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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
tayrob1986
member
My dog is becoming aggressive towards the baby.
tayrob1986
member
We have a 6 year old shih tzu. Recently, our 5 month old daughter has become increasingly more interested in our dog. She loves all dogs, smiles as soon as she sees one. Anyways, she will roll 4-5 times in a row to get to Bell(our dog.) Bella started growling at Waverly(our daughter.) I quickly disciplined Bella. Well, the other day Waverly rolled near Bella, and Bella started growling, showing her teeth, and shaking. We have been trying to find a new home for Bella, but we haven't had any luck. I found a Shih Tzu Rescue and have an appointment Monday to take it. It is breaking my heart to much. I feel that it is whats best. But, that doesn't make it any easier. Have any of you gone through anything like this before? Am I being too drastic to already remove Bella from our house? I just really don't want to chance anything happening to our daughter. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Re: My dog is becoming aggressive towards the baby.
What did you do to discipline her if you don't mind me asking?
The reason I ask is because punishment for growling actually re-inforces the reaction in Bell that when she interacts with baby (no matter good or bad interaction), bad things happen to her. This strengthens her negative connotation with your LO. The vast majority of dogs that have aggressive tendencies are "fear aggressive" (and is likely the issue with her given the shaking), so this is likely an issue with her not being properly conditioned before LO came home or started being more mobile.
Honestly, now you have reached a point where Bell may be a danger to your LO. This should have been handled before it reached this point. You can probably still keep her in the house and re-condition her, but you need to consult a behavioralist (preferably a veterinary behavioralist that can also prescribe her meds along with behavior modification) if she is going to stay. (And none of that do-it-yourself Cesar Milan B.S.)
I would never EVER give up one of my dogs, but thats just me. I don't judge you for having to do what you think is right for your family, but please strongly consider not getting another dog until you are able to devote a lot of time to training it.
I know this is a touchy subject, and I'm not trying to be a "B", but you asked, so I'm saying it. Good luck.
Bella has been around other children. From when she was a puppy I brought her around children. After I graduated from college, I could not find a teaching job due to everything being shut down including sub jobs. So I did high end nannying with in-home preschool programs. The children that I took care of(from multiple families over a couple of years) enjoyed spending time with Bella. I had her around children as much as possible, knowing that I wanted my own and wanted her to be conditioned. This is a new behavior that she is exhibiting. Which is where my concern is stemming from. She she started showing her teeth to my daughter she was not licking her paws, protecting a toy, or a treat. She was just sitting next to us. Which she chose to do. Her moodiness cannot be predicted.
In addition to what I mentioned above, part of my anxiety is that I was very aggressively attacked by a dog as a child. It bit me on the throat(on my esophagus) and my leg. I merely bent down to pet the dog, who was always kind, and it turned on me. Turned out it was protecting a litter of kittens, but still. It's very scary, and I could have been severely injured, and not just scarred.
Toddlers are not babies (as in the not too mobile version) so unless you socialized her to that age it isn't the same thing. You also are probably not giving your dog the same amount of attention that she was used to so now a rivalry has developed.
If you really don't want to re home her there are a few options. Your could gate off a room that is just for baby- or get one of those round gate/pen things. I have friends that use them so the dog and baby each have their own space. You could also work with someone on obedience for the dog. Possible find ways to redirect the stress into a positive place. See if the rescue group has any other ideas to help you guys out. I'm sure this isn't the first case they have seen.
our dog bit DD1 on the face. It was just a nip, and there was no blood. It happened because DD was getting into the dogs space and being overly boisterous. So it was very much fear provoked.
The dog had growled previously at DD, and we had taken measures to teach DD how to be gentle, and to soothe the dog to try and make her feel safer with DD.
We had also largely kept them apart. The time she got bitten, it was a case of both of them moving too quickly, and DH not really watching them (even though they were all in the same room).
When I'm home alone with the kids and dogs either the dogs are outside, or I'm watching everyone like a hwak. Basically I don't think it's fair on the dogs to be outside all day. Nor do I enjoy the stress of having to watch everyone all day.
We're looking to re-home the dog that bit LO.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
You obviously have never owned a dog. Yes your baby is of course more important than a dog but it's still not as simple as "getting rid of it." And all dogs have different personalities and they just can't be "replaced." Dogs bring such joy to our lives and I'm sure your comment was very hurtful to all of us here that own dogs and the OP.
OP - I can't imagine what you must be going through right now. You probably love Bella very much and it must be very difficult for you to make the decision. I always said I would never get rid of a dog but I've also never been in that situation where a dog acted aggressively towards my baby so I really can't judge. I think I would be crying every night if I had to get rid of my dog because he is such an important part of our lives. You can continue working with Bella but I don't think you could ever fully trust her again. If you decide to keep her you are going to have to watch her like a hawk and make sure the dog and baby are kept separate at all times. If you are looking to rehome her I think you are doing it at the right time before she bites your LO. I would think it would be harder to find a home for a dog who has already bitten someone.
I also wouldn't get another dog until you LO is a lot older. And in the future, never ever discipline a dog for growling. Growling is normal and it's the way your dog communicates. It's your dog's way of saying, "Back off please. I need some space." Also, if you discipline a dog for growling they may learn to not growl at all and just snap at you. Next time your dog growls at your LO, just remove your LO from the dog.
I have three shih tzu dogs. Our female was very aggressive before we had the baby. She is very protective and at times out of control. We had her fixed and she became a whole different dog. I was bit by a dog in my face and do infact have a scar although I lucked out with it being a lot smaller then it really should have been.
NO dog will ever be trusted around our baby. Our peditrician even said, the baby and dogs should not be trusted together. Babies make weird noises that dogs do not understand. I love my dogs but when the baby is within reach the dogs need to be under strict watch or in the kitchen. It really isn't fair for a dog to be locked up outside all day and that will not teach the dog to tollerate the child. I would definately talk to your vet and it that doesn't work do not hesitate to re-home her.
I actually started having this problem when I started SAH all day when DS1 was 18 months. I actually found separating them very helpful when I could not give my full attention to both, we have one room gated off where I can put the dog when I can't supervise to my liking.
Also when they are together I taught my dog to jump on the couch as protection from LO and then taught LO that the couch meant leave me alone, same with the dog's crate.
It is a lot of work, but pets and children are a lot of work.
OP. First off I'm sorry I kept calling your pup Bell and not Bella (oops
).
I applaud you for taking those steps with her before you had your LO, a lot of people don't consider their FUTURE life changes (like having a baby) when they get a new dog and start conditioning her, so well done.
I really didn't mean to say that you were lazy or didn't train your dog at all, so please don't take it that way. What I meant by my post was that there were absolutely other things that you probably should have done (especially after your LO came home and with Bella's training before your had your LO) that would have helped prevent this from being an issue. Just because baby is in the picture doesn't mean that the training with the dog stops. Positive reinforcement goes SOOOOOOO much farther than negative! There are baby noise CDs to help condition dogs to their noises. A PP was right on the money when she said that babies are different than toddlers, so having her spend some time around babies would have been great too (but I realize people probably aren't lining up around the block to have their baby be the guinea pig). Clicker training with treats when Bella is quietly sitting next to your LO. You practice pulling on Bella's ears and tail, maybe even pinching her lightly (if your LO is anything like mine she pinches harder than hell). These are all the kind of things that should have been done. That's not to say that these things still can't be done, but its going to be a lot more difficult to condition her since now she has negative associations with your LO.
Also, licking her paws, having a treat or a toy are never ever acceptable reasons for why a dog should show aggressive tendencies. If Bella had ever done that before (sounded like maybe she had by the way you worded your post), that is a whole different behavioral issue that needs to be addressed. (As an FYI, if you do elect to bring her to a shelter as opposed to a rescue, one of the tests that they will do is to see if she is food/toy aggressive. If she is, she will not be considered fit for re-homing).
Also, I want to give a thumbs up to the other PP who said that they don't ever leave baby unattended with the dog. Both of my dogs have their canine good citizen training. We have spent hundreds, possible thousands of hours doing obedience training. I did all the things I mentioned previously with them before brining my boys home and I still NEVER leave them unattended with the boys. Do I think they would do anything to hurt them-NO! But it only takes one time to prove me wrong.
I'm a vet. I see it at least every couple weeks. Family bring home baby...family says that dog is too aggressive, or a little too rough, or (my personal favorite) too hyper...so they elect to re-home the dog. Then they show up with a new puppy a couple weeks/months later. It is usually the same breed and I can't even tell you how often its from the same breeder or (gasp) pet store. See where I'm going with this? It erks the sh!t out of me that people think that the dog was the problem. That was why I said I hope you strongly consider getting another dog until you have a more time for training.
You have taken some good steps in an effort to hopefully make Bella baby friendly. All I'm saying is that there is still more work to be done if you really want it to work. And in my experience, people don't ask for opinions unless they don't have their mind 100% made up. So I wish you good luck
Maybe I should have been more clear. I didn't mean doing these things with any kind of force to cause ANY harm!!! And yes, I think these things are necessary. You can't train a baby (when they get to be bit older thats a different story), but you can help condition your dog to tolerate some of the things that very young children will inevitably do. It's not painful at all, and I would much rather get my dogs used to having their ears touched by me so that when my LOs do it, they don't fly off the deep end because its never been done before. Also, I don't know what kind of 'tourture' involves getting treats every 10 seconds and tons of love an affection.
You're completely overreacting. Bella's world has been completely turned upside down recently, and she's probably still getting used to it. A newly mobile baby is creepy scary to dogs, with their awkward movements. Your job as parent and pet owner is to make sure both are safe and comfortable, and if Bella is growling when baby invades her space, she needs a safe place that baby isn't allowed. My dogs have both passed CGCs and therapy dog tests and I still never leave them alone with baby. They actually had very little interaction until recently, because they just didn't like the loud screamy thing. When we started letting them interact, we were right there, helping her pet them nicely, not allowing her to hit, pull, or poke.
One thing that I really wish all dog owners would do is read up on dog body language. Dogs tell us so much through their body and facial expressions. It's a shame that most, people ignore or misread what their dogs are trying to tell them.
Have you seen my monkey?
Have you seen my monkey?
I just don't understand dog owners like you. I would rehome my dog if it ever attacked my baby but I would be heartbroken about it and I would never use the language, "Oh, I'll just get rid of him." It would be a very difficult decision for me to make. I also don't understand how you say a dog can just be replaced. That's like saying if something happened to your LO you can just replace him/her by having another baby.
I don't let my baby lay on the floor if the dog is in the room. She has never shown signs of aggression, but I am so scared the dog will just walk near the baby and trample her. Also, I don't want the dog licking the baby's face. The baby is only 3 months and not yet rolling, so I realize that in a few months the baby will be spending more time on the floor. I plan on getting those 6 piece gates and put the baby in there to play if the dog is in the room. or getting some baby gates to section off rooms.
Also---prior to having the baby my husband and I both worked full time, so our dog was kept in her room sometimes as long as 10 hours a day and also over night. Now I only work part time at night so either me or my huband is always home. Even though I stick the dog in her room when she gets to be annoying with the baby I remind myself that she is spending far less time in her room now than she was prior to me having the baby and then I don't feel so bad.