Staffygirl88

Topaz gets better every day with her meals, when she hears me getting the food, she will normally sit and wait on her dog bed and after I put the bowl down in front of her, she looks me in the eyes and waits until I tell her 'eat'. My son just stood by me today while I fed her and she didn't react at all. I know that she will be a powerful girl, we just finished puppy class so I'm going to find a dog obedience class for us to join soon. She's getting much better with her recall 'touch wood' we were at my sisters today and we were playing outside in the front yard and my sister was getting in the car so I called her back to me and she came and sat with me until the car was gone. Luckily, since that one time with Topaz playing tug of war with my son, it hasn't happened again. I haven't given it a chance to happen again and I don't plan to They do play nicely together though, Seth throws her toy for her but gets over it pretty quickly lol I think we're doing a lot better though. If we're all in the loungeroom, my son can be running around like a headless chook and my pup will barely look sideways at him. They only play together when they're both calm, if either gets too excited I stop play and seperate them. It's been working so far. A squirty bottle would be a good idea just to get her attention when we're playing outside though if she gets a bit to hyper, I might see if Seth lets me use his water pistol if I have to

I do get what you guys are getting at. But I don't agree with it nor do I have to. There was nothing wrong with the way I was raised around dogs, my dogs loved me and my 3 sisters and there was never an incident. And we hand fed them all the time. I still have all my fingers. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and just because mine is different from yours doesn't mean I'm wrong. My son and pup are supervised and everyone that comes into my house always comments on how well behaved and calm my pup is so I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I had one incident when I was mowing the lawn, but I've learned from that and make sure that if she's out of her crate or in the backyard with my son, then I'm right there with them, and if I can't be, then she will be in her pen. I love my son and I want him to respect and care for animals the way that I was brought up to do. If I don't let him have any involvement in her training or care, then he can't have much of a relationship with her and that's not fair on either of them. I know he's only 2, but he's not stupid.

No, I don't have kids. However I have a strong interest in dog aggression and have read extensively into what factors see dogs attack people. I know that your son is in the highest risk group for a bite and that this dog will grow into an extremely powerful animal. I have socialised every one of my pups with dog savvy kids. I consider that my responsibility as a dog owner to ensure no child is at risk from my dogs. Even so, I'd never allow any child to interefere with them when eating or sleeping. I have seen a number of aggression incidents involving kids, food and dogs over the years - like you, none serious. An attack doesn't have to be fatal to scar a child both physically and mentally for life. The facts are that most bites are on male children aged under 4, in the family home and by the family dog. Many of those dogs are well loved, well trained animals. You were lucky as a child. You may be lucky with your child and I certainly hope so. But no child safety expert or dog trainer I know of recommends what you're doing. For what it's worth, if I did have young kids, I'd not do what you're doing. I'd be feeding each and every meal to the dog in its locked crate. I'd never advise any of the dog owners I train to do otherwise. Once your son is older, that's a different story. But right now he hasn't the ability to read dog body language nor does he have great impulse control. Warning: link below contains graphic photo of child bite victim. Here's another article from a highly respected dog trainer about preventing dog bites on kids. Bear in mind that most dog bites on toddlers are inflicted on the head. It's interesting that Mr Leerburg's reaction to the photos of the Neo with the baby mirrored mine when I first saw them circulated by email. My blood ran cold. Most people I know thought they were cute. Most people know bugger all about dogs and dog body language. Its that lack of knowledge and their belief that dangerous dogs are the ones that bite people that sees so many kids taken to hospital every year. They simply cant' see that the dog that poses the biggest threat to their kids is their loveable family pet. Failure to separate and failure to supervise is the common link to most dog bites on kids. It is really that simple. I honestly doubt your pup sees your son as prey. Pups will practice stalking one another and many puppy games aim to prepare a pup for adult life as a canine. What you will prevent with separation and supervision is her EVER seeing him as competiton or a threat. What your son wants in terms of his interaction with this pup can't be allowed to dictate how you handle this. He's too young to understand her or that his actions have consequences with her. As the parent you must set the ground rules for both to follow. Put a child lock on her pen. You need to prevent him letting her out without your knowledge. My guess is that it wont' be long before he tries. Here's a pediatric medicine article on preventing dog bites on kids Here's another on dog safety for kids There is a child safe lock on her crate and there always has been.

The first rule I advise any puppy owner is never to allow any behaviour in a pup that you don't want to see in a full grown dog. What young kids need first and foremost is to be kept safe. I said it all in the previous thread where quite a few folk advised against allowing your son to interact with your dog when she's eating. You were given good reasons as to why your plan to have your son touch your dogs food was not a great one. Dogs, kids and food make for quite a few bite statistics. Your dog, your son, your decision. I just hope you do some research on this issue and particularly on dog behaviour. Your dog will not resent that your son cannot be near her when she eats. Chances are she'll appeciate having her meal in peace. Two elements that any child needs to learn about respecting dogs: leave them alone when they are sleeping and eating. Failure in this plan may have dire consequences for your child and believe me many families have learned that the hard way. You were also told that your plan to have your dog respect your 2 year old would not work. She needs to respect you and you need to ensure that her behaviour is acceptable. Your son will be incapable of achieving this for some years yet. No doubt you'll think me "nasty" once again for this post but PLEASE read some articles on dogs and child safety. Your plan runs contrary to both child safety agencies and dog trainers advice. ETA: Here's a Kidsafe Article you may find useful. It contains advice specifically for the parents of 2 and 3 year old children. I would like to ask you if you have every had young children around pups and what you're experiences are with them. I don't think there's anything wrong with my child feeding my dog??? I always fed my dogs when I was a kid, and I was a year old when dad got us our first Staffy. I've never been bitten, and we always did whatever we wanted around him. We snuck up on him (being kids we thought it was funny) had water fights with him and played tug of war etc The fact that some people are telling me that my son will basically get his face bitten off if he goes near my dog when shes sleeping eating or playing, then maybe i should have gotten something like a worm for my son to play with. I know there's attacks, I've seen them myself on a 3 year old girl which wasnt fatal luckily. But the dog that I saw attacked was untrained, undisciplined and just treated unwell by the entire family. The link was good, doesnt say anything about not letting my child feed the dog. Approaching and feeding are different in my opinion.

that bit that I bolded: that's good! and gradually get it to the point where Seth is getting the sit, eye contact and saying "eat". its hard with a pup and a little one isn't it! I'm sure you'll get there I believe the child is only 2? I wouldn't be letting a 2yo put down my dogs food bowl!! That is asking for trouble, no matter the reasoning behind it IMHO... Topaz is a puppy, I wouldn't do it with a full grown dog but this is a pup. Young kids need to learn how to care for and respect animals and I want my dog to care for and respect my son. Your entitled to your opinion and if you don't think that's achievable well that's your opinion, but I do. I want to be able to trust my dog with my son and if I always keep him away from her, especially when she's eating it will only cause resentment on both sides IMHO

I'll try the 'look for rain', Ive been pretty lucky with her so far shes not very excitable, shes very placid and if she gets really excited she does a little jump and run which is pretty cute lol but she doesnt jump on me or seth anymore, its getting guests to lay down the law with her too instead of saying 'oh shes so cute and shes just a baby and wants a cuddle' bla bla bla drives me mad. Ive kicked people out of my house for hyping my dog up I hate it. Seth raises his voice but its an excited voice coz it gets higher when hes being louder But thanks for that, it makes a lot of sense. She has to sit and make eye contact with me before she gets her food, and can't eat until I say 'Eat', but I'll let Seth put the bowl down tonight

Every time he tells her 'bed' and she doesn't go , or get immediately put there, she IS learning..but learning not to take any notice of him When she doesn't listen I put her in her bed.

That would be really hard. My pup's an Amstaff and my son's only 2 But I am trying to make her see that he is above her in the pecking order, Seth always goes through the door/gate before the pup and he hand feeds her and tells her 'bed', shes not listening to him at the moment but I'm hoping if I keep it up she will eventually.

I've read that I should attach a lead to myself when I'm around the house but was reluctant to try it because I try to get her to stay in the loungeroom while I do the washing etc but I'll give it a go and you're right in saying I'll be there to supervise any and all contact between them

Yeah I know ;) I live in a very small village and there's not a lot of locals that have dogs and the ones that do aren't very well socialised. She's having a puppy sleep over after puppy class on Wednesday

Topaz has always been pretty relaxed around the mower. She will just go and lay down on her bed or play in what's left of the grass most of the time. I'll just have to keep them seperated when I'm mowing the lawn because I can't be watching them constantly. That's quite scary!

I don't know what her body language was like, I didn't see it unfortunately. She won't do it if I'm watching because I've watched them and tried to find what triggered it. Seth (my son) was pushing his Tonka truck around, running. I normally correct her or distract her if she looks as though she's going to chase him, so if I'm watching she just looks at Seth when he runs past but then lays down or something, she ignores him which is good. She hasn't been around a lot of other dogs except for puppy class which is only once a week and the last class is tomorrow night. She's been snapped at by a couple of older dogs, one I thought she deserved because she just wouldn't leave the other dog alone. But my neighbour (my sister) has a staffy that is just a bit nasty to most dogs. She's tried to get at Topaz so we keep them seperated. When we play we do play a 'stalking' game with a toy that was meant for cats a little mouse on a string and she loves that. Seth will throw the ball for her and she plays fetch fairly well now I only have one son, he's 2. He knows not to stir her up and he's not allowed to go near her when she's asleep. I can teach her not to mouth me, but if she starts mouthing with Seth, he just freaks out and starts jumping around trying to get her off I know that's stupid because it'll encourage her and I'm working on it

Definitely. But I want to deal with the problem so I can be sure that it won't happen ever again

Hi again, Sorry for having to ask advice again I was mowing the back lawn yesterday and took my eyes off pup and son for a minute and when I turnt to check on them the pup had hold of my sons trousers and was trying to pull him down and my son was freaking out. This is the first time anything like this has happened. How do I handle a situation like that? I don't want her to never go near my son and when I locked her in her pen afterward my son wanted me to let her back out (I didn't until I finished mowing). I want them to have a relationship but I want her to know that she can't treat my son like that. Also, I went to help my mum mow her lawn later on in the day, and mum told me she was chasing after my son, I didn't see it but mum said it was like the pup was stalking my son I'm worried because she is going to be a big girl and I want to nip this in the butt before she gets any bigger. How can I stop her treating my son like he's prey?

It sounds like ongoing group classes will be ideal for both of you. For show advice, go to the Show Ring forum. Pinned at the top is a FAQs thread especially to help people new to showing. Your canine control should also have a page or two on how to start on their webpage. They should also be able to tell you where any local show classes are held. Thanks Only problem with classes is getting someone to look after my little boy But if I can find a class suitable for us then I'll definitely work something out