Dog Related- Minor Emergency

Firstly, can I say that the guinea pigs should be kept outside. Mine were brought into an outbuilding in the winter, but would still try and "turn out" on a nice day even for half an hour. I've never heard of them being kept inside before.

Secondly, you have contradicted yourself in your comment about not seeing a problem allowing your toddler (at 2 years old they are starting to get heavy) sit on your dog, yet you are teaching the children to respect the animals. Sitting on a dog is not showing the dog any respect at all. I've taught my kids to respect the dogs from day one. I've grown up with dogs and know that ANY dog can turn on a child if it's pushed to the limit. It doesn't matter how long you've known the dog, or how well you think you know it. Dogs can only take so much harrassment from kids, and if they hurt it while playing/sitting on them any dog will give a quick snap. I adore my dog but it doesn't mean I would trust him 100% on his own with the kids.
 
mymare said:
Firstly, can I say that the guinea pigs should be kept outside. Mine were brought into an outbuilding in the winter, but would still try and "turn out" on a nice day even for half an hour. I've never heard of them being kept inside before.

Secondly, you have contradicted yourself in your comment about not seeing a problem allowing your toddler (at 2 years old they are starting to get heavy) sit on your dog, yet you are teaching the children to respect the animals. Sitting on a dog is not showing the dog any respect at all. I've taught my kids to respect the dogs from day one. I've grown up with dogs and know that ANY dog can turn on a child if it's pushed to the limit. It doesn't matter how long you've known the dog, or how well you think you know it. Dogs can only take so much harrassment from kids, and if they hurt it while playing/sitting on them any dog will give a quick snap. I adore my dog but it doesn't mean I would trust him 100% on his own with the kids.
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Honestly I am here with my mouth wide open ..you are countrybred,yet are upset by your dogs natural instincts/you teach your children to respect animals ,yet they sprawl all over the dog,guinea pigs (vermin) in the BEDROOM.Honestly it`s all beyond me.Guinea pigs come from the Andes..it gets cold up there,they belong outside please.If you simply cannot handle all this then please call lab rescue so she can get a proper gundog home.
 
EAST KENT said:
Honestly I am here with my mouth wide open ..you are countrybred,yet are upset by your dogs natural instincts/you teach your children to respect animals ,yet they sprawl all over the dog,guinea pigs (vermin) in the BEDROOM.Honestly it`s all beyond me.Guinea pigs come from the Andes..it gets cold up there,they belong outside please.If you simply cannot handle all this then please call lab rescue so she can get a proper gundog home.
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Eek, why are you telling ME off? :D
 
Oooh Nooo ..yours was the first sensible recent post to quote :D still here,mouth hanging open in disbelief :D
Think I may in fact be a alien:eek:
 
EAST KENT said:
Oooh Nooo ..yours was the first sensible recent post to quote :D still here,mouth hanging open in disbelief :D
Think I may in fact be a alien:eek:
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You won't catch flies in this weather!

You just took me back (lots of) years to getting shouted at by the teacher, made me sit bolt upright with a scared look on my face!

:D
 
I haven't read all the posts as just nipped on quickly but it's not uncommon for piggies to be kept indoors now, the same with rabbits. However, I wouldn't put them outside now. They won't have grown a sufficient winter coat to cope with the cold and the result could be two dead piggies.

As for the dog, I would also post this is AAD.
 
Apparently so..they are indeed allowed to live and breed indoors in the Peruvian Andes,and when the family is having a "special" meal one or two are selected for lunch,and not as a guest,but the main course. :D:D:D:D

So,you could say that dog has excellent taste .
 
EAST KENT said:
Apparently so..they are indeed allowed to live and breed indoors in the Peruvian Andes,and when the family is having a "special" meal one or two are selected for lunch,and not as a guest,but the main course. :D:D:D:D

So,you could say that dog has excellent taste .
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Why not as a guest? Do they lack in table manners?
 
Don't think the dog has a problem at all - she was following her natural instincts, in targeting the guinea pigs as prey.
Your OH reacted in a way which, admittedly, many people would and perhaps startled her.
Our 11 y/o GSD has fear aggression towards other dogs and never, ever, ever would I attempt to "grab" her when she is faced with other dogs - she is simply obedient enough for me to say "come" and she leaves them and comes back to me. We've never considered having her PTS - she was attacked as a puppy and her problems stemmed from that. We don't euthanise people because they have behavioural problems due to issues in younger life, you just help them work through it.
Re, the toddler sitting on her - big no no, for various reasons. I wouldn't leave the children alone with her - its just a prevention method.
You've got some very good advice already, I'd recommend the 1:1 behaviourist it helped us no end and we now have a dog which isn't 100%, but 10 million times better than before.
K x
 
GinaB said:
I haven't read all the posts as just nipped on quickly but it's not uncommon for piggies to be kept indoors now, the same with rabbits. However, I wouldn't put them outside now. They won't have grown a sufficient winter coat to cope with the cold and the result could be two dead piggies.

As for the dog, I would also post this is AAD.
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Ditto this - nothing to add on the dog front, more experienced people than me have and will comment, just wanted to point out that I had house piggies as a child. They went out by day in a secure pen which could be wheeled around to different parts of the lawn and came in to a big cage at night. Excellent way of keeping a sociable animal which is often otherwise bunged in a shed or garage and basically forgotten about. :(
 
Thanks for the thoughts on piggies but for now at least we will keep them indoors, as that is where they are used to being, we'll put them out to graze in the summer :)

Both these piggies are female, but from different litters as you can see in the pic Squeaky is much smaller than Fluffy, who is the pregnant one, although I suppose its possible that Squeaky is also pregnant and not as far along. We'll keep an eye out

I'm sorry someone felt I was contradicting myself by saying I taught my children to respect animals and also saying that I let my daughter sit on the dog, until people gave reasons here I didn't realize it could harm the dog and as I said previously she always did seem quite happy with the situation or I would have stopped it much sooner! I agree now with the points given and had a very basic chat with Natty before bed a little while ago telling her we don't sit on Pippin anymore (I'm sure she'll need a lot of reminding, as she's only 2, but we can do that :) )

gunnygundog, I will ask our vet for reccomendations of a vet with the qualifications you mentioned, I've written it down on the white board so I remember the letters lol.
 
mymare said:
But you could say that about a horse being in a stable, or a dog being in a kennel.
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Well, yeah, same thing. There's a horse on the yard that hasn't left its stable since it came in at the end of October, and before I got my dog she spent her entire day locked in a postage-stamp suburban back garden. Numpty owners all round.

I'm not saying that everybody who keeps their animals outside is a cruel, abusive owner (my own dog would be kennelled outside if only I had the facilities), just pointing out that guineas and rabbits are easily and frequently 'forgotten' when the kids have lost interest and the adults resent feeding and cleaning something which they didn't want in the first place.
 
I agree with absolutely everything Gunnergundog has said, very sensible, and regarding taking or giving food, it depends on the dog and how you are as a handler.
Giving advice on this unseen, without seeing the dog's behaviour or the handler (MosMum's) behaviour, it is hard to judge the best course of action.

But wish to add another point - which I now see Trina has mentioned - labs are a large, weightbearing breed, prone to hip problems (as are GSDs, hence my paranoia on the issue :p)
Please, please do not let your child sit on your dog, especially at a young age when her joints are still maturing.
I used to clamber all over our GSDs when I was a kid and I cringe about it now.
This situation is perfectly manageable with care.

My old bitch killed three of my pet rabbits. It was entirely our fault for allowing her access to them and I would never have blamed her for a second (although upset at the time) as she was a big dog with a high prey drive - the minute they stopped moving, she left them untouched, she was no longer interested - she was only interested as long as they were moving and of course they died of fright/crush wounds - all she actually wanted was to put the furry moving thing in her mouth, not tear them limb from limb in a bloodthirtsy frenzy, when they had stopped moving, they were no longer interesting.
 
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Puppy said:
Seriously?! :eek: It's not fair on the dog, or the toddler :( :( Can you really not see the potential for that to go wrong? :(



Good lord! It's a working breed of dog, and you brought 'vermin' into the home. No, she shouldn't have broken into your son's bedroom (Incidentally, Guinea-pigs, in a child's bedroom?!?! :confused:) but from Christmas to now is no time at all for her to have learned to ignore them, and it's not fair on any of the animals that you allow a situation where the dog attacked them. :(

I always had GPs growing up, we bred some and had some that running loose would follow us round the garden & house - even up and down the stairs or sleeping in a bed next to my computer :D BUT I now have two dogs, of working breeding, and it would be absolutely exhausting and stressful if I were to have piggies now, to constantly ensure their safety and that they weren't stressed by the dogs. How are you planning on coping when the weather warms up and the GPs need to go out in a run in the garden - will you shut the dog in and ensure that your children don't accidentally let it out? For several hours a day, for many many months of the year?! :confused:

Perhaps instead of blaming the dog you should consider just how wise it was of yourself to allow such a foreseeable problem :o
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Well said Puppy! This thread has really angered me. I think the dog should be taken away from this person and found a proper home which will treat the dog correctly.

Letting a child sit, pull poke the dog? What are you doing as a mother to stop this? Sounds like your children need to be taught to behave and learn what is acceptable behaviour.

Perhaps you should stick to the pigs and children as in my book you should not have a dog if you have an attitude that the kids can do what they like to it, but as they are of a higher pecking order than the dog they can do what they like and the poor dog is not allowed to react.

Disgraceful! I do hope you don't have horses - heaven help them if your child falls off one!
 
I haven't read all the replies but here is my take on it. I think boundaries need to be established for both the dog and the children and the dog needs to know where she is in the pecking order.
When she bit your husband, what did he do when it happened? If she did that to her mum, she would have dragged her out and pinned her to the floor to re-establish that she was in charge and that response will not be tolerated.
As for the kids sitting on her, the only way dogs have of protecting themselves is their teeth. If one of the kids really hurt her accidentally, by poking her in the eye or standing on her paw etc then you can't guarantee that they won't get bitten.
The other reason is that if they don't know how to properly behave around dogs then they might try it with a dog less placid or not accustomed to that sort of treatment and get really hurt and someone elses dog is pts.
I was in my friends house at new year and there was a 4 year old who grabbed her dog and pulled at her, luckily she was removed from the situation quickly but the dog did growl as she is not used to anyone behaving like that. Apparently she pulls and sits on their own dog. The parents thought it was funny. Totally stupid imo.

I think the dog has to be taught how to behave and what is and is not acceptable and to have respect , but so do children.
 
Just to say guys - be a little nicer. Some of your responses are REALLY quite aggresive and this is someone asking for help. You also do not know the whole story. I agree with the content about not sitting on the dog etc, but there are nicer ways of getting your point across - like CaveCanem managed. If you attack people in this manner then no one WILL ask questions for fear of being jumped on. Simple rule, would you have behaved like that if you had met OP face to face?!

There are some specialist areas on this forum (dogs, vet etc) which are absolutely brilliant and highly informative. Lets not make this forum a no go for people who need help.
 
No, I wouldn't PTS, but I wouldn't leave her unattended at any time with the children either. This applies to all dogs BTW.
 
www.thebluedog.org is a good interactive start for teaching your family about dogs, with regards to tail pulling and sitting on your lab, i would invest in a baby gate until your children can be trusted on how to behave around dogs.

I know you are looking for advice and you get the thumbs up for that but please start by treating your dog for what she is, not a toy or family 'human' member.
 
Thanks all, again, I have sat Natty down (briefly, as she's only 2) and explained that we don't sit on Pippin. When she wanted to earlier today, I gave her a toy to give Pippin instead, so they could play fetch.

As for the boy, we do correct/redirect him for stepping on/pulling tails etc, but as I said, he doesn't do it on purpose just absentminded and trips over her feet because he is poorly organised due to his autism. Teaching him will just be a long-term journey but we are working on it...

I can tell I've really stepped on some toes, I'm sorry for that. I don't think every ignorant owner needs to have their pet taken away and rehomed, sometimes they just need educating, especially if they are willing and able to make changes once they understand better.

After Pippin bit DH, he walked away because he was very angry and didn't want to react badly. I took her by her collar and put her in 'jail' (in her kennel) and everyone just cooled down. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to react but its what we did at the time and no one got more hurt than necessary which is possitive I think.

Again, my apologies to those who I really upset and offended by asking why Natty shouldn't sit on the dog, I hope you are well and had a lovely New Year
 
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