My dog snapped at my baby!?

Question

I have had her for seven months now (she will be about 19 months) and she has just come into season (we will be getting her dressed once it is over). She is a patterdale terrier and is fantastic with my seventeen month old son who loves stroking her, well tonight he was sitting stroking her, he didnt hurt her, I was watching him and she turned round and snapped at his face, I dont know if she caught him but he was pretty upset. She goit into serious trouble and I put her outside. Could the fact she is in season be affecting her nature? Also, I havent told my husband, he will lose it with her and want to get her rehomed but what if she does it again!? I dont know what to do?!

Answer 1

Honestly - if this were my dog, it would be out of the house.  Being in heat is no excuse for human aggression - especially around children.  

Answer 2

I'm with Kip's Mom on this one.  You need to get this dog OUT of your house immediately, and there are very good reasons for everyone involved, including the dog.

First and foremost, your responsibility is to protect YOUR offspring - not the dog.  This is your child, and all else should be way down on the list, no matter what.

Secondly, no dog should ever snap at a child - no matter what.  Period.

The ramifications of allowing this dog to stay are serious, to you, anyone who is bitten, and to the dog.

  If your child has not already been scared and traumatized by this dog nipping at her face, that is coming next.  People who have been bitten as children typically are afraid of dogs for their entire life, and do not allow their children to have dogs when they are growing up. That means the loss of a good home for many dogs over the life span of taht person into adulthood, and until their children are old enough to have a home of their own - and that's a long time, not to mention the fear issues to be worked through, and the loss of confidence.

You can be sued and have wages garnished for a very, very long time should this dog snap ayt anyone else's kid.  And children have friends, so that's all ahead of you for a long time.  You could lose your house in the process, and your family's future earning should the dog do enough damage to warrant a lawsuit - and it doesn't take much to get to that point.  I know someone who lost their homeowner's insurance after losing a 30K lawsuit - over a herding nip to a kid's SLEEVE.  

  And lastly, any dog with a bite history is doomed.

  No rescue can take the responsibility of placing a dog that has actually bitten - they will get sued, after that dog goes on to do it again - and they will.  If you personally place the dog, and it goes on to do more damage - and it will- you can still get sued.

  The lawsuits for dog bites are for considerable sums, since it is bound to affect the entire life of any young victim - and therefore also affacet your family's situation greatly - it could mean the difference between your child going, and not going to college.

You really need to get this dog out of your household NOW - speak to the breeder, tell them honestly what has happened, and have them take the dog back.  Make sure they sign a piece of paper that has been notarized, explaining EXACTLY what this situation is with the dog, so they cannot come back later on and say they didn't know.

  This is a deadly serious situation - and must be dealt with right now.

  The dog should be handled humanely, but it cannot stay with you.

  Until then, make sure it is either crated or separated completely from your child, and there is no way it can come into contact.  

  It's really that bad.

Answer 3

I personally would never keep a dog who might hurt my child.

Answer 4

I may not be answering your question but here is a SMALL ADVICE TO ALL DOG OWNERS THAT WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF FRUSTRATION LATER.

Dog is easy to train even for a puppy or an old dog if you know the right techniques.

Like most animal, dog can be conditioned. Sometimes it has been conditioned by some bad experience or wrong training techniques.

So we need to re-condition him to new environment. Finding out what is its history will help the new owner in training it to let go of hidden fears or bad habits.

Hire a dog trainer is expensive. There are some good books that will teach you how to train dog but reading book leave a lot to our own interpretation and guess work.

To learn a good dog training techniques from videos is next best thing. With videos, you can re-wind it again and again and learn step by step. It is a much cheaper way than sending your dog to an obedience class.

Only learn from someone you know or someone's recommended sites that had went through the experience.

Here is a website you could get value for money "Dog Training Videos." It teaches how to train dog in minutes. Example "how to stop your dog from barking indiscriminately" or even "stop it from pulling your hands off every time it is on leashed!"

Here is the website of "Instant Dog Training Videos"

==> http://www.dogexpertreveal.com

You can get the best deal through subscribing to his mailing list. Dog training videos do works!

Cheers!

Mike

Answer 5

you should try to get a new dog and see how it acts before tou dress it

Answer 6

Female dogs(just like humans) become very moody during that time.

Just try to keep her away from your baby until you can have her altered.

Answer 7

All mammals will become aggressive around her monthly or season times.  If your not going to breed her, get her fixed!!!!!!!!!!  Every vet has there opinions on when you should fix your dog.  You letting your dog know that nipping at your child was unacceptable was the right thing to do.  All females dogs will have a problem with any touching, sniffing, l*****g (from other dogs, esp males), or even simple petting from the middle of her back to her rump.  Unfortunately this behavior is very common, any of the things above makes her feel as if she going to get mounted, even if it is from you, your child, your husband, the cat, etc...etc.  She knows whats going on with her body, just like women know when we don't have a period each month.  Just keep your child away from her, or make sure that you are in the room at all times with your dog and child.  This is no reason to get rid of your dog,  try taking her to obedience school, long walks, or play ball with her, try to get her mind off things.  Oh yeah, if you don't get her fixed and she gets pregnant you will have more of a mess on your hands.  She will be protective of those pups, just like you are with you child.  FYI (she still can get pregnant 2-3 weeks after the last showing of blood)  Good Luck

Answer 8

I agree entirely with Kip's mom...this dog would have been gone, in heat or out of it. No excuse for what she did and as usual most people here blame it on the fact that she is not spayed.

Spaying a dog takes away their ability to reproduce, not snapping at people. Remove the dog from the house, it is simply not worth finding out if she will do it again with a baby.

Hope I helped!!

Answer 9

Okay, I have no idea why James has got 3 thumbs down! I agree with him. I won't repeat him, what he said is pretty much what I would say!

Answer 10

your dog sees your baby as being subordinate to her or wants to make him subordinate. i would have alpha rolled her right away to make her understand that she has the lowest ranking in the pack. the alpha dog in any pack will defend lower ranking dogs from abuse and they do it right away not 10 minutes later.

Answer 11

Are you positive she was snapping and not going to nibble at him (which wouldn't be good, but not aggression) or l*****g his face?  My dog  tends to nip my nose, but out of play, not aggression.

Does she have any sensitive parts of the body?

I definitely suggest spaying her for her overall health.  I'm not sure if the fact that she's in season would provoke aggression but it would definitely keep her mind off of the um, activities that she should naturally be doing while in heat.

Do not leae your child unsupervised around this dog or any dog.  I suggest a professional trainer if you think that there is truly a problem.