Do you keep a dog you can't trust with your kid?

[clucknpeck]

Before my daughter was born we got this troubled border collie x jack russel dog. Most likely abused, turned stray, big project dog. We really earned his trust. He finally could come into the house without putting his tail between his legs, though we could never swat him or he would pee everywhere. We taught him commands, took his camping, to the beach, though he would never get over his fear induced aggression towards strangers.
After my daughter was born he could no longer live inside. Her crying set him on edge and I feared he would hurt her. We have worked with him for over a year, and now that she is 18 months we can sometimes let them play in the yard together, very supervised. He is extremely hyper and no matter what we try we cant get him to stop jumping at her face. Yesterday she picked up his ball to throw it for him and he jumped and grabbed it, scratching her face. So it looks like he wont be around her again.
I'm not sure what we should do. We have worked with him but he is set in his ways. He is a wanna be chicken/duck killer too, which isn't too much of an issue because they are pretty secure. The point is, he cant spend any time with him any more. He just can't be around kids. I did see him once nip at our 3 year old nieces face.

Everyone votes we should take him to the shelter. We have a great no kill shelter that works to place animals in specified homes, so he would not be placed with kids. Our other old dog would be so sad but what can you do? What would you do?
By the way I am not looking for criticism. If I didn't care about him I would not be posting this. I wouldnt have tried for the last 18 months to teach him to live with us.

 

[SteeleFaithFarm]

Try a remote E-collar. A use it with our dogs to correct behaviors when we are unable to reach the dog for a correction. You can teach you dog not to enter your child's invisible . This also works to deter chicken hunting. Otherwise I would suggest the no kill shelter. A dog of the breeding needs to have an active lifestyle.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I would say that you should take him to the vet and have him put down. If he bites children, a shelter would be insane to place him in a new home and it is no kindness to a high strung dog to condemn him to living out the rest of his life in a cage.

The vet will allow you to hold him and reassure him. It is very easy on the dog. They just go to sleep with no idea of what is happening (as long as you can remain calm)

So many really great dogs have no homes. It is a shame to take up one of the available homes with a dog who has biting issues. That space could go to a dog who is genuinely deserving of a chance.

You've loved this dog. Do the loving responsible thing and make sure he doesn't end up in another bad situation.

 

[SteeleFaithFarm]

Sorry many typos here. I meant invisible bubble. teach you dog not to enter within 3 feet or so without permission.

 

[dainerra]

I wouldn't ever allow him around my kids. That said, no I wouldn't take him to the shelter or try to rehome him. Honestly, if he has a history of snapping or nipping at kids, there is a good chance that they will NOT even try to find him a home. Also, given his history, it would be very difficult for him to pass any kind of evaluation to be put up for adoption. In cases like that, it varies by the shelter. Some will put the dog down; others will just keep him forever. Some shelters are set up with outside runs and he would leave a semi-full life. Others would be a sentence to a small crate/run for the rest of his life. Depending on how he reacts to children, it might not be enough to say that he go to a home with no kids. What if grandkids come to visit? Or the neighbor child wanders too close to his yard? Or he gets loose? You get the idea.

What I'm trying to say is, talk to the shelter. Have them evaluate him and give you an honest opinion on his chances of finding a home. Also ask them what will happen if he DOESN'T find a home. How will he be confined. Will he get love and attention every day as well as exercise? If the answer to any of those is "no" then I would consider euthanizing him. With his history, you would be taking a huge liability if you tried to rehome him yourself. It (to me) is cruel and unfair to sentence him to life in a small crate with only limited attention and exercise.

So, take him and get their HONEST opinion. I stress honest because there are some who take the "no kill" mantra too far, preferring to warehouse dogs without regard to their emotional needs because they believe better alive and locked away 24/7 than dead.

I tell you this because I have been there before. We made the decision to have Freya put down because she wasn't trustworthy around people.

 

[dainerra]

Try a remote E-collar. A use it with our dogs to correct behaviors when we are unable to reach the dog for a correction. You can teach you dog not to enter your child's invisible . This also works to deter chicken hunting. Otherwise I would suggest the no kill shelter. A dog of the breeding needs to have an active lifestyle.

I am all for using an e-collar but in this situation that is HORRIBLE advice. Especially for someone who isn't well-versed in how to use it. Instead of correcting the behavior you are more likely to make it worse. The dog will think that the child is 'attacking" him and will escalate his behavior in response.

 

[clucknpeck]

It's just so sad. When it was just me and my husband and we could devote our time to him he was doing well. He LOVES to cuddle. He is the kind of dog that has to have your attention 100 % of the time. He never ever nipped at us, only children, though he does go nuts on new people, barking and growling. We use to take him to the dog park a lot, but he can be playing with a dog and then out of nowhere go into attack mode. He is neutered. We did try a citronella collar that you could control. He hated it and it was working until he figured out how to rip it off.

 

[clucknpeck]

Oh and he actually spend his days running around an acre yard. But when we go outside he goes in the laundry room. It's not that he has a terrible life now, its just that he rarely gets to spend time with us.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I don't ever plan on having kids, but if I did or I foster...no. In a city, I'm not okay with a dog having stranger aggression to the point of biting unprovoked/unpredictably. I'm not even okay having purely dog aggressive dogs around in urban areas, unless the owner no kidding can manage it, and does things like always muzzle and leash their dog. If possible, I would try further training, followed by rehoming with full disclosure (but ONLY in a case I felt was completely right for the dog...aggression in dogs seems to invite owner abuse, and a dog with trust issues may not rehome well), then I would choose to euthanize.

While your dog is not sounding aggressive with your daughter, but rather hyper (often more trainable/manageable), it sounds like life outside is not something that is suited for this dog. In this case, rehoming to someone who as no children, is active, and uses methods such as redirection with a skittish dog, and who can completely assure the safety of their neighbors and other dogs might work out well. Can someone be found though? If you trust the no-kill shelter, then it's something to look into, but I'd be curious as to why they would accept a dog with stranger aggression (unless it is not severe). Is it a set up that your dog would be comfortable in, or grow worse behaviorally?

 

[Appylover]

Honestly I would probably put him down. I am no fan of the no-kill at all shelters. Low kill yes. If you rehomed him depending on your state laws with the knowledge he has tried to bite, YOU could be held liable if he does bite someone later on down the road. This is why many shelters and rescues will no longer risk putting any kind of biter back into the population. Even with training if not kept up they can revert back into old habits. I actually think fear biters are worse than real aggression. In most cases real aggressive dogs show signs. Fear biters at least in my experiance just bite. While they show signs the inexperiance of some people may not see it in time.

That said sound like he was over hyper and just scratched her.