Dog has just bitten me and I'm devastated

[OnTheBayou]

He was just lying half under the sofa with his head out which is where he chills out in the evening, he was awake and I went to stroke him and he bit my hand. Not really hard, he didn't draw blood. But he didn't even growl as a warning. His behaviour has been getting worse and worse since I had a baby, he's snapped at me twice in the last week before actually biting me today. Had him since a puppy and he's always resource guarded but recently he's tried to nip me when putting his lead on etc.

I always despised people who got rid of their dogs after having a baby and now I feel like that's going to be me. I'm so upset. I know there's behaviourists and training etc and I'm going to take him to the vets so make sure it's nothing physical but I feel like I can't trust him to ever be in the same room with the baby even when I'm there. Baby is crawling and cruising and moves fast and loves the dog- wants to cuddle him- but have to keep them both separate always. Obviously I'd never leave them alone together but I feel like even supervised it's not ok. He loves attention and wants to be with me all day so I hate the idea of shutting him out of rooms. I always thought he was good with kids but I feel like he's so unhappy now we have one.

If you can't give your dog 2 walks a day and some good quality time when dog is given your full attention I can only think it would be better off with a home where it can have its needs met.

My dog often gets only one walk a day when he is with me (he gets loads at daycare).

Mine is a working breed and even the professional gundog trainers I used don't advocate lots of traditional walks as they just make the dogs fitter without actually tiring them. What tires then out is doing the things they were bred to do which is sniff out things and retrieve them rather than an hours walk. The prescriptive two walks a day would bore my dog.

How much you walk a dog (or need to) will depend a a variety of factors, I would have thought. Breed, age, fitness, routine.

Battendog gets two good walks of about an hour or so. He also has company all day long and 30-60 mins of training/play throughout the day. He snoozes or mooches for the rest of the day but is pesky on those days he has less exercise than that.

Is he pesky on less because that's the amount of walking etc he needs or is is pesky on less because that's the amount I've given him ever since he was old enough? I don't know but I suspect the latter plays a role. If I'd given him three walks a day all his life then I suspect he'd be pesky until the third one had been delivered. They are such creatures of routine.

For dogs who enjoy walks and find walks relaxing, then extra exercise may help them by reducing their overall stress levels - allowing them to cope better when something stressful happens.

However, for a dog that gets stressed on walks, then extra walks are just going to raise their adrenaline levels, making it harder for them to cope with stress at home. Excitement is also a form of stress so dogs that get super excited on walks may find the same thing.

It's about knowing the dog and finding a balance of exercise, stimualtion, novelty and routine that leaves that specific dog in the best mental state possible. For me, anyway.

I'm just glad to read a post in which a dog owner recognises the threat. Training, behaviourist, vet - you can take all those measures but if your dog still goes on to attack your DS it'll be on you. The dog has to go, surely.

I’d rather have the baby rehomed than my dog!

Skittlenommer doesn't have any children

Dogs certainly don't need two walks a day - they adapt to what you give them.