On the other hand, I do have a fine recipie for Shitzu Bolagnese.
I kid … I kid.
One person said euthanize the dog.
It’s an impractical suggestion to keep the dog separated. A ten month old isn’t very mobile, but an 18 month year old is. It’s unlikely that you can keep the two apart with a 100% success rate. What’s even worse, is that if the child gets into the dog’s area, now the child is invading the dog’s territory, which increases the likelihood of an attack.
Actually, no. One person said it and a lot of people agreed with it.
I think it’s a fairly simple thing to keep a child out of a dog’s enclosure. A tall fence without handholds, a latch too complex and/or requiring too much strength for little hands to manipulate. Simple.
No. One person said that every other person agreed it needs to go.
This requires a pre-existing dog enclosure. If there isn’t one, waiting for one to be built is unacceptable. The dog needs to be out of the house immediately.
That’s a personal judgement call. I know a lot of people who manage all kinds of behavioral issues (including aggression) successfully using a number of methods and means. There are a lot of options in between the extremes of euthanasia and don’t change a thing.
Well took her to the vet early this morning and the poor thing has a nasty ear infection. I feel horrible that I didn’t notice it more so because I don’t really have an excuse for it. But she’s got some meds and I’m going to get her to the groomer asap to help with those mats. I really hope this is going to help the situation because my family is really pressuring me to get rid of her.
Right now she’s kept away from the baby when she’s out and about. I gave her a bone to keep her happy and make sure she doesn’t think she’s in trouble or anything. It’s hard on her though since she’s always at my feet no matter what. That’s also an issue with the ‘rehome’ option should it come to that. This dog is the absolute most clingy, attached dog I’ve ever seen. When I leave the house to run errands, she sits by the window for me and never moves. Hell, I can’t even take a vacation or anything without her because she becomes so depressed she stops eating and drinking. So I’m afraid that rehoming her would be inhumane for her. But I’m not going to think about it right now. I’m going to work on the ear and such and see how things go.
Again, the issues is not “Do something” versus “do nothing”.
It’s “Kill the dog” versus “not kill the dog”.
I agree, something has to be done. Just, not necessarily euthanasia.
Finding someplace to put the dog for the time it takes to put up some fencing does not seem like an insurmountable logistics problem to me.
Oh, I am so glad you kept us informed!
I bet the ear infection is the problem. Don’t feel too bad about not noticing it… pets can’t tell us when they are sick, and it’s easy to miss things.
I hope the medication fixes her right up and she can go back to being the sweet dog you’ve known for all these years.
AngelSoft, the more I read the more I stand by the training idea. Your update sounds like it would make a perfect lead-in for an episode of The Dog Whisperer. I don’t mean to flog this show as though I had stock in it, but Cesar Milan really does seem to know his shit.
The first thing that struck me is when you said:
The thing is … she is in trouble. You do not want her to act aggressively, or be clingy, or go through seperation anxiety … and yet you reward her for doing precisely those things. I’m not trying to cast blame on you – I do hope you understand that – but I think your situation could be fixed well with some training. One thing you really have to buy into is that your dog is a dog – and treating her as a dog will make her happy. You can’t reason with her and hope she isn’t mad at you for being a meanie. She doesn’t understand that.
What she seems to understand right now is that you are hers and everything else is either a bother or an enemy and since she is in charge that’s the way it’s going to be … unless you as pack leader change that.
I hope this makes sense and you don’t take it as a denigration or condemnation or anything.
Hiya.
Person with lots of dog training background weighing in. 
Someone alerted me to this thread to see if I might be able to help out, as I have in many threads like this before. I’ve worked with dogs for many years, from service dogs to guide dogs, to arson dogs to explosives detection dogs, and family pets with a wide variety of issues. While this has never been my career, it’s always been something I’ve enjoyed doing and, if I can help, I gladly will pass on info when I can.
I’m glad you took your pooch to the vet. That’s always a good first step.
You’ve got a few things going on here, to begin with – firstly, the animal isn’t a youngun anymore. Gotta respect that. Secondly, things change, with a baby in the household. Dogs can’t be expected to suddenly know what to do with an infant, especially one that is suddenly mobile. Even at the age of 12. As for the cats, a dog’s tolerance level WILL change as they get older… and with illness, or arthritis, or even just with lifestyle changes, they can get more easily annoyed with their fellow housemates.
Regarding the child situation: First thing I’d do is get pooch a basket muzzle. I wouldn’t let pooch and child be in the same space without dog wearing one. Secondly, remove all water and food dishes from the floor and zones where the child can get to them. Create safe zones for the dog where the dog can be safely confined. A room, a zone in the house (basement room, a porch, a playpen, a dog run) – and put water and food bowls THERE. This, from now on, is where dog should be fed and watered and kept when child is out and about. NEVER should the two be “loose in the house” at the same time, UNLESS the animal is muzzled, UNTIL the child is able to control the animal himself or herself. With a dog as old as yours, this is unlikely to ever happen.
Yeah, I sound pretty paranoid, don’t I… But this comes from someone who would be awfully rich if she had a dollar for every time she’d been told “Muffy was so good with the baby! I don’t know what happened!”
Bites always happen when kids start to toddle around and people don’t pay attention. Kids are fast, dogs are fast. There’s two things you can be sure of: Dogs will be dogs (they can’t be faulted for that) and kids will be kids. Dogs can be taught to “respect” kids as superior to them, but dogs will always react instinctively as pack animals and treat toddlers like puppies – and correct them like an adult dog would correct a puppy for trying to steal resources (or being downright annoying)… and that’s with a muzzle “grab and shake”. You can teach a dog not to do that, sure, but it’s still their natural response, when they’re really freakin’ frustrated…
My philosophy is? Better safe than sorry. NEVER trust a dog 100%. NO matter how well trained. No matter how well loved. Every dog has his or her limits. Hell, I have my limits and kids get on MY nerves too 
Another thing to look into, for your old pooch, is considering doing some leash tethering (tethering the dog to you) and “nothing in life is free” training again. But at the age of 12, poor old doggie should be granted some peace and quiet… so really, I’d give it some space of its own, zones of its own, and let it chillax cat and kid free, then keep it basket-muzzled when both roam together in the house otherwise.
Thanks Elenfair for a balanced perspective.
And to the previous poster about non animal people and animal people- I don’t think there is a clear divide. You can be an animal person but not wear rose coloured glasses about your animal.
Of course. Once again, I never said “do nothing”. I only objected to people immediately jumping to the “kill the dog” option, without even considering retraining, rehoming, or anything else.
Elenfair, thanks for the detailed response. What you’ve suggested sounds very doable. At this point space is pretty limited so I’d probably have to use my room as the safe room. It’ll be a pain since the cats love getting in there and sleeping on the bed but they’ll cope I’m sure. My dog doesn’t like being locked up in a room where I’m not at, she whines and jumps at the door but it’s better than the alternative. I’ll also try giving her extra loves whenever I can. I know the attention shift from her to the baby hasn’t helped either.
Hopefully I can get this under control soon. I’m going to be moving in about a month or so and I’m sure the stress of that isn’t going to do anything to make things better. Although, who knows, it might. It’ll just be me, the baby and my pets (minus two cats of my mom’s) so I’m sure at the very least it’ll be less crowded.
AngelSoft – many changes certainly don’t help… One thing you can look into is getting your pooch an ex-pen and training kiddo to STAY AWAY from it. JB Pet supplies (online) sells some that are fairly inexpensive. You can set it up in the house (like in a rec room, etc.) – it might help the dog hang out with you but still have safe space. Using Extra-Tall baby gates is also a good way to separate space without having to “lock up” the pet in a room.
Otherwise, the basket muzzle will be your best friend, all around. Giving your dog her one on one time, especially good exercise time, will be awesome – going for walks, a good run in the yard while fetching, if she still fetches, that sort of thing, goes a long way. If she likes obedience work and such, do that: a mentally exhausted pooch is a happy pooch. A physically AND mentally exhausted pooch? Happy for hours. Get her a buster cube and feed her her dinner in her quiet/private space that way. It may keep her entertained for a good while and keep her brain active.
Good luck to you. And remember – vigilance is the key to everything. I’m about to embark on the same journey… I have a pack of four dogs, including one flock guardian who is very very protective. Expecting baby any day now!
Hang in there.
When I was a toddler I was taught: not to stick things in electrical outlets, not to drink whatever pretty colored stuff was under the sink, and not to fuck with animals that growl. I don’t see a problem teaching toddlers some life lessons. We raise them in bubbles now?
Oh, I totally agree.
The danger is that some animals can’t completely be trusted not to make the first move or a preemptive strike. In this case, the dog has had fights with the cats and has growled, apparently unprovoked, at the child for invading space (without the child having actually stolen resources yet). There’s no harm in being vigilant, especially with an older animal who MAY be starting to slip. And, well, kids are kids and dogs are dogs. They do stupid things. Teaching a kid a life lesson the hard way could mean stitches to the face and plastic surgery, if you’re not careful.
For example, take my pack of dogs. I have four dogs with varying degrees of training and experiences. One is a retired service dog who worked with autistic kids for a living (if you happen to watch Dogs with Jobs reruns, you might catch him – his name is Valen, he’s a toller. He still gets regular fan mail!) Would I trust Valen with a toddling infant? Implicitly. That dog’s been kicked, yanked, pulled around more than any other I know. That said? He’s almost 12. He’s deaf now. He’s also a dog. I would never leave him alone, unsupervised with a toddler. EVER.
I have a 7 year old, insanely bouncy, service-trained and highly spirited, wouldn’t hurt a fly aussie bitch. She probably is THE most tolerant of all the dogs in my household. My level of trust with her is the highest. I still would never leave her unsupervised, ever, nor would I ever leave food, high-value toys, chews or things like that that are the dogs’ at the child’s reach. Why? Because I have four dogs and, therefore, a pack. Baby would be at the bottom of that pack, rightfully so, and while all my dogs know people are on top of dogs in a pack, as a baby grows, it wouldn’t be unnatural for them to figure that baby’s trying to establish a new place in the pack… and correct accordingly.
We have an 8 year old sheltie/BC rescue with nipping issues. I would never, ever trust him unmuzzled around a young child. Ever. Case closed.
I have a 4 year old aussie, my seizure alert dog. He’s a HARD dog, a flock guardian at heart who would have made a hell of a police working dog. He has no sense of humor and is a total mama’s boy. He’s highly protective of his home and his people. He’s also very pack driven. I trust him implicitly. But he’s a creature of instinct and I know it. As highly drilled and trained as he is, he’s going to be doing muzzlework when our little one is around. He IS our pack leader, he DOES issue corrections to the other dogs and other dogs outside the pack. He’s highly respectful and people-driven, but he, too, is a dog.
You can ABSOLUTELY teach kids how to behave around animals and teach animals how to behave around kids. The danger comes when people become lazy and let kids climb all over dogs – we’ve all seen the pictures of the toddler with his face in the golden retriever’s face. Or the baby sprawled over the family pet. “Look! Muffy’s smiling!” Yeah, Muffy’s ears are back and he’s panting… because he’s stressed, not because he’s liking this.
As a pet owner, the responsible thing to do is to learn to read your pet. Learn to read signs of stress, learn to give your animal – cat, dog, bunny, ferret – space. Space of his or her own is sacred… be it a crate, a room, a run… something. Teach children to RESPECT that space. That’s the place where the pet can go to eat, sleep, play with you, spend some time to chillax with his or her toys… and no one can interfere with that. It shouldn’t be a punishing zone, either. But it should be a sacred retreat from everything else that can get overwhelming. Keep little hands and faces away from that space.
Anyway… food for thought.