My dog tried to bite my son earlier. Need Good advice!?

Question

The dog was layin in the chair and my daughter was laying with him, my son then got on as well and cuddled the dog. The dog growled and went to bite, my son moved out of the way. I think maybe my son kneeled on his paw or something to hurt him. It is so out of character and i am completley gutted. Ever since he was a pup they have played together. Can i ever trust my dog again? (my son is 3 and my dog is a boxer). I know i need to talk to my son now to make him understand what happened, it has really scared him. I love my dog so much and it would break my heart to have to get rid of him.

Just to say thank you to everyone. Most of the advice is great and i am not criticizing anybody as i didn't put certain details in 1: My children and dog were NOT unsupervised. My partner was in the room when it happened.
2: Me and my dog have been going to obedience classes for 2 weeks now so i will talk to my trainer about it.
3: i know it is my fault and need to explain some very important ground rules with my kids

Answer 1

If your dog had really meant to bite your son - he would not have missed. Your son would not have escaped in time! He was giving your son a good warning to move out of his space.

Your dog believes that he is higher in the pecking order than your 3 year old and needs to be relieved of this!

You don't mention the age of your boxer but as dogs get older, this behaviour can become more pronounced so you need to be aware of that.

Set some ground rules for both your son and your dog - to protect them both. Your son should not approach your dog when it is resting. Your dog must move out of chairs/off sofas etc when your children want to sit on them. It may be difficult to insist on this when they enjoy snuggling up together but from your dog's point of view, being allowed to sit in the human's place, up high, is promoting his position and as you have experienced - this leads to attitude problems. Your children must not feed your dog tit bits at dinner time etc. Your dog must not be allowed to growl over sleeping areas, toys, dinner etc. If he does - to any member of the family, the item he is guarding should be removed from him without a fuss and he should be ignored for a few minutes until he gives up the battle. Then make a point of returning the item to him. You are letting him know that the item belongs to you and he should not protect it.

It is very possible that your son did hurt the dog when he climbed on him, but your dog should still not have snapped at your son. This is unrealiable behaviour and you will need to keep a close eye on all of them to make sure that nothing further happens.

Finally, don't forget that there could be an underlying problem with his health and is making him grumpy out of character. For example, when my retriever gets flea bites, he gets so itchy he gets really stressed and starts to bark and growl and get really grumpy with people. When he is healthy - these problems do not exist.

Good luck with settling this problem. Don't listen to all the people that are scared of dogs and say that they shouldn't be living together. It is an excellent idea to bring up dogs and children together - they are one of our only remaining links to the natural world. We live such artificial lives in our man made environments!

Answer 2

I wouldn't think about getting rid of the dog just yet. Like you said your son may have accidentally stepped on a toe or something and hurt him. Your son is only 3 and probably does not understand that growling means to give the dog its space. When these warnings are ignored, the only other way a dog can get its point across is by using its mouth. If you haven't done so already I would work on teaching your son how to properly behave around animals, that they are not toys etc. and teach him to be gentle. You could tell him that sitting with the dog is ok, but sitting ON the dog and crawling all over him is not. Maybe you could set up a safe area in the house that is off limits to your children for your dog to go when he has had enough of the kids crawling on him. And of course the most important rule that no child should never be left any dog. Make sure to keep a watchful eye on both kids and dog and if you feel things are getting to be too much or to rough for either of them, you can intervene before things get out of hand. But like I said before, this sounds like it might have been just an accident.

Answer 3

It would all depend as to why the dog tried to bite. If your son hurt him as he was cuddling him, the dog may have just been giving him a warning. Or your dog may feel he is dominant over your son. It's very hard when things like this happens, and it could have happened for a ton of reasons. But there can be a solution.If you feel it was that the dog was drying to be dominant, I would suggest doing some more obeidence traing with the dog and let you son be a part of it. If it is a dominace problem, letting your son be a part of the training will help the dog see he isn't the dominant one. Also if you see your dog going to try to snap or bite, give him a firm NO and correct him.
I would go for keeping your dog along with the proper training. If you feel that your child is in danger with him, and no longer can keep him, then seek a rescue for the dog to go to.
It's a hard decision to make. Best of luck to you.
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I have to add that I disagree with everyone who said that the child and the dog can't be together again. That is just untrue. You have to teach children to respect any animal. And yes you have to supervise all children when they are around any animal. Dogs are dogs and he was just being a dog. Like one other person said, if it had be unprovoked, then yes I would worry about it. But a small child climbing onto, next to a dog, or pulling and grabbing a dog most likely will get snapped at if the dog was hurt. Even if it was an accident, the dog does not understand that. He was just using what his instinct were telling him to.

Answer 4

First, I don't think that there is any way that she can be telling the truth about being afraid of a 25 pound dog when she has been around much bigger dogs her whole life. I'd call her out on that. Second, if she is really acting all materialistic and putting your mutt down, I would be honest and ask how she would peel about you calling her dog a scrawny little fuzzy rat. That should make her realize that it doesn't feel good to have your dog ridicule. Might even throw something in about how the greater genetic diversity in a mutt actually usually make for a healthier dog since purebred lines had to be be inbred to get the specific traits desired by the initial breeders and that's why they all have the same health problems as any other dog of the same breed. But in the end you might just have to say that is hurts you that she is so prejudice against your dogs, and that she can't over come through her love for you and wanting to see you.

Answer 5

I don't think that this incident was any one person or dogs fault. Sometimes even the best dogs can have times when they just don't want to be played with, almost just like humans. If the dog is a puppy then don't be too worried, but the dog keeps trying to bite then observe the situations and events that lead up to it and reprimand the dog sternly. It may be that the dog was in an uncomfortable position or that your son just touched the dog in a a sensitive spot. Try to tell your children to be more gentle around the dog for a while and take note of any further incidents.

Answer 6

Please think about buying a book by Kendal Shepherd called The Canine Commandments. This explains the canine ladder of aggression and the way that dogs communicate. There are signals, posturesnad signs that dogs give out. This will help you to recognise them. Few bites come out of the blue. Your dog will have communicated feelings before this but you missed them. You owe it to your dog to understand this more - i think you'll find it really interesting too! You can also buy a CD ROM which children can play called The Blue Dog and it teaches children safe behaviour around dogs. It sounds as though your children (and you) really love your dog. Do some research and spend time with the children learning when dogs should be left alone. Good luck!

Answer 7

It's a hard choice, but I think you need to know what happened. If your son inadvertently hurt the dog in a cramped position like that (where running away wasn't an option), then your son needs to be taught to be more careful and respectful of animals, but not fearful. If the dog was just being pissy, then the hard choice must unfortunately be made.

I strongly believe that pets are an important part of a child's development. Since they have already bonded, perhaps you could take both your son and your dog to a VERY well experienced dog trainer for evaluation.

Answer 8

Would really have to have witnessed the situation to comment but if the dog really went to seriously bite your son(not just warn him off) then if it was me there would be nothing to think about, the dog would have to go especially as your son is scared now. Maybe you could rehouse the dog with a household with no kids if he has never been vicious before instead of taking the drastic measure of putting the dog to sleep.
You know the dog and your son so really you must know in your heart what is the right thing in your situation.
Could you live with yourself if it happened again and the dog followed through.
I wish you well and hope that whatever you choose its right for you.

Answer 9

You say your daughter and the dog were lying there? I think the dog was just defending your daughter. I know you say your son and dog get on well, but animals are territorial and protective.
It's a great idea to talk to your trainer, as boxers are normally very child friendly. Hopefully your dog was just startled.
Good luck, and I hope your little boy is okay.
xxx

Answer 10

if you can find a good trainer, that might be the best idea because you are dealing with children and dogs. my dog got too spoiled and she had never snapped at me, but one day she decided to do it and that was the end of that! I started training her to be submisive by having he lay down, i rolled her on her back and told her she was not the boss, not in a mean way, just a firm voice and looked in her eyes, she looked away and I let go, after doing this whenever she snapped or growled, she's over it. I also put her in a naughty corner for a couple minutes and she cannot go someplace else until i let her. I started training her more also to strengthen the bond and remind her who's alpha. however your dog is bigger than mine so i would reccomend you let a trainer handle it, for your safety and that of your children. don't give it away, it just needs to be reminded of who's boss. good luck!

by the way, i think this should be taken more seriously, when a dog is hurt, he yelps, he doesn't growl at people. i have accidently stepped on my dog a few times cause she likes to follow me, she doesn't ever growl or snap when she's hurt. unless your dog was feeling sick, then i think he would growl if not given his space.