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Help needed...issue between dog and child...

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CollieMad

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My 2 year old rescue dog has suffered frost burn, happened last week on Monday. We have had him nearly a year now and he is amazing in every way...but tuesday my partners son who is 8 was sitting on the floor right in front oh my dog and i think he touched his sore feet as my dog lunged at him, wasnt helped by the kid eyeballing the dog :( situation calmed down and all were ok, apart from it happened again last night, this time cos the kid leant down to grab something from my young son who is 4 and my dog nipped again, i was out at the time but my partner was here, put my dog to bed whilst sorting kids to bed and then muzzled my dog to let him out again (he is muzzle conditioned) and as the 8 year old stroked him he snapped again...now as i say and im not trying to make excuses for my dog, he has never done this before, he is known as being pretty bombproof but still is never left with the kids alone etc. Vets is booked for today, but to me it seems odd that its only happened to the 8 year old and not to the 4 year olds or the adults. Im wondering is my dog was hurt by the 8 year old and is now scared of him, i must add that the child is not a nice kid in many ways.....am obviously cobcerned about it but also am 90% sure its pain related....unsure as how to make peace between them again once he is healed and pain free. We lost our other dog in December so am terrified about losing this boy :'(

Thanks all
 
Your dog is guarding himself as he is in pain. First a snarl, then a growl, then a nip and then it will go to a full blown bite and then you will be in serious trouble.

However, all of these signs are warning signs that the dog is showing you before anything happens.

As your 8 year old hurt him originally, by accident from what you said the dog now thinks he will do the same again and automatically think that when your 8 year old comes near him he will hurt him, so he is on high alert before your 8 year even gets anywhere close to him. As no one else has it seems that he is still comfortable around the rest of you including your 4 year old, but thats not to say he wont get defensive if someone gets too close.

Watch your dogs body language. You will usually see a snarl before a growl, and a growl before a snap/bite. If you dog is snarling you will know straight away he is not comfortable with whats going on around him.

In that case, remove the 8 year or whoever from the situation and away from your dog and leave the dog alone to calm down. Trying to comfort him when he is in that state of mind will not work.

Chances are that this behaviour will stop once his paws are healed and he is feeling better.

Another good thing to do is to involve your 8 year with some standard obedience training with your dog. Whether the reward is a treat or a toy, your dog will associate your 8 year old with a positive outcome when he is close. You can practise obedience at a distance. Like stays, walking away and then calling the dog to you. This means he wants to come to your 8 year old and will get a positive experience when he is close to him. Just something simple whilst he is healing and nothing that is obviously going to cause him more pain than he is already in.

Try that see how you get on, and if the behaviour continues once your dog is better then consult a proffessional trainer for help, but as I said before chances are that you wont need to.

Good luck

Sophie x
 
Thank you very much for your input, really appreciate it.

Went to vets and she examined his feet, was then stroking him in general, he was on the table, he turned and curled his lip at her, then was scared when she came near him so would snap and try to bite.

There hasnt been a warning growl or the smaller signs before this going for either the vet or the 8 year old :/

Vet has prescribed steroid cream and also some tablets to hopefully help him...going to take 2 weeks for course to run out so can only wait and see what happens...quite a worrying time for us at the moment!
 
It sounds like your trying to do the best for all parties! Maybe your dog need some more space while feeling unwell and most of us know we like peace and quiet when we are not feeling our best. Keep your chin up :)
 
Want things to be ok again, as it was jist over a week ago, he is such a wonderful dog so i know its not him normally that if doing this. Think he may have slipped on the frost/ice when out with my husband so he may have bruised his side...poor lad :(
 
Time and space is what your dog needs! Just leave him be. Don't bother him, just let him come to you if he wants a cuddle. At least you will then know that when you do stroke him its because he wants you too.

Hope he gets better soon x
 
Yeah thats whatwe are doing :) seem to have figured he will only snap if 8 year old reaches towards him as thinks he is going to be hurt, so making sure he doesnt do it.
 
Its good to hear you are finding solutions for the problem!
 
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