Help with my dog's selective aggresiveness

thanks for all the advice even if some of it is hard to hear. Thought i was the pack leader but great point on me letting the last two years show my dog that i will not stand up for her therefore not being a a good leader. We are new parents with two little kids under three so once again my bad for falling off on the training regiment for her and taking her out alot. Sounds like i can take alot of blame so thanks guys in needed the reality check as well.

Some say to reintroduce the two of them with a muzzle have her learn to trust him or stay away all together. I dont want this kid to create an issue in the long run. Sounds like this is still fixable.

 

If you want the dog to learn that kids are okay... perhaps introduce her to OTHER kids who are calm and not afraid of dogs. Dogs read behavior/demeanor. Even yours.

Your dog already thinks the neighbor kid is bad. Don't let them have contact at this point. She will have a Pavlovian response at this point.

I have a cat like this. He's afraid of EVERYONE and hides when company comes over. He's fine with my daughters. My son however, he hates. My son chases him and taunts him. Thus, the cat will ambush him when my son is simply watching tv. The cat will 'fight' simply because he believes my son is always a threat, even when he is not. Point being, this timid cat who's afraid of everyone will hunt one person... because he thinks that person is going to get him.

 

I'm not saying throw the dnk in the room with the dog. I'm saying that you need to ease the kid to show that the dog can trust him. like giving treats and showing affection. not allowing the kid to be afraid to pet the dog. the muzzle is for safety reasons. I have trained and owned rottweilers and German shepherds. trust is a major factor in dogs. if they don't trust you they react to it.

 

Keep the kid the fuck away.

Seriously.

I've been here before. Kid kept putting his stupid ass hand inside my fence and getting bit. 3 times.

People are fucking idiots and your dog is reacting to an idiot. My dog had to be out down to avoid a lawsuit, and some asshole kid grew into adulthood with permanent nerve damage because he's a moron with moron parents.

Build a fence. Tell the neighbors to fuck off. Get rid of the dog.

Aggression to kids can be learned, and as a father, that is a far bigger possible problem down the road than what you're dealing with now.

A muzzled dog is safe only when muzzled, and they're not automatically relaxed with a muzzle. They're having extreme anxiety. Add an asshole kid to that anxiety situation and your dog is not going to behave properly.

When the muzzle is off and the kid is back, he will react the same if not worse, because now there is an elevated stage of mental duress for the dog when the kid is around.

 

Behavior can be trained. Instinct cannot.

They intersect under certain conditions and things get dicey really fast.

I can't stress it enough. Don't make strides, make decisions. Neighbors need to be separated, physically and verbally. Seek professional one on one training with your dog (and your wife, both need to be dominant roles). If you can't, get rid of the dog or be prepared to get a lawyer and hope your own kids never trigger your dogs anxiety.

Your dog is only a liability if you allow it to be.

 

Thanks everbody. Keep it coming. Lots of good things to think about

 

Talk to a professional trainer...also these issues don't resolve themselves over night. You can start by standing outside and (from a distance) reward the dog everytime it looks at the kid and doesn't do anything aggressive or fearful. For this to ever work the kid has to behave properly

 

Here she is

 

It's the little red one. Lab retriever mix. Really think this was not a bad home for her. Like others said above I should have grown up and addresses these issues with the neighbor kid early. Like over a year ago and probably this would not have happened. Really sounds like fear based aggression towards the one kid that might translate to other kids.

 

My place is on the left. Think hindsight is 20/20. I did nothing wrong besides not standing up for my dog and was a bad pack leader. The kid is to blame as well as lack of supervision from the parents. Overall bad situation because I don't believe I have a nasty dog. She is so friendly and nice to everyone else.

 

not a bad place to raise a family with two dogs right.

 

This is great advice and I will also echo the muzzle training.

The key to all of this is to make your dog feel safe and teach it that if a situation is going bad then you will handle it to keep her safe.

Look up Sit Means Sit training. I'm sure they have one in your area as they are all over the country. I've been a customer of theirs for over 2 years and have not seen an issue that they could not train. They will also train you. Sometimes we are our dogs' worst obstacle and don't even know it.

 

thanks everybody for your ideas and thoughts. it has helped alot

 

Sounds like dog doesn't like neighbor boy for a reason!

 

I will keep you all updated on what i end up doing or have to do

 

This is why this is so hard for me and my wife. It is the one kid only. If this dog was going after every kid it would be an easy decision for us. Wish moving was an option. Separate the two and reintroduce the dog to nice kids i bet would work. Just hard having to stay being neighbors so close to each other.

 

Any follow on issues or updates?

I'm no pro but seems like a lot of reasonable info in this thread.

Gotta say, and it goes against my grain, I'm siding with your pooch. I does sound as if the kid may be dealing with some issues that are far out of the realm of a normal childhood but, his actions (a stick and a shovel) are not acceptable and given it was more than one occurrence...I'd probably nip the kid too.

Everything else be damed, I'd bet most likely you & or your home owners will be on the hook if the pooch acts out towards him again and his parents take action...even on your property assuming he's not robbing you a commuting B&E.

I'd keep the pup but always well restrained making sure she is well socialized (and not mistreated) but, not have the child she doesn't like anywhere near the her.

I've got a few rescues and they each had some undesirable behaviors for a period of time after the came but, all were resolved over time.

 

Update for everyone. It took about a week to get a vet appointment and discuss with our vet the situation. Our vet reiterated what everyone else said stating it is a specific problem with the kid next door and not with our dog. Vet stated that our dog had to have a traumatic experience to be so afraid of him, and its a fear instinct. Vet suggested a muzzle why she is out side and to keep her away from the kid. Vet treated this like an isolated incident not like our dog has an issue. not once did she tell us to get rid of her. The kicker is that my parents only live 6 miles away with land for her to run and not a lot of neighbors. My parents offered to take her to live with them so my family can still see her. My little boys can still play with her and with my parents being retired they have a lot more time to take her out and about to social her more. As of now no other problems have arisen.

Not sure if i brought this up in a previous post but prior to the indecent by only about five minutes the kid the neighbor boy was playing with asked if he could come pet her. I said yes since she was on leash and in my arms, and this was before the incident so no reason to say no, I just wanted to keep her away from the neighbor and she was so nice a sweet to this other little boy so it is for sure a problem with the neighbors.

Last thing not at all related to the dog but still a home thing is that we found out probably 1 week after the incident that we have a registered sex offender against a child in a position of power moved in across the street.

Help me by sending good vibes so i can win the lottery and move!

Thanks for the the response and support from TW.

 

Thanks for the update.

I would not recommend a muzzle, they can make a situation more stressful for a dog, in this instance since she already is fearful of the boy.

Its too bad that you have such crappy neighbors and you had to take your dog to your parents. But at least you didn't have to put her down or give her away to a complete stranger. Who knows, maybe the predator will scare the family away and then he would be forced to move away as well and you can bring her back and hopefully get some better neighbors.

 

yea worked out ok for the situation we were handed. I want to be the one to move they can live in town house forever.