Our perfect loving dog, just acted agressive towards a child, why and what should we do?

Question

He tried to bite a 5 year old visitor. We were at a beach house, and the dog had been with kids all day. The dog was sleeping (exhausted) and when the kid was touching his ears he tried to bite, only grabbed his jacket, thank God!
He's a 3 yr old black-lab (retriever mix)

Answer 1

We need more details...how old the child..did dog snap or growl, how old is the dog..what breed is the dog...What actually happened.
I will check back to see if you left details..

ADD...Dogs are Super accurate with their bites...notice how they can pick a fly out of the air??? If they only nip, that is exactly what they intended, if they break the skin..it is their purpose, if they just scratch the skin or make a big wound, that is exactly what was intended..etc..
He didn't try to bite, or he would have..he was just warning the child..that is all he intended to do..Just keep children away from him when he is tired, or be vigilant when children are near...
REALLY..if he wanted to bite the child, he wouldn't have just bit the jacket..

a dogs mouth is their hands, so they are very much in control..they can even get a flea with their mouths..

Answer 2

It sounds as though your dog was so exhausted that to have a young child touching him was just too much..Dogs don't always like having their ears touched,and if your dog could talk he probably would have said"Don't touch me I'm tired right now",.I don't think you have a serious problem with your dog,if you combine together all what happened you already have your answer..1 Your dog was exhausted..2 The dog had been around kids all day and had probably had enough of them..3 Not all dogs are happy having their ears touched..So next time you go to the beach house just keep an eye on your dog if theres children around.

Answer 3

There are three kinds of dog aggession. The first is fear aggression. If the dog is afraid of the child, it will defend itself. This is especially true of small dogs. Even a toddler is BIG to a little dog. Your dog, even though it is wonderful to you, may not be a good friend for a child. If it is fear aggression, keep your dog away from children.

The second kind of aggression is territorial. The dog may think it is protecting its territory (you, your house, your yard) from an invader. In this case, it will take time, but you MUST keep the child safe from this dog!

The third kind of aggression is status. A dog has a status - top dog, middle dog, low dog, whatever. If you are the boss, the dog may be low dog to you, but when it sees this little kid it thinks,'Great. I can be BIG DOG to this little runt") and tries to establish itself as higher in the dog pile.

Every dog that is part of a home should be LOW DOG, that means lower than every human in the household. You have to teach kids how to be "higher" than a dog! and you have to make sure the dog does not try to assert itself.

You didn't say if this was your own child, or a visiting child. PLEASE remember that some dogs are no good with kids, period.

Answer 4

Children can be a very dangerous addition to an animal's environment and vice versa. Not because the dog is a bad dog or the child is out of control, but because the child doesn't always understand the respect a dog needs in it's own space.

Your good dog is still a good dog. It's possible that in the child's effort to play with the dog he/she hurt it or stepped too close in its space.

Children and dogs can be the best of friends. If the child wasn't yours then its probably just a case of an unfamiliar human to the dog. If the child was yours then they should be supervised at all times with the animal.

On the other side of the coin - parents should ALWAYS teach their children NEVER to approach a strange animal, even when leashed to the owner. You can never tell when the dog will feel the need to protect. Dog's don't always understand what's going on and instinct will take over. If this child's mother or father chastised you for it - make sure they understand that it's their responsibility to teach their children about other animals - and you will do your best to keep the dog leashed to you around strange people.

Bottom line - don't worry.

Answer 5

Children can be misbehaved and cruel around dogs, don´t blame the dog unless you have made sure that the child did not hit, pinch, step on him etc. Has the child ever been around your dog before, like alone and maybe the child mistreated the dog without you knowing and when the dog saw the child again he reacted.

Your dog could also be sick or hurt somewhere and his pain is causing him to be aggressive against strangers or children.

Dogs are dogs but children also need to learn respect and the consequence of their actions. If they have no respect towards animals and the animal suffers the consequence this is just simply BAD parenting and you are being unfair not only to the dog but to the abusive disrespectfull child as well.

Try to find more about the situation before taking any action.

Answer 6

Dog is asleep ---- kid grabs at his ears --- dog reacts defensively.

What in the world did you expect???!!!!!

Children should never be allowed to go around approaching dogs that don't know them well by scent or sight. If fact, no one should approach a strange animal with alerting the animal to their presence so the animal does not instinctively repsond defensively out of surprise.

If you were asleep and someone you didn't know (unfamilar smell to a dog asleep) came up and started handling your ears what would you do???

When I was about 3, my mother's Boston was asleep on the bed at my grandparents. I'm told that I climbed up on the bed and then bumped my forehead hard on the top of the dog's head. He was startled awake and instinctively snapped and bit my upper lip. My grandmother's response (correctly) was that I deserved it since I had no business doing that to the dog - and what would I do if someone had done that to me when I was asleep.

Keep your visitor's kids under control. Don't blame the dog - he is not a stuffed toy for every passing rug rat. Like people animals have their personal space.

The dog is fine. It is the kid who needs training.

Answer 7

The dog was in a strange environment. The dog was exhausted. I am sure he had his share of kids for the day. WHY did the kid bother the dog's ears while he was sleeping?The kid should know better and should not have done that.

The dog is three years old and has never shown this type of behavior before? I wouldn't worry about it unless it happened again. I would be willing to bet that it won't. I get so tired of people blaming dogs for bad behavior when the blame should go to the child. I love dogs and kids. But, teach your children how to behave around animals. Of course, you can have a bad dog, but in this case, I certainly would not blame the dog.

Answer 8

How old is your dog? Is your dog arthritic or painful? Did the kid jump smack or hurt the dog unintentionally? Consider the whole situation before making a decision. I will never tolerate a dog that bites, especially my baby. However, sometimes you need to get to the base of the problem. I would teach your child good boundries, if old enough and reprimand your dog. A good foundation of obedience training always helps. If you can not control the problem then the problem becomes parting with your dog and placing it a home that is ideal for him. Best of wishes.

Answer 9

Nobody can answer this without more info. What were the circumstances? Was the child supervised at the time? Was the dog provoked? How old is this dog and has anything like this ever happened before? What did the dog do - try to bite or growl to warn the child away?

Answer 10

I think you really need to weigh the situation out. Has it happened before? Was there a reason for the dog to act out? And most importantly do you think the worse possibility could ever happen? I have five dogs and unless there was a reason, like one of the kids were kicking or some how hurting the dog and it was only trying to protect itself, only then would I take it lightly. Because the kids come first and their safety.