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Hi John, I have a 7 yr. old larger breed that I acquired almost 2 yrs. ago. He's a good dog overall except he's not good around small children. The person I'm moving in with has 2 young children age 2 and 6 and Torch has already nipped the 6 yr. old in the face. He's good around the kids if they don't bother him. He'll go up to them, smell them, walk past them, anything, until they go to him, then he lowers his ears and head and curls up his lip. If I catch him right away then that's as far as it goes. I'm wondering if there's a chance to get him used to kids, or if I should try to find him a new home?
Stella
Hi Stella,
Saying, “He's good around kids if they don't bother him” and then moving him in with two kids is sort of like saying my dog comes unless there are squirrels about and then buying yourself a squirrel farm.
I know a lot of people that through thick or thin one must honour their commitment to the dog. I do believe that we take on a very important trust when we assume responsibility for another living creature. However I do not believe that absolves us of our responsibility for the safety of our friends and neighbours let alone the vulnerability of children.
Even in ideal situations it is naive to believe that educating children about dogs helps significantly. They are vulnerable because despite the diligence of their parents to educate them they simply will never be able to stop being children. Two year old and 6 year olds will behave like 2 year olds and 6 year olds no matter how well educated they are in the ways of a dog. Any parent that has discovered their precious testing the toilet flush's strength by investing increasing sizes of mom's jewellery knows this. “If I catch him right away then that's as far as it goes.” isn't going to cut it.
Obviously, your situation is worse then living with a stable dog. You have no wiggle room. Your dog is already uncomfortable with this new arrangement. Enough so he actually nailed a child in the face. If nothing else, you should hear it as a cry for help from your dog. “Hey, I'm 7. I'm nearing retirement and you want me to spend my remaining years how?”
The flattening of his ears and other posturing indicate this is fear based and whenever I encounter this sort of reaction I can be almost certain the dog was not properly socialized with children or in your case socialized around the way they approach. Essentially to the dog, the kids are humans until they move and in doubt it tries to protect itself.
Some dogs can be brought around to the point where they say, “I'll do it but I don't have to like it.” However, the number of success stories if you want to call that success are dwarfed by the number of dogs killed because the rehab attempts failed and at the expense of a child.
Don't wait that long, have him assessed but prepare yourself that his best bet may be his owner putting his mental well being before her own and then find him as close to a child free zone as possible to live in.
John Wade www.johnwade.ca |
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Dear John,
I am writing to you about our 19-month-old golden retriever Bonna. She was given to us at 6 months old. We previously had a golden retriever. Bonna was taken from her mother early because her father had got in with the litter and killed all of the puppies but her. She was rescued from her father’s jaws. The first owners bottle fed her and became very close to her. Bonna dominated the first owners, a mother and daughter.
Bonna, she is quick to learn but does not like to be told what to do. Sometimes when we pet her she growls and shows her teeth. She has bitten 3 people. My son was first, and then she punctured my finger. The most recent incident was when my husband was petting her and she started to growl and show her teeth. He told her to stop. She bit his hand, and then his other hand. We have been talking about putting her down. I wanted to know if you think there is any help for Bonna.
- Ella
Hi Ella,
You say Bonna is quick to learn but does not like to be told what to do. That is pretty much the assessment my ex-wife gave me on both my entry and exit evaluation interviews and I'd have to say that she perceived that as a fault and not a quality. I suggest you do as well. Bonna is a dangerous dog that would have been long gone in most households and is on the cusp of joining her less fortunate littermates.
Assuming that Bonna's problem is not associated with a brain injury due to her father's attempt at infanticide and his bloodthirsty tendencies haven't been passed to her then maybe all she needs is an old-school attitude adjustment. That doesn't necessarily mean you're the people to do it. She's probably going to need someone with more dog experience to take her on and there are mighty few of those volunteering to take on dogs acting like meat grinders with a screw loose.
I think it's fair to say that if one is yanked from the jaws of a homicidal father one is going to get a fair amount of sympathy. Concessions for bad behaviour may have been granted because She's the one whose father tried to kill her. Those days are done. Put her on parole with eventual release conditional upon exemplarily behavior for no less then a year.
That means she drags a leash like it's an ankle monitor and you supervise her like she's the only teen age girl in a town full of teen age boys. If she's crate trained she's in there when you can't track her. Don't ask much of her for a week or two just get into her head by stepping on the leash, sometimes picking it up and leading her away from something she's doing. Don't make a fuss, just do it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
With the whole family, get her into a balanced training class. That's somewhere where No means “No!” not if it's not too inconvenient . . . or do you mind? A place where the consequences are as real as the rewards.
If there is any chance of saving this dogs life and keeping others safe you're going to have to convey to her as my father conveyed to me, This is my house, you just get to live here. Keep it up with that behaviour and I guarantee you tomorrow the house is still going to be here but you son . . . maybe not. |
Hi John,
We have a ten month old puppy and a seven month old granddaughter; the problem is our dog is very jealous of our granddaughter and shows aggressive behavior in the form of non stop barking, jumping up and trying to nip her. Cedric wants her toys, blankets etc. and most of all he wants our attention. We have had to resort to putting him into his kennel because we are afraid he will hurt her. He has been to puppy school and did not do well there; he is a wonderful little dog and we love him lots but he has bad habits of not coming when called (in fact he runs away from us) we have just about lost him a couple of times; he jumps and nips and can be quite aggressive with us too, he seems to be a very strong willed dog. We will not give him away so we have to find out a way to make it work with our granddaughter and him.
Thanks – Betty
Hi Betty,
Normally I jump on a letter that involves a child aggressive dog like a politician on a pay raise, particularly when the writer says something like “we will not give him away” as I believe in children first, dogs second. I still believe that but this letter reeks not so much of bad dog as bad handling. I'm willing to bet when your dog misbehaves you think you're saying, “No!” but he's hearing “When you have a minute could you check your day timer? Oh. Well alright then, when you have an opening have your people call my people.”
I have what I call a rule of three regarding the consequence part of teaching. If the dog makes the same mistake three times in a row than the consequence from the dog's perspective and that's the only perspective that counts wasn't a consequence and I have to massage it until it is. You need to book an appointment with a trainer that believes that firm and fair go hand in hand and that consequence for ones actions whether two-legged or four-legged is part of life.
Depending what you mean by “quite aggressive with us too”, I'd predict that if he doesn't get an attitude adjustment from someone that loves him he could find himself in the “bone yard” before he's three and not because he's a victim of bad genetics or horrible abuse but because he's a victim of lack of clarity.
You describe him as “strong willed.” You need to be stronger willed. Those two words can be whittled down to one word; parenting. I bet at this point I could turn this dog around so fast you'd think I'd performed an exorcism but in this case the dog doesn't need the training so much as you do and without your learning the hows, the whys and the whens when we parted company it would be long before one of Beelzebub's minions returned to retake possession of your dog, which is why you need to book with a balanced trainer.
My experience has been when you finally say, “No!”, in a manner the dog takes seriously he will reply “Thank God! Mother where have you been?” and maybe, “Please don't tell dad!” Between now and your balanced trainer appointment stick his leash on for him to drag around while supervised and the crate otherwise. When I say supervised I mean like a two year old kid in a room full of cacti. That alone will cut your problems in half before your balanced training appointment; but cut in half isn't enough, still go! My gut feeling is it will be the best money you'll ever spend on this dog.
Regards,
John Wade
www.johnwade.ca |
Hi John,
I have a 7 yr. old larger breed that I acquired almost 2 yrs. ago. He's a good dog overall except he's not good around small children. The person I'm moving in with has 2 young children age 2 and 6 and Torch has already nipped the 6 yr. old in the face. He's good around the kids if they don't bother him. He'll go up to them, smell them, walk past them, anything, until they go to him, then he lowers his ears and head and curls up his lip. If I catch him right away then that's as far as it goes. I'm wondering if there's a chance to get him used to kids, or if I should try to find him a new home?
Stella
Hi Stella,
Saying, “He's good around kids if they don't bother him” and then moving him in with two kids is sort of like saying my dog comes unless there are squirrels about and then buying yourself a squirrel farm.
I know a lot of people that through thick or thin one must honour their commitment to the dog. I do believe that we take on a very important trust when we assume responsibility for another living creature. However I do not believe that absolves us of our responsibility for the safety of our friends and neighbours let alone the vulnerability of children.
Even in ideal situations it is naive to believe that educating children about dogs helps significantly. They are vulnerable because despite the diligence of their parents to educate them they simply will never be able to stop being children. Two year old and 6 year olds will behave like 2 year olds and 6 year olds no matter how well educated they are in the ways of a dog. Any parent that has discovered their precious testing the toilet flush's strength by investing increasing sizes of mom's jewellery knows this. “If I catch him right away then that's as far as it goes.” , isn't going to cut it.
Obviously, your situation is worse then living with a stable dog. You have no wiggle room. Your dog is already uncomfortable with this new arrangement. Enough so he actually nailed a child in the face. If nothing else, you should hear it as a cry for help from your dog. “Hey, I'm 7. I'm nearing retirement and you want me to spend my remaining years how?”
The flattening of his ears and other posturing indicate this is fear based and whenever I encounter this sort of reaction I can be almost certain the the dog was not properly socialized with children or in your case socialized around the the way they approach. Essentially to the dog, the kids are humans until they move and in doubt it tries to protect itself.
Some dogs can be brought around to the point where they say “I'll do it but I don't have to like it.” However, the number of success stories if you want to call that success are dwarfed by the number of dogs killed because the rehab attempts failed and at the expense of a child.
Don't wait that long, have him assessed but prepare yourself that his best bet may be his owner putting his mental well being before her own and then find him as close to a child free zone as possible to live in.
John Wade
www.johnwade.ca |
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John,
My dog's name is Maggie. She is a 3 year old Shih- tzu. Last summer she was bitten by a Border Collie whose owner said that his dog would love to play with Maggie. When he opened his gate. The Border Collie immediately attacked Maggie, and grabbed her. She screamed so loudly a neighbour, came running out of her house. I checked Maggie but I didn't see any marks. The next morning I went to pick her up and she cried, so I checked again. There was 2 broken marks on her skin. She healed but now she's so scared of big dog's I don't know what to do. What can I do for little Maggie?
-Annette
Hi Annette,
You learned a lesson about how well people know and can control their own dogs the hard way. Lots of people take the chance but I won't anymore. I decide what dogs mine interacts with if for no other reason then a lot of dog owners just don't understand the role of a responsible dog owner. They're not bad people but it's impossible to tell who has and hasn't put the time in to learning things like a dog that loves playing with other dogs off property can perceive other dogs walking by “their” territory in a different context. I'll bet that dog squeezed through that gate when it was barely open and was at a dead run before its owner could say, “Nice doggy”, let alone, “Come!”
They don't understand that if they can't recall their dog in simple situations let alone those like yours then they've no right subjecting others to a “my dog is good with other dogs – (I hope)” scenario. The insurance industry reports a pay out of more than $1 billion per year in homeowners’ liability claims resulting from dog bites. That's dogs biting people of course but it gives you a sense of why I wouldn't trust what anyone has to say about their dog anymore then I trust a friend with a sense of humour to set me up on a blind date.
You've got your work cut out for you. First thing you have to do is get your dog to pay attention to you in a wide range of scenarios that have nothing to do with other dogs but are distracting never the less. Start in the house and then work near traffic, skate boards, squirrels etc, and when you've got the dog sitting, coming and staying when those things are buzzing around start doing the same thing in the vicinity of a dog park. Far away initially but closer and closer to the fenced area as time goes by. In the interim you've got to find a few dogs that are as close to comatose in temperament or highly trained to behave calmly around other dogs and work at getting your dog performing a few commands around them. Also, whatever it is your dog loves; treats, a toy etc. start associating it with the training around other dogs. I think it would be wise to work with a trainer to help you decide when it's time to go to each new level.
Paws-itively yours,
John Wade www.dogtrainingwithjohnwade.com
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