Daschund Dilemma

I come from a family of dachshund lovers--we've had them; we know breeders; we've been advised that they are NOT good with small children.

Don't worry--dachshunds are in high demand, so if you bring him to a humane society or rescue, they should be able to find him a good and more suitable home quite quickly.

You have had a very unusual experience with daschunds!

They are very possessive little dogs. I stayed in a family with daschunds as a teen and was nipped at constantly. It was one of the reasons I decided to go home early. it was stressful, to say the least.

If it were me, I'd re-home the dog. It is not worth the stress and anxiety of having a dog which nips at the little one. They are hunting dogs, and any dog which can face down a badger is likely pretty darn tenacious. Plus, it may be possessive of you, so that could prove problematic as well.

Fyi, I've been around dachshunds my whole life. These things happen... most love kids, some don't. We had one slightly nippy dachshund growing up, and my mom just told us to stay away from her, which isn't helpful. I would talk to a trainer... it will be money well spent and you'll be happy you did it! Fyi, most dachshunds love kids, and this one will with time. The only slight problem I see is punishing puppy for so long, as they quickly forget why they are being punished. Just talk to a trainer, they will help!

Forget about what other daschunds you've known are like with children - every dog is an individual & needs to be monitored & treated as such.

Your son was an infant when you brought your dog home, & your dog was just a pup. This is actually the most likely reason you are having issues - dogs grow up & develop their personalities, and infants grow up to be annoying toddlers that intrude on a dogs personal space.

Your son may be as sweet as peaches, but if he is approaching the dog in a way that makes your dog feel "cornered" then there are going to be nips, as a warning for your son to back off.

I have worked with families who had dogs with behavior issues that they were able to overcome, by adjusting the reprimand to the dog. And another family had to surrender a dog back to me because there was no way to improve the situation in order to allow the dog to have a level of comfort in the home.

There are too many variables in your situation for anyone on this board to advise you on what to do. We can't see the layout of your home, the nuances of the interaction between your son & the dog, the effect that your current reprimand has on the dog.

At this point, you are faced with two options, with the understanding that it may lead to only one option, for the safety of your child & the well-being of the dog:

1. Hire a canine behavior therapist to come to your home & evaluate your situation, helping with training, boundaries and behaviors in this situation. This is not the same thing as going to obedience classes! They need to come into your home & see the situations as they naturally occur, in order to properly evaluate & advise.

2. Contact your breeder to return the dog & allow him to be placed in a home that will be more suitable. If you did not get your dog from a true breeder, you can contact Daschund rescue. Here are links for NC & Nat'l rescue. These organizations may also be able to provide you with resources for a behaviorist.

NC Rescue
http://www.almosthomerescue.org

Nat'l
http://www.drna.org

I agree with you 100% that bringing a dog into your home is a life-time committment. But just because you pick out one dog at one time, doesn't mean that it is the right dog for your family now. And as a breeder, I would much rather have a dog come back to me with an opportunity to be placed into a well-suited lifetime home, than have a family wait until it's too late, & bad things have happened, to the point where the dog has issues that make it difficult to find a good home, and have caused ongoing reaction issues in the dog.

Don't feel guilty if the right thing to do is to rehome the dog. He may be well suited for a family of older children, or a great companion to an older couple or single person.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me privately.

T. (RR breeder 13 years)

Doxies are the not the best breed for small kids, but I also have to wonder how much training your dog has had up until now and what the expectations have been as far as his behavior. I see too many people these days with no idea how to train their dogs and some of these dogs are really very poorly behaved - in a sense, they have no manners whatsoever and/or have not been taught to tolerate a reasonable amount of handling. Speaking in a disapproving tone and crating the dog teaches him nothing. It has nothing to do with your dog "disliking" your child - more likely he feels his space is being invaded or he finds your son threatening in some way, regardless of how gentle he may appear. Dogs think and react like dogs, not like people, so be careful not to project human emotions or qualities onto your pet. I would recommend you speak with your veterinarian and try to find a dog trainer or behavior specialist that will work with you and teach you how to manage the situation before it escalates out of control, your son gets badly injured or you feel have no choice but to find another home for the dog.

Your options are to
1. Find the dog a home without children. This is the safest route and likely the happiest for the dog. You NEED to make sure anyone who adopts the dog KNOWS he will bite.

2. Keep them separated at ALL times AND work with a behaviorist (get a referral from your DVM) on his aggression. If he is not neutered get him neutered right away - this will help but will NOT resolve the problem without work. There will NEVER be a guarantee that your pup will not bite.

3. Do nothing. BAD option. Even a small dog can take out an eye or permanently scar a child's face.

You acknowledge something bad is going to happen...what in the world are you thinking? Your dog can not be uncrated near your child, ever! The dog has to go!!!

Your son may be gentle, but it sounds like the dog is still not happy about it. I would stop play for between the two. Find a good trainer that is local or behaviorist (I know there is at least one in Raleigh area). Also a vet check may be in order to make sure there is nothing that is painful on the pup. If your son has been rough a few times, the dog may be afraid it is going to happen again and nip to send him away first. An hour is a long time out. I would keep the two separate if this is happening until you have talked to a professional. You are right one nip could be a bite that causes a lot of damage- better safe here than sorry. If the dog is from a breeder I would be talking to the breeder too.

To assume that every dog that's ever been part of a family MUST remain part of that family, no matter what, is just too narrow a view. Even human family members who habitually hurt another family member, for any reason, would be restrained or removed, eventually.

Dogs sometimes develop habits, quirks, or patterns that indicate they don't fit well, possibly as a family changes. If the poor fit creates a danger for others, especially young children, there is no sane reason to give a dog greater rights to freedom in our homes than we would grant a person who causes harm.

Please consider finding a new home for this puppy. He'll probably be happier, and your son will be safer. A dog bite can instantly disfigure a face for life.

You need to hire a good dog trainer. Your dog sees your son as a litter-mate, not as a member of the pack who is higher up than he himself is. Your dog needs to understand that he is the lowest dog in the pack and that your son is not a litter-mate. When we first got our puppy, he would occasionally growl at our youngest daughter. We hired a dog trainer to come to our house and help us, and she helped us learn techniques to train our puppy. He no longer growls at anyone in our house, and has very nice manners. It has been money well-spent.

Your dog is afraid of your child and is getting punished for it. No wonder the poor baby is nipping at him.

You need to keep your child away from the dog. He has probably accidentally hurt the dog and now to protect himself he nips to make your kiddo go away. So YOU have to keep them separate.

I think you might want to find a less volatile home for the dog. A 16 month is not a good fit for any animal. They will do better when they're older but right now the kiddo would do better with a stuffed animal they can't hurt.

Your dog is not being mean, he is afraid and that is the only way he knows how to express that fear. I would see about talking with a trainer, but I would also keep the dog and child away from each other.

i love doxies, but i've never known one who was really good around small children. doxies, especially minis, are very small and easily injured by big clumsy humans, and to them, that's what your toddler is. it's fear, not meanness, that is causing your little dog to protect her space. she's doing the best she can.
i would keep the two of them completely separated, at least until your child is a couple of years older and might be more amenable to learning how to approach the quietly. but the worry about my kid getting bitten would outweigh the rest. i totally agree about commitment to an animal, but sometimes that commitment comes in the form of making sure they've got the right forever home. we should never adopt and discard casually, but we should also be realistic when it's not working out.
khairete
S.

Every daschund I have been around hasn't been very friendly to kids (ours included). My hubby has a scar on his face from the one they had growing up, and while our dog knows that we are in charge he doesn't see our son as his superior and will growl or nip at him. As a result, they are never together. The dog is put in another room or outside when the baby is around except for super closely supervised visits since our son absolutely adores him. I love our dog, but if I had a good child free home for him to go to I think he would be much happier.

I would start with taking the dog to training classes. Untrained dogs don't know what is expected of them. When you train your dog they become more confident and less anxious and likely to nip or jump or exhibit inappropriate behaviors. A lot of undesirable and inappropriate behaviors will likely just disappear with good training.

Find a local trainer. A professional. Not someone who works out of Petco or Petsmart, but someone who has a training facility and a guarantee that you can bring the dog back to class as many times as you need if you don't feel like the first set of sessions did the trick.

After a full basic training course, sign up for the intermediate class.

If your dog's response to play don't improve after that, I suggest you get in contact with an animal behaviorist.

I would retrain the dog and show your son how to approach the dog. My dog (also named Milo) is a pap/pom mix. When the kids come up from behind or on the side he'll startle and try to nip. Not good since I have grandkids ranging from 11 yrs to 19 months. I found that by putting him in a sit/stay beside me he won't nip because he is more alert to his surroundings. If he is laying in his dog bed then I keep the kids away from him.

I had a little trouble when my youngest granddaughter started to crawl because Milo hasn't been around children that young. I'd crate him when she was over. Once she started walking she had the job of feeding Milo. That way she was more of a top dog than he was.

You can do it as long as you remember that Milo is a dog and needs to be lower on the list of important creatures in your house. Train your son to be a pack leader instead of Milo's friend. Until that happens Milo will see your son as his equal and will continue to nip.

I would consider a dog trainer and keeping the dog and kid apart til your kid can learn to be gentle. Your dog may truly not like your kid or what you think is not rough is not what the dog wants to deal with. My aunt's doxie heads for the hills when the little kids are around, because she's so much smaller than the Boston Terrier and even "gentle" kids can be ham fisted. But she likes people in general.

I think a good trainer will be able to give you tips for household peace. Honestly, if interactions with your son = crating for an hour, the dog may further associate your child with things it doesn't like. What about getting your son involved with the dog in positive ways? Going for a walk? Feeding? Giving treats?

Also, is the dog nipping to hurt or nipping to play? Our cats will bat at DD and sometimes it's "go away" and sometimes it's "hey, your hair looks fun". Did you play with the dog as a puppy with your hands and inadvertently encourage biting?

My stepson's dog once bit him on the ear in play. SS was told not to put his face near the dog and did it anyway, knowing it was a trigger. Since the dog was not vicious and SS was the stupid one, they kept the dog for many years after that. I think this is something you can work through.

I agree with all of the others, especially the breeder and the vet, who responded about consulting a professional trainer. In the meantime, I would stop reprimanding him and punishing him for the nipping. I have a mini poodle with resource guarding issues and have worked with a professional trainer. According to my trainer, reprimanding doesn't work with aggression and can make the problem worse. If the dog thinks they are being reprimanded for nipping or growling and that is bad then they might respond by skipping the nipping/growling and just going straight for the bite. Do you have baby gates or something to keep the two separated for now unless there is constant supervision? My trainer also suggested keeping a small leash on the dog to drag (but not left alone for safety reasons) as a way to have some control and remove the dog if necessary. No matter what kind of dog you have, dogs and small children need constant supervision when together. My kids grew up with Jack Russell Terriers and I never left kids and dogs alone together until they were much older. And sadly, some dogs just can't live with children. My kids are teenagers and the situation with my poodle has so far been manageable, but we would have had to have found him a new home if our children were still little. Best wishes!

I agree that you need to have the dog professionally trained. IMHO, the dog acts like that because he is afraid of your son. The dog is very small; he watches your son be active, run around, do what most toddler do (climb, run, jump, fall) and for a dog that small, it's very scary.

Sometimes little humans just freak animals out. We have 3 cats, 2 indoor and 1 outdoor. I also have a 7 year old and a 16 month old. Generally speaking the cats are super affectionate, they defiantly have their favorite person. When it comes to the kids they get skittish and stand offish at times. One's a chicken and bolts if my 7y/o moves to fast in his general direction, then other will "thump" her in the ankles/legs if she's too "stompy" around him. Thankfully he's declawed and can't hurt her and we remind her that it's actually her fault. We have a narrow hallway, the last time she got "thumped" was last night. Instead of just ignoring him and just walking past, she was being a goon and "hopped" over him...3 times. She can pet and hold them both, they come to her and sit on her lap, but she has to be still and move carefully or else they freak out.

As for the baby, I have to hold the cats still and guide his hands along their backs and sides. Forget them letting touch them at any other time. His movements are just too spastic and sudden. Not to mentions he has a tendency to grab/pull/pat too hard and shriek in excitement just like any toddler. I've even seen them sneak up on him when he's lot looking and headbutt him in the foot or back, but if he turns and reaches for them they're gone.

You can try a trainer, you can try holding the dog and guiding your little one's hands or you can keep them separate.

I agree with Gamma 100%. Dogs this small are not good in families with little children. A misstep or inadvertent squeeze can break little bones in the blink of an eye. Dogs know it.

I had a miniature dachshund, and even when she was older, 8 or 9 ish, she would still nip when she wanted to play. It might just be their nature. She has never acutally "bitten" anyone, but she did nip a lot. She has since passed away, and for some strange reason, we got another one, this one was 3 months when we got her, and she will nip when she wants to play, and she will nip me a little more aggressively when she wants me to take her out.

the only thing I can think of, is maybe when he nips a tap on the nose might get his attention. not hard, just a quick tap.

We have a dachsund mix. She's 11 and is amazing with all 3 of our kids, always has been. I would invest in a dog trainer. I know it's alot of money but as you said, a dog is a lifetime commitment and is worth your investment - time and money. That said, of course your number one priority is your child OF COURSE. So yes, nipping could be a big problem. And not to mention if you have friends over. PS I do not think crating is the answer BTW. If jealousy/resentment is causing the nipping this is going to cause the dog to associate your child with being punished in his crate. Not that it is logical, but again that is how a dog may think.

Please I urge you to reach out to a local trainer.

OH no, so sorry you are experiencing this. We are getting ready to get a puppy for my autistic child, we are going to train it to be a service dog. One breed i suggested to my trainer was the Daschund because they were small enough for my child and it could be more of a lap dog (she needs more of an emotional support service dog) and this was the one breed that she said WILL NOT WORK WITH SMALL KIDS! This breed and chihuahua's are not good with small kiddos. Not sure what you can do? Maybe contact a local dog trainer and get some tips? I agree, i would be afraid of one day the dog actually biting my child in the face and causing some major skin break. At that point, I would have to say that the dog has to go. I mean, i love dogs but i am not willing to put my child in harms way. My child is more important to me than a dog is and I need to get them safe! Good luck!

Someone may have mentioned this already since I didn't read all the responses. However, is the dog neutered? If not, that would help with the aggression tremendously.
Sounds like the dog is being territorial over you. This could be a big problem. He needs to see your son as a "master" and not another rival or playmate.
The dog doesn't understand that being crated is a punishment, either. This is a dog, not a human being. You should see a dog behavior specialist.