Aggressive Dog, help!

[Jennifer Witteborg]

We adopted my year old lab mix from the county animal shelter where she
was dropped off with her 4 littermates. We adopted her around 4 to 5 months of age and she took a LONG LONG time (3 months or so) to become used to my husband and oldest boy. She is very attached to me and my middle child, Alan. She's fine with the younger two kids (ages 12 and 14).

Problem is that any time someone comes over, Maggie - the dog, will
growl and bark with her hackles raised from shoulder to tail (we call
her the ridged-back dog). I have taken to advising people to IGNORE her.
She hasn't bitten anyone.

My 14 year old will be babysitting a 7 year old child this summer -
part of the time here at our house. I am nervous about having the 7 year
old child around the dog. The child and his mother and grandmother are
coming over this Friday to help acclimate the dog to the child.

I would appreciate all and any suggestions. I DO know the way Maggie
behaves scares me for my visitor's sake. Sometimes it's so bad, that I
will crate her, put her in my room or tie her up outside (rare.. and
only if it's a nice day and the visitors are staying for a while or have
a young child there.. and Maggie isn't settling down).

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Jen

[Alberta Hanko]

Hi Jen - I also am owned by a fearful dog, who can become aggressive with people. He has never bitten either--and I am sure careful to never put him in a position where he feels he needs to protect himself. Take a look at the articles section here and read "Socializing the Fearful Dog" written by Renee Premaza. In a situation such as this, particularly with a child, I would go at introductions very carefully. Even after they meet for the first time, it might take Maggie a while to become accustomed to this child. You are right to be cautious particularly with kids. I do not allow Linus to run loose with a child he doesn't know, he stays with me, and I am always right with him when my granddaughter is over, and he adores her. You are right to put Maggie away from the situation if she cannot settle. Is Maggie on NILIF? Another good article to check out if she is not.

Alberta & Linus

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Jennifer!

Hmmm, I'd go about this VERY SLOWLY. Alberta gave you some good advice. Read the article she's suggested and also another one, both of which I'm linking right here for you:

http://www.doggiebagonline. com/articles/article.php?articlei d=16
http://www.doggiebagonline. com/articles/article.php?articlei d=17

I'd also strongly urge you to do a lot of reading at the following websites:

www.doggonesafe.com
www.familypaws.com

It's critically important that you understand how kids and dogs can wind up getting each other in a lot of trouble. Your dog probably had very little exposure to children when she was just a puppy (by 12 weeks). Unless you're certain that this 7 year old child will listen to you and your son's instructions, I would be hesitant to put the two of them together for anymore than a few minutes in the beginning.

I don't know how mature your 14 year old son is, but he must be aware of the possible dangers of allowing the dog and child to interact without supervision of an adult! So, no matter what, YOU or another dog-savvy adult MUST be present if the child and the dog are together!!!!!!!!!

Would you know what SUBTLE signs to look for in your dog to recognize when the dog felt stressed at anytime? Do you know that your dog could be showing stress signals if he just turned his head slightly to one side if the child was near him or approached him? If that concept is new to you, then please get the following book and definitely get the companion video below:

ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: Calming Signals, by Turid Rugaas
ON TALKING TERMS WITH DOGS: Calming Signals VIDEO
Both of these are available for purchase at www.dogwise.com

Err on the side of caution when dealing with a fearful unsocialized dog and ANY child.

Good luck!

We adopted my year old lab mix from the county animal shelter where she
was dropped off with her 4 littermates. We adopted her around 4 to 5 months of age and she took a LONG LONG time (3 months or so) to become used to my husband and oldest boy. She is very attached to me and my middle child, Alan. She's fine with the younger two kids (ages 12 and 14).

Problem is that any time someone comes over, Maggie - the dog, will
growl and bark with her hackles raised from shoulder to tail (we call
her the ridged-back dog). I have taken to advising people to IGNORE her.
She hasn't bitten anyone.

My 14 year old will be babysitting a 7 year old child this summer -
part of the time here at our house. I am nervous about having the 7 year
old child around the dog. The child and his mother and grandmother are
coming over this Friday to help acclimate the dog to the child.

I would appreciate all and any suggestions. I DO know the way Maggie
behaves scares me for my visitor's sake. Sometimes it's so bad, that I
will crate her, put her in my room or tie her up outside (rare.. and
only if it's a nice day and the visitors are staying for a while or have
a young child there.. and Maggie isn't settling down).

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Jen

[Monique Shimm]

I purchased the Calming Signals DVD based on advice from this forum. It is a great dvd - worth the price (even though the quality of the picture is not terrific). But watching the signals in action is a great learning tool.

After watching my dog for several months, I now know with greater accuracy of when I have to remove my dog from the situation (in my dog's case, it is with other dogs...)

[muttsrbest]

The others have given great advice and I will be checking out those links too. I understand how you feel as I have a sheltie/border collie mix named Taylor this also aggressive. He has fear aggression and he is territorial. So I am dealing with two issues and it is so confusing sometimes. Yesterday was a very bad day. Taylor seems so grumpy all day long. He was resource guarding a stick and my other puppy, Reggie, was trying to get the stick from Taylor. Over a stupid stick, Taylor lashed out and bit Reggie. Fortunately, Reggie didn't need stitches this time. Poor Reggie is only 10 mos old and he having to learn the hard way when to leave Taylor alone. Reggie is such a sweet natured dog and very obedient, but he is a little dumb when it comes to learning boundaries. I feel bad saying my Reggie is a little dumb. He loves his older brother Taylor and just wants to play. Taylor is two years old and has less enthusiam than Reggie. It has gotten a lot better. Time and patience helps. I know that Taylor doesn't really want to bite Reggie. Taylor growls and snaps first. Then if Reggie doesn't pay attention to the growling and snapping, then Taylor will bite. Poor Reggie is having to learn the hard way because he is such a slow learner. But I know that as Reggie's puppy energy diminishes and his energy becomes more equal to Taylor, then things will continue to get better. Jennifer, I just wanted you to know that you are not alone. It is difficult having to deal with an aggressive dog. However, love implies commitment and I can see that you really love your new puppy and that you want to make it work. I am always happy to learn when someone adopts a dog and works hard to give them a forever home. Good luck with everything Jennifer!