Help Having Our Dog Adjust to Our Son!

I would get rid of the dog. Sorry. No question. It has nothing to do with the dog, just how I would feel if my child were being snapped at.

This is sad your dog was mistreated by the stepbrother. Why didn't anyone stop him. He is 8yrs and should know better. How would that kid feel if the dog had to be put to sleep.

I would not leave your 3yr old alone with the dog. If I remember right chihuahuas are a nervous little breed. Maybe not a great mix with children. Maybe you can adopt him to a family that has no children. Its just a shame.

First, do not leave the dog alone with the child, but you know that.
I have three dogs that I love dearly, but if one of them even so thought of growling at one of my kids she would be gone in a heartbeat. This is your child.
Furthermore chihuahuas are not really good dogs to have around children whether they are good with the dog or not.
Look for a good home with older children or without children in the house.

My memories of chihuahua's as a child is that they always seemed nervous around me. My initial thoughts are that perhaps chihuahua's are not a good breed for small children. I just tried to google that, but was only able to quickly find some BS about clumsy small children making the dog nervous.

In our experience, we had a Boston Terrier and a Rottie long before our daughter arrived. The BT bit my nephew at about 3 years old, but we think he was handling him wrong. However, he was a pretty nervous dog. When our daughter arrived, we would bring the dogs one by one near her and let them sniff her. Once she was about three, she would lay with the BT and cuddle him. He always looked like he was putting up with her, but not enjoying the embrace. About 6 months ago, we put the BT down due to his age and health, so we never had any bad experiences with him. The Rottie loves her. She hugs her all the time and the Rottie has nothing but love in her eyes for her.

So with that said, yes they can get over it and get along.

You are not going to change the dog. And it is very hard to keep a 3 year old away from a fur brother or sister. I suggest you get rid of the dog and get some type of animal that is good with kids. Even though this dog has been abused, Chihuahua's are NOT good pets for kids.

I don't have much experience with small dogs. However, we do have a Lab puppy that used to bite at our son. She got really hyper and would start to snap. She no longer does this. We make sure she gets plenty of exercise (by walking her twice a day) and we do not respond to her negative behavior. If she acts up, we walk away. If she does something we ask or that is good, we love on her or praise her verbally. If she jumps or snaps we have a squirt bottle filled with water that we spray directly in her face--it doesn't hurt her at all, but she hates it. So now, anytime she sees us grab the squirt bottle she instantly straightens up!! You may want to try the squirt bottle trick. It has been a life saver! Good luck!

Definitely get him in some training classes, although I'm not sure if it will help with the problem. It's worth a try.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that until the problem is fixed don't let your son around the dog unsupervised, and don't let your son hold the dog or stuff like that. Even though the dog is small, the teeth are sharp!

Good luck :)

Sorry to say this but in that case, I'd get rid of the dog. I would not risk the dog biting my son and would not want my son to grow up fearful of dogs or just fearful in general of going into a room, moving the dog off his bed, etc. It's just not worth it!

Goto www.cesarsway.com or www.cesarsway.com/dogwhisperer . Ceasar Milan is National Geographic Channel's "Dog Wisperer" and the man is a miracle worker! You can look up specific behaviors you want to curb in your dog on this site, watch videos, get tips, and so on for free. If your feeling lucky you can even sign up to be on the show and have Ceasar come to your house and teach you how to train your dog. I don't know how likely it is that you will be chosen as he lives and works out of Los Angeles. He also has a dog training course available on his site that you can sign up to for a fee. I don't even have a dog anymore and I still watch the show! On a recent episode he dealt with a viscious chihuahua (not that your dog is viscious) that would attack anyone who came near the dog's master, including her son whom the dog was originally acquired for. Ceasar was able to rehabilitate the dog and train the owners with ease. I encourage you to at least check out the site and try his suggestions before you consider getting rid of the dog.

First and foremost, don't leave your son and your dog alone together. I'm sure that you know that already but, just in case, I just wouldn't let the two of them out of my sight because 3 year olds tend to be unpredictable and can be pretty rough with a dog and you've got a very fearful dog on your hands.

What I would suggest is finding the best dog trainer/behaviorist in town and hiring him/her to work with you and your son to re-establish your dog's trust and the owner/pet hiararchy (sp?). If you plan on keeping the dog, this would be a good investment of your time and money.

I would also suggest having your son be the one to feed your dog so that the dog sees that your son has a valued role in his wellbeing. Hopefully, it won't take long for your dog to realize that he should be nice to your son because your son is the one who holds the food strings, so to speak.

I'm not very fond of people giving away their pets for any little old reason but, you have a scared and hostile dog and you have your toddler son. Usually those two things don't mix. You may want to consider finding a family that you know can be loving to your dog, that doesn't have any young children. I don't take the issue of giving away pets lightly but it may be in your son's and the dog's best interest if you were to find your dog a safe and loving home.

Wishing all the best for your family and your 4-legged friend.

I would be VERY cautious. Once a dog is fearful of children, it's nearly impossible to break without professional training. It's not worth risking the dog biting your son in the face. Can you really keep them apart all the time? Because even with your very watchful eye it takes a SECOND for that dog to snap and make contact. I agree with another poster who said to find the dog a kid free home. They are a nervous high strung breed. My parents have a similiar situation, and I wont even take my kids to their house. Too many "close calls" It's just not worth it. Think of how you'd feel if the dog did bite your child. Unfair for them both. It's sad someone let a child do that to the poor dog :(

We have two dogs and a 2 year old. Whenever the dogs seem to be at their limit I just put them in another room and shut the door. It is not to punish the dogs but to give them a moment of peace. They seem to like that I do that. And I don't keep them shut away all day just for alittle while. Especially if my son is hyper and running around everywhere. The dogs keep trying to get out of his way but since he is everywhere they have no place to go. Also we play fetch with the dogs. This is so the dogs don't feel completelty left out.

I think it might eventually be possible to both have your son learn to be very calm and predicable toward the dog and the dog to lose his issues over having been repeatedly kicked by a little boy. That would take careful, presistent work. Meanwhile, the potential for biting exists. I think I'd be inclined, for your son's safety and for the dog's happiness, to place the dog in another home. So sorry for all of you :-(.

What about one of those collar type things that keep them from biting? It might be that after being around the child for a while the dog might become his best friend. Of course then you'd have the issue of the dog maybe biting someone else, but the muzzle thing would work in the meantime.

Hey J., we too have a chi. We got her from a rescue and it was tough at first. After a month or two, she realized that we were on her side, this was her home now, and she really started to calm down.

We have a small kennel under an end table in our living room. It's not the most attractive thing, but thankfully it's small, so it's not too noticable. The rule in our house to kids, guests, anyone that walks through the door, is that when she goes into her kennel, NOBODY TOUCHES HER. That is her safe place and once she's in there, it's hands off.

Now when she gets overwhelmed, she puts herself in her kennel. We have a blanket and her favorite toy in there, so she will sometimes nap in there and she loves having a safe place to call her own.

Having said all of this, chi's are not good with young children. My kids are older, so while it wasn't an easy transition, it has worked out for us. If your dog doesn't settle in after a few weeks, or if there are any more incidents, I would give her up. We got our dog from LL Dog Rescue. Get on the website and use them if you need to give her up. They specialize in chi's.

Good luck and I hope this all works out for the best for all of you (child and dog!)