Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Happened once...shame on the dog. Happens again...shame on you! My dog snapped at Frankie once,(but had a history of aggressive behavior) and she was gone that night...i was not waiting for it to happen again...

Sorry Ker...JMHO...and I know you are okay with me having an opinion...

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Dh and I have a lot of experience raising dogs.. we raise guide dogs for guiding eyes for the blind.

If he EVER does anything like that again her needs to be reprimanded ASAP and SEVERE. If our dogs pull that crap they would be grabbed by the scruff of the neck and PINNED to the ground and STERNLY told NO BITE

The pinning is showing your sign of dominance that you are the Alpha leader and that the offense that occurred was serious.

Our dogs have been trained that while we are eating... where ever it may be they are to lie down and be away from us...

it took FOREVER to train but now they know they are not to beg. If they come over all we have to say is "we're eating" and they know to walk away and lay down....

it happened... its scary but move on from this and focus on positive reinforcement training. Your dog is also learning wherein the pack DC lines up in regards to everyone. They dogs need to learn that they are BELOW your DC


For now try to not let them be out or around when someone is fed and when you can dedicate time to it occassionally let them out while youa re eating and train them to stay away.

Message edited 11/24/2009 10:44:14 AM.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

I don't think it's as much of a food issue as it is a socialization issue. Your family is the dog's "pack". Packs have a hierarchical order and to snap a member of the pack generally indicates that the dog considers itself higher in the pecking order.

I've read that one of the worst things you can do is feed your dog before your child as that reinforces it. Keeping that in mind, long term I'd teach you child to be in charge of feeding the dog. In other word, the child puts the food in the dish. Obviously you can't do that with a 10 month old but just something to keep in mind for the future.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

I am scared of this happening too..

Casey is an 85 lb golden retriever and is a BAD BEGGAR....bad....she even begs when I am giving the baby rice cereal

I can just picture what will go on when Tommy is in the highchair...

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Thanks again everyone. We are going to start feeding us before the dog and make sure they are separated.

In answer to some of your questions, our dog does not go after Liam's toys. He only plays with his on and is very good when Liam is playing with the dogs toys. He just sits there smiling and tail wagging.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Posted by MrsFlatbread

Happened once...shame on the dog. Happens again...shame on you! My dog snapped at Frankie once,(but had a history of aggressive behavior) and she was gone that night...i was not waiting for it to happen again...

Sorry Ker...JMHO...and I know you are okay with me having an opinion...

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Posted by MST9106

Posted by MrsFlatbread

Happened once...shame on the dog. Happens again...shame on you! My dog snapped at Frankie once,(but had a history of aggressive behavior) and she was gone that night...i was not waiting for it to happen again...

Sorry Ker...JMHO...and I know you are okay with me having an opinion...

I have to agree with J here...that would be it for me...as much as I love my dog, if he ever exhibited this type of behavior ESPECIALLY when it comes to food, he would be gone...I think thats how they test first signs of aggression...with food. I'm sorry, that would be waaaay too risky for me, especially since he went right for the face too! No trainer wuold ever convince that a dog wouldnt do that again.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

Sorry you had to go through this... I posted something similar a few weeks ago when our dog snapped at DD. I totally freaked out... it's so scary.

There was some great advice given. I have always felt this way, but im taking it even more seriously... Dogs are animals and you just have to be careful. Once DC are older we can teach them how to treat the dogs properly too.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

I have not read all the responses but just wanted to offer my advice as I have a dog as well. When my son was younger we really taught the dog to be gentle with him, kind of keep her distance as DS got older we got them used to each other more and as soon as my son could walk we "practiced" making the dog sit in front of him and having DS give the dog a bit of cheese/cracker while we stood there. MY DS is now two and actually goes and gets biscuits and my dog sits and waits for DS to hand it to her. The dog is realyl gentle and we use that word a lot around her and she automatical y sits now...gentle.....That said, anything can happen but we feel like we set this up as best we could but are still always cautious. I think you will be ok, you jsut need to get a process down that works for you and really work with your dog to understand linmits. At the end of the day you can never 100% trust an animal but you do your best. We are animal lovers and my DS now loves animals as well. I could not imagine our home without a dog.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

I would bring a professional like bark busters in to make sure you go about training the right way.

Our dog is not into food and couldn't care less about his bowl but we are watching for the toy situation. We had initial training with Bark Busters and will bring them back in for refreshers when DD is a little older. I say get a professional because alot of the techniques we were taught make perfect sense, but I never would have thought of them on my own.

Good luck!

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

You have to understand the dog was just doing what is instinct to dogs which is protecting his food. You've taken corrective action and learned what to do. Move forward. Also make sure DS is never around the DOGS food. This can cause major problems

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

If the dog has not showed this behavior prior to this, I think you can try to fix on your own. However, if it continued to happen, I would definately see what has changed with your dog.

I have three dogs, who only eat outside, on the deck...unless inclement weather...if this is an option maybe try that, as your dog will know he doesn't eat inside where your DS and you eat...etc.

I think that pulling on the dog's collar with force, or pinning him as a pp wrote, you are showing that you are dominant, and you can still control him, which is what I have heard to do in a situation where the dog tests his authority. If you make the dog unable to move, or show him that you can overpower him, he quickly realizes who is the leader of the pack.

This must have been really hard for you, and I am sorry that you had this happen...but it sounds like you guys will be on top of it.

Re: a little situation accured with my dog & son (please only dog people thanks)

We have a large chocolate lab mix...and she's extremely hyper and has nipped me before...as the other posters have said, its constant reinforcement...our dog so far has been an angel with DD knows when to stay away and will only beg for food with us, and never with DD its sooo weird... but again, just constant reinforcement is key!!!