My wife and I have created a dominant dog by how we raised him. We are now afraid that he might hurt our 1 year old daughter. Can he change if my wife and I do?

Question

Dear Ed,

    You probably hear sad stories like this all the time; moreover, don't like to personally respond to repeat questions. Well, I'm desperate for some guidance as I'm stuck in a major dilemma.

    Duggan is a 3.5 year old male (fixed), shar pei/springer spaniel mix, adopted at 8wks from humane society. Affectionate, loving, and wonderful to have around. Loves stranger's too much,(live in large town-home that has inspectors come monthly and the first time they came-in when we were gone----well he gave them a tour!) and a total 42lbs lap-dog. Went to pup training and likes nearly all dogs---exception of one little pom. down the street, but who likes everyone.

    Jill is 1.2 years old, she is our beautiful daughter, a 80% mix of my wife only 20% of me thank god! Well, tonight she and Duggan were doing their normal chase and play routine they've done 1000s of times. She wobbles and he licks her. This went on for a while. He got tired and quit. She decided to continue to play and poked him with one of his toys----guess what----he got mad. Growled, swiped a paw, caught her face, no blood, but went in for a bite and pulled-up or missed. My wife screamed, I took Duggan downstairs stared him in the eyes and said NOOOOOOOO. He started to shake as he normally does when in trouble and I put him in his kennel-----for the night.

    The problem isn't Duggan------it's my wife and I. Duggan sleeps in our bed, beats me down the stairs and out the door, sleeps on the couch, eats with us----has total access to his food anytime. NEVER sleeps in a kennel, well, until last night or when young. He has got aggressive with me and my wife on occasion for reasons I can't remember but I do know he has snapped at me a time or two and actually caught my wife's hand one time. He doesn't mind me or anyone around his food bowl or toys----absolutely no growls or problems. He will come when called, sit when told, lay-down when told, and not eat a treat on the ground until told to; he'll wait an hour, unfortunately found that out when I forgot to tell him to 'get-it'. He will however, at times, growl if I try to move him in bed and he still has a problem of trying to mate with nearly everyone in the house. We use to find humor in this but now realize this may be part of the dominance display. He also likes my wife much more and follows her everywhere in the house. He is by her side always and if we both shout different commands by accident-----he'll choose her's. But rarely disregards a command by me such as sit, come, stay etc...

    We love this dog but after reading your website realize how bad we are as dog-owners. We have failed him and now he must face the consequences. I obviously can't trust him anymore---and due to us---- we are considering putting him down or finding him a home. As you can imagine this is absolutely killing us emotionally----we feel like failures---neither one of us wants to let our Duggan go; but we would not forgive ourselves if anything happened to Jill. We've created a dominant dog and are desperately seeking help or advice. I rarely turn to the internet; however, realize there are some quality people out there that just might lend a hand. Is Duggan a dog that can be re-trained if we are re-trained? I know the saying, "My dog could never, would never, hurt my child" is used often and I use to believe this too---Is it possible for Duggan and Jill to co-exist? Or have we allowed him to rule the house too long to break the habits?

    Sincerely,
 Dr. Burns

Accepted Answer

I recommend that you go to my web site and read the article I wrote on my Philosophy of Dog Training. I think you will get some good ideas there.

If you are willing to make some changes in how you live with this dog I do not think it necessary to kill this dog or to give him to a new home.

The changes need to start with educating you and your wife on pack behavior. You both have to become students of pack behavior. I assume you have read the article I wrote on Dealing with Dominant Dogs.

This begins with getting a dog crate and using it. This dog should never come to the bedroom again (much less up on the bed)

Dominant dogs should not have toys. Dogs don’t need toys and they are triggers for aggression (you found this out.) Throw them all away., The acceptation is only if you or your wife plays with them and the dog will give them up without growling 100% of the time. They are never left out and the dog must understand that toys are your toys not the dog's toys.

You may want to read the article I wrote on GROUND WORK BEFORE OBEDIENCE TRAINING.

Read the article I wrote on Preventing Dog Bites in Children.

I have a saying that I tell people – it goes like this” Everyone has an opinion on how to train a dog – just ask you barber, your mailman and your neighbor” The problem is very few people have the experience to back up their opinions. This results in a lot of bad information being passed out So people like yourself need to figure out who has the experience to warrant listening to.

You need to be aware of this because there are very few people who really understand pack behavior – hundreds of thousands of dogs go through obedience training every year – the vast majority of dominant dogs come out of training just as dominant as when they went into training.

In a month or so I will be releasing a DVD and eBook on Dominance. I have been working on it for a year. It will be announced on my web site Table of Contents.