Dog really hates toddler DS

[TheHolyGruel]

I have posted about this before. I have two dogs (staffs) and a toddler DS who is 20mo.

My older dog (male) really dislikes my DS. He growls at him constantly and it is just getting worse. We had problems with this dog being dog aggressive but this has been overcome somewhat by walking him on a muzzle and walking the dogs separately. The dog has been checked by a vet, other than a recent worm problem (now sorted) there is nothing wrong.

We sought advice from a dog trainer/rescue person who we had a couple of sessions with. His advice re the toddler/dog situation was to put the dog down, as if something did go wrong then not only would it be a dreadful situation for us, but dreadful for staffies everywhere (another story for the papers etc, another crack in the BSL nonsense defence - I fully believe that BSL is bollocks and that the problem is not because he's a staff, but I'll talk about that in a moment). But I don't feel I can do it. In the meantime, any attempts to unite dog and DS are failing. DS is instructed to offer dog treats, to sit nicely and pet nicely, not to run up to dog, not to touch anything belonging to dog, etc. I make an effort for the dogs to be in the same room as DS as often as possible, but I am becoming worried for DS safety, as dog is really sounding at the end of his rope.

I honestly believe it is because the dog has been usurped from his position of 'first born'. The other dog displays no such issues, and is very fond of DS. The problem dog has always been the established top dog.

DH works away from home sometimes and has his biggest stint of the year coming up next month. He is away for a month, and I am petrified of how I will cope with this situation alone. It is so stressful.

In the first instance, does anyone know of a way in which I could find a foster carer for my dog, initially for this upcoming period, or is this unrealistic? He is fine with dogs smaller than himself and with older children (all children aside from DS it seems, in fact).

Can anyone offer any other advice or solutions? I think ultimately he will need rehoming, but I also know it's not that simple...

Goranis if you can find a post where people are encouraging the OP to do nothing I will paypal you £1k

Goranis-no-one on here, has said do nothing.
Most of us have said the dog needs re-homing with a childless couple/person

hairy-I reall cant be arsed to trawl back through the 17 pages of this drivel but at least one poster asserted that a growling dog did not mean an agressive dog-tantamount to telling op to do nowt imo.

Also posters saying that as long as dog and dc are kept apart then the situation can continue-again hardly encouraging op to ne pro-active is it? and it must be fun for the dog and the toddler to be locked out of areas of the house mustnt it?

Please paypal the money to op-she can use it to have the dog put to sleep.

I dont believe the regular posters on here are the ones being shouted down....

cant find one then? Shame, bet that £1k would have come in handy.

To the people screaming put the dog down and telling us we shouldn't be encouraging the op to work with the dog or rehome it-have you ever had a rescue dog?

Because I've had 3 and I've just rescued a puppy.

They all had issues due to owners thinking a dog is fun and games, doesn't need to be walked, trained, socialised, loved etc.

Funnily enough they all had issues with their behaviour, I'm quite sure all the people advocating putting the ops dog to sleep would have recommended that for mine.

But with a little bit of training and hard work they became loving, wonderful, well trained dogs. They were and are part of my family.

If you have no clue what you are talking about, it's probably better to say nothing.

Lemarch, correction. It's not much fun for the kid.

Why not much fun for the kid? TBF a 20 month old not being able to go into the kitchen isnt the be all and end all. DS1 isnt allowed in there now because he cant be trusted to stay away from my chocolate in the fridge. His life isnt without being allowed kitchen entry, bit of perspective required maybe?

Perspective seems sadly lacking on this thread.

Is any breed of dog capable of walking 20 miles a day? I have a terrier type dog bred for endurance and he gets sulky if I try to make him walk more than 5/6 miles a day. That statement alone shows how absurd this thread has become.

Phoning Batman to come and help is beginning to look like a sensible option

This siutation has been going on for for over a year-the op has tried other options. Where is your perspective? why the need to patronise the perfectly sane people on this thread who think-shock horror-that the safety of a child trumps the needs of an animal?

And now she is trying the rehoming option, myself, herbert and other posters are trying to help her with this. Herbert especially has done a lot of leg work off board by all accounts to help the OP rehome her dog.

Perhaps you know of a rescue or have some contacts who might help Goranis?

Did you read that? OP is rehoming the dog. The child and dog are being kept separate in the meantime. No one is any danger. The panic is over.

Yes that's exactly what everyone said.

RTFT

The OP is rehoming the dog as soon as possible and keeping the dog seperate from the child in the interim to ensure the child is safe. That isn't good enough for some posters though, the only thing that will satisfy them is having the dog killed.

Growling does not make a dog 'aggressive'. It is a method of communication for the dog. The fact that a dog feels able to communicate is a good thing. That doesn't mean growling is 'fab'. As I said earlier in the thread, in an ideal situation the dog would feel able to growl if it needed to, but wouldn't ever feel the need to growl. I also said earlier in the thread that the OP should have done something about this sooner ('something' doesn't include killing the dog however) but it is clear from her posts that she has been ill and not able to do that. She is acting now though and she can't do any more than that, can she?

I think you should rehome your son.

hairylemon Thu 12-Jul-12 10:04:34
"Pedigree the dog will be safe in the right environtment"

Right, exactly what my dear cousin says about his GS who is inceadibly kind with children but hates other dogs. Unfortunately for their neughbours, cousin's dog has killed 6 dogs in the neighbourhood on the 10 years they have had it. This kind of stories only make the news in the UK.

And yes, the rotwailer story is true. We were still using Mosaic as a web browser and I suspect back then Google creators were still in University (as this toddler would be nowadays if he had survived the attack

LeBFG, I have a staffy cross here and Golden Retrievers. Oddly, I've never met anyone who thinks Goldens shouldn't be kept as family pets, yet they are bigger and heavier than my staff x (who is bigger than a purebred staff) and could do just as much damage if they 'turned'. Cocker spaniels are a breed known to have 'rage syndrome'. That is certainly a reason, a medical condition that would make a dog 'turn' and yet I never hear anyone saying that they shouldn't be kept as pets either.

If the dog has been allowed to escape 6 times or more he is not in the right environment is he?

OP is rehoming via a reputable rescue who will ensure the dog goes to the right home. where the owners have the right level of experience to be able to help this dog.

"Pedigree the dog will be safe in the right environtment"

Right, exactly what my dear cousin says about his GS who is inceadibly kind with children but hates other dogs. Unfortunately for their neughbours, cousin's dog has killed 6 dogs in the neighbourhood on the 10 years they have had it. This kind of stories only make the news in the UK.

This surely only proves the previous point. If a dog that is aggressive towards other dogs is allowed to get into a situation where it has access to other dogs, particularly where it is able to kill 6 other dogs (so 6 incidents!) then the owner is not behaving responsibly.

Dog at end of rope = miserable, not necessarily that he will attack my son.

I take my son to the toilet with me. They are NEVER left alone together. They wouldn't be even if he was as docile as my other dog. I don't turn my back for a second, because that's what having dogs - not just unpredictable dogs, ANY dogs - and small children means when you are a RESPONSIBLE owner.

But anyway, tulips still hasn't enlightened me as to her hundreds of years experience with dogs so I have no way of knowing that her clear expertise is correct. Not to forget her in depth knowledge of me, my son and my lifestyle.

Yes growling is a form of communucation. The dog is saying it hates the child and if allowed near enough would no doubt attack the child.