Greyhound growled at our crawling baby. I love both our babies so much, welcome any tips.

[FawnGreyLove]

I'm writing this with a nervous and heavy heart, because even though nothing harmful has happened I've been noticing "new" behaviors in our grey the last couple days. For context, our dog is a 5-year old female and we've owned her for 3.5 years. She is a wonderful pet but never quite stopped be territorial about her bed. Her character at home is sensitive, aloof, but affectionate with my husband and I. Only my husband, myself, and our in-laws are allowed to approach her when she's lying in her bed. My in-laws dog-sit for us fairly often and they've developed a relationship with her. Our dog is very food motivated and I think the fact that our in-laws feed her has created a bond with them. When strangers approach our dog lying down in her bed, she will bark various degrees of warning barks. She's never gone for a nip or a bite, but she has showed teeth with a growl.

Our first baby was born in June and she just started crawling a couple weeks ago. Up to this point, our grey has been perfectly fine around the baby - mostly aloof but with the occasional sweet moment of letting the baby pat her rump and stroke her feet, even while in her bed. This had me hopeful about their relationship. But in the last three days there have been three instances where our baby has crawled close to her bed and the dog has barked a warning at her. One of those times she showed teeth and growled. Now this morning I noticed our grey wasn't napping and relaxed as she typically is, she was alert in her bed and watching everything I did with the baby. Her behavior was saying she was feeling cautious, and it was clear when in her bed she wanted no surprises near her.

What should we do? So far we've moved her bed to a different room away from the baby's play area, but is avoidance the best strategy right now? The baby of course doesn't understand any of this but is there anything we can teach our grey to help her be more comfortable? She's always been this way so can I expect her to change now? Do I just be hypervigilant for the next 9 months until the baby understands more? If you've read up to this point, thank you kind stranger. I love both my babies.

[1Moregrey]

You know your grey best and it just might be her personality to be protective of her space.  Some greyhounds do treat kids like they are there littermates.  They need to learn to respect the baby and baby’s space like the baby needs to learn to respect the greyhound.  Either way there are a few things you can do to manage the situation and keep everyone safe.
1, If your grey know leave it use that when she focuses on the baby.  If she does not that would be a place to start.
2, Use a turnout muzzle on the grey anytime the baby was on the floor and maybe around the baby depending on the dogs reaction to baby.  This will make a bite less likely, still can happen with tiny hands and feet.  Along with keeping up on supervision too.           3, If you can put up some kind of barrier when the baby crawls to keep them away from the dog bed area.  Could be putting an ottoman (furniture), boxes in front of the bed or an x pen around the bed like a big S shape that the dog can walk around to get to the bed.  While keeping baby away.

Best wishes for a peaceful relationship between your kids.

[macoduck]

This will not end well.

With a history of not being approachable on her bed you let the baby pet her?  Muzzle your dog NOW. Keep the baby far away from her. Warn every person who enters your house to not let the dog and baby interact because it's "cute".

This will only get worse when the baby starts walking.

Please contact your adoption group about returning the dog. Yes, you've had her for several years. The majority of adoption groups don't adopt to families with children under age 6-8.

Yes, this is harsh criticism. But would you rather your baby get bit because you have ignored the dog's signals? She IS signaling you her discomfort. Return her now before she becomes labeled as a biter through no fault of her own because you didn't protect her from the baby. Yes, I said that. Give her a chance to be in a child-free home and for you to be able to relax rather than be on high alert 24/7.

[BatterseaBrindl]

I agree with Ducky.

 

[greysmom]

Oy.

You're dog has a long history if resource guarding, and she's telling you as clearly as she can that she is EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE with a small creature crawling towards her and her bed. 

So I will say this for her, to be more clear:

DO NOT LET YOUR  CHILD APPROACH THE DOG WHEN SHE IS LAYING ON HER BED.  PERIOD

The fact that you actually allowed (and apparently encouraged) the behavior without any attempt to protect either your child or your dog, does not give anyone any sense of hope.  If you continue on this course, someone, most likely your child, will be hurt, and your dog will pay the price.  Perhaps with her life depending in the animal control laws where you live.

Let me say this too - your dog isn't and hasn't been doing anything wrong by growling to indicate her anxiety about having people near her bed.  Resource guarding is *very* common in greyhounds and we deal with this subject a lot.  You can search through the threads here for more info about both growling and resource guarding.  This behavior can be mitigated and managed, but it cannot - cannot - be reliably extinguished.

Your child as well, is just doing what babies do - crawling and growing and learning about her world.  This is completely normal behavior, too.  So until she can learn and understand and follow the rules, you need to protect her from herself, just like you would from a lit fire or an electrical plug.

It falls to you and the other important adults in this equation to keep both the dog and the child safe.  You need to set hard and fast rules that everyone agrees to and will follow.

1)  Do not leave the baby and the dog alone together.  Ever.  Until the child can be trusted to follow the rules.  As said above, many adoption groups will not consider families with children under 5 or 6 years old for this reason.

2)  Do not let the child approach the dog bed.  Just designate it as one of your dog's "safe spots" and keep the child away from it whether the dog is there or not.  That way there's no confusion.

3)  if you want the two to interact, call the dog over to you while you closely supervise.  The dog should always be standing in her feet, with a calm demeanor.

4)  Give your dog places she can be where she knows she will be unmolested.  A spot with the family, a spot in a quieter place (a bedroom or guest room) - where she can choose if she wants to be a part of the goings on or stay more by herself.

It's very possible to successfully have greyhounds (or any dog) and kids, if you use common sense and take the behaviors of both into account.  But if the above rules seem too onerous for you, or that you just can't see going to that much "trouble," please do consider returning your dog to your group.  The pain you will feel doing so will be minor compared to how you would feel if/when an incident happens.

[Fostr_Mom]

In addition to the advice from Greysmom, please read the following books:  Living with Kids and Dogs by Colleen Pelar , and Child Proofing Your Dog by Brian Killcommons.  These are required reading with our adoption group and very good information.  I have 3 greys ( none of them are resource guarders )and I still never allow any child of any age to mess with them on their beds.  We respect their space and so they have learned to trust us.   I hope things work out for you and your dog, no matter which decision you make. 

[Potomacpupsmom]

Greysmom has some excellent advice for you.   Having a safe space for your grey and keeping your child away from that space is essential.   As you know, you need to protect your child AND your grey.   You could also ask your adoption group for advice if your group has an online bulletin board or chat group for exchange of ideas and for questions/answers.   Greys and children can usually live harmoniously and happily together as long as boundaries are protected on both sides.  Good luck with managing this issue and I hope it works out well for your family. 

[FawnGreyLove]

Thank you everyone for your tips. I see now that my trying to allow my baby to interact with our dog is not the right move. We will stop this. To those saying we need to give her up, I get safety for the dog and the baby comes first. I need to process my emotions about that so I can make a sound decision. The very thought crushes me and makes me cry. Until then we will keep both parties separate and continue to educate ourselves. Thank you.

[Mercsmom]

We are so glad that you were able to take everyone's input in the spirit of support that it was given.  We are all hoping for the best outcome for everyone.

[macoduck]

Wishing you best of luck, FawnGreyLove.

Most of us who posted have seen the aftermath of a child being bitten. Animal Control let me take the greyhound (I was the adoption group rep) rather than quarantine it at AC. That boy was rehomed to a single gentleman and was a perfect match. In the second case, as I picked up the surrendered greyhound the mother ignored her 6 year old beating on the metal crate with a bat while the dog was inside. It was a miracle that the child had not been bitten yet.

This just may not have been the best dog for you. An older greyhound, age 4-8, may be better in that more will be known about it's temperment.

[macoduck]

Oops, posted that in the wrong thread.

Edited March 21, 2021 by macoduck

[LBass]

Ducky  

 

FawnGreyLove, if you'd like some professional help and insight in figuring out how to manage interaction and safe coexistence for your hound and and your baby you might consider working with a certified animal behaviorist.  I am working with Lillian and Amy of Behave Atlanta for help in managing growling and snarling with my blind Greyhound.  Their insight and practical suggestions have made a huge difference.  One positive gift of COVID-19 is that there are more such services available via Zoom and that is how I've worked with these ladies.  I imagine other behaviorists have similar services.   Best of wishes for all of you.