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stzacrack
Stranger
Registered: 05/07/05
Posts: 3,881
Loc: United States
Last seen: 4 days, 6 hours
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dog help
#24579220 - 08/25/17 03:39 PM (6 years, 7 months ago) |
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How do I get my two childhood dogs (they live at my folks house), to respect/safely interact with my 11 month old daughter (who is absolutely fascinated with them and constantly wants to grab and play)
My daughter is starting to walk around and explore, and for months now she's been VERY interested in the dogs, she just always says hi and tries to play with them
The younger dog, a female, will tolerate only so much before becoming agitated and triggering a fear in my mind that she is about to bite.
The older dog is 80% blind, and generally good natured, but he Will also get peeved if I allow my daughter to get too close and too touchy, and might snip at moments notice
I've tried my best to chaperone the situation and to try and negotiate peace between them, but the dogs always end up aggressive
These two dogs are my best friends and I WANT them to be friendly with my daughter
Any suggestions as to how to make these animals love and respect and protect my daughter the way that they already do for myself?
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1234go
#1 Swiftie
Registered: 07/08/09
Posts: 56,299
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Tell the dog "no", and shake your finger when it becomes aggressive. Maybe stomp your foot, too.
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Alexthegreat
Registered: 09/17/15
Posts: 2,677
Loc: United States
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Disregard what payaso says. You don't want your dog to associate negative or fearful feelings with your daughter. When your daughter is near the dogs and they are indifferent or tolerant, reward them with walks or treats. When your daughter is touching them, give them treats. I think it would be more beneficial to work with each dog separately then together but I know it can't always happen like that. They need to learn to associate your daughter with positive things. Praise, toys, walks, and more treats. Eventually, it would be good to let your daughter give them treats when you feel the time is right. Make sure she does it with an open palm though with the treat in the center, that way no accidents happen.
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DieCommie
Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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That's a tough one. Were the dogs well socialized when they were young? The older they get the harder it is to socialize them.
My experience... I have two Corgis, 5 and 7 years old. They have been very well socialized with people and dogs since a young age. When my daughter was a baby they didn't care much about her. Give her a sniff and move on. When she started crawling and interacting with them they would get annoyed with her. I never feared them biting her, they run away to their crates when pestered. Still, though they usually love to meet new people they didn't really like her. It was odd and a bummer. As she has gotten older they have slowly become more tolerant of her. She is two and a half. They will now, begrudgingly, let her brush them and pet them occasionally. My hypothesis is that though they were socialized to interact with new people, they didn't understand the cues and body language of a baby and early infant. Now that she is exhibiting more familiar behavior they are more tolerant of her.
In your case, I obviously can't say for certain. Maybe your dogs will never accept her. Old dogs, like old people, don't like change and novelty. Maybe your dogs will accept her when shes a little older and acts more like a human from their perspective.
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Morel Guy
Stranger
Registered: 01/23/13
Posts: 15,577
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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I am very strict with my dog around kids. You hever know what a dog will do, but expectation can be truthful.
Get a pet corrector. Scares the hell out of dogs.
-------------------- "in sterquiliniis invenitur in stercore invenitur" In filth it will be found in dung it will be found
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zZZz
jesus
Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 33,479
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"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
give a man a fish, or teach ur child to fish?..
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musiclover420
psychonaut
Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
Loc: PNW
Last seen: 2 years, 7 months
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Re: dog help [Re: zZZz] 1
#24579504 - 08/25/17 06:03 PM (6 years, 7 months ago) |
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Trying to teach your kid to be gentle is a good start, many parents don't bother then are shocked when their kids get bitten after grabbing random dogs tails
I have a crazy german shepherd and she thankfully loves kids. Other dogs make her agitated and she tends to bark/ snarl but whenever she sees a kid she wags her tail and tries to run up and lick their face
I have had a lot of kids ask to pet her and I have to hold her in place to keep her from tackling them and licking their faces
Pets and kids both take some watching, especially together. Even a relatively well behaved dog can snap if harassed enough by a child.
One thing I have worked on with my German Shepherd is gentle bites. She is very mouthy and when excited can't help from some love nibbles and playful bites. But she is also pretty big and strong so I have had to teach her to be gentle. Now she will carefully grab my hand with her teeth and sort of suck on it
When she is really agitated she likes to just hold my hand or arm in her mouth which seems to relax her for some reason. I wouldn't trust her alone around kids for too long but I think she knows to be gentle unless they really got rough with her, which would probably make her get a bit rougher back as she is feisty and loves to play rough.
So TL/DR try and teach your kid and pets to be gentle and keep an eye on them, try and avoid leaving them alone together for long if possible.
Some sort of baby gate might help so you can fence off a dog free area for your kid.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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Adden
Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 39,201
Loc:
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Those dogs are in their dying years and ones mostly blind. It's gonna take a lot of supervised work to fix it. Otherwise your kid is gonna get bit dude it sounds like the dogs aren't over the moon about the kid.
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