A little background we have had our dog (australian mix kelpie) for 5 years now, she has always been a barker so that's nothing new but as she gets older and especially since we have had our son (he is now 18 mo) she has turned into quite a nasty dog and I'm worried she will bite. I must say first our son has never been alone with the dog and has never hurt her. She stalks him by the sliding door and snaps at the window when hes there, she has nipped him when he has pat her ( we were there and he did nothing wrong only pat her gently). We now separate them which I know is adding to the mix. She is now funny with her food and noone can touch the bowl when she is eating, snaps at the window when she is in the car if someone walks up to the car, barks at the fence even when nothing is there etc etc. We trained her well when she was a pup and did everything they suggest to do when introducing a new baby to an existing dog and she was fine but im just over this. I do want to have a family dog but she just truly isnt the right fit for our family anymore. Am I horrible to rehome her and we get a dog more suitable to our household? We have considered retraining and getting someone out but truthfully I feel that even if we do that I still will not trust her around our son.
6 Replies
If it was my dog I would be getting a vet check to make sure there is no underlining health issue you are not aware off. I would also be getting a trainer to see if you can retrain. If neither of those options work out the I think you have really no option to surrendor her. I think some dogs just are not suitable for kids.
Rehome the dog to somewhere without children.
It really upsets me when people talk about giving their pets away but I guess that if you have tried everything else and it's a last resort then perhaps it's the best option. Just realize though that the majority of dogs that are surrendered never find new homes and are put to sleep, especially if they have shown signs of aggression.
I agree with the first comment about getting a vet to check her out for health issues. The dog I had as a child did a similar thing where he became aggressive and hardly anyone could touch him besides me, it turned out that he had suffered a stroke and that is what cause the drastic change in behavior. It could also just be that the dog is jealous of your child and I think that is fixable with the right training.
You obviously need to do what's best for your children's safety but if it were me I would be exhausting every other option before I started to think about giving my dogs away, I love them as much as my own children but I understand that not everyone gets as attached to their pets.
I can understand your concern I was attacked by a German Shepard when I was younger and it's so scary just how quick it can happen, I would do what the others have suggested and take her to the vet and just make sure she hasn't got anything wrong with her, also talk to the vet about temper testing her just to see how she really will react if provoked, kelpies are born nippers so her reaction might have been more out habit then anger but maybe also give her some one in one time with a lot of exercise and reinforce the training you did do with her it could be she is jealous of your son and her new position in the 'pack' so maybe she might calm down if she doesn't feel demoted anymore, also if she isn't already get her desexed she might be a little broody too
Actually kelpies are not 'born nippers' it's the reason they are first and foremost sheep dogs. They usually don't bite. We breed purebred kelpies and none of them bite unless absolutely pushed by cattle. You might be thinking of cattle dogs.
Take her to the vet. It sounds like she has an illness of some sort.