I feel super shitty. We went over to my MIL' s last night and they had their dog locked in a crate. Their dog (7-9month old pit pup) named Lexi would nip, not hard enough to make her cry, but enough to piss us off. My daughter crawled to the crate and put her hand on it. Lexi licked her and and I could hear her tail wagging. I told MIL to look and as soon as I said that, I saw Harley put her finger inside. That dog smashed her face against the door and bit Harley! I ran over and scooped Harley up and she was screaming. I heard FIL run at the crate so I knew to take Harley out of the room so she wouldn't see. Harley was still screaming when I got into the bathroom. I shut the door behind me and I looked at her fingers, she kept pulling them away. I turned on the faucet to distract her, I put her hands in the water (she likes to wash her hands) and I saw her ring finger was red and a little swollen. She eventually stopped crying, but I'm really upset. Harley had no business crawling by her crate, but this is getting out of hand. The dog's behavior isn't improving, it's getting worse. I thought the dog did it out of jealousy, but now I know that dog does not like my daughter and I'm not okay with that. What should I do? Keep my daughter away from their house? Make sure they have the dog locked up the entire time? I'm afraid if it happens again, it will be worse. I really thought that dog was going to die last night, my SO and FIL lost their shit. I know they love their dog, but this is their grandbaby. I know for a fact if it was my dad that witnessed his dog biting his granddaughter, it would be the end for that pooch.
She gets in our dogs food bowl too. Kita also eats around her hands. Lol since this one isn't mine, there's only so much I can do. it's up to my MIL, I really don't want my daughter anywhere near Lexi. The other Ziva, is a picture perfect dog. Licks my daughter to death.
@mommyof1boyy, my daughter isn't the one being bothersome lol the first time my daughter crawled passed her in the kitchen (food incident) and the dog crouched down to nip her face. The second time my daughter was in my lap and the dog tried pushing her off (to get between us) and nipped her in the face again. Third time my daughter was standing next to the ottoman and the dog tried taking her toy. Harley pulled the toy away and the dog got her face again. This last time was the crate incident. I think the dog needs the training, not my kid. I can teach her space, but she doesn't really do it to begin with.
its not your fault. the dog just needs proper training. it might be hard Now. we started with my dog while I was still pregnant. we have a Belgian malinois so we were scared. but after the training my son can stick his hand in the dog bowl and he eats around it. he Now never nips. but in the mean time just watch your daughter and every time she goes near the dogs teach her how to be nice (not saying she never is) and how to pet.
I guess all I can do is keep them separated. I refuse to risk it. Pup or not, this isn't playful behavior. I can understand a playful nip, but these are straight to the face and are getting progressively harder. I really fear that next time could put my kid in the hospital (I won't let that happen though). I'll talk to her about finding a trainer to help, but I don't want my daughter used as a guinea pig. Also, my daughter doesn't really bother the dogs. She usually avoids them because she doesn't like her face licked. So she's not really being annoying, I should have kept her away from the kennel though, I thought it was safer. :(
you can teach her. my son knew by 11 months old that he needed to be nice to the dog.
This isn't the first time she was bit, the other time was nip at the face. We all thought it was because the dog gets jealous. She nipped her over a toy, food (that was cooking) and when my daughter was on my lap. Besides that she is a very sweet dog. They have another pit, ziva who absolutely adores my daughter. I myself have a pit/Shepard mix, I pointed out the breed @brenking for others to get better understanding. Not to shame them. We are hoping she break this behavior, but I don't want it to get worse. I don't know how often they get out to run. My daughter isn't even a year yet @mommyof1boyy eventually she will understand that dogs need space too. As of now, she is unable to understand. My MIL loves her dogs, spoils the hell out of them, which may be the root of the problem.
you also have to take into consideration that this is also a puppy. Puppies need consistency. Bringing a baby around to start is going to be rough for both baby and puppy but after a routine or general consistency they learn to get along and attach to each other. Also if the puppy has little or no training it makes it more difficult to discipline them after an incident like this because they were never showed not to. I had the same problem with my very wild pit/blue healer mix. I would watch my toddler cousin and my pup was about 6 months old. She would bite and be mean. After training and consistency She is now very acclimated to children and loves them to bits. She is all about babies and toddlers. It takes training and time
I 100% agree with @vamommy89 the crate is pups safe place. either have them move the crate somewhere your baby can't get to it or have them put the dog outside while you're visiting. my dogs safe place is his doggy bed. when he lays on it my son knows not to bother him. eventually baby will have to understand that sometimes pup needs to not be bothered. I'm sorry that happened to your little one!
I don't think it's that the dog doesn't like kids I feel like the dog just needs proper training. Have they tried any training classes? How do they allow the dog to get all of it's energy out? Does the dog have room to run during the day? Pit bulls are a completely misunderstood breed but with the proper training they are amazing with children.
Is the dog crate trained? If she is only being put in the crate because you're there, and not at any other time, she's seeing it as punishment. And then adding the baby into it is just a recipe for disaster 😔. If she put her hand in the dog probably felt threatened. It might be better for the dog to be outside, maybe with a bone or a treat, or kept behind a gate rather than crate trained. Dogs can be very territorial. I don't know the situation exactly but I know it's sometimes an easier fix than what our first thoughts might be (I've had dogs my whole life)
We had a great dog when we were little kids. She loved us and never intentionally hurt us. Well one day, I rained and we had a rain ditch and we knew we weren't supposed to play in it. Our dog was in it and my little sister pulled her tail to get her out. She was like 2 so she didn't know any better. Our dog turned and tore most of her face off. You could seriously see almost all of her bones in her face. My dad took her (the dog not my sister) out to the corn stalks and had to shoot her. We loved her but my parents couldn't risk that happening again. Once they taste blood, they want it more. It's sad but sometimes you have to choose the kids over the animals even though they are family too.
I do, but what I'm trying to get at is she doesn't do it in the first place. Like, teaching a dog that doesn't bite, not to bite? She won't be around the dog anymore anyway.