My dog just bit my son, how do I prevent this from happening again?

Question

He tryed to take away her bone and it may have been an accident, what should I do to teach the dog that biting is wrong no matter what?

She's never done this before.

Answer 1

Punish the dog. Let her know it's not ok to bite your son for any reason. If she attempts to do it again, get rid of her.

Answer 2

As a child I was taught to never go near dogs when they were eating or try to take their bones away from them. I think this is a good rule to have for children in general, regardless of the temperament of the dog.

One of the things we did when temperament testing shelter dogs was to see if they showed any signs of resource guarding- which it sounds like your dog was doing. When a dog views something like a bone or pig ear as valuable and don’t want you to take it away they may react by growling or snapping. This issue can be worked on by teaching the dog the “leave it” command or that he will get something even better if he gives it up. There are many website that can give you advice on resource guarding, such as http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/RG.html . If you are a bit nervous or uncomfortable approaching this issue on your own I would suggest talking to a trainer or behaviorist to help walk you through it.

Answer 3

For a start if your child does not understand that you go no where near a dogs food then you should be more observant.If it was an older child wishing to make a statement to the dog and depending on how bad the bite,if it was a scratch then the dog was giving a warning therefor she should be shown biting is not tollerated if it was a worse injury i would remove the dog from the house.I am a great dog lover and have 2 of my own but also have kids but if my dogs ever bit my kids the dogs go.I think you really have prioritise.Best of luck

Answer 4

you need to train BOTH the dog and the child to respect each other. Like you said....it could very well have been an accident...the dog just trying to get his bone back and biting at it to get a grip and your childs fingers got in the way. Tell you child to leave the dog alone when he eats. You may need to get a trainer for the dog to teach it that even if you take food from his mouth that he is not allowed to bite or act aggressively.

Answer 5

IMHO you'll first want to find out WHY it happened. If your dog has never exhibited this kind of behavior before, what has changed in his/her environment? Has your son tried to take a bone away from the dog before? If yes, what was different about it this time? How long have you had the dog? Is your son very young or...? Perhaps he provoked the dog in some way? If you believe it was accident, it's not likely to happen again.

With the exception of a couple of breeds, dogs usually don't turn on their owners out of the blue. That holds true even if you've never trained or had your dog trained specifically not to bite.

-Chrystaille

Answer 6

One thing I absolutely will not tolerate is a dog being possessive of it's food/toys/bones/etc.
The easy way to resolve this issue is with the dogs food dish. Every time the dog is fed, they must waite for permission after their dish is placed on the floor. Then as they are eating I put my hand right in their food and mix it up, one little sign of aggression, the dish gets picked up. 15 minutes later go through the whole process again.
AFTER the problem is resolved at the food dish THEN the same lesson can be applied to toys, rawhide, bones, toys and the like.

Answer 7

Your dog is obviously not suited to a household with small children...unfortunately your dog has probably now learned that if she nips at that annoying child, it will let go of its bone (or food, or toy, or anything the dog sees as theirs). You have learned the sad lesson of having a child after having your dog, it cannot work. It is best to let the dog go and live with another friend or family member until your child is older...right now the dog sees the child as a peer, not an authority figure, and it will treat your child as it would a puppy. Not the dog's fault, not your fault, not the kid's fault...but you can never trust the dog with the child. Please spare the dog and your son the pain of a real mauling and let the dog stay with someone for awhile!

Answer 8

My dog used to do that when my sister was born. It turned out that something was wrong with him. There was something wrong with his brain or something, and he just got deranged and started biting people all the time. (we had to put him down) You just never know if the same thing or even worse is happening to your dog.

I would take him to the vet to see if somethings wrong. If there is 1) fix it, or 2) just put it down.

If nothing is wrong with him, you can go to a pet store or something to have him trained better, or you can buy a book or read up online about how to help this problem.

But if I was you, I would just get rid of the dog. Nothing is worth putting your child in danger. You don't know if the next time around, the bite can cause an infection.

Hope that helps!

Answer 9

Its better to teach your son not to take away the dogs bone. It's a natural reaction for a dog when someone steals her food.

Answer 10

You should firmly hit her on the top of her nose. Not too hard, don't punch her or anything, but make it firm. This is where the dog is most sensitive, and she will get the idea that it is bad to bite. However, if she begins to consistently bite, you should get rid of her, and get a more gentle dog. (she probably is gentle, some dogs just have those moments. but you do need to be careful that this does not become consistent behavior. hope the nose thing helps.)

Answer 11

Both of them need to be taught. Your son needs to be taught not to mess with the dog when it has food. And the dog needs to be taught not to bite. You can't teach a dog to never bite.