My OES snipped at my baby?!?!?!
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| I'm sorry this has happened, but dogs and children should never be left unattended. I would suggest keeping the dog in another room when the baby is crawling around, because he is a dog, and if the baby crawled on him and hurt him, that would explain him nipping.
I'm not sure what else to suggest... if he is an otherwise well behaved dog, it is probably simply a case that he was hurt and reacted. |
| I've not seen my OES aggressive with a baby or a small child... without reason. You must remember that a dog and a baby should not be left unsupervised to avoid them harming each other.
Lennon is very territorial, and I always have issues when my little niece comes over and visits us. He's always trying to herd her and prove his alpha status over her, so we always keep an eye on him while they are inside the house. A lot of childre tend to challenge dogs without knowing, by looking at them in the eye, coming very close face to face, getting at a lower level than them, etc. It's just natural curiosity from the child's part, and the dog reacts to the messages he gets in doggie languaje. Has anything else changed at home? Most dogs react to changes in the environment or the routine. If your baby has always crawled next to him, look for further changes. I would suggest some positive reinforcement towards Baxter, reassuring him that your baby is safe for him, feed him treats for being quiet around the baby, and the most important, keeping an eye on him. I'm also thinking about having babies someday, and on a previous post, I got tons of useful advise on having a baby and keeping your OES. Search the site for more advise, I'm sure more people will pour in some advise to this thread. Talk to your hubby about this, it's just a reaction after the baby crawled over him. Has Baxter displayed any signs of disconfort? If he's never done it before, maybe he's hurt or sick, a trip to the vet could be a good idea. Hopefully, things will get better soon. Good Luck! |
| I don't want to give mixed signals. Baxter is and has been a great dog. When this happened I was right there. It happened in a second. I don't leave them unattended. |
| From your first description of the incident, I understood you to mean that you were there when it happened. Since you were raised with an OES and are familiar with the breed, I'm sure you know not to leave them, or any dog, alone with a child. I don't think anyone is accusing you of neglect.
But I've seen this happen myself. A dog can snap in the blink of an eye for seemingly no reason. But was there a reason? Right before it happened, was your son going toward the dog? Now that your son is getting mobile, maybe Baxter feels the need to exert his place in the pack over him. Baxter views you and your husband as the alphas and probably views himself as second. Maybe he feels his place in the pack is now being threatened. Did your son go to reach for Baxter? Maybe he fell on him, or accidentally pulled his hair in trying to stand? Everything Saul just said is right on the money. The dynamics are changing in your house. It is, as Saul said, a child's curiousity versus a dog's perception in his own language. For awhile, until Baxter can feel safe in his surroundings, being in the same room with the two of them is not close enough. Being right between the two of them is warranted. But don't give up on Baxter. He's not a bad dog, he's just a dog going through some environmental changes. He will need to adapt to your son, and as your son grows, he will need to learn how to behave around Baxter. Good luck, and keep us posted. Chris |
| We had Flash when he was a puppy and my son was young(not as young as yours). We never had any problems at all so I can't add anything to the other posts but I hope it works out well for you. |
| Thank you to everybody for your advise. I called a couple of trainers yesterday to see if they can do anything to help. Maybe get "the boys" better aquainted. I also put up a block to seperate the two for now. My son has the family room and Baxter the rest of the house to roam. I hope something works!!!!! |
I'm glad to hear you're working on a solution to keep Baxter and your baby! I never meant to accuse you of neglect or anything, sorry if I gave you the wrong message. I've had my dogs snap at my niece, it happens in the blink of en eye, I just turned around to reach for a book and that's whne it happened. no harm done, but it sure scared us 
Here's a couple of things you may want to try with Baxter and your baby:  Put a nice treat on your baby's hand and have Baxter feed from his hand. Anybody who feeds the dog is considerated an Alpha.
Give your dog a blankie with your baby's smell so he realizes he's not a treath.
Sit on the floor and play whith your baby while you pet Baxter, just keep yourself between your baby and Baxter to avoid accidents.
As soon as posible, start teaching your son that Baxter is a dog and does not like to be crawled over or his hair yanked. Teach him to pet his neck and his back, not his head or his nose, and always in the same direction his hair grows.
It's great that you contacted a trainer! I'm sure that will be a great help, just make sure ONLY positive reinforcement is used so Baxter sees everything as play and not punishment, or he may relate being mistreated with your baby. OES require lots of attention, so make sure to set a few minutes during the day to provide Baxter with quality play time and to reasure him he's still a loved and respected memeber of your family. Good Luck, and keep us posted! |
| I AGREE wholeheartedly with the previous post- those are great tips, especially the one where your baby feeds Baxter. I brought home a baby to a 9 year old OES who had pretty much been in charge of the household up to that point, she had a few moments when she nipped or barred teeth at my son. It was only when he was going through the crawling/standing/ walking phase, between 10 mos and 2 yrs. I think she felt threatened by his mobility, as a previous poster mentioned. She was proabably already a little put off by his role in the household, and by the attention he was receiving, the territory issue became too much. I still think she was testing the boundaries a little too.
I never scolded her when she nipped at him, I just seperated the two of them and offered her some comfort, re-assured her that she was still loved and then set her to work on something like chasing birds in the backyard or chewing on something delicious. My son on the other hand thought she was his furry sister and came tattling on her everytime she so much as looked at him! He wasn't afraid, just wanted to get her in trouble. He missed her so much when she passed, he still includes her in the "line-up" of children in our family, his older sibling! As a side note- we got in a car accident once with two of them, it was one of those horrible icey spin-outs where the car lurches all over and spins around several times. The baby was in his car seat, but the OES was in the back of the station wagon, she flew around a little and ended up in the back seat on top of the baby. When the car came to a rest I whirled around to check on the two of them, the dog just looked stunned and while my son didn't cry he had very wide eyes, he immediately regained his composure and pushed his big sheepdog off of him and into the other side of the seat and in his best 3 year old tattle-tale voice he whined- "mom- Penny did bump me- she naughty". I think if you manage your Baxter through this stage and let him know he is still your favorite Sheepie, this too will pass, and you will be laughing about it years from now! Up. |
I also did not mean to imply that I thought you were neglecting to watch either one.... things happen.... and it can happen to anyone at anytime. I do hope things work out for the best for your family and pup, it sounds like you have gotten some great advice  |
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