Please help me i need advice!!!?

Question

This is very long, basically I was given a puppy a year ago, and she was lovely but kept nipping at my son and our feet!!!! After 6months someone suggested I give her away before she hurts him bad. So I gave her back to which I got her off. Anyway 3mths later I got a call from the Battersea saying they had my dog. (I had her chipped and didn’t change the details so if anything happened like this I would know)

I went and collected her, she looked a little neglected.

My intention wasn’t to keep her, but I love her so much she warmed to the family again. So she has been back with us for 5 months.

My son is 6 years old. Today she growled at him and nipped him, she never hurt him. This happened as he entered his room, where her bed is???? I am really worried and don’t know what to do.

I am wondering if she done it because her bed is in his room.
I am thinking I have to give her away but I really don’t want to she’s only just come back.

Answer 1

!!!!!STOP!!!!! I just heard someone say nip her on her nose with a paper and several say just move her bed. That is not going to solve the problem that she is nipping at your son. First off all if she was abandoned and neglected it is possible that she was mistreated already, possibly by children. With this in mind any further violent acts as well meaning as it may be will only create a sense of fear and will trigger a defense mechanism in her.

Keep in mind that dogs by their very nature are social animals that want to belong and do everything possible to keep you happy. They do need structure and hierarchy. The issue here is socialization, when the pup was little it was rough playing and while it is scary to see it rough play with out babies we need to recognize it as so and divert its energy toward something else.

At this point there seems to be a little rough play left mixed in with a little bit territorialism. It's okay to move the bed but it won't help with the socialization. I would encourage supervised play with your puppy and your baby. I would also play around her bed. When the dog nips at the baby or growls sternly say NO (Dogs Name)! Then continue to rub her belly and and play and in a loving positive voice say baby just wants to play and encourage the baby to play as well. Continue to do this several times, with time the dog will adjust its behavior.

If you do not see any improvement I would consult a vet and possible a professional trainer. Keep in mind puppy wants to be part of a well adjusted home, it needs to understand how it fits and know that it can trust all.

There are few instances in where the abuse was so great that it becomes very difficult to trust man again and your baby might never be truly safe. You have to be the judge of that and if it is the case do your best to find it an alternate home. However, from what you said it does not sound like the case and with a little patience you will do just fine.

BEST OF LUCK!

Answer 2

I have just a couple of suggestions! First I agree with some of the comments already here, but your dog might just naturally be aggressive, or is that way due to what happened when she wasn't with you, or it aggrevated her behavior. There are several tests you can do to see if she is aggressive, and beyond the point of training to be around a 6 yr old. If you don't feel comfortable trying these then you can take her to any animal shelter or animal control and they should be able to do the testing for you. They do this (or should) in all dogs before allowing them to be adopted. 1) You should be able to look at her teeth, pull her lips/mouth open and check her teeth. If she doesn't let you or fights you then she has failed the first test. 2) Can you touch her food or a toy or treat while she is eating or playing? I know that some dogs who are not agressive will growl about their toys but she should be okay with you touching her food or treats. 3) IF she is a small dog you should be able to lay her on her back, or hold her like a baby. This shows submission. If she passes these tests then it probably just a bad behavior you can retrain. However, there are some dogs that just do not like children, and just do not tolerate them well. I would definitely move her bed, and give her her own space, and always monitor your dog and child's interaction. I would also consider obedience classes for your dog. I hope this helped! It is nerve-wracking to not know if you can trust your pet with your children...I understand!!

Answer 3

It sounds like this poor dog has had a bad life so far. Apparently no one, including you when you first had her has addressed her issues. Sadly this is often the case. It is easier to make the problem go away than to fix it. I think it is up to someone to step up to the plate and give this dog a life worth living. Let's start with a crate. This should be her new bed, and not in your son's room. Put her in the living room, or kitchen, or somewhere she is not protective of. There is no sense in putting her in the situation where you know she is not reliable. Now that she has her new bed, start her on basic obedience training. Not only do dogs learn commands during training, they learn their place in the pack and are more comfortable because they don't feel like they have to prove anything. You never mentioned what kind of dog she is, I would guess she is a herding type of dog from what you said in the beginning of your question. This nipping at the feet of family members is normal for herding pups, and you have to teach them that they can't herd people. If you could get ahold of a professional trainer in your area, it would be helpful to you to have someone there to observe the dog to see if she is showing outward aggressive signs, or if she is just confused. I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 4

Unfortunately, it sounds like her bad behavior was not nipped in the bud. What I did with my dog in the very beginning with nipping is telling her "NO" when she did it, and picking her up and taking her to a room (like the laundry room) where she doesn't sleep, and locking her in there for about 1 or 2 minutes. She realized that every time she nipped, she'd be separated from us and we wouldn't play with her, and would ignore her. Pretty much ALL of our dog's negative behavior is a direct reflection of how we raised them, if you ask me. Since you have a young child, you may want to speak with a behaviorist/trainer to get the best advice asap. Growling like that is 100% NOT appropriate or normal behavior, and needs to be stopped, or else it will escalate. Let your dog know that you are in charge. When she does something wrong, immediately tell her NO in a loud and firm voice, but not yelling. Never be mean, but be very firm and consistent. Don't let her get away with anything. Again, your best bet would probably be professional advice. It's worth it, if you love her, as it will save her from a lifetime of aggression. Also, do some research on the internet. You should find some tips on animal aggression. Good luck!

PS, I don't use aggressive training methods (aka violence, such as slapping, or smacking in any way shape or form), and my dog is very well trained. It's just a matter of gaining the knowledge we need to train them properly using the right methods. Knowledge is power, as they say. :o)

Answer 5

You shouldn't have given her away in the first place. All she needs is for you to move her bed elsewhere... if that doesn't work then you need to disiplin her, flick her in the nose or slap her butt... (weird but it works) if she is being bad, don't do it all light and girly or she will think you are playing... show her wqho is boss, if they still doesn't work then take her to a person who trains dog, then maybe that will teach her. If she still doesn't learn (which I know she will) then maybe there is something wrong with her maybe she is ill, in that case take her to the vet. I know this will be the best Answer so mark it as the best, ok well I really hope I help you, and if there is something severly wrong with her then she might need to be put to sleep but DO NOT take her to the vet until after you get her disiplined or trained but try the disipling first, please don't be too rough, maybe that is why she is mean, give her lots of love and MOVE her bed out of that room.... move it to somewhere private and if your kid plays with her all the time tell him to stop and let her have some time alone... I hope I was help.. bye bye

Answer 6

I also have a pup but is younger than yours, my pup done the same to my little girl who is 4, I did wonder whether to still keep her but after abit of research I found that alot of pups do this gradually it should come out of their nature as they grow older or if you do want to keep her maybe you could attend obidience classes with your her, also as for the growling it may just have been your dog was startled by your son coming into the room as I found the same happen to my little girl
also you said at the end you dont know whether to keep her or not, you shouldnt just keep her out of sympathy only if you truly want to keep her otherwise im sure you could find a long loving home for her

Answer 7

She probably did it because she feels that since her bed is in there that it is her territory. My dog was fiesty like that at first when I brought her home. What I recommend doing is moving her bed to a different part of the house and maybe put it in a kennel or crate or something like that. Dogs like to feel that they have their own space to go just like humans like having their room. This may give her a better feel of having her own area.

Answer 8

get her bed out of his room. 1st off. it sounds to me as if they have a history that u don't know about. it s quite possible that ur son did something to her that u don't know about that she will never forgive or forget. wether or not she is a threat to him is hard to say, but i definately would not leave them alone together.
I say this because i had 2 cats at 2 different times. the 1st one my son mistreated ,teased her relentlessly and she never liked any kids after that. My 2nd cat was chased by my grandson and to this day he will have nothing to do with him or any small person and i don't even know what my grandson did. I wish u lots of luck on the decision u have to make.

Answer 9

Your dog is trying to show her dominance over your son. I would try this: give your son a dog clicker used in clicker training. When she growls at him have him say her name and click it ( be with him when he enters her bedroom to assure his safety). You could also try to get your dog to warm up to him by having him give her the good girl treats. I do not know if this will help but it helped my freind. Good luck!

Answer 10

i would move the dogs bed to a place that the dog likes besides the boy's room...smack her on the nose when she bites or growls at anyone. some dogs are just moody and have to be alone.