Dog's snapping at dcs

[CuriousMama]

I've had my rescue dog since he was 16 months, he's 6 in January. I have 2 dss and have never had a problem with him and them up to now. He has snapped at a family toddler so I keep him away from younger dcs. Then last week he snapped at ds2's friend who's 11. And tonight he snapped at ds2 It's when they have him sat next to them petting him. But with the toddler it was out of the blue. It's so awful.

I don't know what to do? He hasn't bitten but he could one day and I'd feel dreadful. He's lovely natured otherwise but has an issue with dcs. He's never snapped at me, dp or ds1 but ds1 is adult size.

I don't want to get rid of him. I wonder if trying a behaviourialist may help? Or could it just be the way he is and there's nothing we can do?

As this has come on so suddenly, with DC who he's previously been fine with, I'd get him to the vet asap for a lookover. He may not have a visible problem, but it could well be something like toothache, an ear infection or similar which is causing him pain and making him grumpy.

If he doesn't live with toddlers, then it's not surprising he finds them a bit stressful, and you are doing the right thing by keeping him away from them. A lot of dogs can find their unpredictable loud noises and sudden movements very disturbing.

In the meantime, until you get him checked at vet, you've already identified the trigger situation, so it's important you make sure DS2 and dog are not in that situation together (or DS's friends).

If vet finds no medical problem, then it may be time to visit a behaviourist for advice, but to be honest, since the snapping is in such very specific circumstances, he is simply telling your DS that he doesn't like what is happening to him. Again, I think this may be pain related, and if htis is happening when DS is stroking his back, could he, for instance have early signs of arthritis?

Certainly think this is solveable though.

Thanks so much for your advice. I was wondering about arthritis too?

What did worry me with the toddler is she was hugging me and he went for her from behind, snapped at her head. It's always the head. It's like he turns into a totally different dog.

He was a nightmare when we got him. He detested other dogs and would go nuts if one was even in the distance. I had him socialised within 2 weeks and now he's over friendly. Except for certain dogs but that's usually if they have bad social skills, i.e. pawing at his head. But he doesn't attack them just warns them off. I keep him away from dogs on the lead as I know it's not nice when a dog comes bounding up to yours on the lead, plus their dog could be nervous/aggressive?

I was wondering if the snapping is pecking order behaviour? But I am going to take him to the vet in case it's pain.

My lurcher recently snarled at my 4 year old ds2 who went to stroke her whilst she was lying down, so this is a current worry for us too. We spoke to a behaviourist from the rescue who suggested- don't let her lie down in places other than her bed/crate; if she is in her bed/crate the dc's should not approach her; if the dc's want to interact with her, they must call her too them. The last one is proving hard as she simply ignores the dc's, but ds2 is working on calling her armed with livercake and she slowly, slowly seems to be associating him as the supplier of yummy livercake.

Interesting you mention arthritis, our lurchergirl seems to have a previous back injury/possible start of arthritis and our incident ocurred when ds2 stroked her in a similar situation to yours. The only thing in our case, he did not catch her unawares, she actually turned, looked at him and then snarled . We are working on it though.

I wouldn't personally let a toddler hug any dog from behind. No matter how well trained/socialised.
Take him to the vet, sounds like he might have a bit of pain/ be a bit uncomfortable. Does the dog have somewhere he can go so he doesn't get disturbed?
What do you do when he snaps?

I wouldn't personally let a toddler hug any dog from behind. No matter how well trained/socialised.
Take him to the vet, sounds like he might have a bit of pain/ be a bit uncomfortable. Does the dog have somewhere he can go so he doesn't get disturbed?
What do you do when he snaps?

Toddler didn't hug dog, reread post!
Vet def first place to check.

Children sitting next to them can sometimes cause pecking order issues.
Keep dog at lower level than dcs, if possible.

Snapping isn't pecking order behaviour. Seeing a vet and then an apdt behaviourist is an excellent way of tackling the behaviour.

In the meantime as another poster sugested keep the dog off the furniture and make his bed the best place in the world to be by hiding high value treats in it and feeding treats everytime you see him there. Make sure your children know to never go up to the dog while he is in his bed.

It could be that he is guarding his space from things he percieves as a possible threat but a behavioolurist will have a better in sight into this.

Well done on not over reacting Op. If only more owners were as dedicated as you

Thank you so much everyone. Sorry you're going through this too Maqrat our dog is also a lurcher. Does yours have any collie in him/her? Mine has he's whippet/collie. A friend who has 10 lurchers, yes I know he also has 4 other dogs, anyway he said the collie in him may be the reason? He was a bit surprised seen as he's castrated?

I'll definitely keep him off the furniture and invest in a lush bed for him. Get him to the vets for a check up then see how we go? Thanks again.

And no the toddler was hugging me and the dog snapped from behind. I'd never let any toddler hug the dog. I think any dog is able to snap/bite so I've always been careful. Plus with mine being a rescue dog you just don't know do you?

We have a collie and I would regard snapping as really unusual for him - it really should not be seen as a collie trait. They can be nippy at ankles if not trained not to herd, but should not be snappy. It is not acceptable by any means.

If anything, I would expect snapping to be inherited from the hound side. Greyhounds and whippets were bred to snatch up small animals at speed weren't they? Still not acceptable for him to do this with DCs though.

Agree with keeping him off the furniture and check with vet and behaviourist. I would also suggest a basket muzzle in the meantime to be safe, just where DCs are involved. Good luck.

Our lurcher doesn't have collie in her, CuriousMama, she is a whippet x greyhound. However, I don't think the snapping (or in our case snarling) is a hound trait as we have another whippet who absolutely doesn't do this and positively seeks out the boys for attention. Our ds2 was not moving quickly or excitedly in any way when lurchergirl snarled at him. The behaviourist suggested to us that it may be because she does not feel comfortable around the boys (we don't know how much exposure she had to children previously) and that is why we are working on her seeing the boys as nice things rather than irritations that she should ignore.

One thing we were advised which may be worth considering is if the children want to pet the dog, make sure the dog goes to them (when they call), not the other way around. The behaviourist thought it may be "sleep agression" were even though she was not actually asleep, just lying down, some dogs apparently get aggressive if they are lying down and feel as though they might fall asleep - they kind of get aggressive in anticipation of being startled when woken iyswim?

Good luck anyway OP.

Snapping is a whippet trait. Whippets are commonly referred to as the 'snap dog' because of the ability and penchant for snapping quickly and accurately.

That does not mean every whippet will do it or that it is not something that cannot be trained.

My little whippy air snaps i.e she'll snap at the air right by you but never make contact.

We turn this into a little game/training exercise by throwing things (a king puppy wubba or tennis ball usually) up into the air for her to catch. She's also excellent at fly control during the summer

I have a collie too & he doesn't snap. Afaik, it isn't a collie trait.

Yay, I'm not crazy:-)

We have a collie/rottie cross, he doesn't snap either. Nor did the greyhound/collie lurcher I used to have. I don't think snapping is a typical collie trait.