Biggest fear has been realized. ACD nipped the baby (help)

[motherapple]

Not sure how to keep it short and simple but I'm seeking help on how to proceed.

8 year old ACD mix. We got him as a 1 year old rescue. Immediately had issues with socializing and was your typical 100 mph non stop ACD. After a year or so, we started training. 2 failed trainers later and we finally sent him to a board and train around around age 5. He did great and was a whole new dog aside from still not being good around other animals. Than about 1 year after training (age 6), a family member needed to move into our apartment and she brought her 1 year old lab. Small apartment and 2 dogs that can't be together was a bad idea but we made it work with baby gates to separate them. Did the apartment thing for about 6 months before buying a home where we all still live and do the baby gate thing (age 7).

Present day (age 8), we added a baby who is about to turn 1. Our ACD has been showing signs of regression. He's listening less and less. He's more vocal anytime the other dog gets let out to the larger area of the home. It feels like things are getting territorial and we're losing control of the situation. Our ACD has always been strange around the baby. Generally doesn't care too much about him, but will oftentimes run up on him quickly just to lick his face than walk away and come back to do it again a few seconds later. We have always let the ACD sleep in bed with us and some nights the baby joins us and it's fine. No issues.

Fast forward to 10 minutes ago. Wife making a cake in kitchen so it was a little loud with the blender thing going. Baby on floor crawling around. ACD sitting between my legs in kitchen and watching baby carefully. Baby got out of sight of the ACD and ACD tried to go find him. I held him back and told him it was OK that baby was gone. Baby comes back into view. ACD really anxious to run up on baby. ACD slips my grip and runs up on him with teeth. Very slightly nips baby. No blood or cuts. But looks like teeth grazed forehead and skin is red and a little puffed up. Baby cried for a minute and is fine. I lost it a bit and got a little physical with ACD (only 2nd time I've ever done that... not making excuses for it but I think dad instinct kicked in).

So now what?! This is my first dog and my first kid. I'm on the verge of a breakdown bc I just have this gut feeling that I can never trust ACD around baby ever again. But the thought of rehomimg him is killing me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I'll try anything to keep this family intact.

Edit: before anyone asks, he is already on medicine for his temperament (k9 Prozac... Can't remember the name at the moment)

 

[cookie3482]

@motherapple ACDs are known as Heelers because it’s a deeply rooted instinct to nip at heels as part of their herding drive. It sounds like your dog was anxious that the baby had left its sight, your dog understands that the baby is part of your pack (or herd) and possibly your dog knows on some level that it’s a baby or otherwise a not very mobile or independent creature. So when the baby came back into view the dog was anxious to ensure it didn’t leave the herd, instincts kicked in and it ran over and nipped the baby.
It didn’t aggressively attack the baby with intent to injure. While you certainly don’t want the dog nipping the baby I don’t think you need to be worried about the dog mauling your child.

When my children were young we had an old border collie who had been with us long before the kids were born. He never really liked the change in the pack dynamics that occurred when the kids arrived. When they were in the crawling phase one of the kids crawled over to the dog and got right in his face. He defensively nipped at my baby and drew a little blood, but retreated after the one nip. We were upset but understood why it happened and didn’t feel it was necessary to get rid of the dog. It never happened again but we also didn’t let the children crawl near the old dog anymore.

Now we have a young ACD and training him not to nip heels and hands is an ongoing process. He’s pretty good but when he gets excited he sometimes forgets and acts on instinct, and we’ve had to teach the kids how to interact with the ACD in a way that minimizes his excitement and therefore nipping.

I think this sort of thing is inevitable when you introduce a baby to a household that already has a dog, and it’s very troubling when it happens but you can probably mitigate the potential for it to occur again and as I said, it wasn’t an aggressive attack which would be a very different thing. Both my wife and I have scars from being legitimately attacked by our parents dogs when we were young. Her parents put the dog down due to the savage nature of the attack. My parents didn’t witness it and decided it was my fault I guess and kept the dog for many more years.

 

[motherapple]

@cookie3482 Thank you so much for explaining your similar story. It really means a lot and hits home. I have to ask... After your old collie nipped the baby, what measures did you put into place to keep the baby away? And was your situation a bit different than ours where in our case, our dog seeks out the baby more than the baby seeking out the dog?

Edit: I also should mention that after the nip, I put ACD in crate. The baby was crawling around and started getting near the crate and the ACD started growling. So I'm a bit nervous that it is aggression.

 

[cookie3482]

@motherapple The collie was an “old man” and all he really wanted was to be left alone, he had a couple favorite places to nap in the living room so we just kept watch to ensure that the babies didn’t crawl to wherever he was sleeping. Once they were old enough to walk and talk and understand things a bit we taught the kids to leave the dog alone unless he approached them on his own. They would sometimes play for short periods but once the dog would retire to one of his special nap places they’d know not to bother him and it never happened again.

As for your ACD growing at the baby from inside his crate: the crate tends to become a special place for a dog. It’s “their area” and given all the negative events of the day your ACD probably feeling unsure of it’s place in the pack is now in its safe space and doesn’t appreciate the baby coming near since you physically punished him and he may have formed a connection that being near baby = get punished. I have read, and observed in my own ACD that they can be very sensitive to punishment and become insecure or unsure of what they did wrong or how to avoid further punishment if it’s not handled properly.

I may seem like I’m over anthropomorphising dogs here but I believe they do have emotions a limited capacity for understanding actions and consequences. Their psychology is relatively simple but can be complicated to properly manage.

 

[duanea]

@motherapple Needs a house where he will get daily exercise.

 

[kadynsmommy]

@motherapple What your dog did sounds horribly scary but also sounds like instinctual rather than aggression behavior to me. I had an older ACD mix I had adopted from the pound many years before my son was born. It’s difficult for dogs to make sense of babies/ toddlers, speaking from experience there’s a good chance things may get better once your kiddo becomes a bit bigger and more mobile on 2 feet. It was my experience that once my son became less of a baby/ toddler my older ACD became my son’s best friend and was inseparable from him. It sounds like your family members lab might be another factor. Even if that dog is an angel, you’ve introduced a lot of what your dog sees as competition into the home. If you could get the other dog out of the house perhaps that will have a big positive impact on your ACDs behavior.

Only you know what is best for your family. If you have the ability to heavily supervise and keep your ACD separate from your kiddo whenever not directly supervised, hopefully things may mellow out once your baby grows a bit. It’s hard to see through it when you’re parenting a baby, but it won’t be so long until you’re baby isn’t a baby and becomes a more independent child who doesn’t occupy every waking second of your time.

Of course if in your heart you feel your ACD will be a danger to your child, rehoming the pup would be the best thing. But don’t kid yourself, ACDs are ride or die, rehoming will be really hard for your dog

 

[joyfulpraises761]

@motherapple Re-home him, honestly. If you’re not ready to start putting the time in to really invest in his training and his well-being, then it’s not the right home for him. My dog can’t go more than 2 days without his stimulation requirements met. I can’t imagine how frustrated this dog must be after months of not having his needs met.

 

[motherapple]

@joyfulpraises761 We're going to be making it a priority to get him back to his daily walks and play in the yard. I do admit he's a mix ACD and a bit weird when it comes to stimulation. To put it simply... He's kind of lazy. The treat puzzles... He doesn't even bother. He brings his toy out and I throw it and after 2 fetches, he takes his toy into his crate to lay down and I will need to go grab the toy from him to get him to fetch a 3rd time. But he loves walks. And I always let him sniff as much as he wants.

 

[david46]

@motherapple If you're getting physical with the dog and it's the 2nd time, maybe it's time to re-home him before you really hurt the dog.

 

[motherapple]

@david46 I understand where your coming from. I recognize it's not OK. And I know it doesn't teach the dog right from wrong. I need to make sure I correct him properly going forward. But this post is about seeking advice in how to coexist with an ACD who might be showing signs of aggression towards a baby.

 

[iwannaknow]

@motherapple He's not being aggressive. He's bored, frustrated, unsure of his role in the family now that a baby is present, and acting on his instincts. He was likely "correcting" the baby because baby left the group and your dog is bred to keep everyone together. If he was being aggressive he would have caused real harm to your baby.

The only real solution to you all living happily together is to give the dog an outlet for his physical and mental energy. At the minimum 30 min of exercise plus 15 min training/brain games twice a day, ideally with another 15 min of mental stimulation thrown in sometime during the middle of the day. Fetch, walks, obedience/trick training, puzzles etc. I know this may be a lot to manage with a young child. If you can't give him what he needs, please consider rehoming.

Also keep in mind heelers are known as the "fun police" because their nature is to keep everything organized. They don't typically do well with chaos and unpredictable behavior, which is kind of the definition of young children. If you can give the dog what he needs, keeping him separated from your child would be ok. But if the dog is just separated all the time, that's not fair to him.

I have a 3 yo ACD and a 14 mo granddaughter. My granddaughter spends 2 or 3 afternoons a week at my house, and they are NEVER alone together. My dog is gentle with her, but it only takes a second for her to do something that would cause him to nip. I can't imagine how difficult that would be to manage if we all lived together. Best of luck to you all.

 

[motherapple]

@iwannaknow Thank you for your advice. I know I need to find more time for my ACD and also find a way to balance the separation within the home. But in the end I don't know if that's really much better for my ACD. If I knew he would rehome somewhere ideal for him and wouldn't end up back in a shelter and he would forget about me and adapt to his new owner... I think the decision would be much easier for me. But I tear up thinking about him being depressed without me or it not working out and him ending up in a shelter.

 

[iwannaknow]

@motherapple I absolutely understand. It's a huge, difficult decision. I feel for you for sure.

We rescued a dog through a heeler rescue, and actually had to foster first to make sure we were a good fit. If we weren't, the rescue was committed to taking the dog back. If you do go down the rehoming route, check into reputable rescue organizations in your area. It can be done properly, but it can also be a bit of work.

Whatever you decide, I wish you all the best of luck.

 

[yeshuasown]

@motherapple

I need to make sure I correct him properly

To turn a phrase: "hurt dogs hurt people". So yeah, temper check yourself at all times. If you rage, the dog gets confused and it'll only make the frenzy worse.

1. Baby > Dog. If the dogs gotta go, the dog's gotta go. One mistake and there'll be no helping that dog -- you've got a scarred kid (inside and out) and a dog that needs euthanasia.
2. Buy a basket muzzle. Wear it around the house, with regular breaks every couple of hours.
3. Your house sounds busy. The dog senses this and traffic control is driving his anxiety high. Talk to your vet about psych meds to take the edge off.
4. Leash up in the house and clip it to your belt so you can have hands free. Worst case scenario happens: you have control to get the dog out of there quick, something that's more tangible than grabbing at hackle fur or some other physical means that exacerbates the problem. In general, they've been conditioned by your training to be more obedient on leash than off.
5. If you have to rehome, start with breed specific rescues. Then check with the vets in your area; perhaps at a tech school that has vet tech training program -- these are the kind of folks that are willing to take on hard-cases like yours. The county/city pound should be last on your list.

This breed is nothing to fool around with and they can be just as dangerous as any pit, rot or doberman. Be smart. Be cool. Have a plan.

 

[motherapple]

@yeshuasown Very much appreciated the detailed suggestions/tips. I have the basket muzzle and as much as he hates it, it will need to be part of his everyday life whenever he's in the same room as baby. He is already on k9 Prozac but I will talk to vet about pros and cons of upping his dosage (I really hate to medicate any animal and i only did it bc the vet said he was too aggressive to continue coming to the vet without medicine). The leasing in home seems tough to manage but perhaps worth a shot. I'm going to start looking into rehoming just to have my ducks in a row of and when we realize it's our only option.

 

[uneze]

@motherapple You need to teach him that the basket muzzle is a good thing. Dogs that have been conditioned to them properly will typically be more relaxed with them on. Don't just shove it on him and expect him to wear it, your kid isn't going to learn that potty training is a good thing overnight either. Smear a bit of peanut butter at the end of the muzzle, put it on your dog and let him lick that off, then take it back off again. Repeat that process throughout the day until getting the muzzle out equals good, then you can work up to letting him wear it for brief and then longer periods.

 

[motherapple]

@uneze He actually is fine with it. He just kind of loses all his personality when it's on. He just lays down and doesn't want to move or interact or anything. He won't fight me putting it on.

 

[kathleenloveschrist]

@motherapple … what do you mean you got physical with the ACD. What did you do to him??

You know, time and time again on this sub we see posts of very similar situations when there’s a new baby involved. Especially when they get to walking/crawling age. Is this dog getting enough stimulation? You mentioning some training but is he getting his daily exercise, sniff walks, mental stimulation? Have his needs been addressed or have they been unmet for months on end?

Do you generally keep him and the baby separate with gates? Is he on an indoor leash? How do you make sure they’re separated when you can’t intervene?

Have you found a trainer since you started seeing regression behaviors in your ACD? Have you yourself attempted to start with basics and re-train him? Would you be tell a trainer whether his behaviors are from anxiety, stress or something else?

 

[motherapple]

@kathleenloveschrist I immediately grabbed his snout and I hit him on the head (not really that hard... No yelping). Than I grabbed his collar and rushed him to the crate and somewhat forcefully hurried him in (again nothing hurtful).

I can't speak for everyone, but I admit that since the baby came into our lives, it's been a struggle to make sure the ACD has gotten daily walks or play time. Hence why I think jealousy and territory are likely a root cause for the behavior. Whenever the baby is crying for me to play with him and I go get in the playpen to play, the ACD will grab his toy and sit outside the playpen barking at me for attention.

When baby and ACD are together, it's always supervised but off leash. As I said this was our first incident. The 2 dogs take turns sharing the house so some hours of the day the ACD is gated away from the rest of the household but that's just bc it's his turn in the living room and the other dog gets the rest of the house. They rotate every 5 hours.

I just reached out to our trainer and am awaiting a call back to hear them out on suggestions. Just figured it couldn't hurt to get more opinions on this sub.

Plan going forward until we get more guidance... Is to keep baby and ACD separated by baby gate. ACD will no longer sleep in bed with us. Just sad because I don't want him to live out the rest of his years being separated most hours of the day. But the idea of rehomimg just tears my heart apart. This is my first dog and I love him just as much as I love my son. They are equals to me but I know my attention to my ACD hasn't been as good as it was pre-baby.

 

[kathleenloveschrist]

@motherapple Bruh. These dogs don’t show pain. Just because he didn’t yelp or cry out doesn’t mean he wasn’t in pain. You know that was wrong.

If you ACD isn’t getting enough stimulation then you should really consider re-homing him. Because training him is going to take a lot of time, effort and work on your part and because this is the 2nd time you’ve been physical with him, you might not have the patience to handle his training anyway.

Your dog is clearly asking for attention and stimulation and you’re not giving it to him. You say the baby and him are equals in your eyes but they’re not. Which is okay but the sooner you admit that, the better you can find your ACD a home where he will be a priority to the people that care for him, because it’s clear he’s not a priority in your household right now.

You saying you don’t want your dog to live out his years being separated means you’re not really looking for a way to work through this with a trainer. Because a trainer is someone who works with you, not for you, to train your dog. Majority of the training and enforcement of said training is going to be done by you, the owner. If you’re not up for it, then start looking for someone who can provide that for your dog.

You might want to keep your ACD because it’s what you want, but it doesn’t seem to be in his best interest.