Jackies768

Ok, its jackie again with my puppie Roxie. I have a problem and i need some advise. My pup was playing outside for a while yesterday and i brought her in and gave her some water. She then played with my 1 yr. old daughter Amber. Now here's the kicker, Roxie layed down on my air vent on the floor of the kitchen too cool off i guess (she always lays there) and i gave her a pig ear to chew on. My daughter went up to Roxie and went to pet her and Roxie snarled like i have never heard her do before (it was mean and nasty) and bit Ambers hand. Roxie broke skin and bruised her hand. Other than that incident she is a good puppy, already house broken at 10 wks, responds to "come" and "sit" ... I am not sure if i need to give her back to the breeder, send her to the pound (which i dont want), sell her to someone else,or keep her and see if she does this again. And ifshe does it again I dont want it to be at the expense of my daughter. Please help!!! Thankyou!

Doegirl75

You can't take chances, not with a small child. I would find the dog a home with no small children. You KNOW your daughter will try that again. Don't tempt fate. Sorry.

duckdog132

that dog would have had a major additude adjustment if it was at my house and then if it was lucky; it might get another home maybe. i absolutly do not put up with that stuff. my kids are THE most important thing in the world to me. a good dog can be found every day.

crazylady

I wouldn't chance it with a child. They put their faces in dogs faces all the time. You don't want it to bite your daughter in the face. One of our labs has growled at our son but she just growls and walks away. She gets attitude adjustment when she growls. She also has a injuried shoulder that I think she is afraid of him hurting. I just wouldn't take the chance.

AlaskaMagnum

It is funny how times have changed. Years ago, it was understood that a dog should never be touched while it was eating. However, litigation and times have changed. Hell, the ASPCA automatically euthanizes dogs that show food aggression. I would not necessarily call this a "bad" dog per se, in fact, I like a dog with a little attitude. In today's society though, you need to realize that a pup like this could certainly be a liablity, both letigiously and in your personal family life.

It is really up to you. The dog is what it is. If you can handle such a dog AND keep your kids and neighbors safe, keep the pup. If you can't, send her back to the breeder and get another prospect.

For the record, one of my dogs is territorial aggressive (not food or dog aggressive though). A real sweet dog on the leash, but defends the home, yard, and car with vehemence. I understand this, in some ways apprecaite it, but I understand what situations have the potential to go bad, and make sure I am in control of them. Having a dog like this requires more vigillence on my part, and I know it, and accept it. I also understand that if someone other than a burglar ever gets bitten in my home or car, I AM RESPONSIBLE and will pay the price.

Its up to you and what you can handle.

bryant1

I also have worried about this situation, as I have a one year
old daughter. She is seldomly around my three hunting dogs now, but will be during deer hunting season. They aren't aggressive, but I still worry because all it takes is one time to seriously hurt a small child. I would consider giving the dog to a family without small children, if I were in your position.

Doc E

At 10 weeks of age, the pup was doing exactly what it would do if it was still with the rest of the litter. It was normal behavior. What would have happened in the "pack" is that the other pup would have either backed off or would have bit the other pup back. Obviously your little daughter is too young to exert any dominance (alpha)behavior. So from now on, the daughter must be kept away from the pup when it has a food object. Adult humans need to mess with the pup when it has a food object, and if the pup is aggressive/protective at that time, the human adult should make the proper correction.
It wasn't the 10 week old pup's fault. It was just being a 10 week old pup. It needs to "learn it's place", but a one year old human isn't capable of doing so.


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Jackies768

Thankyou. When i told my husband he came home from work furious! He wanted to shoot the dog but obviously didnt. I wanted to get rid of the dog but she is a very good dog! Now that it has happened two days ago i dont think my husband would allow me to get rid of her but if it happens again the dog is gone, no matter how good she is or how attatched we are to her! I took away the pig ears and i dont give Roxie them amymore. I let the baby and the pup play together yesterday and there wasnt any incidents. The pup did snap at my daughters face while they were playing but i dont think she meant it. Oh, and when Roxie bit Amber the other day I smacked the pups noseandput her in her cage after being outside fro a while. I was so mad. She had an attidue adjustment alright!!! And if this happens again, next time im throwing her right outside until I get someone to take her! I told my husband that Amber comes first!! He was trying to make excuses for the pup because he wants to keep her to go hunting with. I got upset at that because there are plenty of pups out there that are great hunting dogs and that are good with kids. Plus we could wait until Amber can fight back to get another one! He doesnt need one right now.

KevinS

At 10 weeks the puppy doesn't know any better. Instead of smacking it around why don't you try some positive training techniques. Negative reinforcement like that will just make the puppy more aggresive.

txhunt

Like a 2 year old child the “that’s mine” attitude is very much alive in a puppy. I doubt if you treat your daughter after misbehaving or maybe even biting a playmate with the same angry response that you corrected your puppy with. I have 2 young children and I have a Lab that is almost 1 year old and still very much a puppy. Children have to be trained to respect others that includes pets and the dog must learn to respect the position it holds in the family “Pack”. There are many ways to do this and it should be easy to find someone to suggest some training techniques to help with this problem. My kids help me feed and train the dog. This puts them above the dog in the “pack” pecking order.