Thinking of getting dog put down

Karma25

pm. wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Just a bit about the history on the dog. We bought the dog from a lady that had chronic back pain and wasnt able to exercise the dog as a result the dog spent most of his time in the house untill her son came around to walk him.

The lady also had several grandchildren and this was the main reason we bought the dog, it was used to children. I take the point that the dog was playing but my wife got a big fright when she seen my sons head in his mouth playing or not. Im going to look into obedience training, yes talking about putting the dog down may have been a bit extreme but my kids will always be our number one priority and as a parent you will do anything to protect them.

I want my kids and dogs to play together just like they can with my lab and the other dog we had that sadly passed away. As a side point this behaviour only really started in the last week or so....

Fair play for seen the folly of talking bout putting it down but I can understand the shock of seeing puncture marks on your childs head and wanting to right it straight away.

Apply that energy that you would to your kids to this pup also. This dog is your family now and deserves just as much priority as your kids. The obedience training is definitely the start.

Zapperzy

omen80 wrote: »

Eh, that would be the same as referencing a library. Wikipedia is a base for knowledge.

Ask anyone who's ever been to college what their lecturers said about wikipedia. It should never ever ever be referenced in any assignment because you cannot 100% guarantee that it is accurate. I have seen the top 10 breeds in Ireland list that andreac mentioned and some of the breeds it listed were so farfetched I thought it was a wind up!

Anyways back on topic, OP do you know anything about this pups history before you got him? Mirroring everyone elses opinion I wouldn't even consider putting him down. I know seeing your child's head in his mouth must have been horrifying whether play biting or not so if you feel you cannot trust him around kids then please rehome him to someone who can retrain him. Some good trainers have already been suggested if you still feel you can retrain him yourself.

Do you rough play with the dog yourself? Allowing him to jump up or wrestle with you? If so stop immediately. He must learn that that sort of behaviour is unacceptable with any human whether big or small.

Nevermind the history part, just seen your latest post, Im slow at typing back!

al28283

Wolflikeme wrote: »

Your ignorance both astounds and disgusts me.

+1

ISDW

teacherspet wrote: »

OP never get a dog that is bigger than your children when it is standing on its hind legs. A dog that would be suitable for your children 3 & 6 would be a cavalier or a bichon. They take all the pulling and toughing in their stride. Those dogs are more suitable for young children.

But children grow A dog that may not be the right size (by your definition) when the child is 3, could be when the child is 10/11/12.

BanzaiBk

I think OP you might have to have a realistic chat with your OH about this set up.

Training is great and I would 100% recommend it for every owner of any dog, but training isn't just 2 hours a week with a handler. You must be able to make a commitment to implement the proper techniques to enable good behaviours and for that to happen you need to have everyone in the household on board.

Respectfully, you have a lot of expectations of this puppy to be good with your children based on advice here and it's past. Any dog, regardless of breed, needs time to adjust to children and adults alike. All puppies play-bite and given the chance all of them will take the opportunity to joke around with a head-in-mouth scenario. It's like your toddler putting everything it encounters in it's mouth. The dog needs boundaries and a routine, and should never be left alone with your young children. It doesn't matter that he is a GSD, feely children will stress any dog.

If you don't think that you can provide an adequate home for you, your family and your dog then rehome the dog. You considered getting a puppy put down, do you really think you can commit to train him and let him blend into your regular family life?

pm.

Zapperzy wrote: »

Ask anyone who's ever been to college what their lecturers said about wikipedia. It should never ever ever be referenced in any assignment because you cannot 100% guarantee that it is accurate. I have seen the top 10 breeds in Ireland list that andreac mentioned and some of the breeds it listed were so farfetched I thought it was a wind up!

Anyways back on topic, OP do you know anything about this pups history before you got him? Mirroring everyone elses opinion I wouldn't even consider putting him down. I know seeing your child's head in his mouth must have been horrifying whether play biting or not so if you feel you cannot trust him around kids then please rehome him to someone who can retrain him. Some good trainers have already been suggested if you still feel you can retrain him yourself.

Do you rough play with the dog yourself? Allowing him to jump up or wrestle with you? If so stop immediately. He must learn that that sort of behaviour is unacceptable with any human whether big or small.

Hi Zapperzy,

A lot of the answers to your question are in post 89. I dont rough play or do any sort of messing like that. I have him retrieving a ball sitting lying down almost have him staying, also have him taking food from us gently and he now knows how to eat with the lab eating beside him. We really like him and the last thing I would want to do is have him put down, but I will never let my kids be in any danger so we have decided to go the trainer route.

Galway K9

pm. wrote: »

Hi Zapperzy,

A lot of the answers to your question are in post 89. I dont rough play or do any sort of messing like that. I have him retrieving a ball sitting lying down almost have him staying, also have him taking food from us gently and he now knows how to eat with the lab eating beside him. We really like him and the last thing I would want to do is have him put down, but I will never let my kids be in any danger so we have decided to go the trainer route.

i comp understand and respect the kids concern but KILLING a dog over rough play is extreme and cruel and shouldnt come into your mind at all You are on a board of Dog lovers so this would never go down well. Under any circumstances pls do not put a dog down...just rehome or something....thanks

star-pants

pm. wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Just a bit about the history on the dog. We bought the dog from a lady that had chronic back pain and wasnt able to exercise the dog as a result the dog spent most of his time in the house untill her son came around to walk him.

The lady also had several grandchildren and this was the main reason we bought the dog, it was used to children. I take the point that the dog was playing but my wife got a big fright when she seen my sons head in his mouth playing or not. Im going to look into obedience training, yes talking about putting the dog down may have been a bit extreme but my kids will always be our number one priority and as a parent you will do anything to protect them.

I want my kids and dogs to play together just like they can with my lab and the other dog we had that sadly passed away. As a side point this behaviour only really started in the last week or so....

OP I do understand that of course you were shocked to see your child's head in the pups mouth. As others have said, never leave children & dogs unsupervised together. That goes for any type of dog, anything can happen to cause a situation, and it doesn't mean the dog is a baddy.

Others have explained that the pup was play biting, one of my dogs did this when she was a pup too, she was also teething so she'd chew anything. Her teeth were little sharp needle like at times, and she could hurt. But until you told her, she wouldn't know. I would yelp as if in pain if she chewed too hard so she'd understand she was hurting me and then said 'be gentle' and she slowly learned.

As you have children, I'm sure you know that teaching can be a long process that requires consistency and patience. It is required with pups too, they need to learn boundaries and what's right & wrong. (still would never advise leaving dogs alone with children)

Getting help from a trainer or behaviourist type person would be advisable given you have had a bit of an incident.
You will probably need to reassure your child that the pup isn't dangerous / going to go after them again, that it was just playing and didn't mean it. (So that the child isn't frightened)

Pups can get pretty boisterous and honestly don't always realise what they're doing / that they're going too far. Even in the heat of things dogs can just react.

I do wish you the best of luck in retraining your pup, and yourselves as training is as much for the animal as it is for the human. It probably was a knee-jerk reaction 'pup bit child, have to put pup down' - but you've seen yourself it was a wrong idea.
Please take the good advice that has been given and any helpful tips of where to go for training and hopefully you won't have to rehome the pup.

pm.

BanzaiBk wrote: »

You considered getting a puppy put down, do you really think you can commit to train him and let him blend into your regular family life?

I considered getting the dog put down as a first reaction to what had happened. But after getting some great advice from here and a little more time to talk about what happened I now realise that I was over reacting. But as I have also said that my kids will always be my number one priority its a natural reaction (for me anyway)

I know that its not just going to be a few classes with a trainer and thats it, I will also invest as much time as I can with all my family involved.

LucyBliss

pm., it sounds like you're already on the right road. I can well imagine what a shock it was to your wife and son and of course your children are your first priority. I have no doubt that if you continue the way you're going on, with teaching the dog, that all this will become a distant memory. I'm not being glib or dismissive of your worries, but this could really be the kind of situation that can be corrected with the dog getting some extra lessons in 'company manners'!

I remember when our GSD would play fetch. She'd always drop it for my Dad but after a while, she'd get tired of playing and then go into her bed with the ball in her mouth. It used to remind us of a kid taking their toys and going home!

Again best of luck, and please do post and keep us updated on how the training is going and how everyone is getting on.

pm.

Galway K9 wrote: »

i comp understand and respect the kids concern but KILLING a dog over rough play is extreme and cruel and shouldnt come into your mind at all You are on a board of Dog lovers so this would never go down well. Under any circumstances pls do not put a dog down...just rehome or something....thanks

The reason I put it on a "Dog lovers board" and not a parenting board is because I would be told to have him put down. I wanted to post here because I know a lot of people here have experience of training and bringing large dogs up with young families.

carwash_2006

Glad to see you have been given some good advice here, even more so that you have actually taken the good advice on board and ignored all the idiotic stuff.

One thought that popped into my head though, would it be an idea to build a playpen area for the pup so that your OH can let the kids play outside without direct supervision at times, she could just shut the pup in there when she wants to do something else if the kids are out.

A 3 year old should never ever be left alone with a dog, especially a young one like that. Possibly if they are older and proven bomb proof, but I'd still be hesitant as 3 year olds can be unpredictable and don't understand the danger a dog can pose to them.

Best of luck with your situation anyway, it must have been an awful shock for you OH when she first discovered it.

galwegians

pm. wrote: »

I considered getting the dog put down as a first reaction to what had happened. But after getting some great advice from here and a little more time to talk about what happened I now realise that I was over reacting. But as I have also said that my kids will always be my number one priority its a natural reaction (for me anyway)

I know that its not just going to be a few classes with a trainer and thats it, I will also invest as much time as I can with all my family involved.

Glad you come to a decision not to get the dog put down it is only a puppy give it a chance,
i hope things work out ok, but if not dont even consider putting down the dog, here is the email address for MADRA in connemara they will rehome the dog, they would be very understanding of position you find yourself in,
connemarakennals@gmail.com

rpmcs

could op please explain collar? collars dont train dogs, throw it away/ burn it....

angelfire9

I just wasted 15 minutes reading arguments between posters as to what breeds are good & bad around children
What does it matter?
The only breed that matters here is GSD's which is what the OP has

I am constantly amazed by the amount of bitching and barking (no pun intended) that goes on in threads in this part of boards

Anyway, back on topic
OP your dog can be trained and taught that this behaviour is unacceptable
At 8.5 months he is little more than a baby and wants to play, it is up to you as its "parent" to teach it what is unacceptable as play

Hopefully you will have success with the behaviourist as suggested

In the meantime dogs should NEVER (IMHO) be left unsupervised with small children and when they are being supervised the supervision should be up close & personal to be able to stop this kind of thing before it gets to that stage

GSD's can be great with kids but they need training

Putting a pup to sleep for doing what pups do is ridiculous I'm glad to see that you realise that

Good luck with the training
If it doesn't work out for God's sake find the dog a new home!!

Hellrazer

Closing this for the minute.Im on mobile web and cant review the lot of it.But the sheer amount of reported posts means somethings going on.

Iwill look at this when Im at a desktop pc and will deal with it later.