My dog went for my 18 month old

[tobytoes]

I have two Bichon Frise both have been spolit since ive had them,one is 8 and the other 7. Since having my baby they have been okay with her,just curious but never showed any sign of aggression atall. Now my daughter is getting older and has found her feet she has also realised we have the two dogs and will not leave them alone,she pulls their ears hits them all sorts,everytime I tell her off and I have showed her countless times how to stroke them nicely. Today she grabbed the older dog by his ears and would not let go I was shouting and trying to get her hands off him and the dog went for her just as she released her grip,I managed to pull her up as i already had hold of her hands. My question is what do i do? This is not my dogs fault and my husband is all up for shipping them off to his mums to live. What would you do?

EmpressOfTheWellOfLostPlots

I had already apologised before I saw your post, but I agree. I was harsh due to only reading the first few posts.

My son has a life long fear of dogs, due to a dog chomping his head when he was just over a year old. We had 2 dogs (brothers). One was ok with anything small and puppy like, the other one was a pain with any child.

I had a clue that dog number 2 was not good round kids when he bounced at my older son and badly scratched his back.

Number 2 dog warned ds2 when he was eating his food and ds2 was crawling over to investigate. I never left them alone together before and was even more vigilant afterwards.

The 2nd he went for ds2, I was in the room, ds2 was pulling himself up by the couch near the sleeping dogs. Cue one surprised dog who lashed out and took a chunk out of ds2's head.

I knew dog number 2 was dodgy and to this day I regret not insisting he was found a home before ds2 came along. My now XH used to wind him up to the point where he would hide with me to escape it all.

Dog number 2 was rehomed with an older couple, with no kids, which I insisted on and they loved him from day one.

Looking back I wish I'd rehomed the X and retrained the dog.

We still have dog number 1, who is a grumpy old git with puppies, but ds2 who is 8 adores him and has fantastic control of him.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Today has been a better day. We went for our walk,dogs and baby very calm come home. Daughter stayed in front room whilst i cleaned the dogs up and she didt cry,just watched. After i left dogs in kitchen,a few moans and groans but theyll get used to it. Baby is now having her nap and dogs are by the fire having a moan because they want my lunch :-)

Thanks empress
Its okay different name i have already said on here I know its my fault,also I never "let" my daughter treat my dogs badly and just watch,I was always there when it happened and always helped my poor dogs get away from her. The stairgate is in place and seema tp be working but ive still got a long way to go with my daughter,shes got away with alot and I nees to start telling her off.

Reading back thankyou bronya and beer . Sound advice and im practising the "no" :-)

Cross posts then, differentname

toby, it sounds like you're doing a great job. One day DD will be able to share in the fun bits of dog ownership like baths, wet walks and picking up the poo

Haha. Yes could certainly do with a hand with walking. I look like a right maniac walking through the park with two dogs pulling me and the pushchair along with a baby moaning because she wants to hold the leads!!! STRESS!!!!

Pleased to hear you have had a better day!

I laughed at the dogs wanting your lunch. It reminded me of the time our dog took a whole roll off dh's plate & ran off with it, because he turned his back to do something for dd.

It was very funny!

Haha. I can top that!!! My older dog Leo stole a whole joint of beef off our table and took it in the garden!! Hed eaten half of it before we realised it was him that had it. :-)

I Like Leo

Keep going OP, you will sort it all out. A 'spare' lead secretly connected to part of the pushchair fooled my DD on occasion, but I can't remember how I contrived that

Ahhhhhh thats a good idea hummmm will have to try that. Today we went for a walk and my darling daughterwas walking along and she loves to pick up stones and walks with them for a bit then she chucks them ..well she thought shed picked up a stone but it turned out to be dog poo. I Totally freaked out!!!!

If your dh is keen to have more children he needs to realise he can't ship dd off to your mums with the dogs when decides to sharpie a moustache on her sibling

As I said before, I think you've for some good dogs there. I know you said they are spoiled, but they are clearly not. They are loved, and when provoked communicated without harm. You are listening to this, I really hope you an all adjust. You've had enough loss cope with.

Had a great day today so the future is looking good. Im feeling much better about it all now and actually glad the gate is there,everything seems easier and the dogs seem to get more attention as im always rewarding them with treats when i put them in kitchen. My little girl seems to have acceped the gate now aswell :-)

That's wonderful, toby, and the dogs are definitely a credit to you!

\o/
YAY!

Keep going toby

My bitching currently snoring next to me, very happy

I reckon the dogs are quite pleased with their new safe haven and can relax without feeling like they need to be on alert for unwanted toddler attention. Onwards and upwards TobyToes you're getting there.

I too have adopted the extra lead technique. Works very well.

Haha. My two are by the fire on their backs with their legs in the air..what can i say? They like the fire.

My boys are definately incredible,love them so much.

My hubby keeps saying "i do love them course I do" when i ask him why he doesnt seem to care about themanymore. I explained that it puts alot of pressure on me because im constantly worrying about them not having enough attention but he thinks im mad. :-/

I think with our loss we suffered and our daughter being so unbelievably wanted all his attention is for her 100% which is fine,great even but Im just asking him to say hi to them when he gets home and give them some attention when baba is in bed,thats it. I do all the walking so im not asking for much. Gunna have to workon him now I think.

Ahem
That would be my BICHON

At Norks!

tobytoes Yep, Leo gets the prize!!

Toby, I can see it from your dh's POV. We have a dog. He is daft, but lovable & has always been fab with the girls. We had him before we had dd2, so I was worried how he would react with her. At that time I was happy to have him banished outside because of the uncertainty! He is a fab dog with her. She is 5 now & he lies on the floor & she will lie with her head on his belly (very gently) to watch TV/relax. He won't move until she does. (I have to point out that he seems to love this & he is a bog dog, so she isn't hurting him. But we still keep an eye to make sure he is happy with the situation)

BUT that doesn't mean I love him to bits. He is primarily dh's dog, he can be a pain in my eyes. He is always scratching, barking at nothing, jumping around (he is nearly 8 & is a perpetual puppy, which dh & the girls find cute, I don't) so I find it hard to be affectionate to him. I do love him, but I don't play with him etc. I don't greet him when I walk in the door, although he does come up to me.

So, I think what I am saying is, don't push your dh as he will learn to resent the dogs. I live happily alongside our dog but don't feel the need to be interacting with him always, like the rest of the family.

That said, he is VERY protective of me if dh & I are messing around, he goes mad at dh

Totally get you different absolutely understand what u mean but its a little different with my hubby. My hubby had spent the first 8 years of my dogs lives loving them to absolute bits, he used to treat them like his babies. He was always playing with them chasing them,treating them,trying to teach them silly tricks and when he used to get through the door hed be on the floor having his face washing by the pair of them. He used to absolutely adore them but its all changed since by daughter was born. I totally except that things will change and the dogs do and have taken a step back and my daughter is no1 priority but the change between my dogs and husbands relationship is so dramatic.

Bet everyones thinking "this woman needs to get a bloody grip,there dogs for christ sake" haha.

Certainly don't think "get a grip".

Chances are he feels the dogs are an extra stress/pressure point. Other than doing stuff with the dogs such as family walks I would let your husband carry on as he is. I'd rather he ignored the dogs rather than a half-arsed resentful attempt and interaction.