Puppies And Children

[kirbydog]

Kirby is usually pretty good with my one year old unless he is off in lala land. Yesterday she grabbed his hind leg while he was sleeping and he nipped at her. Luckily I stopped him before he could get to her, I never leave her with him without supervision, but I want to make sure that he understands this is not okay. What is the right way to reprimand this behaviour? I yelled a quick "No" and grabbed his snout, but I do not think this is enough. I handle him all the time and grab his leg and other body parts when he is asleep and he never would dare to do anything to me. Obviously he regards the little one below him in the hirachy. What can I do set the right order in place and establish a good relationship between the two?

Edited June 11, 2007 by kirbydog

[Gayle.]

I would start with time out. Reprimand him then put him somewhere he can contemplate the error of his ways.

Does he have a crate? If not, might be time to get one and start training him to sleep in it, away from kids.

[sas]

You want to repremand your puppy for defending itself?

The child should never be allowed to do this to the dog.

Lot's of handling will help but if the child hurts the dog then the dog will most likely defend itself....how do you think so many kids get bitten.....parents who expect the dog to act in some kind of Godly manner and not get upset when a child harasses them.

You might want to crate train your dog so it can sleep in peace without being worried it's going to be harrased by your child.

Secondly read up on Leadership such as the Triangle of Temptation and get your child to participate in it as well as other Leadership methods if you feel this is an issue.

Edited June 11, 2007 by sas

[persephone]

The dog was being a dog.

he was reacting on instinct...NOT deliberately deciding to bite a human!!

he should have somewhere of 'his own'where he can sleep UNDISTURBED by the toddler, and toddler should be told that this is Kirby's special spot...just for him, blah blah blah...it will eventually sink in

[snarferama]

This is where "Let sleeping dogs lie" is literal.

Your dog didn't do it deliberately. It's a reflex if you will. It would've seemed to him that he was being attacked and he was trying to defend himself. I know if someone grabbed my leg while I was fast asleep I'd kick out trying to get away. It's the same thing Make sure your dog has a safe spot to sleep undisturbed and that your daughter knows she can't touch the dog when he's sleeping

-Elise

[Dogfish]

Lot's of handling will help but if the child hurts the dog then the dog will most likely defend itself....how do you think so many kids get bitten.....parents who expect the dog to act in some kind of Godly manner and not get upset when a child harasses them.

What about when a child does not hurt/harass the pup and it is still nipping at them. Then what?

Dogfish

[cavNrott]

You want to repremand your puppy for defending itself?

The child should never be allowed to do this to the dog.

Lot's of handling will help but if the child hurts the dog then the dog will most likely defend itself....how do you think so many kids get bitten.....parents who expect the dog to act in some kind of Godly manner and not get upset when a child harasses them.

You might want to crate train your dog so it can sleep in peace without being worried it's going to be harrased by your child.

Secondly read up on Leadership such as the Triangle of Temptation and get your child to participate in it as well as other Leadership methods if you feel this is an issue.

I doubt a 1 year old toddler/baby could be expected to understand the concept of leadership or the Triangle of Temptation.

The dog needs a safe place of its own where it will not be disturbed by the child. A crate is good. All contact between dog and child must be supervised by an adult and no one, child or adult, should pounce on a dog when it's sleeping.

Please teach your child that she must never grab at a dog, ever. She obviously frightened the dog and it reacted as most dogs would. Children of this age can be very rough and must be taught how to interact appropriately with the dog.

I would have reprimanded the child.

Edited June 11, 2007 by cavNrott

[Doghouse]

A 1 year old child can be taught the concept of Ouch & No .. slowly but they can.. mine did when she used to chase the cats or pull the cats tail whilst she was sleeping.

But our rule of thumb was if the cat was in the house (as we had two then) then all eyes on the skinkid.. and the skin kid learned. I would not have had a 1 yr old on the floor with a dog, IMO..

Now she is 5YO, if she dose something to the dogs, they snap or snarl, she has to appologise. It isnt the dogs fault.. mind you the dogs put up with most things, and have never snapped unprovoked.

Good luck

[Dogsfevr]

I have to agree the pup was reacting to something that hurt,if it was a human who scared you whilst asleep what would your reaction be.

The pup would have no idea what it did wrong because it reacted to something done whilst it was asleep not a delibrate act of nipping.

"grab his leg and other body parts when he is asleep" im sorry but why disturb a pup during its needed sleep,did you do this to your child when sleeping??

We cant stress to people when the dog is asleep leave it alone ,a simple theory that even us humans stress to other family members so give the dog the respect it deserves in one simple area,place it in a safe area & let it be because one day your pup may decide to react to your actions & it wont be the dogs fault but like now you want to reprimand for something that isnt its fault .

I agree the child should have been reprimanded even if one years

I should also add given your post about its lameness why are you pulling its legs when asleep when its in obvious disomfort???

Edited June 11, 2007 by showdog

[The Spotted Devil]

Well put showdog.

I don't think a puppy, disturbed suddenly in its sleep, necessarily sees itself as higher in the pack than the child - what your puppy did was a reflex response, like when you whip your hand away from a hot iron without even thinking. Give the puppy a safe place to sleep undisturbed by anyone.

[kirbydog]

THanks for everyones replies! Firstly I would like to stress that I do not constantly wake or disturb my sleeping puppy. I do handle him a lot when he is awake and not on the leg which is lame. I posted this to get some opinions on what is the right way to proceed from here. My pup does not have a crate, but a bed were he is meant to retire too, when wanting to sleep. I do try to keep my daughter away from him when he is sleeping and resting, but I wanted to get an opinion on him giving her a nip when something like that happens if this is a behaviour to be worried about or not. Obviously not since the fix to this is educating her more than him. I was made to feel in this as if I am tormenting my dog without reason, which is definitely not the case. He is very much loved and cared for family pet, but having a baby and a pup is sometimes very stressfull and I need reassurance that I am going about things the correct way to keep my daughter and my dog out of harms way.

[Doghouse]

As a mother I do understand.

but you have to teach your child that pup is a No NO..... and the dog is not at fault

It takes time and it will happen...

[Isabel964]

I don't know why some people choose to go on the 'attack' to a poster who is obviously asking for advice, who is a dog lover and a loving mum. It happens here too often. I don't understand it myself. I'm sorry you had to experience that. Try not to take it personally. Probably its not meant that way - I just don't know...either way, hugs.

I'm not sure what the best advice is, but if you consider a crate I just wanted to emphasise that a crate must never be used as 'punishment'. My dogs have their own crates and they love them. They are their dens, their refuge and its worth it. Only I got the larger one from ebay and its big enough for a shepperd and she is only a kelpie *sigh* anyonie wanna swap?

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

[bommy]

Kirbydog,

I am a mum of 3 under 7 & a breeder of dogs, the inside dogs have specific crates for night sleeping, but two of our guys sleep on our beds. So they have no crates for sleep time, but our kids were taught NO very early..

No dont go there the dogs are eating, no dont touch he is resting.... no dont pull ears stc etc. Little kids learn early what No means and if told it ofte eoug & the rewarded with lovingly beig able to pat the dog when it is awake & not eatig & being reassured whilst doing this activity they do learn fast.

Its hard & it can be stressful BUT consistency works well.

(with both skin & fur kids)

Good luck

Jacqui

[joelle]

Hi there

Our pup and child did this too, to the point of me wondering if i could keep both the pup and the kid We persevered and 100 % supervised, and taught the child the basics, got him to help feeding etc but child continued even after being reprimanded. I hate to say it but the pup did actually nip and hurt (slightly thank God) the child. Guess what happened then ? Child never hurt pup again. They are now best friends. :D Hold in there, but never understimate the powers of supervision and including the child in the general care of the dog. I guess we were lucky our child wasnt hurt, but he is a very exciteable 4 yr old and the pup couldnt handle it. (She was a rescue) I Dont blame the dog, I cant handle 4 yr olds sometimes myself As i say, with perseverance, supervision, training and TLC on both sides we have a happy ending. Good luck

[TeamSnag]

Hey... My 2 Year old daughter gets along with my 9 month old puppy but sometimes she gets ruff u tell her no but she keeps goin back for more.. It is hard when he is an inside dog..... Kids are kids you can tell them one thing but i found she dont listen..its like banging ya head against a brick wall... I give him time out some days.. he goes out in his pen with a bone for a few hours to chill... Atm tho he is very sik

[cavNrott]

I know it can be difficult sometimes with a young child and a pup but children have to learn not to hurt animals. At 2yo your daughter should understand that the dog is sick and she is not to annoy it.

The likelihood of her getting bitten for pestering a sick dog is fairly high. I hope the dog doesn't get the blame when it happens.

[sas]

You want to repremand your puppy for defending itself?

The child should never be allowed to do this to the dog.

Lot's of handling will help but if the child hurts the dog then the dog will most likely defend itself....how do you think so many kids get bitten.....parents who expect the dog to act in some kind of Godly manner and not get upset when a child harasses them.

You might want to crate train your dog so it can sleep in peace without being worried it's going to be harrased by your child.

Secondly read up on Leadership such as the Triangle of Temptation and get your child to participate in it as well as other Leadership methods if you feel this is an issue.

I doubt a 1 year old toddler/baby could be expected to understand the concept of leadership or the Triangle of Temptation.

The dog needs a safe place of its own where it will not be disturbed by the child. A crate is good. All contact between dog and child must be supervised by an adult and no one, child or adult, should pounce on a dog when it's sleeping.

Please teach your child that she must never grab at a dog, ever. She obviously frightened the dog and it reacted as most dogs would. Children of this age can be very rough and must be taught how to interact appropriately with the dog.

I would have reprimanded the child.

I clearly wasn't expecting the 1 year old to understand anything, however including children in feeding dogs is often used to help the association. However as I already stated the child shouldn't be left to disturb the dog.

I don't feel it is a leadership issue and I didn't say it was either.

Edited June 12, 2007 by sas

[sas]

Lot's of handling will help but if the child hurts the dog then the dog will most likely defend itself....how do you think so many kids get bitten.....parents who expect the dog to act in some kind of Godly manner and not get upset when a child harasses them.

What about when a child does not hurt/harass the pup and it is still nipping at them. Then what?

Dogfish

The OP poster didn't allude to this, so I gave my opinion on what she did say.

[sas]

I don't know why some people choose to go on the 'attack' to a poster who is obviously asking for advice, who is a dog lover and a loving mum. It happens here too often. I don't understand it myself. I'm sorry you had to experience that. Try not to take it personally. Probably its not meant that way - I just don't know...either way, hugs.

I'm not sure what the best advice is, but if you consider a crate I just wanted to emphasise that a crate must never be used as 'punishment'. My dogs have their own crates and they love them. They are their dens, their refuge and its worth it. Only I got the larger one from ebay and its big enough for a shepperd and she is only a kelpie *sigh* anyonie wanna swap?

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

If you're referring to my post, it's unfortunate you felt it an attack. This is really serious. If the child is allowed to continue this the child could be seriously hurt.

From the OP, it wasn't clear who the poster thought was at fault, but it did come across that she felt the dog was, hence my response.

I suggested the crate for a safe place for the dog to sleep, I don't know where you thought anyone said the crate should be used as punishment.

Edited June 12, 2007 by sas