Has Anyone Had to Keep Their Dog Seperated from Their Kids?

All animals should be monitored closely when dealing with young children. I have two dogs that we only allow near Elizabeth when supervised closely. My dogs adore my daughter, but you never know what the dog or the toddler are going to do. Mostly in my home it is to protect my dogs, a huge American bulldog and a basset hound, safe from my 1 year old.

We have two baby gates up that have the hindged doors on them so that the dogs can have their own space in the formal living room and dining room, but can still see us. When Elizabeth goes to bed, they are allowed to roam freely.

GL!

Hi S.,

Would it be possible for you to keep the dog in your bedroom or a guest room and put up a baby gate in the door way so she doesn't feel "closed up" in the room and can still look out at everyone?
She is an old dog and may not have much time left and I wouldn't try to find her a new home because of one incident.
I know it's scary not being able to fully trust her. However it might be the only time she ever does it as well. Our dog did the same exact thing to my son when he was at that crawling around age and it only happened that one time. We corrected her behavior by saying "No" firmly and she just caught on after that so I'm not sure if we were just lucky with our dog but hopefully this might be a one time thing for your dog too.
Maybe associate her some more with the baby so she knows he's a person just like her owners are. If this is your first baby, she's not familiar with the childs behavior and it might take her a little more time to get used to him.

Good luck and hope everything works out for you!

Many years ago we were faced with a similar issue. We were lucky and had a large kitchen breakfast area and just had a gate installed at the opening and made that our doggies place when the kiddos were active and up. We put his bed in the breakfast area. He was free to come out if they were asleep or not at home. He got use to it and was much happier with that option than going to a new home. As our kids got older he eventually won his full access to the house back. It is hard having to adjust your life for a dog that you love and want the best for but you know utimately you have to pick the best for your child.

We had the same problem, we separted them for a while, then the dog found her spot where no one could sneak up on her. When they hurt they don't like to be scared, the kids also started to figure out she didn't feel good. Good luck

K.

We sent my 10-yr-old dog for 6 months to the grandparents because he growled at our crawling baby. When he came back, he was never left unmonitored with my daughter (I always had my eye on her anyway when she was a baby/toddler). I think he understood his banishment. He did growl at my daughter on about 2 occasions. I spanked him and put him in the bathroom (just like timeout really) for 20 minutes. This is to teach him he ranks below the child because naturally he will assume he outranks the kid since he came first. At one, my daughter was old enough to start learning how to be gentle. As time went by I taught her the idea that certain things made the dog "nervous" so we didn't do those things. By age 3 my daughter and dog completely understood how to get along. She loves him but does not grab or suprise him. And he seems to understand she doesn't intend harm. Everyone's happy!

Yes. We have two Chihuahuas. They are both fine with our kids in general, but they are Chi's and have a tendency to be snappy so we do keep them seperated, particularly when we aren't right there. They do spend some time outside, and also in a crate in the house. They actually love their crate. I sometimes have a hard time getting them out of it! When my son was younger, he spent a lot of time playing inside a Super Yard XT. Now he is running around like a crazy man, the dogs use it to be inside, yet still have play room. And of course after the kids go to bed, we are sure to spend some good quality time with the dogs. I have often thought of looking for another home for my "less reliable" Chihuahua; however I know he is happy here despite the circumstances. Just this past weekend, we had family visiting who commented that he seemed happier than ever.

If there is a way you can keep your dog gated away, but still close to you guys, I think that is best. I had a friend who kept her dog in the kitchen. It worked well since it also meant she didn't have to child proof the kitchen since the kids never got in there. She got one of those long configure gates to block it off.
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S., this happened to us and it is SO hard and stressful to deal with. My story will be long so let me first say -- please hang in there and keep working with your dog and don't default to a decision of giving her away! We had a similar issue where one of our young kids startled our very loving dog while he was sleeping and he nipped. It was very scary and hard to know what to do, as we love our dog like a family member but of course the safety of our kids comes first. I must have talked to 20 different vets, dog trainers, specialists, etc for advice/opinions on what to do. We used barriers/kiddie gates inside the house for almost an entire year to keep them seperated, and as the kids got older we started to integrate our dog back around them. He wasn't that pitiful really as he gets a lot of attention from us, and we made a point of taking family walks each evening and things like that so he was with us. And when we went outside and played ball, etc he was around us. It was only during times that he might be sleeping or resting that we had him blocked off. Now almost 3 years later we have had no issues and everyone is integrated together again. The advice you received from your vet is the same advice we used. Our dog has never had aggression issues, and we know he was startled when he nipped. We tried very hard to make things work so we could keep him, and I'm SO glad we did. Good luck, I know how stressful this is.

We have three dogs, a great dane, a jack russell terrier and a rat terrier. The rat terrier has displayed agression to kids in the past so we don't trust him with our baby for a second. He's fine as long as he approaches, he just doesn't like kids approaching him.

So our dogs live in the kitchen or outside while the baby's awake. After she goes to bed, we let them hang out with us or we go outside with them. We have one of those automatically locking gates in the kitchen doorway.

Occaisionally, we allow our daughter to reign over the dogs, for example we will stir their food around with her hand and then put her in her highchair between their food bowls. This is to show them she is the boss and not them. We go for walks where the dogs stay on the leash BEHIND the stroller so they continue to know the baby's the boss. And on rare occasions we let her pet the dogs. But we pretty much keep them separated. I have no idea how that will work once our daughter's walking and talking but it's worked well for us so far since we have been working very hard to control the situation. Good luck!!

Just a few months ago my friends dog bit their daughter directly on the face, some of the wounds punctured through & she required a lot of stitches & her scars are not healing properly so they are going to have to cut them open & redo them, possibly more than once. They had their dog a long time before they had children, when their first child was little it snapped at him, now granted the dog had a broken leg & the baby accidentally stepped on it. So, they figured that was the cause & it was a one time incident. They feed their dogs in the laundry room & they had already put their daughter to bed & she got out of bed and went into the laundry room & that is when the dog bit her face. They did end up having to report it because she had to go to the er. They ended up putting the dog down, I know it is horrible but they could not take the chance it would do it again. The dog was older & they did try to keep it separate, especially during feeding. My friend was in the kitchen with her back to the hall where her daughters room is so she did not see her go in to the laundry room. I feel that the best thing would be to try to find another home for you dog. I know it is so hard but the safety of your child comes first. Good luck and I hope that you find a good solution.

Our gentle dog growled at our daughter around the same age. We had formerly taken our dog to a doggy day care, and called and talked with them. They told us that the baby's new mobility was alarming to the dog. She was not likely to truly be dangerous to the dog, but it was good to try to foster good experiences between them. We had our daughter start helping to give our dog treats, and that was really good. We actually had tons of baby gates up at the time, and were more worried that the dog could not get away from the baby, so we also started permitting her to jump up on the furniture if she wanted to do so-- baby crawling toward her on the floor then she could jump up out of the way. PUtting our dog on the other side of the gates would not have worked real well I don't think- my experience with the gates and our particular dog is she gets upset when she is away from all of the people-- she just sits there looking at us sadly and barking. We don't know what kind of dog we have exactly-- perhaps a golden retriever & Australian shepherd mix? Our "baby" is now 4 1/2 years and we have only had one other incident with our dog since then-- she was excited when someone came to the door and jumped up, landing on another child's foot and scratching her with her toe nail. That was by no means aggressive in nature though.

Good luck to you!
A.

Sorry, but I'd get rid of the dog. I know dogs as part of the family, our dog is and my whole life our dogs have always been, but now that I have children, the priorities automatically switch. NEVER put an animal before your own kind. As sweet and kind and mellow you think your dog is, the minute they show any aggression towards someone who is defenseless, no matter how minor the bite, there should be no second chances. It's very sad and I don't envy your decision one bit. It just has to be this way for your child's safety. Why risk it?

We gave away our 8 year old Siberian Husky for exactly this reason. It was really h*** o* my husband (who had the dog since he was a puppy). We tried to find him a home through rescue web sites to no avail. Finally, a childless couple from Montana expressed interest. After several conversations, my husband was on a plane with the dog in cargo transporting him to God's Country. The couple sends us pictures and updates every few months. It's bittersweet because we miss him, but we know he is in a much happier place and our two little girls are safe.

I can't imagine having another dog before my girls are at least 10. I have seen one too many little kids with scars on their faces from dog bites. I am a stay-at-home mom who has preschoolers over for play dates almost every day. I would not feel comfortable doing this if I had a dog here...I just don't trust dogs enough, I guess.

I had a Cocker Spaniel whom I had for about 10 years before my first baby came a long. He was about 2 years old at the time I got him. He was the most gentle and friendly dog anyone could have. I was told at the time of the adooption that Cocker Spaniels are very good with children, but I was skeptical about it.

We were living in an apartment so by the time my son started to walk and became more curious about the dog, it became very stressful for me having to constantly making sure the gates were up, and taking the dog outside to go to the bathroom. One day, I was in the kitchen cleaning up, and my husband came franticly running to me and furious with the dog for biting our son. It happened just the day after our son's first birthday. He got bitten just above the corner of his eye. Although this happened in the same room where my husband was in, he was watching t.v. and did not see it happened. I can only guess two possibilities - 1) the dog was sitting face back, and perhaps my son came by closely and spooked him biting him out of defense or 2) the dog was already in the cage, and my son wanted to pet him when the dog was backed into the corner of the cage, and did not want to be touched. At the time of the bite, it didn't look bad. I had to put my feelings aside knowing I should be mad at the dog and upset that my son was bitten, but my husband was so furious at the dog, I had to protect the dog, and calm my husband down. He was just an old dog and didn't understand child's curiosity of dogs, and possibility didn't understand why all of the sudden he's not getting as much attention as he was before the baby came along. The next day, when I came to get my son from his crib, I bawled my eyes out because his eye had swollen up and was black and blue. I felt such tremendous guilt for not taking it seriously. When I told my mom this, she made it worse for me saying that I could be in trouble for this, and that the doctor may decide to put the dog in quarrantine. We took our son to the doctor that day which was on a Saturday, and the dcotor was very understanding and knew this was not meant in harm. So he did not request our dog to be put in quarrantine. My son's eye healed within a few days.

However, the next three months, it became clear to me that I just could not keep up with this - dealing with the dog and a toddler in a small apartment, etc. It was just too much for me because I was doing most of the work. My husband didn't help out very much because he was either working or was too tired after he got home from work. I contacted my vet clinic, and they said because of my dog's age, to contact Cocker Spaniel Rescue place. I contacted the rescue place, and the woman who ran the place already had so many dogs, but I told her I just could not keep the dog any more and I was desperate. She decided to take our dog so we we drove half way to meet (it was about an hour and half drive south of Dallas), and we met with the woman (the owner of the rescue place). The day that we drop off our dog was the hardest thing for me to do. Both my husband and I cried and cried when we handed our dog to her. She said she would be sure he would be well taken care of. It was also the day when I felt such tremendous relief off of my shoulders when I returned back home what a great feeling it was. My clueless husband had NO idea how stressful it was for me. He even asked me if we could get another dog, and I said NO! not until the LAST child is 5 years old !!! We now have 3 children and the youngest one just turned 2 years old in May. We continued to keep in touch with this woman for the next two years until our dog died in his sleep due to congestive heart failure. I was at peace knowing that he spent his last years at a "retired home" for elderly dogs. He had many other dogs to play with and run in a large back yard area.

Whatever you decide to do, it will only be the best decision for you.

We had the same thing happen. Our dog was laying on the floor and our 12 month old daughter came past him and the dog just got startled and then nicked her face. We couldn't take the chance of it happening again, so we decided that we had to get rid of him. It was so hard since the dog was only 8 years old and other than that one time, he was a wonderful dog. We thought about seperating them until our daughter was older but we finally came to the conclusion that we wouldn't be diligent with it since we loved ot cuddle on our dog and play with him all the time. We found out that we could take him to our vet and pay for 10 days of boarding and then they find him a home. That worked for us.

Good luck in finding a home for your dog. Believe me...I know how hard this can be on a family.