Our 7 year old dog nipped our 2 year old daughter today. He has been great with kids his entire life. I think he was sleeping and the child fell on him. What should I do?

Ed,

Thank you for your site. The information that it contains has been helpful in trying to figure out what to do with my dog, Rocky. Rocky is a 7 year old Australian Shepard that we have had since he was 9 weeks old. He has been a great dog with a great personality. He never barks unless some comes near the house or if he and I are playing. He has always been very "happy" around people even children. There are 10 grandchildren on my wife's side of the family of which 7 of them have spent a good deal of time around Rocky over the last 5 - 6 years with no problems at all; not even a growl. Today he bit my 2 year old daughter whom he always been around and has allowed her to play with him without incident in the past. We do not know the circumstances of what happened as we were not in the room at the moment of the bite. All we know is that Rocky was lying on the floor, which is normal, and all I can figure is that she fell on him and he turn and bit her leg. One tooth did break the skin, but the was little, to no blood.

We really love our dog and definitely want to keep him around, but we are afraid of what he might do if she were to fall on him again while he is sleeping. Any training suggestions that you might give would be greatly appreciated. The possibility of losing the dog would be devastating.

Thank You for your assistance.

Larry M.