Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I've got a 9 week old Doberman puppy that I'm very happy with. He has a very intelligent persona, very loving, and for his age very obedient. But I've had a couple issues with him lately. I have a 5 year old daughter and a 2 year old son that he has to get along with, otherwise I can't keep him. He plays with them most of the time with no problems, but in the last few days, since my son hurt him by grabbing his skin on his belly, he's been sort of ill with the kids.

He bit my son at the time of the accident, and I wrote it off as being the dog acting defensively in response to the pain, and I've taught my son not to do that. But yesterday, my daughter was attempting to pick him up and he growled and bit at her face leaving a scratch. He makes no aggressive moves toward me as his master, but he has growled once or twice at my wife when she is holding him or messing around his food bowl while he eats. What I believe is going on, is in his view of the "family pack" he is trying to establish dominance over my wife and kids. So I've told my wife to have the kids play with him, hold him, pick him up, mess around his food bowl while he eats, and scold him if he makes aggressive actions toward them.

I hope that after a few days of conditioning this problem will cease to exist, but I am terrified that I will have to get rid of the dog if he doesn't learn to not be aggressive, I love him to death and I'm very attatched to him, I would hate for that to happen. I do plan on neutering him later on, as I have no desire for him to sire puppies, he's just a companion, and I know this will calm him a little. I just hope to find some helpful suggestions in correcting this before it gets too out of hand. Let me know what you all think. Thanks!

At these ages, neither child is old enough to be alone with any dog for even one second. There are some serious things you need to know and to do to handle this. One is to stop putting the dog in situations where the kids can upset him and then punishing him for not taking it.

If he is the wrong dog for the kids, then placing him in a new home soon is best for all concerned: before someone gets seriously hurt. But perhaps you can work it out. There are three articles starting with "Child, Children"--titles in alphabetical order--at the link with my signature below. They should help you.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

So your saying, don't have the kids do the things they are normally going to do to the dog while watching him closely? How else is he to learn if I don't surface the action, and let him know it's the wrong action?

I think what Kathy is trying to say is instead of setting your dog up to fail and then punish him for it, don't put him in a situation to fail and instead constantly show him when he is doing the right thing- like being gentle around the kids and not paying any attention to them.

I have found any form of punishment of my dogs (even scolding) around my kids has had a bad association happen towards the kids. I WANT my dogs to growl if they kids are being stupid. Now, I want them to warn the kids so I can intervene and make the situation better for all. I obviously want the dogs to be tolerant of stupid kid behavior, but I do that by first me doing stupid things to the dog and rewarding the dog for tolerating that with me. Trial by fire is unfair to the dog.

There's a great book called "Childproofing your dog" that could help you out.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

I would strongly recommend a professional trainer with lots of experience in fearfulness/agression be brought into your circle of support. At the very least until his basic obedience was firmly in place. They will be able to help you rule out if the puppy is just ignorant and doesn't understand or if he has a serious temperament problem.

I disagree that "setting him up" is a bad thing. This behavior is not stealing socks, chewing up shoes, or begging for food. This is aggression or fearful defensiveness and needs to be squelched ASAP.

Puppies can be hard to catch in the act and by the time you realize what is going on, especially with agression, the bad behavior has happened and your correction could be poorly timed; confusing, frustrating your dog and compounding the problem. Have situations where the dog can choose to be naughty (without harming your children) and receive a correction or he can choose to do the right thing and receive praise. He is at the bottom of the family but the bottom is just as great a place as the top...all the food and none of the worries!

As far as neutering him...I wish I had done it much sooner with my second male. If he gets plenty of exercise it's not going to harm his physique and your headaches could be greatly reduced.

You've got to give puppies credit though... I mean we take them from their mommy when they are just barely weaned, stick them in an environment that is totally foreign from anything they have ever known, and they have, essentially, a blank slate for dealing with our species. They bite and growl at their siblings to sort out pecking order and we expect them to magically know that tiny humans do not like to be chewed on and are rather delicate.

Give him time and plenty of structure and I'd say he'll be a lovely part of your family in no time. So there you have my .02