Tough Decision Ahead - Beau Bit Our Baby Son

[JAJ2010]

I'm really glad no one was hurt. You've gotten tons of good info!

 

I just want to chime in on the different mentality of a few generations ago. We grew up with a Scottish terrier that was NOT fond of children. My brother was 4yrs old and decided to corner the dog under a coffee table for who knows why! I remember the growling.... and warning from my Mom to "leave the dog alone or your going to get bit"... My brother being a boy had to learn the hard way. He got nailed in the face and it wasn't in any way the dogs fault! I don't remember if he needed stitches or not. He probably didn't since I would have remembered going to the hospital, but things happen and everyone in the family moved on. The dogs will try either verbally or through body language that the are uncomfortable and if we don't pick up on it... well it's going to hurt! Do I think my Mom was a lazy careless mother for letting him corner the non kid friendly dog... YUP! But that's another whole story...

 

Like that youtube video of the Shepard Police dog biting a reporter in the face. That dog gave a zillion ques as to what was going to happen. Even my clueless DH picked up on them all :lol Everything with teeth has a potential to bite. Our greys have a nice bite power, I've seen them crack raw venison leg bones to get the marrow out. They are not supposed to be able to crack them! You always have to remember that these dogs are animals not people and they do have strong toofers.

[Guest GentleHugs]

I'll agree with others that you need to be more proactive here. However, I'll suggest a different book, rather than Childproofing Your Dog (while it's OK, I'm not really a fan of Kilcommins). The better book in my opinion is Living with Kids and Dogs (without losing your mind) by Colleen Pelar. It's MUCH more comprehensive and takes you through different stages of your child's and dog's lives. It's excellent and it's what we make any of our adopters with kids read.

 

Good luck

 

I'll have to check into the book you recommend Living with Kids and Dogs (without losing your mind) by Colleen Pelar. It's always good to have some additional reading material around in cases like this. Who knows? This ol' grandma just might learn something new!

 

Thanks turbotaina for the suggestion!

[Guest Harry702]

Everyone has already given excellent advice, so I'll just add a few things.

 

First of all, I'm sorry this happened to you. It must've been both scary and heartbreaking. We'll be adding a baby girl to our family in April and truthfully, I'm a little concerned with how our 6 year old grey, Harry, will adjust. We've had him for about two years, and he's a good boy... but as you've found out the hard way, even good dogs can be pushed past their limit. Your post is a good reminder to me that I need to be as careful as possible with both Harry and the new baby. I love Harry very much, and I already love this baby... I can't even fathom having to choose between them.

 

In addition to the books recommended, I'd also suggest On Talking Terms With Dog: Calming Signals, by Turid Rugaas. I can't even begin to describe how helpful this book was in helping me understand Harry's subtle gestures indicating that he's stressed or uncomfortable. Knowing the subtle signs that your pup is stressed might help you prevent the escalation to a growl and a snap.

 

Best of luck. Having pets and small children is a challenge, but it can be so rewarding for everyone if done responsibly.

[Guest GentleHugs]

Everything with teeth has a potential to bite. Our greys have a nice bite power, I've seen them crack raw venison leg bones to get the marrow out. They are not supposed to be able to crack them! You always have to remember that these dogs are animals not people and they do have strong toofers.

 

 

I have to agree on this - everything with teeth has a potential to bite - it's just a matter of how much they can or will tolerate until they use those teeth to inflict a bite - whether its a nip or a full complete bite. Sometimes they will warn you with some subtle body language (raising lip, moving head away in another direction. etc) or warning sound (growl) before nipping or biting. But, if their warnings go unheeded a few times in the past, they will bite a little more agressively to get their point across as if to say "I've had enough."

[BootsyCollins]

Deep breaths. This can happen to any parent, and anyone who judges you for it happening to you can just go stick it. It happened to my son a few months ago - he crawled up to a sleeping dog. It happened SO FAST, and he had a little puncture wound on his lip. No permanent injuries, though.

 

Your son is just about old enough to learn to respect your dog's dance space. We kept our hound's crate up for a long time, even though the door was off, because it was a very clear boundary for our son. Now that it's down, he still knows not to go near that corner of the room.

 

It sounds like you know what to do, and you know that you've become a bit too lax. That's ok. Forgive yourself. Move on.

 

Hang in there.

[Guest spider9174]

you've gotten some great advice. here are a couple of books to read:

 

http://www.livingwithkidsanddogs.com/

Living with Kids and Dogs without Losing Your Mind by Colleen Pelar

 

Childproofing Your Dog by Brian Killcommons

[NeylasMom]

You've already received a lot of good advice, I only wanted to add one thing I don't think I saw anyone else mention. You mentioned that you've had a few isolated incidents of aggression with Beau, when he was sick or injured. I just wanted to caution you to keep this in mind in the future as sometimes aggression is the first sign of illness. That's why even as your son gets older, it's important to keep some rules in place about when your son can approach him even if he seems to have learned to be comfortable with him.

[plepkowski]

I'm very sorry this happened!

 

Your son will eventually learn to respect the dog. But things might get worse before they get better. When he starts walking and running and falling down a lot then the dog will be even more alarmed. Make sure the dog has a safe place to retreat to!!!

 

I didn't learn until I was about 4. I used to like to play with the Holstein bull. Mom, Dad, Uncle Harry and Aunt Janet all tried to explain that this wasn't a good thing to do. But I didn't understand. Then one day the bull explained it to me. He used his muzzle to toss me twenty feet into a pile of manure. It's now seventy years later and I still don't want to play with a Holstein bull.

Edited February 4, 2010 by plepkowski

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Not advice but related. The other evening during our walk, Bang and I met a neighbor kid (little girl, maybe 5 years old; I am useless at guessing kids' ages) and her Dad. They were the ones building the SnowDwarf Of Doom, in fact. The girl came trotting up to Bang and immediately began petting her nose, ears, head etc, with her face maybe two inches from Bang's big mouthful of sharp teeth. Bang did what she always does when being fussed over; enjoyed the attention. But it actually made me a bit nervous, knowing what could happen.

 

So I told the girl very earnestly that she should never get her face near a strange dog's face, because not every dog is as calm as Bang and that some dogs might be frightened by a stranger getting real close to their face and bite in reaction.

 

Her father seemed surprised that I had said that and thanked me, then re-iterated the warning to his daughter. Turns out that his family had actually had an incident like that, where a child (not the one in this story) had been nipped in the face.

 

Hopefully there will now be one less child injured, scarred or traumatized and one less dog in trouble.

 

~D~

[Guest ArtysPeople]

I wanted to thank those who recommended the "Childproofing Your Dog" book. My partner and I have concerns about one of our dogs and how he may react if we have children in the future, so reading this book sounds like it will help us a lot.

 

To the original poster, I don't want to discourage you from taking the advice that's already been given, but I want to let you know that, based on my experience volunteering at a greyhound adoption kennel for over a year, he will likely find a new home soon should you feel the need to return him. The dogs who are returned to our kennel from a stable home after several years (usually due to a death, someone moving into a retirement home, divorce, etc.) seem to get adopted fairly quickly relative to new dogs just off the track. Of course, no group wants to see dogs returned, but you shouldn't let guilt that he would linger without a new home for a long time keep you from making a decision you might need to make. My own girl Maeve is a "bounce", and having had one now fresh off the track and one a "bounce," I can tell you that the one who knew a home before has had a much easier transition. I can see that being very attractive to potential adopters.

 

Best wishes, and I hope that whatever happens, you and your family find peace.

 

ETA: 7 is not that old; and even if he were old (like, double-digits), there are some adopters who specifically want and search out older dogs.

Edited February 4, 2010 by ArtysPeople

[Guest Jubilee251]

Not advice but related. The other evening during our walk, Bang and I met a neighbor kid (little girl, maybe 5 years old; I am useless at guessing kids' ages) and her Dad. They were the ones building the SnowDwarf Of Doom, in fact. The girl came trotting up to Bang and immediately began petting her nose, ears, head etc, with her face maybe two inches from Bang's big mouthful of sharp teeth. Bang did what she always does when being fussed over; enjoyed the attention. But it actually made me a bit nervous, knowing what could happen.

 

So I told the girl very earnestly that she should never get her face near a strange dog's face, because not every dog is as calm as Bang and that some dogs might be frightened by a stranger getting real close to their face and bite in reaction.

 

Her father seemed surprised that I had said that and thanked me, then re-iterated the warning to his daughter. Turns out that his family had actually had an incident like that, where a child (not the one in this story) had been nipped in the face.

 

Hopefully there will now be one less child injured, scarred or traumatized and one less dog in trouble.

 

~D~

 

Oh god, this happened to me and Molly the other day too. The father asked if his little boy could pet Molly, and I said yes, and IMMEDIATELY the kid started grabbing at her face. She was pulling back a little, like "What the heck, kiddo?" so I put the kid's hands on her back and tried to redirect him to stroke gently.

[rschultz]

just decide what is right by your heart. You as a mom know your child and your dog. always a tough decision.

[Guest redreed]

You've received some great advice!!! Here's my little bit... When my daughter was born, Tiger was fine. When she started to crawl, he was not so pleased. He was also quite a bit older than Beau but this may help.

 

We went over to the local garden center and bought some 1' high plastic garden fencing and built a fence around Tiger's favorite bed. He could easily step over it, but it stopped Jacey cold. We also muzzled him when Jacey was on the floor, but the fencing really did help a lot.

 

Good luck and lots of good thoughts going out to you all.

[Guest LindsaySF]

You've received some great advice. The take home message is not to let your child crawl on or near Beau when he's sleeping, laying down, eating, or any other position that might make Beau uncomfortable. There are many tools to help, like crates, ex-pens, play pens, garden fences, etc. Right now is a tough time because crawling babies like to explore the world, and this includes exploring the dog, and some dogs don't really care for that. It will be stressful for a while to keep an eye on both dog and baby 24/7, but your vigilance will pay off in the end.

 

 

To the original poster, I don't want to discourage you from taking the advice that's already been given, but I want to let you know that, based on my experience volunteering at a greyhound adoption kennel for over a year, he will likely find a new home soon should you feel the need to return him. The dogs who are returned to our kennel from a stable home after several years (usually due to a death, someone moving into a retirement home, divorce, etc.) seem to get adopted fairly quickly relative to new dogs just off the track.

It depends on the dog, but in general dogs with space issues (especially dogs that have either bitten or snapped) take much longer to place. If the dog has an actual bite on record, it will take even longer. Combine the space issues with the age and prey drive of the dog, and it might not be an easy adoption. Every group (and region) is different, but in my group dogs bounced for issues such as the OP's sit in foster care forever. My foster dog Sooner is young, cute, cat-friendly, etc, but potential adopters hear "space issues/older kids only" and they run for the hills.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[Guest Swifthounds]

So we've had Beau for about 3 1/2 years, and he's always been sweet with us and with young children of our friends when they would be over at the house. He had snapped at my husband and me maybe a total of three or four times in that 3 1/2 years, usually when he was sick or injured. And he's been very good and sweet with our own son for the last 9 1/2 months since he was born.

 

The ultimate decision on whether to keep Beau or return him is yours, and yours alone. I don't have kids myself, but my greyhounds over the past decade and a half have had extensive exposure to/with children. How well child/dog relationships go depends on: 31 the personalities of child/dog and #2 how well the responsible adult humans do their job of keeping the dog and the kid safe from one another. Where there's problem with the second factor, it's due to human error.

 

I won't tell you that you must keep Beau, though those of us who have been in dogs for a while can tell you the tremendous cloud under which a dog that has bitten a human goes back to the group. It's a tremendous liability for the group, especially if they rehome the animal rather than putting it down (more common than you'd think). When a dog bites, and is returned to the group, if the group adopts the dog out again, it opens itself up to liability should a bite occur in the second home - even if, as with the first, it occurs due to human negligence.

 

When this happens to the dog (greyhound or not - it happens to dogs across the board) it makes it harder for them to be adopted and leaves the dog feeling insecure and abandoned. The incident in question could and would have been avoided, had you followed some of the advice already posted here. You were on notice that you weren't doing an adequate job of keeping your dog safe from the kid and the kid safe from the dog - it this being the second time Beau has snapped at the kid. If you didn't know that you needed to do more work initially, you certainly should have known a few months ago when Beau didn't actually bite. Changing nothing is how you create the opportunity and in fact increase the likelihood of an actual bite.

 

Understand that you have been the world to Beau for the last several years. You (and the life he had with you prior to the arrival of the baby) are Beau's security. When you adopted him, you probably didn't tell him that it was just until he became too much work, or until something better came along - and you couldn't have done so if you wanted to - not in any way a dog would understand. At 7 years old, and with a bite history, he's certainly harder to place. The worst part is, that he's saddled with that history through no fault of his own - the fault, and the mistake, lies with you. I don't say that to make you feel bad, but for you to realize that something needs to change to what it should have been from the get-go, and from what you certainly were on glaring notice after the first incident. This is what some people call "put up or shut up" time. You need to decide whether you are willing to put the work in to make your dog and child safe. Another incident absolutely never has to happen again, but you have to be willing to do your part. If you can't commit to that and make the changes, it's better to give him back now before anything worse happens (and by him, I mean either of them). You aren't just obligated to provide a safe and supportive home for your son, but for Beau as well.

 

 

All three of us were in our bonus room. I was on the couch, Beau was on the floor right next to me, and Sean was crawling around on the floor. He was crawling toward Beau's head, and when he was about a foot away, I heard Beau growl, but before I could do anything, he had lunged out and snapped at Sean. For a while we were very careful about Sean touching Beau's head or paws (he didn't get close enough to touch either this morning), but we had kind of slacked off because Beau was so gentle and would let him crawl by next to him, or crawl over his paws to get past him.

 

Here is the most important thing to understand about this incident: it is your responsibility to keep the dog safe from the kid and the kid safe from the dog and you failed to do either of those. A child crawling toward a dog is asking for trouble. The problem is that a child under the age of 4 can't understand that, and cannot be taught to not do things to the dog that are intimidating or threatening to the dog. The kid at least has the luxury of being blissfully unaware that the dog presents a danger to him. A dog, any dog, does present a danger to a child. Dogs have teeth, nails, instincts, and -in many cases - size. Your child is too young to cognitively process the incident at this age, which has the advantage and disadvantage of this situation not provoking a fear response. Good, in that it means the kid won't develop a fear of dogs at this point; bad, in that there's no real chance that because of this incident, a similar incident is less likely to occur. The dog, on the other hand, is probably pretty scared of the kid. If he wasn't before, he is now. On top of that, he knows by your reaction and the aftermath that he's the one with which you're displeased, and that he's the one that's disposable.

 

In this situation, the kid was on the floor crawling toward the dog. The dog has no way of predicting what this wiggly, oddly moving thing is going to do to him. Worse, it's on his level, staring right at him, and it's getting too close with its unpredictability, so he warns it to stay away (growl) and it KEEPS COMING. A dog or a person would have taken that as a warning, and proceeded at its own risk. This aggressive wiggly thing just keeps on truckin.' (Sure, the kid didn't mean to be aggressive, and you should have intervened at that point if not sooner, but that's what it is from the dog's perspective.) The dog has two choices. He can run away in fear, or he can be proactive and make sure this thing doesn't attack him.

 

It's not exactly equivalent, but think about it this way: what if roles were reversed? What if the kid was laying there resting, and the dog starting jaunting toward the kid, and the kid cried, would you have let the dog keep on truckin' toward the kid? Probably not.

 

Dogs are dogs. Kids are kids. Until the kid is older, you're going to have to do a better job of being the household police. Later they will be able to better navigate this, but for now, that kid is untrainable. Keeping the dog safe from the kid will go a long way toward keeping them both safe and happy together.

 

Ditto the above - if your kid isn't old enough to understand the idea behind leaving the dog alone if he's laying down, it's YOUR JOB to keep them apart.

 

Sorry, things like this just grate my nerves. Your dog is trying to warn your kid, and as I said before, if your kid isn't old enough to understand, then he shouldn't be allowed near the dog when he's resting.

 

Having a kid is a responsibility, and an even bigger one when there are pets in the home.

 

I agree wholeheartedly.

 

OK....

 

I'm a grandma to 5 grand daughters ranging in age from 8 yrs old down to 9 months old (the same as your son is). 3 of those grand daughters (including the 9 month old) live with us and have since the day they were born WITH Greyhounds living in the same home.

 

We've had Greyhounds now for 10 years. 7 total - 5 who have lived through the young infant/toddler years of the grand skin kids - with our current 3 hounds (ages 12, 8 and 7) now living with an 8 yr old, a 6 yr old and the 9 month old skin kids. The 9 month old is going through the "grab and pull" phase now. We have been working with her on how to open handedly pet one of our dogs under ADULT supervision wth an adult's hand OVER hers to guide and show her how to pet a dog properly. She's doing well and when she starts her "grab and pull" thing - we stop the exercise immediately. The dog is always in a standing position when we work on this exercise.

 

Let me say, it's tough sometimes to balance between furkid and skin kid. We are not perfect here and all of my grandkids except for the youngest one (who just learned how to crawl not too long ago) have been nipped by one of the dogs. Why? Because we let our guard down - that's why. It wasn't the dog's fault nor was it exactly the child's fault. It was the adult's fault who was overseeing the interactions between child and dog.

 

There are some rules that should be followed when one has kids and dogs together in a family. One is to never let your guard down. Pay attention to not only your dog but where your child is at - at all times. Have a quiet place to go for your dog to get out of the "line of fire" so to speak. Babies don't know any better - they love to explore everything and anything so it's up to you as the parent of both (fur and skin kid) to be responsible in the interaction between child and dog.

 

1. Babygates become your friend. Use them. They are made for a reason - to protect the child and also in this case - to protect the dog.

2. Do not allow the child to crawl near the dog. Some dogs take the eye to eye contact at their level as a threat.

3. Always maintain a safe distance between child and dog - say 4 to 5 feet or more.

4. Interaction such as petting should ALWAYS be supervised by an adult.

5. NEVER leave your child alone with your dog.

6. Always have a safe place available for your dog to retreat to when they tire of having baby around. Our safe place for the dogs to go to is our bedroom. The skin kids are not allowed in our bedroom.

7. If you have a pack n play (playpen as we used to call them back in the "old" days), you can use that, too, for baby to be protected from the dog.

 

These are just a few of our rules in our house right off the top of my head. They are not meant to criticize anyone though. I'm just speaking from experience - lots of experience. Please don't take this as I'm yelling at you or anything but the person who is at fault here is you unfortunately. You should have never allowed your child to get that close to cause Beau to growl - let alone nip your child. I'm truly sorry it happened for everyone involved. It could evolved into something far more serious as you are now well aware of. Let's try and move forward on how to prevent it from now on so you all can live in peaceful harmony within your home - Beau included.

 

Another thing I highly suggest you do is get the book titled "Childproofing Your Dog: A Complete Guide to Preparing Your Dog for the Children in Your Life" by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson and read it - several times if need be. You can find it relatively cheap on Amazon or maybe go to your local library and see if they have it available to be checked out. Actually, I wish groups would make this book a mandatory book for an adopter to get if they have children or plan on having a child in the future.

 

Hope this helps and if you need someone to talk to about this - pm me or email me: Therese@greyhoundaffair.com I'll try and do my best to help you through this so everyone in your family can be happy together.

 

Fabulous advice.

[Guest KennelMom]

I remember Beau...we boarded him at least once that I recall. We've kept a lot of greyhounds here, but IIRC, Beau had an old injury that he still had a limp from? Dogs with an old injury can be protective of their space...esp if they are unsure about someone/something. If I'm confusing him with another dog, I apologize!

 

I think GentleHugs has some great advice...obviously the voice of experience! Email me if there's anything I can do to help heather @ worldofgrey . com I don't think Beau came to you through an adoption group, but there are several in the area that I'm sure would be willing to help you out if you need a resource.

[Guest kydie]

There are great suggestions here, always had both "types" of kids through out time, and both need protection from the other at times, a dog gives signs of "Concern" even tough one may miss it, I am not defending the actions of the dog, by any means, but when both are on the floor, use a "play pen" for one of them, just think the wonderful new child in your home, is new to your pup, and everything is new to the child, both need time and monitoring to get it right, you will be just fine,

[Pepsi2004]

I haven't read all the responses, so forgive me if I repeat anything. Perhaps Beau reacted the way he did becuase he was showing your son that you are his (Beau's). My JRT does that when my toddler grandchildren try to come to me and she is on my lap.

 

I would certainly muzzle Beau and closely monitor interactions between your son and him. Give Beau some special time just with you, perhaps he feels insecure about the baby.

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Like that youtube video of the Shepard Police dog biting a reporter in the face. That dog gave a zillion ques as to what was going to happen. Even my clueless DH picked up on them all :lol

 

I went and found that clip. That was really (IMHO) not an attack on the part of the police dog; it was a warning (albeit a scary and potentially tragic one). The dog could have come away with the reporter's face with no problem. I don't really blame the reporter - many of us forget ourselves with strange dogs (I have) and we usually get away with it. Luckily for us domestic dogs seldom bite and greyhounds are less likely than most to do so. I fault the handler; he seemed woefully uninformed about canine behavior.

 

Many years ago my parents had a very large male Akita named Ninja. Super-sweet dog, 110 lbs of goofy love. Used to leap on my lap. Never laid a tooth on anyone...except once.

 

A friend of mine came to the house to visit my parents. I was not home but he knew them and wanted to say hi. Ninja came into the room to say hello to the stranger. Ninja was always ready to make a new friend. But this nitwit immediately knelt down and wrapped his arms around Ninja's neck and started to wrestle with her. Now this was a dog that used to let my five-year-old niece roll him over. But this total stranger acting like this was just too much....

 

Ninja opened his mouth and grasped my friend's entire face in his jaws, held on for what must have seemed like the longest three or four seconds of the fool's life, then let him go. Ninja was ever a gentle dog; no blood, no wounds, no bruises, hardly a red mark on him.

 

Now THAT was a warning! I wish I had been there with a camera.

~D~

Edited February 7, 2010 by Bang_o_rama

[JAJ2010]

Ahahahahaha what a stupid friend and Ninja was very civilized. . My parents swiss mountain dog mix got labeled as a fear biter after the neighbor suddenly tried to hug him from above... Poor scared confused dog had only been 'home' for about a month and had bad experiences with male teens in the past. He showed up with cig burns on his muzzle and a sever distrust for any males especially teenagers. He even bit my brother a bunch of times. Dog gladly ripes open the kids stomach and now years later kid and dog are friends but kid sure know how to act around strange 120lb dogs.

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

I'm so sorry this happened to your family, I wonder all the time how my four would handle a suprise baby! I have a spook and a SA dog, and who knows how all that would work out! It's good that you do not sound hysterical and that you realize this was your wake up call. It sounds to me, in my limited experience, that the situation is workable, since Beau gave a warning and only a nip. I read one the other day where the gh ran in from another room and bit a child. No idea how you would fix that, other than keeping that one crated any time the child is awake (not good for anyone).

 

So I did not see on any of the posts, the ONE thing that I used all the time when I had my daughter 12 years ago. I did not have hounds at the time, but a 120 pound Rotty who I rescued as a puppy from my insane neighbors. She was 8 or 9 when I had my daughter. She seemed to understand that my daughter was my pup, mostly because I nursed and that made sense to her. She was very protective of me, and my daughter. However, she was huge, and I worried not about bites really, but getting smooshed! I put my daughter in one of those exer-saucer type play things. It's a new fangled walker, basically. I think they still make them, but I know they are exensive. They don't work for all types of kids, my friends boys started crawling out of them at 1 year, but for us...worked like magic. Good luck to ya!

[Guest maggiemay]

No advice, just

 

I have a 7yo hound and a 6 week old son and this is a timely reminder of how quickly things can go pearshaped. All the best.

[Guest swellman]

So we've had Beau for about 3 1/2 years, and he's always been sweet with us and with young children of our friends when they would be over at the house. He had snapped at my husband and me maybe a total of three or four times in that 3 1/2 years, usually when he was sick or injured. And he's been very good and sweet with our own son for the last 9 1/2 months since he was born.

 

But this morning, he snapped at our son, and got him on the nose. We were extremely fortunate - Sean only has a few scratches - but we realize we were a few millimeters from a serious medical emergency. It's the second time Beau has snapped at Sean - the first was a few months ago, and he didn't actually bite him. I don't think we can take a chance on a third, but my heart aches to think of giving Beau up. He is 7 years old, and I know older dogs generally have a harder time finding permanent homes. We always meant to be a forever home for Beau, but I don't know if we can do that at this point.

 

If you have any guidance you can give our family, please do. We love Beau very much, but obviously love our son more and are obligated to provide a safe environment for him. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

 

Hi Larkabee,

 

I'm so sorry that you had this happen. I'm glad it wasn't worse for Sean. It's a poor coincidence, but I had the greyhound from h--l, and his name was Lark.

 

I recommend "Living with Kids and Dogs", I had the chance to attend one of Colleen's seminars, and she is full of information that I wish I'd had when my Lark was acting up. Another good resource is Kathleen Gilley's website. She owns the "Dancing Greyhounds" and has been a trainer and judge (I think) for a very long time. She is very direct with her advice and doesn't assume you are an experienced dog trainer and know all the jargon.

 

A couple of things I didn't see in the other posts:

1. Anything that comes at a dog from eye level is a potential predator, that is why a dog that was good with a baby may not be so good with a crawler/toddler.

2. Be glad that you were in the room and witness to the event. It gave you the chance to correct the dog. I feel that this is a situation where you need to let Beau know that this was not an acceptable response, and have him move away - then try to teach Sean not to directly approach Beau's face. Lark would not react to anything while I was in the room, so I could never correct his behavior.

 

Before anyone asks, I am not advocating exposing Sean to a potential bite in order to train the dog. Keeping them apart is the best defense, but there is still a training issue that needs to be addressed. I do not feel that one or the other should be taught, but both need to learn how to live with each other. Beau needs to know that Sean is higher up in the pack then he is and Sean needs to learn that Beau has boundaries and a place in the pack as well.

 

So, that's the extent of my brilliant :crazy , or not so brilliant advice. Hope everything works out for all of you.

[krissn333]

Just saw this thread back at the top...wondering how things are going with you guys?