What to do? Help please

[AtoZee]

We are fostering a dog (2 years old) at the moment. He has been with us for 2 weeks now. We were told he was very good with children. It was obvious when we got him that he has had little to no training. That is fine and we are working on that. However yesterday he growled at my 4 year old dd when she took her teddy back off him. My back was turned so I don’t know if he also snapped. This morning my 4 year old was poking my husband in the hand to get his attention and the dog who was sitting on the other side of my husband jumped over him to growl and snap at my daughter as if he was protecting my husband. This has freaked me out as I know this is possessive aggression. What would you do?

First step is to talk to the rescue centre. Ask for their opinion on this and see if they offer and behavioural support.

The teddy issue is one that can be fixed by teaching the dog that good things happen when toys are taken away. You spend lots of time swapping something the dog has for something better - often toys for treats but it depends on what value the dog places on the items.

It's worth also teaching your child not to take items back off the dog but ask an adult to do it for her until she is older - which is good practice anyway with any dog except one you know extremely well and are absolutely sure will give up the toy easily.

Regarding the guarding of your husband, this is trickier because it could be a range of things triggering it. Guarding him, guarding the sofa, distrust of your child etc. This is where you will need support to help figure out exactly what the trigger is. The immediate step is to avoid situations like this one again but not letting the dog up on sofas etc where he might feel the need to guard. However, you need to do more than just that and really need the rescue's support to work it out and change the behaviour.

I'm afraid only you can decide whether or not you can live with the dog while this happens, especially with your child there. Whatever you decide, I strongly recommend never leaving them alone and unwatched together - which means active supervision at all times not just you being in the same room (no turned backs). Again, this is good practice with a new dog.

Speak to the rescue.
It's very early days for this dog. Resource guarding issues can be resolved but it sounds like you need behavioural support and with young children in the house this may not be the ideal situation.
In the meantime, teach your daughter not to leave toys where the dog can get them, and not to take them back if he does. If it happens, you ( or another adult) need to get the toy back by exchanging for a treat.