How old is your pup?
concerned
I have a dilemma and need some sound advice.
We had a dog for 14 years that passed away about 8 months ago. We have a 3-1/2 year old daughter whom adored the dog as much as I did. We decided to get another dog and got a pup about 7 months ago.
We have a personal dog trainer and and he has done great. He even will sit, down and stay when my daughter tells him to.
My concern is that on 3 occasions he has snapped at my daughter. They were a cause-effect of her doing toddler things. Most of the time she is really well behaved but as any parent knows, its hard to watch the child and pup 100 percent of the time. The most recent snap resulted in my daughter having her tooth chipped. I guess their teeth collided.
We love the dog very much, but are concerned. The safety of out child comes first. Has anyone else gone through this?
We had a dog for 14 years that passed away about 8 months ago. We have a 3-1/2 year old daughter whom adored the dog as much as I did. We decided to get another dog and got a pup about 7 months ago.
We have a personal dog trainer and and he has done great. He even will sit, down and stay when my daughter tells him to.
My concern is that on 3 occasions he has snapped at my daughter. They were a cause-effect of her doing toddler things. Most of the time she is really well behaved but as any parent knows, its hard to watch the child and pup 100 percent of the time. The most recent snap resulted in my daughter having her tooth chipped. I guess their teeth collided.
We love the dog very much, but are concerned. The safety of out child comes first. Has anyone else gone through this?
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He is almost 8 months old.
I would be very concerned but really would need to know so much more before I could really even begin to make much in the way of comments good or bad.fletcher99 said:I have a dilemma and need some sound advice.
We had a dog for 14 years that passed away about 8 months ago. We have a 3-1/2 year old daughter whom adored the dog as much as I did. We decided to get another dog and got a pup about 7 months ago.
We have a personal dog trainer and and he has done great. He even will sit, down and stay when my daughter tells him to.
My concern is that on 3 occasions he has snapped at my daughter. They were a cause-effect of her doing toddler things. Most of the time she is really well behaved but as any parent knows, its hard to watch the child and pup 100 percent of the time. The most recent snap resulted in my daughter having her tooth chipped. I guess their teeth collided.
We love the dog very much, but are concerned. The safety of out child comes first. Has anyone else gone through this?
It is really hard to have toddlers around iffy dogs - they are too young to understand correct behaviour no matter how much you work with them. Keeping them both safe is exhausting and a full time job. Some dogs just have wonderful temperaments right from the start and can be trusted around young kids. Some can be great with some work on your part and lots of vigilence. Some are just not safe and have a crummy temperament. Where your puppy falls could be either of the last two possibilities and I would not hazard a guess as to which one.
I did go through this with a rescued Greyhound that was a wonderful therapy dog and great in most situations, BUT he was not tolerent of toddler behavior and snapped a few times. For us the key was moving into a larger house where he could just avoid them till they were old enough not to be so obnoxious - he died at age 11 when my youngest child was 3. I'm not saying that a bigger house is the answer - we just happened to move from a rental townhouse to a nice sized house and it helped a lot.
Velma tried being a little dominant with my then 4 year old when she was around the same age as your puppy. I just stayed on top of her and really got on her for bad behavior. For us it worked, but Velma also has a wonderful stable temperament and just needed to learn that she was the bottom of the heap AFTER the kids. Once she knew that we were fine. My kids were a little older when Louise came home 7 & 9 - Louise is the best dog with kids I have ever seen.
you did not say if your boy is neutered? if not that would be the 1st thing I would do. Males at 8 months are beginning to feel the rush of hormones. Also I would NEVER leave a toddler unsupervised with a puppy. Most likely the puppy was just reacting ( just like they do with each other) If you are right there when it happens you can correct the dog ( and the child if needed)
If you've ever seen young dogs/pups play with each other, they can be a bit rough and often their mouths are open. This can result in accidental scratches and nicks. A 3 1/2-yr-old is too young to appreciate how to handle a puppy. Sometimes they squeeze too hard, pet too hard or hit.
Puppies can't distinguish between play and normal toddler behavior. I would keep him in a separate area or in his crate if someone can't be in the room to supervise. You want every interaction with your daughter to be a positive one for your pup - and having her tell him to sit and reward him with a treat is a great way to start. I can't imagine how busy your household must be with both a toddler and a puppy!
Puppies can't distinguish between play and normal toddler behavior. I would keep him in a separate area or in his crate if someone can't be in the room to supervise. You want every interaction with your daughter to be a positive one for your pup - and having her tell him to sit and reward him with a treat is a great way to start. I can't imagine how busy your household must be with both a toddler and a puppy!
I completely agree with this. I would never leave a toddler unsupervised with any dog. If I couldn't watch the dog, the dog would be crated or gated in another room. I have seen what toddlers think is cute to do dogs. Sometimes their curiousity get the best of them and they like to pull or poke. Dogs don't generally like that. Puppies don't see that as anything else but stirring the pot of play.JavasMom said:If you've ever seen young dogs/pups play with each other, they can be a bit rough and often their mouths are open. This can result in accidental scratches and nicks. A 3 1/2-yr-old is too young to appreciate how to handle a puppy. Sometimes they squeeze too hard, pet too hard or hit.
Puppies can't distinguish between play and normal toddler behavior. I would keep him in a separate area or in his crate if someone can't be in the room to supervise. You want every interaction with your daughter to be a positive one for your pup - and having her tell him to sit and reward him with a treat is a great way to start. I can't imagine how busy your household must be with both a toddler and a puppy!
He was just recently nuetered a few weeks ago.
Do you have gates so when you are busy the dog and your daughter can't interact with you not there. Have you chatted to your personal dog trainer, he/she should no your dog well if there any good, and be able to make some suggestions to you. That person has hands on to your dog. as apposed to us hearing and not actually seeing what has transpired and how you as a family are working with the pup. Good luck, I know it is stressful and heartbreaking worrying for your daughter and the pup you have grown to love.
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