# Aggression toward a baby??



## michel33 (Sep 22, 2009)

My dogs are just 7 months old. Enoch has always been the dominant dog, he has a lot of prey drive and barks at the slightest noise. He scared me REALLY bad last night. My sister-in-law came into town with her baby. The baby is 1 ½ years old. When they first came in I put the dogs in a different room and made sure she was holding the baby before I let the dogs into the living room to sniff them. Usually when anyone comes into the house, the dogs get excited, Enoch barks a lot, but then after five minutes or so when they sniff my visitors they calm down and don’t pay much attention and find a spot to lay down. 

Well, my sister-in-law set the baby down after about 30 seconds of an introduction and the baby took off running across the living room. Enoch flew behind him barking with his hair standing on end all the way down his back. I grabbed the dog quickly and put him in my bedroom and kept him there the whole time they were here. He has never reacted that way to any child and I have had him around tons of kids with no trouble before. The youngest he is around is my niece who is 4 and she runs, plays loudly and screams “come here puppies” while she runs. The most the dogs have done is lick her face, and get a little too excited in a playful way. With her I usually have her sit on the couch just in case the dogs decide to put their big paws on her. They are way too big to be doing that. 

I don’t know if I can trust him now around small kids and I wonder if it was just because my sister-in-law put the baby down that fast. I was not expecting her to do this and usually when I introduce a small child to the dogs, I have the kid on my hip for a long time, at least enough for the dogs to not be so excited so they don't try to jump up on a little one.

I hope this isn’t a sign of a problem and it was just a freak thing, so if anyone has any input about how I should handle future situation I would love to hear from you. At this point I’m thinking of just always keeping Enoch in a separate room when we have them over again, but I don’t know if that’s the best way to handle it or not.


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

I would say it's because it happened so fast. also, a 1 1/2 year old doesn't move like a 4 year old. they are much more wobbly and jerky. imagine if some weird creature went running across your living room before you had had time to figure out what it was.

I don't have any other advice though. I know that someone here will probably have more experience


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

This is a herding and working breed. He saw something he was not familiar with in HIS house running away from him. He gave chase. You would not expect him to sit and watch a rabbit run by without A LOT of training...you can't expect him to do this with a child either. The 4 year old they have been around is old enough to understand when you tell her to sit down for a minute. A 1.5 yo does not. The dogs should be leashed when there are children that small around until the dogs are older and are more familiar with the rules regarding children.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

> Originally Posted By: DainerraI would say it's because it happened so fast. also, a 1 1/2 year old doesn't move like a 4 year old. they are much more wobbly and jerky. imagine if some weird creature went running across your living room before you had had time to figure out what it was.


That's what I'm thinking.

Try taking him near playgrounds or other places where you're likely to find toddlers. Without his brother becuase dogs feed off the emotions of the others.


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## VectorSketcher (Jul 20, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: michel33usually when I introduce a small child to the dogs, I have the kid on my hip for a long time, at least enough for the dogs to not be so excited so they don't try to jump up on a little one.


Just a thought, you mentioned they are fine with kids that you hold, I wonder if the fact that you didn't hold this kid first had something to do with it? Maybe if you were holding the child while they were smelling it would have triggered a different reaction once the child was down and running about.


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## michel33 (Sep 22, 2009)

I really appreciate all the responses and advice. You guys have made me feel SOO much better. I will definitely let my husband hold the dogs on a leash the next time and I will be sure and hold any little ones long enough for the dogs to do their sniffing. 

It was a very sudden move when my sis-in-law put the baby down, I didn't expect it any more than the dogs did. I also need to have a longer talk with folks that might not have good doggie sense before we try an introduction lol. It is very different when we are in our house than out and about. The dogs can be territorial.

I was just worried that this was some type of bad sign. It did teach me that I need to be MUCH more careful.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

Next time get the dogs set up first in their crates or on their beds (if they have a solid sit/stay - I wouldn't ask for a down/stay at this age) or tethered ie whatever will work best for the situation: have tiny pieces of super tasty <u>special</u> treats, while they are calm, treat like crazy to reward the good behavior while your nephew runs around the room etc.

Don't expect perfect behavior immediately but do this as a _work in progress_, start with a few minutes the first day, then put the dogs in another room while you enoy your visit - you want the dogs to learn _toddlers = calm behavior & yummy treats_ 

Once they have this down pat inside room #1, move to another room & repeat, then move outside & repeat etc (obviously gets alot faster/easier as you progress as the dogs know what you want, just need to learn to apply it to new situations).

Do this same sort of redirection for the situations when they are barking as well - a few woofs is great (thanks for the warning!) but 5 minutes is rather rude









Probably you need to step up the NILIF at this age - also make sure you're doing enough one-on-one training/outings with each dog as well so that they learn to be confident, relaxed *independent* dogs.

ETA dogs do not get to sniff/approach little people until they are being calm & relaxed, eg any signs of waryness/hackling & keep them at a distance.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

> Quote: Usually when anyone comes into the house, the dogs get excited, Enoch barks a lot, but then after five minutes or so when they sniff my visitors they calm down and don’t pay much attention and find a spot to lay down.


In your description of this scenario, you're letting your dogs make the decisions rather than you, read 3K9Mom's post on this thread for a great description of teaching _quiet_ or _that's enough_.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Hair sticking up sounds like he was fearful. He needs to be around more toddlers. Not to sniff them or play with them, but to see that they can run and scream. Children run and scream, that is normal. Dogs not raised around children or babies do not understand that it is normal. It is so abnormal to them that they can become very afraid. 

I second the leash. Once he realizes that babies move and sound a certain way and have plenty of positive reactions to babies from you, he should be able to get it. Never take a chance with a baby's life though.


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

Hair sticking up can be many different things, including aggressive. In any instance it's a sign of some kind of excitement which can lead to very good or very bad things.

The reason this happened could be any one or more of the answers you got here or something that wasn't even mentioned or thought of. Unfortunately, we don't know for sure what goes on in the mind of a dog, we can only give our best guesses based on written description of the behavior. Heck, even someone in the room witnessing it can't be 100% positive because ya can't ask the dog "hey Buddy why'd you do that?" 

I don't mean to scare you, but you need to first think of the damage that this dog can do to a small child. That has to be first and foremost no matter which direction you go. All the socializing in the world may not cure this problem. 

For one thing, for some dogs things like joggers, skaters, bicyclists and small chlildren are PREY. A jogger, skater or bicyclist might get away with a nasty bite to the leg or ??? but a small child stands to loose their face, their arm, their LIFE. 

I do not trust Riley around children under about 6 years old, he's just got to much prey drive and we've have a few incidents involving little ones where nothing bad actually happened but he's shown me that it's best to not have him around little ones. 

If your dogs have to be crated when you have munchkin company, so be it. The child gets to keep his limbs, face or life and you get to keep your dog.

One thing you could check out, although your dog is a bit young for this but doesn't mean it's not possible .. have his thyroid function tested. One of the symptoms of hypothyroidism is agression towards small children. Again, your dog is pretty young but I would at least have mine tested know's it's a symptom. 

It's a simple blood draw at the vet. Takes about 3-5 minutes. I have ours tested every 6mos and have their blood sent out to http://www.hemopet.org because this is THE lab in the country for this kind of testing. You'd think it's expensive but it's not. I get both dogs done, blood draw, office call, shipping, testing, results consult for about $150.00 total. Both of ours have the illness, but both display different symptoms. 

If hypothyroidism is found, the resulting fix is to put the dog on lifetime meds which are little tiny pills, pop one into a slice of hot dog and feed. Cost? Total $24 every 3mos for both dogs. 

If you go research, make sure you don't get hypOthyroidism confused with hypERthyroidism. Two very different dysfunctions. GOOD LUCK!


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## michel33 (Sep 22, 2009)

I have learned so much from all of the responses. I printed out the post on the quiet command so our whole family could read it. (we were very guilty of hushing them for barking and doing all the wrong things there) Also cracking down on allowing the dogs to decide when they want to sniff visitors. I will also definitely have the thyroid test done at the next vet visit just to be sure. 

I really do take aggression very seriously and want to do everything in my power to prevent any incident especially with a child. If an on-leash intro doesn't go well from now on with anyone, I'll just remove the dogs from the situation. I love these oafs very much and it would break my heart if they bit anyone.

Thanks so much for all of the input, this forum has been a huge help for information. I can't stress how much I appreciate it


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