Indeed.

Just for the sake of the general public, I will repeat myself to avoid any confusion that I feel it would be acceptable for an older child to be part of the feeding routine IF the dog is well established within the pack structure and has shown to be reliable with basic commands.

And light obedience would be giving commands and rewarding the act, none of that wild, exuberant play which includes interactions that involves drive, ie tug play. Besides, I would imagine no parent would allow for such rough games for toddlers anyway.

These are just my thoughts. My light obedience idea might be unsafe though, considering how young the child is. But I am not a parent, so I have NO idea ... just common sense.

Deal with one thing at a time.

Whether in the crate, or in the laundry room or where ever, let the dog eat in peace.

Really think about it, when was the last time you had to defend your food for your share? We're not talking about toys or the couch or a place on the floor. We're talking eating or not eating from the dogs perspective.

Give him some time and structure. Work on his OB. Let him learn how he fits. And for crying out loud, let him eat in peace always.


If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Bounette, you mentioned in your original post that not only had Doser had growled at your 2 yr old while eating, but also when not eating: "He then a couple minutes later did this again when she just came close to him. i removed him after a correction and put him in the room. then put him in his crate."

I agree with Rei about the correction - the dog didn't know why it was being corrected and may have made a negative association with your 2 yr old. That would be my ultimate concern, that Doser growled at the child when he wasn't eating. Eating is one thing - you just feed him outside, away from all the children. But now he's growled when he wasn't eating.

I'm disappointed that you seemed to do the same thing with this dog that you did with Kaiser, namely, not take the time to get to know the dog very well before letting him interact, unleashed, with your children. You had received warnings about that with Kaiser. I definitely believe in letting children play with pet dogs but I would never just assume it was ok with a new dog in the house and not knowing the dog. I would have been extremely vigilant. You seem to love dogs but I think you need to use wisdom and not just trust them until you know them better.

Had you done what was advised when you had Kaiser and not let free interaction happen with Doser and your kids, this situation could have been avoided and the dog would never have gotten the opportunity to growl, eating or not eating. Now you have a situation where you're not going to be sure what the dog will do, when he'll do it, or why he does it.

o.k. so i interact with the dog on leash only for months ? how long does this last.? he really has fit right ito things with us. he was very confident and happy. no one bothered him or took his food away. only walked close to him. i understand food agression. but without the food was what? what do i ait to see with the dog before i start to let them interact ? excuse my ignorance, truly. but i am just unsure what to wait for when it seems like i had a confident. playful, child friendly dog.

the things i was worried about but did feel urgency with was his bad dog aggression, and him being aggressive with other people that came into the house, or even on walks. i felt nn urgency with thse things because i would put him in crate or in another room when company came over and he acted inappropriately. and we don't have any other dogs in our home for him to stress about getting along with. i felt like the thing to work on was making his experience with us positive, fun and a learning experience. i had been practicing nilf with him.

i am just at a loss right now because of the questions.... how long would you wat when the dog seemed to fit in and play and be confident in your home surrounding.?

 Quote: Bounette White

but i am just unsure what to wait for when it seems like i had a confident. playful, child friendly dog.

the things i was worried about but did feel urgency with was his bad dog aggression, and him being aggressive with other people that came into the house, or even on walks.

i am just at a loss right now because of the questions.... how long would you wat when the dog seemed to fit in and play and be confident in your home surrounding.?

Can you get professional help, to come to your home (not their place)?

I would do this immediately.

I would tell them on the phone that it involves aggression (with details) up front. I would ask about experience and methods. I would talk to a few people before committing.

Meanwhile, I would have the dog on a leash and also separated from the baby.

Now you mention aggression on walks..... This is kind of a P.S.?

I would say tell you feel your kids are safe.
I have done resue a lot as the forum well know but I have only had them for a short while.
I know my mom that has wanda a shih szu I recued.
For a little under six month and she just started letting her off leash in the house.
She knew all of her ob work down packed and she would listen to all people in her pack also.
Now my moms house includes
6 fosters kids and any given time.
1 13 year old granddaughter
1 4 year old grandaughter
and my 2 nefews come every weekend who are 5 and 8
And then me and my 2 dogs and my sister who travel from ATL once a month.
So is took 6 months befor my mom completly trusted her around everyone.
And wanda is so smart and knows all her OB Because my mom was patient and let her learn befor

Bounette, I apologize if anything I said seemed cruel.
Please understand that I have a four year old son, and a 15 week old GSD. I love them both to death, but my son is the most important thing in my life. The dog comes second.

I want my son to grow up loving and enjoying dogs as much as I did. I DON'T want him to have a negative experience at an early age. I don't want ANY child hurt. EVER, but especially not by a dog. What a horrible experience.

When I was a kid, I absolutely 110% believed that ALL dogs liked me. Then, when I was in high school, a friends Rottweiler bit me. Put a puncture clear through the meat of my palm- causing nerve damage that I still have to this day. What messed me up the worst though, was that I had PLAYED with this dog before. It took me a LONG time to get over that, and I will NEVER purchase/adopt an adult dog. I will only ever have dogs from a young age- because I can't trust a dog that I didn't raise from a puppy. I worry too much about some unknown trauma in the dogs past that may cause it to bite.

I also hate seeing dogs destroyed, because well-meaning owners made crucial mistakes in the dog's training.

We've had Danke with us for three weeks now. The first week, she only interacted with my son on a leash. My son is VERY good with dogs for his age. He has been around his grandmother's dogs (Boxers and Standard Poodle), his whole life. He knows "the dog rules". He never lays down around the dog. He can sit, but NEVER lay down. He knows he cannot go in the kitchen while the puppy is eating. He knows never to touch ANY dog while it's eating, or go near it. He knows not to put his face a dog's face. He knows the dog's crate is absolutely off limits.

After we had Danke for a week, and she'd done well with our son ON leash, we began allowing Danke and our son to interact OFF leash, under supervision by BOTH my husband and I. My huband watches my son, and I watch the dog. If either of them showed any signs of even CONSIDERING doing the wrong thing, we would have been able to separate them in a heartbeat. Absolutely nothing happened. The dog will sometimes approach my son and nuzzle up and give puppy kisses, and my son knows to stand up when she does that, and just stroke her back.

Now we're on week three, and they are frequently interacting. Still under supervision, and probably will be until the dog is much older (1 1/2, 2 years), but not quite as paranoid. Our son is now allowed to toss a ball for Danke, and help groom her, but absolutely NO tug of war. This is keeping in mind that both the dog AND the child have earned these privileges. Both have shown understanding and willingness to follow "the rules". If either one steps a TOE over the line, we'll go back to leash only.

A child can accidently hurt a dog, and the dog can snap out of reflex. A two year olds face is right at bite level. Where you might get a slight nip in the calf, your daughter could be blinded. Two year olds fall down a lot. A two year old falling onto a dog could be seriously hurt or KILLED, in a heartbeat, when the dog feels threatened.

These aren't scare tactics. This is reality.

PLEASE bring in a professional. If you can't afford a professional, then PLEASE consider finding a new home for the dog, and not getting another one until you've learned a LOT more about dogs.

I have 3 kids...9,3,and 20 mths. We just welcomed a 10 mth old pug to the family on Saturday, all 9 lbs of him. My kids are NOT interacting with him yet, beyond an occasional pat. He's fed in his crate, they don't give him treats, and when he's out and tethered to me, they've been taught to leave him be. Why? Because I'm following, as best I can, the information I've gleaned on this site about introducing a dog to a home with children. Although Pugs are a small breed, and known for being fantastic with kids, we're taking this slow, because as everyone has said, there's a honeymoon period. The breed is great with kids, but we're going to make sure that our particular pug is too. I found the articles on pack leaders and puppies and pack leaders and adults to be an excellent source of info.

Sure, my guy is 'just' a Pug, and 'only' 9 lbs...but he's still a dog, and my 20 mth old or 3 yo could still get badly hurt if he were to bite. Just not worth the risk.

I won't lie, its a complete change from how we worked things before with our other pug...back when we didn't know better. We got lucky that there wasn't any bad events. Now we're more educated, thanks to this site, and don't have to rely on luck.

 Quote:

any good advice will be well taken and utilized

So you are going to crate the dog when he eats and leave him alone? Excellent. Problem solved.

Amendment to above post (I missed the edit deadline by seconds!)...

Just caught the whole people-aggression thing. There was some mention of the dog being a perfect pet, so I assumed food aggression was the only issue.

The food aggression: solve with a crate, simple. The rest, you definitely need a competent local trainer to come guide you through it. Forums are great when it comes to getting the jist of what is good and what is bad training, and what you are doing wrong and how to improve it.

However, with stuff like this, either you need experience, or the guidance from someone with experience. It is not something to be tackled alone.