15 week old Golden bit our 3 year old. Should we consider keeping him or surrender him to an animal shelter.?

Question

Our son was at the table he dropped a cookie and the puppy, who was standing by the chair, claimed the cookie as his. Our 3 year old went to get the cookie and the dog bit him. He had to have a stitch on the eyelid and their was some contact with the eyeball not no permnant damage was done. The dog has become food aggressive and we are not sure if we should even consider keeping this puppy. We have 2 other children in the home and are worried that they could be bitten also. We wanted a family pet, and right now we DO NOT trust this dog.

Answer 1

If you take him the shelter amke sure it is one that has a no kill policy. I had a 4 year old boxer that I had before i had my daughter and she tried to bite my two year old over a french fry the best thing is not to let the dog around while you are eating and keep his food away from the kids too. I did let my boxer go I didn't want to take the chance of something worse happening. The thing is with a puppy they are still trying to find their place he just needs to know that you are the leader of the pack and the children are superior to him. To some traing to sit and stay and have your children exercise the commands and be authoritive to him. They should use a strong stern voice not mean and not mean expressions on their face either because it will teach him to be affraid of you. I gave my boxer to a close friend of the family we still her regularly and he has no kids, so I thought that would be a more appropriate enviroment for her.

Answer 2

Right now this puppy is only 4 months. His food aggressiveness could still be taken out of him. You need to work with your puppy constantly to make sure this does not happen. I am taking that you are talking about a golden retriever? these are not normally aggressive dogs. With the right training, this still could be a great family dog. It is horrible that this has happened to your 3 year old. Things like this could have a impact on how they look at dogs for the rest of their lives. Your other children may be afraid of puppy and dogs too just from seeing their sibling hurt. I would suggest if your children have a fear of the dog, or you have already made up your mind that you don't trust the dog, then you should get rid of it. But it might help if you do keep the dog around and work with it, and show your kids that it is alright. There is nothing that your puppy technically did wrong. It is just lack of training. They don't understand they did anything wrong as much as your 3 year old didn't know. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Should you decide to keep this dog get training immediately -- for the dog and all family members. The puppy needs to be taught that all humans are above him in the pack order.

And, it would only make sense to separate the dog at meal time. Are you using a crate? If not, why not!!!!! Put the dog in his crate with a treat while you eat. Once he is older and trained, you can have him on a down-stay in the room while you eat if you'd like -- but crating the dog while the people eat (reinforcing pack order) won't hurt him and can be done for the rest of his life.

Go to the library and get books on training. If you feel you can't cope, talk to the breeder -- you did get your dog from a reputable breeder, right? A reputable breeder will have advice for these issues, and will take the dog back if you find you cannot keep it. This would be much better than dumping him at a shelter.

If this dog is from a puppy mill, pet store, or backyard breeder, it may have been poorly bred and that is why it is food agressive -- unlike most Goldens. In that case, find a Golden rescue organization in your area -- or an all-breed rescue. Check akc.org for information.

If the dog is really agressive, it would be most humane to take the dog to your vet and have it put down -- it is your responsibility as the dog owner. Why shift that burden (and cost) to your local shelter??

Answer 4

I understand your concern with your children. However look at the situation. It was a very innocent accident. It's not like your dog just came up to him and bit him. Dogs are very protective with their food...any breed, any size any age. I guarantee even a smaller dog would have done the same thing. If you give this dog away then the same thing is going to happen with any other dog. He's still a puppy....you can get him trained. I think you're blowing it out of proportion as far as trust goes. Good luck.

Answer 5

That problem is very easily solved..Teach the puppy to sit, and never allow him any treat or food until he 'sits'...My dad taught me this when I was a child, as we had a food aggressive dog (youngster)..None of us were allowed to feed him anything, until he would 'sit'..
feed 3 times per day, and put the dish away as soon as he is through, or in about 5 minutes.. don't allow him at the table while you are eating, so he can't have stuff off of the floor...the method is called, " No Free Lunch" and is very effective..
SIT

Holding a treat in your left hand just above the pup's nose, gently rest your right hand on pup's rump.
Slowly move the treat in an upward motion while applying gentle pressure to the rump. ( you don't want to push hard because if you do the dog will sit every time someone touches him and this is not good for competitive obedience)
as soon as pup sits say in a very happy excited tone "GOOD SIT" and give the treat.
Repeat exercise 7x. then take a play break and move on to something else.
very young pups should not train for more than a half hour each day
every time you put food bowl down or give a treat give the sit command, and wait for the sit. then once pup sits give treat or food down.
DO NOT move on to something new until pup has the new command down pat.

I was 3 years old when our dog bit me, and it required stitches..That is when the vet told my dad to train the dog to sit before recieving any food..My childhood dog became a safe and wonderful family pet..

Answer 6

Sorry to say this but your inexperience and lack of research is what got your son bit. This is a 15 week old puppy. You cant dump an animal just because you don't know how to train. I feel sorry for your son and the pup. TRAINING is what is needed here. Anyone that would ask if the dog should go to the pound after just one mishap is having second thoughts and looking for and excuse. You should have researched toddlers and puppies long before you bought one. Now the dog has to suffer because you impulsively bought it before you knew how to handle it....For SHAME.

Answer 7

The puppy is just a baby and needs to be taught not to be food agressive. If you don't have the time to work with it I would suggest giving it up. However, you will have to work with & train any puppy you bring in your home. Reading a book about training dogs may help you decide if you want to put the work in, that it will take to have a trust worthy pet in your home. Good Luck!

Answer 8

When there is a tiny child in the house, I'd err on the side of caution and find him a new home. He's young and didn't mean to hurt your child, but that's the danger of raising a dog.

I do feel it's your job to do rahter than making him the public shelter's problem. Do make them aware he's not suitable for a home with tiny kids. He's still young and he's a breed people like, so you should do fine.

When you're ready to adopt again, you might want to try a shelter. Forget breed but focus on temperament: you want a dog that will forgive anything. As your 3 y/o grows up, he will play (and play HARD) with a dog. You need a dog who won't mind being teased or sat on. Kids will be kids.

Best of luck!

Answer 9

Disgusting fools with no life. They shouldn't be allowed to EVER own another dog. When you get a dog, it comes with the whole pack, which may or may not include those *gross tumours*. These people simply can't feel love... Just look at the dog's face. Poor thing. I wish her the best luck! I also have a similar story... Of these stupid fellas who abandoned the dog about 2 miles from their household, the dog CAME BACK, and they still had the heart to send the dog away... Or those people that will get rid of the dog because it doesn't match the carpet. EGH.

Answer 10

There are always 2 sides to every story. The three year old's and the puppy's. Too bad the puppy can't talk. He'll pay for this sitting in the pound labled aggressive and put down because of another irresponsible owner.