Dog aggressive with small child

[JOSEPH SHAWCROFT]

Hello, hoping for some tools to use with my 2 year old cattle dog/shepherd mix dog. He is obsessed and aggressive with my four year old son. Whenever they are in the same room together, our dog runs over to our son, blocks his movement, puts his face next to our son’s face and growls and sometimes snarls. Our dog has nipped our son a few times on the hands, no broken skin. I realize this is somewhat herding behavior but the level of obsession and aggressive behavior is concerning. Can this be trained out and if so, what do we do? Thanks in advance.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there, welcome to the forums,

 

This behavior sounds concerning. 

 

How long have you had your dog?

Has he always acted this way towards your son?

Thinking back to these episodes, what was your son doing exactly when your dog runs over to him? Is there any common pattern? Like is your son running around? Playing? Crawling?

Has your dog undergone any training? What cues does he know? Sit, down, leave it, go to a mat?

What has been done so far to correct the behavior?

 

I would highly suggest making safety top priority and not allowing your dog the opportunity to rehearse this problematic behavior (the more it is practiced, the more of an ingrained habit it becomes). Use management options (baby gate, indoor pet gate) to prevent rehearsal. 

 

It may also be important acclimatizing your dog to a bite-proof muzzle as an extra safety precaution. Examples of bite-proof muzzles are wire basket muzzles from Dean and Tyler and some varieties of Jafco muzzles. Consider that children fingers can fit through gaps so you may need muzzles with no gaps (like muzzles with "stool guards"). Always inquire with the manufacturing company to make sure that a muzzle is truly bite-proof before purchasing. Don't just trust what you read online or what people tell you.

 

Here is a basic guide on acclimatizing to a muzzle: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-your-dog-to-wear-a-muzzle/

 

It's important to note that a muzzle doesn't stop a dog from acting aggressively. Putting a muzzle on an aggressive dog without working on the underlying issue is looking for trouble. Even though your dog can't bite, he will still be emotionally charged and he may get to rehearse reactive/aggressive behaviors such as growling, snarling and lunging.

 

Again, the more dogs get to rehearse these problematic behaviors, the more they put roots and become habit-forming. On top of this, when dogs rehearse reactive/aggressive behaviors stress hormones circulate around the dog's body. Therefore, it's important to avoid any situations that may cause your dog to react negatively. This is known as "management."

Management basically entails not putting your dog into situations that evoke reactive behaviors and its associated negative emotions. It helps prevent your dog's behavior from getting worse.