have some lovely potential homes lined up, i really hope it works out for you. It will be good to be able to keep up with the dog and know she is happy in the future, its the ideal scenario. Good luck xx

boringnickname unprovoked attack? the baby had earlier pulled at the dog

You are missing the point - there is no quarantee for the dog if rehomed privately and any problems that may occur but I have made my point for anyone else who may be in the same situation. I have offered you an alternative. I can do no more.

yes, the baby had pulled the dog earlier but the dog bit later, unprovoked at that time. Had you read my post properly you would have read that I did not think that the dog was to blame that it bit because it was stressed about being in that environment. The OP is very lucky not to have to put extra burden on rescue centers to rehome the dog because she has family members who are willing and able to take on the dog, so whilst it is very nice of you to offer an alternative, i think the OP already had a solution.

This was not an unprovoked attack. The dog has clearly been showing signs of being unhappy around the DC for 3 years. Yet no real attempt was made to sort it out and now the dog has resorted to biting a child and is facing being rehomed.

OP, you do, of course, have to do what is right for you and from what you say, homing with a family member may be an option, but it's quite unusual for anyone to have such an array of absolutely ideal homes that just happened to be looking for a dog when yours is about to be rehomed. I think provided the family members who foster want to keep the dog themselves and no rehome onwards, then they may be a sensible option in this case.

However, I am unsure as to why you are unwilling to seek professional advice (eg. a behaviourist) which may well enable you to keep your much loved family pet, or why you didn't seek help before it came to this when the dog was clearly unhappy?

come on snoopy ... at leat three possible homes , two of them very experienced with rescue dogs who may not even bring to dog to visit OP and the children. You state almost as fact that the dog will not be assessed by a professional ...... you do not know that, maybe they will get it done. Maybe it is just a simple case of removing the dog from the environment and it will be perfectly happy as long as kids are not in the equation.

Sounds like this little dog is actually getting far more consideration than many other dogs in similar circumstances.

I think midora that op said that the dog appeared to settle after the initial upset when dC1 was born and not appreared to be unsettled till just reccently with dc2 . I may have missed other info though so sould be mistaken...... have not read back through thread today.

Midori1999 the dog has not been unhappy for 3 years, you are putting 2 + 2 to get 5, in the op I said when first child was born she got a little grumpy but it all calmed down, unhappy to me isn't spending most of her day being cuddled, rolling on her back for cuddles (exposing her tummy therefore not feeling threatened) wagging her tail, eating, alert, chasing rabbits, and showing 100 other happy signs; we have possible more choices than sounds true, cause we are genuine country people who live on a farm and both come from families where everyone has dogs and most people we know are also country types, everyone has always loved this dog and I think most people understand where we are with the children right now we are being kinder by letting her go to a loving home where she would be loved. We have had her for 5 years, we did not get a dog in a foolish manner post children, is it not possible for anyone to flip this and think it is actually kinder for the dog to go to a quieter loving home? And I repeat we are seeing the vet tomorrow therefore are seeking professional advice, I have never said I was anti that or that we are 100%.....

Good luck with it all blogging, I hope your liitle dacksie gets the all clear from the vet and that one of your aunts can take her on ...... that maybe less stress for her than rehoming via rescue.

Blogging I think you sound like a brilliant and caring mum and dog owner and am surprised you have got the flak.

You must be sad to have to rehome your dog but I hope you get visits to see him happy in his new home and I am sure everyone will be happier when the dog is happier. :)

Ginpalace thank you for your kind words....

I wanted to post an update: The vet this morning has given her back the all clear, although thinks she needs to lose a little weight...so things have gone well from a health point of view,

And my husbands single, childless, in her 60's animal loving aunt who has fostered many a stray and helped foster dogs before is going to have our dog and give her a loving animal centred home, we are going to continue paying her insurance and her jab bills etc and it won't be confusing for our older child as although we will hear how she is doing, she is not an aunt we see regularly, more like a wedding, funeral and rare family event relative so the situation is as good as it could be, she has met our lovely dog before at the in-laws so knows what to expect and we have been honest about all aspects.

So tomorrow we will make a 2 hour drive but it will bring what I believe is the positive/best outcome for everyone.

thank you all for your replies and to avoid further drip feeding if after a month it does nt work out, we will contact the breed rescue/adoption centre and go that route....

have cried, but the feeling of resolve is a relief

Snoopy, please can you pm me need some rational advice re foster pup

and OP as a fosterer of many, if the feeling is relief you have done the right thing. however, if if doesn't work out, seek help before rehoming

Theo, relief the situation is on it's way to being fixed and yes I put that in my post I would go to breed rescue for info if needed......

great news bloggs

(((hugs))) if you want them

not an easy time for any of you ....... but now a little dog goes to a knowledgeable home without the stress of little children and you know you have done the best for everyone in your individual situation.

It is not the decision I would have made, but I completely understand why you have done so and it sounds as though your little mate is going to a home where she is going to be well loved.

Explain to her why it's happening :(

blog you deserve a huge hug, if I were closer I would have helped x

In my life people do one of two things: either tie the dog to the bumper of my car while I am asleep or dump it in the desert.

Hugs appreciated thank you....Theo are you in oz?

OT but ozzies have a different relationship with dogs animals in general than we do, I bought a rescue home from oz a long while back had her for 2 years out there, nursed her back from near death, phoned home to get a credit card that worked at 3 am uk time as the vet would nt treat her till I paid, because so many people did nt pay or dumped the dog at the vet....and I'm sure you can guess what we called the dog....starts with a M? Waltzing is a clue....