Hellobee Boards

So I have no experience, but just wondering if there are dog obedience and/or training facilities you can take it to for additional support? And/or more heavy monitoring at home when both the dog and your LO are awake and mobile around each other? I know that's a lot to do...

We have two dogs and if that incident were to have happened I think I would try to resolve the issues before jumping to having to give up the dog in one way or another. I guess it would all depend on my gut reaction as to how bad the biting/nipping incident was though.

Good luck and hugs no matter what you decide. It's gotta be a heart-wrenching situation

I'm sorry, this sounds very stressful! I would absolutely not suggest you need to put the dog down just from this incident, though. Dogs can be territorial -- I imagine he thinks of his bed as his own space, a place he has ownership over. Your DS may not have been provoking the dog in the traditional sense (poking him, pulling his tail, etc.) but it could have just been your son approaching your dog's territory that had him feeling protective over it. Animals also sometimes need space and time to themselves just like a lot of people do. Is there anyway to keep DS away from the dog when he's in spaces that are "special" to the him, like the dog bed? How does the dog act when they interact in the rest of the house or outside of the house?

I think you have options and it all depends on how far you want to go with the situation.

You can spend a lot of money on training the dog which could be very helpful although you should never trust the dog around the child again.

You could look at other living arrangements (dog outside, dog in a separate space, etc).

You could also look at rehoming to a place that doesn't have kids.

I'm so sorry. My sister's dog did this and they had to rehome him. Another option might be to offer your dog a safe space, such as a crate covered with a blanket that they can retreat to and LO cannot get into to.

We also removed the dog beds from the house except for bedtime because it was where our more nervous dog went for comfort, and she got upset when LO crawled up there with her. Simply removing it helped, and her crate.

@besitos: tough age for learning these things but I'm pretty sure that was around the age my nephew was when he got bit. I hope it gets easier if you can set some limits. I'm again sorry this happened, I'm sure you're still reeling over it.

@T.H.O.U.: really? I've never heard that and our 3 will walk over and start licking everyone. They rarely lick when you approach them.

If your dog has always been sweet with your LO, do you think it might be a medical problem? Maybe there is something that is bothering your dog. I would rule out medical, if its not medical maybe a trainer and have DS help with feedings so your dog sees your DS as an alpha.

@besitos: I'm glad you're calling the vet. I would mention the nip. Your vet will not judge they might take a more extensive look to make sure everything is okay with your pup and might have some advice for you. I hope its an easy fix, but definitely have your DS help with feedings if possible. Your DH was just being protective and angry at the moment. I'm glad they made up! Good luck!

I am so sorry this happened. I agree that you have options. I would suggest maybe getting the dog professionally evaluated by someone who has experience with aggressive behavior to see what they think? Can you keep the dog and the baby separate until you figure out what to do? It would concern me that the dog is large and could do serious damage, but hopefully something can be worked out

We experienced a similar situation about a year ago. When LO started crawling, she ended up hurting the dog a few times, despite our best attempt to provide close supervision. There was always times when LO would move faster than I expected and pull the dog's tail/ears, etc. The dog would occasionally growl or kind of snap the air in self-defense. After maybe two or three of those growling incidents, there was a time she nipped our daughter. The dog was asleep and DD pretty much pounced on her. She did it so quickly I didn't have time to get across the room. I don't think our dog knew who was there. She didn't break the skin or leave a lasting mark, but LO's hand was red for a minute. I really freaked out initially. I cried on and off for a day or two, considered re-homing the dog with my in-laws, etc., but in the end, we just kept them totally separate for a few months. We put up gates dividing the house pretty much in half and only allowed them in the same room when my husband and I could be holding either the dog or our daughter. We did not allow her to pet the dog at all. The dog was always put on the other side of the fence when LO was eating (and vice versa - though very recently we have had LO do some training with the dog, feeding her, and giving treats). We also went back to simple obedience training, stopped allowing the dog to sleep in our bed, and did other things like that to increase our dog's confidence, establish the pecking order, and protect our dog from LO. I should say that I also had an issue with the dog growling once when I moved her in bed... so that was part of why she got kicked out of bed and went back to the basics (we followed the "Nothing in Life is Free" training method where the dog has to work for it's food, toys, etc.). Basically we felt like the dog was getting a little bratty with us, but all the incidents with our daughter were provoked by our LO... Our dog is only 10 lbs, so we weren't super fearful that an attack could kill LO, but we knew there was always the chance that our daughter could be seriously injured, so we took it seriously. Fortunately, things have been a lot better between them, with no more nipping incidents. We still watch them together very closely. I don't leave them together, even for a split second (the exception is that our dog now sleeps in our DD's room, but DD is still in her crib and the dog is in a crate). Our daughter is 2 now and very gentle and respectful of the dog, but we don't take any chances. She still does not understand 100% about making sure the dog knows she's approaching.

ETA: the growling/nipping was super shocking because our pup loves our LO and is generally pretty tolerant of her. I guess everyone has their limits though. I think our dog was just trying to communicate that she was not okay with having her ears pulled, etc. I actually read not to scold the dog for growling because it is their way of communicating. You don't want the dog to stop giving a warning and just go to biting. Again, a trainer might have better advice.

I can't imagine putting our dog down if something like this happened. I would work on separating them and supervising them closely when they were interacting. And ensure your dog has a safe space he can go to where your toddler can't get to him. You said you heard a growl and a snap....did you not see exactly what happened? Maybe your son did provoke the dog somehow? If things got really bad with our dog I know my parents would always take her as they love her. Would break my heart though!

I'm sorry I am a huge dog lover , and would be absolutely broken if I had to go through something like this.

I definitely do not think you need to put your dog down over an incident like this. I would say, absolute worst case scenario, you may have to rehome your dog to a family with no young children(and with full disclosure of what happened). But before doing so, I would look into training, keeping baby and dog separated, maybe setting up gates?

I'm sorry

We went the professional dog behaviorist path. Our little dog did a very similar thing to our similarly aged child. It was the one instance we worried about (dog being cornered). The behaviorist has us work on his nervous Nellie behaviors. He isn't a fan of our son (Even at almost 4 years old) but the safely coexist. Our son knows not to chase and corner him. Our big dog on the other hand let's our kid ride him.

Before we had kids, we had friends and their toddler over. She was about the same age as your LO. Our dog was fine with the toddler, until she got on all fours and started crawling toward her. The dog growled and barked. We wondered if he perceived her differently when she was crawling versus walking. Thankfully our dog did not make contact and we have not had any issues since. I am sorry you are going through this, as I am sure it is not easy to figure out what to do. Good luck.

Yes, we had this happen right before our first son turned 2. It was a very severe bite to the face and it was over a food item. We had an extensive ER visit, many stitches and permanent scars on my son's face.

Our dog is older and can be cranky, and frankly it was 100% our fault as pet parents and child parents that we didn't separate them sooner. We put our very good dog in a very bad situation. I still feel immense guilt over this for both of them, and still get very upset when I think about it a year later.

In the vet field, we put down so many dogs whose owners take their good nature for granted. As loving and devoted as they are, when put in a stressful situation, they are still animals lacking rational thoughts at the human level.

We discussed euthanasia and the options to re-home, and did a trial with baby gates keeping them separated- it worked out just fine for us. They are 99% separated, the 1% is that they can pet him over the fence with supervision a couple times a day and going back and forth outside. As an older dog, he just sleeps most of the day anyway on our bed just off the living room. When the boys are playing in their rooms, during nap times, and in the evenings once the boys are asleep, he gets free run of everything but their rooms. He loves the boys, but is much more content living his retirement snuggled on the bed.