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Rat-Terrier.com
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/15/2007 2:18 PM |
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My wife and I have a Rat Terrier named Terry (LOL). She is 6 years old. We have a 16 month old baby who is walking or wants to walk "all the time" and Terry is not being friendly at all towards her, we are very concern to the point that we may have give her up to a friend. Any ideas or suggestions, I loved Terry but don't trust the dog arond the baby.
Thanks,
Aldez |
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Susan
Terrier Terror
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| 04/15/2007 2:58 PM |
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The dog wants to be above the baby in the family hierarchy. You need to make the dog know that the baby is above the dog. this isn't always easy! How much interaction have the dog and the baby had before now? If you have been keeping them apart the dog may not know where the baby fits.
when I had my little babies I intoduced them to the dogs one at a time. I put the baby on a blanket and stood on all fours above her and growled at the dog every time he came near. After a while I allowed one sniff, then growled some more. If the dog insisted on getting to near I put them on their back and growled them angrily.
I know this is a little strange, but this is how my moma dogs introduced there babies to the other dogs (my Pack). It worked pretty well for me, I didn't have much trouble with the dogs and baby after that. Just the regular stuff of making sure that baby didn't put the dogs eyes out or pull anything too hard. You could try it if you want to, or not if you think that your dog will not accept it. It helps if you are the alpha in the pack (family).
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ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS WORTH OVERDOING Mom of eight, only three left at home! Pack leader to ten ratties: Maggie, Mysty, Berry, Simon, Ceecee and five puppies, Star,Sari, Bluebelle, Double stuf,and Snortie. As well as Ginger the Border Collie and a herd of turkeys! |
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/16/2007 12:10 PM |
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The dog has had little interaction....as you can imagine we do not let her come too close to the baby just because of higene. I can see your point about the dog's need to know where she is in relation to the baby in the hierarchy of the family.
Since my daughter is walking already (16 months) what suggestions can you give me? Knowing my little one she will go straight to try to touch the dog and Terry most likely will snap at her. As a matter of fact Terry did just that once already!
How can I revert this behaviour? What do I need to do to correct this? I need something that will work fast
Thanks
Aldez |
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PamWh
Rattitude Problem
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| 04/16/2007 12:13 PM |
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| Never leave them together unsupervised, for both of their protection. You'll have to teach the baby and the rattie how to treat each other. Be patient. |
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PamWh
aka Bob's Mom
If your rattie ain't happy, ain't nobody happy! |
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/16/2007 3:28 PM |
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Is there anything I can do to make sure that the dog learns that the baby is in a higher place on the hierarcy?
We never leave the baby alone with the dog but I need to know if I can teach the dog (and how to do it) to respect the baby and NEVER snap or try to bite the baby.
Thanks for your continuous help
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chips mom
Rattie
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| 04/16/2007 3:42 PM |
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"The dog has had little interaction....as you can imagine we do not let her come too close to the baby just because of higene."
If you have been shooing the dog away, the dog may feel rejected. My children are now 28 and 30 and have never in their lives been without dogs and cats. My son is 6' 7" to boot. Please don't get all icky about hygiene and your pets. Short of eating feces, your children will not get sick unless they are allergic to the animal's fur or they are bitten by a pet who has not had a rabies shot. |
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Judy Mom to Mr. Chips and Annie
"home those in need before you breed"-www.chincare.com
The greatness of a nation and its progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
.....Mahatma Gandhi...
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Tinkerbelle's Mommy
Terrier Terror
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| 04/17/2007 7:06 AM |
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Welcome to my life! I am constantly trying to keep my 3 year old and my puppy from killing each other. Both the animal and the child need to be scolded when the dog bites or the baby hurts the dog. It's a learning thing for both. I know your baby is much younger, so she may not be as tough as mine. Mine usually hurts the dog before she gets nipped. Tinkerbelle is trying to protect herself MOST of the time. Now, she tries to bite her sometimes just because she doesn't want her around. When my other child was a baby I had 2 minpins. I used an empty coke can with some dried beans in it, and then taped the top closed. When the dog did something inappropriate, I would shake the can at him. It made a loud noise and scared the dog and the behaviour would stop. For my cat, I used a spray bottle with water in it when she would attack my little girl. This worked well with the cat, it might work with a dog also. I understand your concern, everyday I tell my little girl that if the dog attacks her face, her Daddy might make us give Tinkerbelle to someone else. I'm trying to get my daughter to be the alpha dog, by putting her hands on her hips(instead of running around screaming and flopping her hands) and say no biting in a stern voice.
Good Luck!!!
I can't post pics with my message for some reason, so check out the photo section. I'd love to add a picture of my daughter with my animals. |
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Mitzy's Mom
PAWesome
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| 04/17/2007 10:01 AM |
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Posted By chips mom on 04/16/2007 3:42 PM
"The dog has had little interaction....as you can imagine we do not let her come too close to the baby just because of higene."
If you have been shooing the dog away, the dog may feel rejected. My children are now 28 and 30 and have never in their lives been without dogs and cats. My son is 6' 7" to boot. Please don't get all icky about hygiene and your pets. Short of eating feces, your children will not get sick unless they are allergic to the animal's fur or they are bitten by a pet who has not had a rabies shot.
I agree, my daughter has been around animals her whole life from day3 when she came home from hospital. Things would have gone much easier if you had introduced your daughter to your rattie when you first had her. We've had several members on here have babies and their ratties do just fine with them.
To fix this now you need to be alpha...from there you can teach your rat to respect your "pup".
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Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids
Georgia Foster Mom, New Rattitude
at www.newrattitude.org
Pics of my current fosters:
http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/caradoc
http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/willow
http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/fiona
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/17/2007 12:31 PM |
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I really appreciate all the comments. I do believe I am the alpha around my dogs (Besides the Rat Terrier we currently have a Boxer which by the way are great dogs to be around kids....I grew up with animals too and had two Boxers at one time among other dogs and other animals)
We love our Rat Terrier and I know that I should have introduce them much earlier. I do not want the Ratie to fear or run away from my daughter or anyone in the family for that matter, all I want is to correct the agressive behaviour towards my little one.
The Ratie has not shown agresive behaviour when I am around with both of them - the baby and her, but I am apprehensive to let my little one touch the dog because of the past signs of aggresiveness that she (the Ratie) has display.
I know that I should have done things differently but now I need to fix this or my wife is going to ask me to give Terry away.
Please help |
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Mitzy's Mom
PAWesome
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| 04/18/2007 7:53 AM |
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| How is your wife with Terry? If she is the one at home and around both the baby and rattie the most then SHE has to be alpha also. It's a key sign that your rattie has shown no agression when YOU around both baby and rattie....but your wife must be able to create that, too. |
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Mary Beth, mom to the Lollipop Kids
Georgia Foster Mom, New Rattitude
at www.newrattitude.org
Pics of my current fosters:
http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/caradoc
http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/willow
http://imageevent.com/newrattitude/fiona
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/18/2007 11:20 AM |
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I am the one that spends the most time playing and being around with the dogs. I guess I'll have to take this one step at a time and teach them both to respect each other.
Thanks,
Aldez |
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/18/2007 11:26 AM |
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Mary Beth you suggested that "To fix this now you need to be alpha...from there you can teach your rat to respect your "pup""
I believe I am alpha so what do I do to teach the dog to respect my "pup"? |
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chips mom
Rattie
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| 04/18/2007 4:06 PM |
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| One thing I just remembered is my JRT female would literally guard babies. It didn't matter who they belonged to. She would growl and keep a close watch. Just a head's up if you see that happening. |
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Judy Mom to Mr. Chips and Annie
"home those in need before you breed"-www.chincare.com
The greatness of a nation and its progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.
.....Mahatma Gandhi...
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Susan
Terrier Terror
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| 04/21/2007 11:39 PM |
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| You need to correct the dog every time it gets too close to the baby and you don't want it there. Make it go lay down, not too far away while you are doing things with baby. You need to hold and feed the baby and not let the dog participate in the food. You could hold the dog after the baby is in your lap and make the dog allow touching without growling or any aggresive type behavior. These are all ways to demonstrate that baby is ranked higher than dog. |
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ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS WORTH OVERDOING Mom of eight, only three left at home! Pack leader to ten ratties: Maggie, Mysty, Berry, Simon, Ceecee and five puppies, Star,Sari, Bluebelle, Double stuf,and Snortie. As well as Ginger the Border Collie and a herd of turkeys! |
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Aldez
Newbie
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| 04/23/2007 4:34 PM |
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| Thank you Susan for your sugestions....will do! |
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