Aggresive Dog Behavior with Very Active 1 Year Old

I suspect the parents of my patient who had to get over 30 stitches to their now disfigured child's face and spent over 30,000 dollars in medical care after their loving dog tore into their child's face would tell you keeping the dog is not worth the risk.

I'm sure the dog is very much a part of the family. Some training might help but he is 9 years old...you know..."old dog/new tricks" adage. It could just take "one bite" before you will be forced to make the ultimate decision. When you work, is your child watched in your home? What about the time you won't be in the same room with him. So sorry - you just can't keep walking on eggshells around the dog. I'm sure the dog is a wonderful pet and hopefully time will help this problem go away and they may become best friends but....make some small decisions about training and see if you see a change in the dog. I'm sure a good trainer can possibly evaluate your dog to see if he could become aggressive / has aggressive tendencies toward children. Might be a start. Good luck.

Talk to a trainer and also your vet. And never leave your baby and dog alone together, though it seems like you are already doing that. My older dog, a Jack Russel, also growls at my 4 year old, kinda gives her a warning to "leave me alone".

I hope it works out. It would be a horrible thing to have to get rid of your dog, especially when she's been with you almost her whole life and she is a senior now, making her difficult to adopt out.

I would tread very carefully. I'm kind of old school though where if a dog shows agression towards the kids it's not a good fit, and that's that. Perhaps a professional dog trainer would be in order, especially with a dog of that size. I've known many sweet rottie, but I also have never owned one with children, and it's size alone would scare the heck out of me. My family had an air dale when Iwas a kid. Good sized, probably 50-60lbs., anyhow it was great with us kids. We brought home a kitten, and she was not happy. She would always growl when it would go by her food. Well one day, she'd had enough and she snapped it's neck while all three of us witnessed this. POint is my sister was two at the time. That could have been her hand or face, or any of us for that matter. My mother had a heck of a time trying to get the poor cat away from the dog. Dogs can get very territorial, especially over their food. Good luck with your decision.

Hi C., I'm not a dog trainer or specialist, but I do volunteer extensively with a rescue organization and have sent 2 dogs through month long training programs at a spectacular facility in Chicago called K9 University. When your dogs go through training there they require you to read a book called "Leader of The Pack" - a fantastically helpful book that helps the owner understand how and why their dogs behave the way they do. Your dog doesn't growl at you when you're near her food bowl because she understands that you are the Alpha in the house. However, she sees your son as another pup and probably views herself as an equal to your son. In a pack, that means they would eat at the same time, and have to fight a little to make sure they got as much food as they needed....translated to a domestic dog, that means she thinks your son might be trying to get some of that food for himself! Food is the number one trigger for any dog to become aggressive - I completely circumvented this problem at my house my puuting the dogs food bowl in the laundry room and making it the one room in the house my son isn't allowed to go into (I also keep the kitty litter box in there too). We've reinforced this with him since he first learned to crawl and he's awesome about sticking to it. If there's any way you can do something similar, I'd highly recommend it. The bottom line is that any dog, even the most loving & sweet, can be provoked to biting and children can get them there pretty quickly albeit unintentionally. As far as the growling when your son falls on her or grabs fists of fur....my son did this too. My best advice on this issue is to buy the book "Pat Them Gently" and read it to your son a few times a day, while demonstrating how to give your dog "nice pets". We made such a big deal when our son pet our dog nicely, or when he hugged her, that he started doing it purposefully and often just to hear the collective "Awwwwww" in the room. A professional trainer would say to never leave your son unattended with a dog....as a mom, I know the impossibility of that advice. There are always moments where you have to turn your back or walk a few steps away or direct your attention elsewhere. My advice would be to either get your dog or your son to follow you when that has to happen. My dog follows me everywhere, so luckily I never have the problem of her being with my son alone. Hope this helps! have a great day...

There are pet behavior people that can help you. www.Narniapets.com They are near you.

C. - I have an 9 year old Rotty and have three girls, the youngest at 18 months. This is a pack issue witht eh dog feeling that he is higher in the pecking order than the baby. My dog has exhibited similar behavior to my girls over the years, but also loves that even the baby can throw him a ball and play. Like people, some times dogs just want to be left alone and the growling (grumbling) is just a way to warn. Be careful, but ask your vet for recomendations on a good training who has experience with older dogs. I would also look for a trainer that is willing to come and evaluate the dog at your home and see how he is interacting with all members of your household. Training is the key and you should not need to get rid of your first "baby". Good Luck!

That's tough! I had an issue when my now 2 1/2 first starting crawling... apparently one of our lab mixes didn't like her new mobility and "warned" her, which ended up in a precautionary trip to the ER to clean the puncture by her eye. We called Narnia Pet Training from Naperville (http://www.narniapets.com/) to come to our home and work with us and the dog to learn how to have the "kids" co-exist together. They were great and we didn't have a problem again! Good luck!

We went through this with a 6 year old lab. I was ready to get rid of the dog (even though she was mine originally), but my husband couldn't do it. So we compromised and called Bark Busters. They are expensive, but they work. It's in home dog training and they guarantee their services for the life of the dog. Any time our lab has a little relapse on some training issues, we call our rep (Connie) and she comes out and works with us again. My husband is not a man that would spend a lot of money on anything, so the fact that we hired Bark Busters speaks VOLUMES! You can find them on the web at www.barkbusters.com and then it will direct you to the closest rep. Ours is Connie Pinkerton and she's great.

You may want to take the dog to some training, or have a consultation w/ a pet psychiatrist. I know that sounds crazy! But, we took our dog to training in Elburn, IL by a lady named Kay & the whole time we were in training she would share stories similar to yours & would tell how she went to the house & helped the problem. One thing that does stick out, is that she said if the dog behaves normal when the kid comes around & you yell at it, it associates being yelled at to the kid & will become aggressive, so maybe watch what you say to the dog around your son. With our dog (who is very nonagressive) when our son would crawl on her, she'd look at us & we'd say "if he bugs you, stand up & walk away", or we would call her to us, as if to say it's okay to get up. He would get knocked down (never hard -- we were always right there), but it has taught both of them that they have space that needs to be respected. As far as the food aggression -- maybe have your son give your dog a treat, then praise the dog for being so good. Those are just ideas...really though, I'd seriously think about the pet psychiatrist. If you want her number, send me a message & I'll try to dig it out!

my step daughter was biten by a dog just like the one you described, on her face. she was 13 or 14. the vet told us that as dogs age their eye sight/hearing might be going. so if she can not see or hear your son she is in protective mood for herself. i would suggest making a trip to the vet and having her looked over very well. if she continues this behavior i would opt for getting her a new home. my animals are all part of the family so i know how painful that option might be but if the dog does get ahold of your baby animal control may take her and put her down. thats what happened with the dog that bit my girl. the dog was 4-5 years old very loving but in a 2 day time she bit my stepdaughter and a little boy walking down the street. they quarintined the animal but then he turned on the family. i hope that things work out for the best for you and the dog.

Some dogs do not adjust well to a new addition to the family and it sounds like your dog is having a difficult time. When your son was a baby he didn't bother the dog so the dog probably didn't mind him but now that your son is walking around and being playful the dog may be getting jealous and territorial. This is a hard one.....but if it continues I would consider giving the dog to a family with no children or try to have your dog trained to deal with your son (if that is possible). Your son's safety is the most important thing.

Hi C.,

We have a 5 year old Chow Chow. Our dog is a good boy but he had some learning to do when our daughter came home. Dogs think in terms of pecking order in the pack. When your dog growls at your baby, she is indicating she thinks she a higher position in the pack than the baby does. When she growls she thinks he ought to understand she is warning him to stop the irritating behavior. Then the next step may be a nip or an actual bite. The dog should not growl at the baby because the dog should not think it has any authority over the child. The dog has to be trained to understand she's the lowest member of the pack, and to either come to you when she's being annoyed or just walk away. The methods my husband used started when our dog was still a puppy before our daughter was born, and our dog still needed some correction as our daughter aged. Given your dog's age, I really agree with the other women who suggested a trainer might help. (We dealt a lot with this issue in my house.) It seems like you've done a good job with her and hopefully she just needs a bit more little correction.

We have a big dog too so I know how you feel. I just wanted to say that I remember learning that excessive licking is usually the dog's way of 'gently' refusing the situation. When the neighborhood kids come into our yard to pet our dog he licks them, a lot, because he is very uncomfortable with them all around him. Best.