New Dog in the House.

Updated on September 12, 2010
J.G. asks from Greenwood Lake, NY
11 answers

Hi everyone. My dog, funny enough, isn't the problem. My son, who is now almost 2 1/2 is finally talking and his terrible two's are coming to an end. He sees my husband play rough with our new dog, We adopted him about 2 months ago from a shelter in Nyack, NY. I am even in touch with the previous owner who had to surrender him because he lost his job. Either way he is a great dog. Not a fan of un-neutered males, but we were told that at the shelter. Anyway, my son is a dog tormentor. Since he watches my husband play rough with him sometimes he thinks it's ok to do so with the dog as well. This dog is very tolerant of him for the most part but I think his patience is wearing thin. (mine is just watching it). I should also mention that my dog is an 80 lbs pit bull/boxer mix. He pulls his ears, crawls over him, tries to poke at his "weenie" as he has now discovered that the dog has the same thing he does. :) He runs his big trucks and cars into the dog and I am exhausted of yelling at him constantly about it. If he starts with the trucks I simply take them away. But I don't know what to do to get it through his thick head that he can't be like that with him. We have a cat too that he is so gentle with. I keep telling my husband not to play rough around the my 2 yr old and he doesn't anymore. I NEVER leave them alone in the same room. I don't trust my son! Any tips on how to get it through his thick, adorable, little skull on how to treat the dog kindly? Sorry about the rambling guys.

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So What Happened?

Thank you for all the advice. I have already actually put all of these into play. He is ALWAYS supervised around the dog. If he starts to run his toys into him I take them away. I nicely tell him to be gentle with the dog. Just this morning we were all in bed together (myself, husband, daughter, son and the dog) and he was hugging him and petting him. So I told him that is how you treat Brody and that's a good boy. He knows. He was VERY gentle with him when we brought him home. My husband knows it's his fault. For the most part he's stopped but will play rough with him if the Ryan is sleeping. But you tell the dog no and he stops. The dog even put one of his toys in his mouth the other day when my husband started with him just so he wouldn't be tempted to bite. He is a 3 1/2 yr old neutered dog. He was neutered when we got him as that was one of my conditions. I know it's just constant reminders of gentle play and niceness but I just wish the idea would sink in already.

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L.L.

answers from New York on

I think I adopted a dog from that same shelter about 5 years ago...the same type of dog also..although the dog we had adopted was NOT good with children or any other kind of animal and the shelter had not informed us of this, so we had to find out the hard way. We had to have him put to sleep the day we brought our newborn son home from the hospital because Spike (the dog) literally tried to snatch him from my arms and eat him for lunch. Luckily my son wasn't harmed.

Your priority needs to be your son, not the dog. Your husband is setting a bad example obviously. Have you asked him to please play nice with the dog so that your son will replicate the behavior?

I would be very careful with those kinds of dogs. Even though he seems tolerant of your son torturing him, they can snap at any minute. Dogs are animals, not people. So many seem to forget that when owning the family pet.

Lynsey

2 moms found this helpful
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N.D.

answers from New York on

He probably doesnt realize how it feels. Children this age do NOT understand the word gentle. This is why they hit and bite. My grand daughter started to annoy and maul my dog and I repeatedly told her to stop. One day she was pulling the dogs ears and I pulled her ears. Not hard, but enough to bother her, then I poked at her eyes, she backed up, then I grabbed her butt and wiggled it back and forth. By now she was upset, which was my intent. I then asked her how she felt, how she enjoyed what I just did. She said no no stop it! I said thats how Ginger feels, but Ginger cant say stop. Do you want Ginger to feel bad? She said no and was very gentle from then on. If she began to get rough I would ask if she wanted me to do that to her.
Your son needs to know how it feels when he mauls the dog. If he runs a trunk into the dog, run one into him. You dont have to hurt him, but make sure its uncomfortable.

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T.F.

answers from New York on

This is good for me to think about too, as my baby loves dogs. Eventually, we'll get one, too. As soon as your son hits, or runs into the dog with his truck, say no and remove your son from the room. Put him alone in another (safe) room for 2 minutes with no toys. After 2 minutes (use a timer) bring him to the dog with you and pet the dog, model how to be gentle. Let him try again. Do this EVERY time your son does something inappropriate. Even if you get tired of it. He's not thick, he's just 2 1/2. 2 1/2 year olds need a lot of repetition. DON'T let him see your husband wrestling with the dog, because that is a confusing message for your son. Don't blame the dog if he gets tired of all this wrestling and bites someone. You are also teaching the dog it's ok to be this way.

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B.O.

answers from Portland on

I have had several large breed dogs, and never allowed anyone to play rough with them. They don't need it to be healthy and active. There are lots of other things you can teach a dog with the time that is wasted with unnecessary rough play. It encourages that behavior with other animals and small children. I would think that your dilemma is really simple, which is monkey see monkey do. Your son is at an age where you can't reason with him on why your model this behavior but he can't mimic it. The answer is simple, only model gentle interactions with the dog.

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N.B.

answers from Jamestown on

Children learn by example. You need to show him how to play with the dog nicely and gentle. Dogs are not supposed to be played with rough...at least that's what my dog trainer told me. They get out of hand and someone gets hurt...usually the human.

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M.B.

answers from Rochester on

J.,
I am SO going through this - for the past 2 years, ever since my son became mobile.

What little I have done is to constantly remind him that we use gentle touches on everyone, everything, all the time and everywhere. Constantly.

I also try to de-emphasize (as in not recognize, just move him away from what he is doing and immediately redirect.)

We have gates in our house (and now that I know they are only helping me, not him, I have also wanted them out for the past 2 years!) and I primarily use them to separate the boy/dog. Gates don't help him learn. They just make him want to do it more.

I am looking forward to finding out what other people have done to alleviate or avoid this problem. I strongly suspect it really begins when a baby is tiny, sort of around 6 months, and just conditioning baby to using gentle touches, and not allowing them the freedom of hitting/pulling, etc. Not being my baby's sole care provider, I wasn't able to do this 100%. We'll see with baby #2!

Good luck,
M.

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C.D.

answers from New York on

I think your husband is the problm threaten to take the dog back. i think there is only so much the dog can take i wouldnt trust the dog they become aggrressive dont leave them alone.

K.I.

answers from Spokane on

Consistent reminders...all day long! As you keep your constant eye on him and the dog take every opportunity to remind him of what not to do as well as what is appropriate touching/loving behavior...positive reinforcement of what he is doing right!

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S.S.

answers from Binghamton on

I wonder how positive reinforcement would work. Perhaps if you showed him what to do with the dog and left out what not to do his behaviour might change. Could your son get involved brushing the dog's coat, or providing treats as you teach the dog tricks so that he has a whole range of other activities to do with the dog that don't involve hurting him?
Sounds like you got a great dog, very patient and sweet. Aren't they a wonderful addition to a family?

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Daddy should be able to play rough with the dog. He is an adult and your son is the child which means he can;t do everything daddy does, he needs to be taught that. The only way for him to treat the dog nicely is to be taught that as well. I run a home daycare and i have a 2 year old mixed lab, and we now have a 10 week old poodle/Dachsan, and I have an 18 month old, a 4 year old a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 month and 7 month old, and the only ones that pull on the ears are the 2 baby's the others know how to treat the dogs, and none of them have pets in their home, except the 4 year old she has a rabbit. Your dog is part pitbull, they are unpreditable, it's only going to take one time for your dog to defend itself, one of my friends had a pit bull and her 2 little boys were always mean to it and it bit the youngest in the face twice, and her dog was so sweet and gentle, but one day just had enough, work with your son, like children have the right to be safe in their home, so do pets. they may turn out to be the best of friends. J.

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J.C.

answers from Sacramento on

Mom, go to the library and get some children's books asap on this topic and bring your son with to help pick them out. I imagine there are some good children picture books, ask the librarian. I would just keep reminding your son daily when interacting with the dog always to "use gentle hands with ...(dogs name)" and "be nice". I agree with what your are doing and would not leave your son unattended with the dog for at least a yr . ALso pls consider getting the dog neutered asap assuming it is at least 6 mo. old, it is the most responsible thing to do since the world already has too many dogs and cats as u can see at any shelter. Neutering your dog will also calm him down. I would also start taking the dog on daily walks with your son helping so he knows how to start caring for the dog and they will bond more. Hope this helps Mom, thanks for saving a dog's life.

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