We are still having issues with Lily, our beagle, which is ironic because beagles are known to be good with kids. Anyway, we had a close call the other day when she snapped at him and it hit me that this issue has not gone away, nor will it anytime soon. It also hit me that this is a serious situation.
She has had time to get used to him being a mobile kid and more like well, a human. He is curious and wants to grab her tail and lick her and love on her. (yes, lick her. I know, gross right?) He loves her so much and that is what makes this all harder. Most of the time he will crawl to her bed and she will run away but the other times she will growl and I am not at all comfortable with them being in the same room together.
We have always praised her when she licked him or stood near him nicely. We give her attention and pet her, and love on her. I don't know what else we are doing wrong so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
She has always been a high needs dog. I mean truly. Very needy, and scared of a lot (storms, lightning, fireworks.) I know the new addition has been hard on her but we have done everything we have been told to do. Our vet mentioned doggy prozac in the past and she is getting ready to be due for her shots so we will definitely bring this up with her vet but if we can try anything else first, we will do it.
So, any advice??
6 comments:
Good luck, Amy--I don't have any advice, but that's a hard situation to be in. :(
First of all, I have nothing against using Prozac for dogs. Some people need it, some dogs need it and I've heard people say how much it helps their pets cope. If she is happier in the long run, it will be better for everyone.
Okay now for the behavioral stuff. I'm going to assume you know nothing, even though I know that's not the case, so please don't think I'm being a know-it-all:)
When she growls at him, can you identify what is different than the times she doesn't growl? I know it might seem like sometimes she growls and sometimes she doesn't (and that might be the case), but maybe there are subtle differences. Is there a toy there or a bone or does she growl when she's sleeping and he wakes her up? When he grabs a certain part of her body? Is it when she's been patient and he keeps bothering her and she reaches her threshold? See where I'm going? Trying to identify her triggers will help you manage problematic situations in the future.
Some dogs just want to be left alone in their beds and I can't imagine how hard it is to handle that with a mobile toddler. It's important to teach Brady to leave Lily alone when she is having her quiet time. Maybe you can say something like, "Shh, time for Lily to go to sleep" to get him into the habit of leaving her alone while giving him something he can relate to (not now, but when he's a little older).
If you have to put her in a different room until he's old enough to understand, so be it. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind. But instead of making her feel like she's being punished, you could give her a high value reward like a bone every time she's separated from the pack, so to speak, since she's kind of needy. Or even separate them with a baby gate so that she can still see everyone and feel like she's involved.
Don't force the two of them together when she's in her own area in an attempt to train her and definitely do not ever punish her for growling. That is her way or warning him, "hey baby, you're pissing me off and I might snap at you if you keep going." If she learns that she will get in trouble if she growls, she might move straight to snapping and you definitely don't want that.
This is a good blog that discusses baby and dog interactions:
http://dogsandstorks.blogspot.com/
I can also recommend a trainer that I know through Stray Rescue. Please don't give up on her. If I can do anything to help, even come over to help, PLEASE let me know. I'd be happy to do it.
I just also wanted to say that you are doing an awesome job, especially considering how many things you've had to deal with since Brady came along. You are a good momma, to Brady and to Lily and Piper :)
My beagle mix is pretty neurotic and I imagine she will be the one who may have a hard time adjusting. Ditto a lot of what Mary said. One of my dogs "growls" at the other dogs when he is on the couch and they stomp all over him trying to get a spot. It is not a real growl, it is more of a grumble I would call it. I agree that her bed should be her space, but I can almost guarentee she is giving signals that she is uncomfortable before she snaps. You could start doing training with her when she is comfortable. Start off with Brady playing at a distance she is comfortable with when she is in her bed then drop pieces of chicken is she stays comfotable. You may need to research to learn stress signals in dogs. Then slowly decrease the distance (over days and weeks). This will teach her that when Brady is around good things happen.
We have 2 dogs, a 60lb mutt and a 75lb boxer. Our boxer is the absolute most tolerant dog on the planet. Very laid back and I can honestly say in 5 years, I have never heard him growl. He lets jake climb on him, poke him in the eye(we don't condone this), and literally take food right out of his mouth. Our mutt on the other hand is not so tolerant. She growls a lot, but has never snapped or bit. When Jake started crawling, we would tell him to be nice, or just stay away. He would go right up to her, look at us and shake his head "no". He knows.
For our sanity, we usually keep them gated off. Its worked well for everyone. Unfortunately I've had friends who've had to give their dogs up because it just became unsafe.
We have 2 dogs, a 60lb mutt and a 75lb boxer. Our boxer is the absolute most tolerant dog on the planet. Very laid back and I can honestly say in 5 years, I have never heard him growl. He lets jake climb on him, poke him in the eye(we don't condone this), and literally take food right out of his mouth. Our mutt on the other hand is not so tolerant. She growls a lot, but has never snapped or bit. When Jake started crawling, we would tell him to be nice, or just stay away. He would go right up to her, look at us and shake his head "no". He knows.
For our sanity, we usually keep them gated off. Its worked well for everyone. Unfortunately I've had friends who've had to give their dogs up because it just became unsafe.
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