Adopter old shelter dog & daughter - 3 bite incidents

[anazepereo]

5 months ago, my wife adopted a 11+ year-old cross-breed (shepard-rottweiler we think) from a shelter in the outback of Romania. The dog lived for at least 6 years in that shelter before it came to us. In general, she's a good dog; she walks nicely on the street, is very calm, doesn't bark a lot. It even peacefully coexists with our two rabbits in the same room. We did notice that she's also very skittish, especially around men which leads us to speculate she is traumatized due to past abuse.

I also have an energetic 8-year old daughter who is used to the big, playful dog we had before this dog. She already got bitten three times by this dog, always in a situation where my daughter startled or annoyed the dog. The first two times, the dog nipped her hand. The last time, my daughter planted her face too close to the muzzle of the dog and the startled dog grazed her lip; a lot of blood, a lot of drama.

We explained to our daughter several times that she has to be calmer and back off the moment she notices the dog gets annoyed. However, I can see it coming that my daughter one day forgets about all the warnings again, startles the dog again which then will bite out of fear with more horrifying results.

Most people I talk to about this, say it might be time to look for a more appropriate home for the dog. I frankly don't know how to proceed here.

 

[lumiere]

@anazepereo First, make sure somebody is around and supervising both the dog and your daughter when they are together. Somebody who is mature enough to tell your daughter when to back off. It sounds like she hasn't gotten the message so this is needed.

Whenever they cannot be supervised either put them in seperate rooms or muzzle your dog. A muzzle is not something just used for aggessive dogs. The muzzle is there to protect others and the dog. I dont know much about muzzles myself but you can try going to r/muzzledogs to learn more.

Another good idea is to give your dog a "safe place" like a crate. Train the dog to go to their safe place whenever they get stressed and teach your daughter not to bother the dog when they're in they're safe place. My dog will naturally go to his crate whenever he gets stressed (like me trying to clip his nails). Just make sure to crate train your dog slowly. I also feed all of my dog's meals in his crate.

Another sub that could help you is r/reactivedogs. This sub deals with all types of reactivity issues in positive ways. I hope this information helps!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@anazepereo I am not a professional, just a mom of kids and a German Shepherd.

Sounds like the dog is trying to correct your daughter's behaviour in a way that works with dogs but is not acceptable around humans.

First idea is to have your daughter learn that the dog needs to be treated differently than the last dog. This guy had a different life before, likely with a very regimented schedule led by adults. The dog can learn the new way of life, but it takes time. Until this happens, be mindful that they should have supervision together. Maybe you can watch some training or dog rehabilitation videos on YouTube so she has a better idea.

Second, you can try having your daughter do the feeding (assuming he has no food aggression) and walking so she is looked at as the "alpha". Get her to practice any "sit, stay, shake a paw, whatever he already knows" commands and provide the reward for these. This can contribute to their bonding and the dogs gentle behaviour will be positively reinforced.

Your dog might have diminished hearing or sight at his age so could be startled easier.

Obviously your daughter's safety is number one. I hope you can figure this out. Best of luck!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@anazepereo The dog would be out of my house, period. I have a soft spot for shelter animals, but not at the risk of my child's safety. It isnt a worthwhile trade off for me.