advising a friend on their dog... poss sensitive.

ThePinkPony

ThePinkPony

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We had a friend over yesterday who has a 9month old puppy.

It was fine for a while, but was a bit scared of my son. Anyway it ended up biting him on the head and drawing blood-completely out of the blue. my son wasnt provoking him, he walked toward the sofa and tried to give me a cuddle, the dog snapped at him twice in quick succession before i got him away and grabbed my son. It was only afterwards that i noticed the bloody scrapes in his hair.

I took the dog out of the room and put him in the other part of the house.

my dog was having a drink and the dog properly went for her, and i was close enough to pull him up by the scruff away from her and she scooted out of the kitchen.

I didnt get to mention this to my friend yesterday as i wasnt home when he left, and only got to tell OH later that day when i did get home.

This dog is my friends world, and he isnt one for taking advice, even when he asks for it.

How would you go about mentioning it to him. I was going to email him, so he couldnt interrupt, because i do think this is an extremely inmportant point to take up with him. He needs to take steps to socialise his dog as it is only ever with him constantly.

Tea and biscuits for all.
 
I would call him and tell him straight that the dog behaved very badly while it was at your house. Personally I wouldn't let the dog in my house again. My sister in law has the most aggressive lurcher I have ever met, god knows what they have done to that little dog because naturally lurchers are pretty mild dogs. Hers bites people and dogs at the drop of a hat.

There is no way to pussy foot around people who have dogs who bite and snap, the owners need to know exactly how badly the dog has behaved, so they can do something about it.
 
If the dog means the world to him then the last thing he wants is to have it put down because its behaviour has got out of hand and bitten someone badly...
 
Because its a puppy i dont think its a naturally agressive dog at all, just really badly socialised.

Other than those incidents it behaved pretty well for a gangly idiot puppy. ive dog sat much worse. the patterdale terrier that disappeared and then turned up in the toilet with the lid closed (wtf?) was much harder, but didnt nip or go for anyone.

I wont ring him as he will just interrupt.

But yes, its really serious when you think of the damage that could have occurred. I know he will be absolutely gutted that it hurt my little boy, just needed some kind of SO.... this is what happened...but in a nicer less scary way.
 
I wouldn't have had a strange puppy in the house with a small child tbh. You need to question the wisdom of that decision.

I have a 9 month old puppy, 2 children of 5 and 9 and they aren't left alone with him, ever, he is still pretty boisterous and can unintentionally hurt me when he is playing, let alone little ones.

If you're having strange dogs into your house, maybe look at getting a crate for them if you can't shut them out.

Mention to your friend that the dog was possibly anxious around your child and suggest he maybe needs to be socialised a bit more .... the dog that is, not the child :D.
 
I think this is a conversation best had face to face, also show him the scratches on your son's head, not in an accusing way but to show that you are not overreacting, and perhaps gently suggest some methods of socialisation, such as standing outside the supermarket, visiting parks etc.


ThePinkPony said:
... the patterdale terrier that disappeared and then turned up in the toilet with the lid closed (wtf?) was much harder, but didnt nip or go for anyone.
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LOL how on earth...?
 
He lives quite a way away, so face to face is impossible, He went out to work with OH and left the dog here.

and my son was NEvER alone with him, he wasnt even allowed near him because although hes a pup, hes big and unaware of his limbs. the dog was sat on the floor, next to my legs, and my son came from the other side. i wouldnt question my wisdom with it at all, the pup seemed to crap himself and go snap snap. it isnt a nasty dog at all, this is why i dont want to go all guns blazing to our friend, because i wouldnt be surprised if he turned around and PTS the dog because of this.

It is a Socialisation issue, just getting the owner to admit it to himself without him feeling :(

We have alot of dogs and puppies around our home, so son is used to it and is very well behaved arounf them.

And yes... THAT dog... 11 month old nutter. was putting son to bed, dog was with my dog, then went back into living room and dog is nowhere to be seen, then an almighty scrabbling howling that leads us to the loo, with the lid bumping about... for a minute i thought i was in the stephen king novel IT!

The dog also shut itself in the kitchen cupboards.. fecking thing!
 
ThePinkPony said:
and my son was NEvER alone with him, he wasnt even allowed near him because although hes a pup, hes big and unaware of his limbs.
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He was near enough to scratch him on his head though :confused:.

You say your son knows how to behave with dogs. I think I'm right in saying he is 2 1/2. A 2 1/2 yr old, with the best will in the world can not know how to behave/handle all dogs.

If you're taking strange dogs into your house on a regular basis, I would be looking to have the child and dogs kept completely separate.
 
Well, you know your friend better than anyone. If you go down the email route my advice is type it, save it, turn the computer off and then re-read it in a few hours, as if you are the person receiving it. That will help you get the tone right.
 
Not strange dogs, we have 9 dogs ourselves, and friends, work mates etc dogs.

i keep the boy away from them in the sense that he is within arms length of me and further from them unless i know they are safe around kids in which case he can stroke them.

This puppy is a very long retriever type and actually jumped up onto our quite large pouffe to get to him, he was the other side of my legs. it was quite a jump. im sure its not malicious really, it does sound so the way im writing this but it wasnt if you had been here.
 
CaveCanem said:
Would ask him to train his dog or leave it at home, simple as!
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Agree with this, personally I wouldn't have it back in the house. Why should you be lumbered with someone else's badly behaved dog that has bitten your son? It could be so much worse the next time, not worth the risk IMO.
 
Child went to give puppy cuddle? Foolish, IMO, to have allowed that. I can see any dog seeing that as a threat, tbh, one of mine certainly would. Silly dog trainer went straight for the huge pat on head, Zak reared back, smacked me in the teeth. It's all a bit scary for young dogs.

Certainly refuse to have dog back in the house. :(
 
Well this is going to be difficult as your friend will be upset and likely to take offence however you phrase it.

But you might say something like - how many children does your dog know or see as he seems to be frightened as he snapped at my son and scratched enough to draw blood. Put it as a training issue first and then maybe at a later date suggest that if the dog was frightened and bit someone hard it may be a PTS situation.
 
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