# 3,5 Month Puppy Agressive towards child? Please help



## peter2321 (Jun 10, 2016)

Hello,

I have golden retriever puppy he was born on 26 February I got him when he was 8 weeks drove 1000 km to get him, and for past 3 weeks he sometimes growl at my young son who is 2,5 years and he even bitten him 3 times already!!

Since my son is small child he bitten him in hand twice and once (today) to finger with power that there was blood coming out of hes finger (I doubt it was that hard, there was blood because my sons skins is still young and delicate, and puppy's teeth are sharp thats what I think )

He growls and bites when he is tired, or when hes not playing with my son/me , generally when he is like alone or wants to have time for him he even growls ( sometimes ) at him when he is about to take hes toy and throw it for him like a kog I bought from him ( not stuffed with food ) 

He even growled at him few times when he just walked past him.

After he bited my son I louded on the puppy and threw him to garden and hitted him gently in the nose (not directly in the nose, with 2 fingers I don't know how to name it )

I don't know what to do for me it seems like he is not tolerating him, or he wants to dominate him or I don't know.. he doesn't do that to me or my wife..

I don't know what to do, I'm about to sell him to someone else which I don't want to, but my children are first priority and the dog is last after the last in house.

Please help me is he agressive or showing signs of agressions? 

Ps. never gonna believe stuff they write on internet about dogs , Ive read that golden retriever breed is the best for child , what nonsense I grew up with multiple dogs, caucasian, german shepherd and small breeds no one never biten or growled at anybody and my father I believe didn't train dogs as I do because he just "let them be" and hited them when they did something wrong.

And also my dog knows commands such as sit, lay down, give hand, don't touch ( he waits until I give him permission to eat from food bowl ), stay and he sometimes know place command.

Please help


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## peter2321 (Jun 10, 2016)

Forgot to add that my son everyday gives him food from hand and that he plays with him, and sometimes I think that this dog is jealous that I hug my son or something which is wierd for me and I also believe that he thinks Im (myself) a god and everything to him.. I really dont want to sell him but I dont see any other option I cant trust him


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

It sounds like you did no research about what having a puppy would be like, golden or otherwise. The puppy isn't aggressive, he's just being a puppy. He plays by biting and growling just like he'd play with another dog. There's no alterior motive, he's not jealous of anybody. If you're not willing to put in the time to properly train the poor pup, without throwing or hitting him, please return him to the breeder. Most breeders have a contract requiring you to return the dog to them if it doesn't work out for any reason. Don't try to replace him with another puppy because they will do the exact same thing.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Please understand that your puppy is a baby, just like your son. He needs you to gently teach him what you need him to know, he is not born knowing that he can hurt your son, or how to interact with him, just as your son does not know yet how to be kind and gentle to a dog. Don't be rough with your pup, you may teach him to fear you, that is not what you want to happen, I am sure. All puppies bite, use their mouth in play, they don't intend to hurt, but they often do, and your puppy is playing with your son as he would a littermate, rough and tumble lots of teeth, you need to teach him gently how to play appropriately first with you, and then with your son. 
At 3.5 months your pup is likely getting new teeth, does he have appropriate toys to chew? That might help use up some of his energy, and relieve the discomfort he is feeling. 
Find a way to keep them separated, your son is much too young to be playing with a three month old pup, teach him how to be nice to the puppy, pet him nice without pulling fur, tails, or ears, feed him some treats, to toss a toy for the puppy. Teach your pup to be gentle, no need to be rough with him, give him a place he can rest without interruption, a place safely away from your son, teach your son that when puppy is sleeping, eating, chewing on a toy, he needs to leave him alone. 

Take the time to learn about how to teach your puppy the skills that you want him to have, take him to positive reinforcement training classes, so that you can both learn what you need to know, and help him grow up to be the good and friendly dog you want him to be. Teach using positive reinforcement methods, be patient with him, be kind, just as you would with your son. Teach him basic skills, like sit, come, down, wait/stay, how to walk nicely on leash. It is going to take a lot of work, a lot of patience, a lot of time, but he, just like your son, is relying on you, trusting you to teach him, kindly, gently, compassionately how to be the best dog he can be.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Your puppy isn't being aggressive. They call golden puppies landsharks for a reason. Goldens are great dogs but golden puppies and young toddlers it can be a challenge. So yes they are great family dogs but they aren't born that way. Your looking to at least the six month mark where you will notice things changing. You need to find ways to keep your toddler and pup safe. Get a XPEN for your pup, baby gates work wonders, and keeping pup on a leash even in the house. We did we these things until Chloe was at least six months. And we still use a baby gate when my niece wants to play in the playroom. Look into some puppy training classes also.


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## Kalhayd (May 4, 2016)

Please don't hit your puppy. 


We have a 10.5 week old puppy and she bites ALL the time. She isn't be aggressive, she is playing the best way she knows how. Our children are older(5 &8) so they're old enough to understand when she plays too rough to walk away, or give a toy to see if she will chew that instead. 


Our oldest golden is almost 11-years. We brought babies in when she was still quite young. She is AMAZING with them. But she was way over the crazy puppy days before we brought our first baby home. You have to understand that he isn't trying to be aggressive. He wants to play. They need to play. And a two-year old cannot help him learn to play appropriately. In fact, our 5-year old is strictly supervised with the puppy as he LOVES to rile her up- but doesn't love her riled up.  


In short- if you're calm and patient the puppy will learn & so will your son.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

You might want to rehome the dog - or give back to the breeder.  Give the little guy a chance to have a normal good home with people who will understand dog behavior and be kind owners.

Suggest NO DOGS until your child is older (7+ years old).


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## Krissi2197 (Apr 23, 2016)

Cooper just turned 10 weeks today and you should look at my arms and legs; they're covered in teeth marks, scratches, and bruises! It's super frustrating, but it's what puppies do. They're like babies; they lose their teeth and it's VERY uncomfortable when they do, so they try to chew on things to ease the pain.

Your puppy is not aggressive, and I don't see any reason why you shouldn't trust him. He isn't biting your son because he's a mean puppy, he's just a puppy. This behavior is normal and will continue for the first few months of his life until he either grows out of it or is corrected. I suggest you teach your pup what you want him to do, rather than punish him for what you don't want him to do. Dogs learn much better with positive reinforcement rather than punishment, especially if you're throwing and hitting your puppy whenever he does something that is completely natural to him.


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Biting can be normal, expected, and even welcome at this age (to teach the dog to control his mouth) but the growling is a concern to me. 

I don't think we have enough information to assess whether or not this stems from some sort of more serious issue. I would first suggest a vet check because it's always wise to rule out a physical cause-- if your dog is growling unrelated to play or fun talking (my dog always is sometimes noisy with new people-- toy in his mouth, he wags his tail and makes a sort of growly noise because he is so happy)-- then it is a cause for concern.

You have a young child and so safety is #1. It could be that your dog is just chatty and playful, but if the dog has any sort of aggression issues, then you will have to seek the help of a behaviorist. Then it could come down to it being a management issue, which is very tricky and not really a good life for the family or dog.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

I would not allow the puppy time with your young child alone- perhaps in the play yard, if you are directing the play without distraction, but otherwise, no. Puppies are mouthy- it is what they are. Young children have no sense of their own bodies in space and can hurt a puppy- and cause a chain reaction. 
It takes a lot of energy and time to raise a puppy well, and you have your hands full with kids- so if you can't drop everything else and devote yourself to the puppy's rearing right now when he is learning so much every day (including how to get a reaction quickly), the breeder is the first call to make. In another environment that pup might never growl at anyone. If I were your breeder I would ask you to return the puppy.


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## CedarFurbaby (Jun 6, 2016)

Anele said:


> Biting can be normal, expected, and even welcome at this age (to teach the dog to control his mouth) but the growling is a concern to me.
> 
> I don't think we have enough information to assess whether or not this stems from some sort of more serious issue. I would first suggest a vet check because it's always wise to rule out a physical cause-- if your dog is growling unrelated to play or fun talking (my dog always is sometimes noisy with new people-- toy in his mouth, he wags his tail and makes a sort of growly noise because he is so happy)-- then it is a cause for concern.
> 
> You have a young child and so safety is #1. It could be that your dog is just chatty and playful, but if the dog has any sort of aggression issues, then you will have to seek the help of a behaviorist. Then it could come down to it being a management issue, which is very tricky and not really a good life for the family or dog.



My puppy also growls when he wants to go and play and jump on other people (pedestrians) and I don't let him go. It is as Anele said his tail is wagging. I don't think it's an aggression issue for me (I sure hope not!) His breeding line is great and he's got high drive. His temperament testing said so, but also when he wants to chase the birds, he really wants to chase the birds he forgets I've got his favourite treat in my hand.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

To follow up on what I said before... and this speaks to my real alarm.

Young puppies are not really aggressive at all. Any growing, snapping, etc... it's stuff they do while learning how to be dogs. They are trying all kinds of different stuff and seeing what works. 

The more erratic and inexperienced the owner - the more erratic the results they will get while raising the puppy. 

The biggest fear I have in reading your post is if you think that puppy is bad right now... wait until he is a few month older, full sized, and going through the hormones - while having unqualified handling and training as a puppy. 

Hitting and yelling at a puppy - while basically setting the puppy up by putting a squishy little kid down on the floor at the same level as the puppy - and blaming the puppy (instead of yourself) when the child gets scratched or nipped or hurt.... this is unqualified handling and training.

And it will get worse later on.

The breeder should be the first call - the breeders I can think of would give you money back or whatever just to get the puppy out of your home. In the case of the puppy coming from elsewhere, then you probably have to handle the rehoming yourself - and be kind and concerned as far as making sure the puppy has a good home and is part of a loving family. 

Maybe I'm going over the top here, but reading the first post - I was thinking this is a tragedy in the making. 

ETA - it's all about the dogs. If you have somebody hitting puppies, that's a problem.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

I think it is really unfair to make assumptions and pass judgement based on a single post. Perhaps the OP was hoping to get some answers to the questions, perhaps he/she really wants to work things out and do things better. Perhaps trying to help might be better option than simply saying return/rehome the dog because they are an 'unqualified' (by whose standards?) dog owner. We all have had a 'first dog' at some point in our lives, and we all learn through experience, nobody is born a dog trainer, we all have challenges and make mistakes, have questions we need/want answers for, and sometimes we just need a little 'support', reassurance that things are not quite as bad as they seem.


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## Coopsmom (Jan 13, 2015)

*please see below for comments:*
I have golden retriever puppy he was born on 26 February I got him when he was 8 weeks drove 1000 km to get him, and for past 3 weeks he sometimes growl at my young son who is 2,5 years and he even bitten him 3 times already!!
*--> Your children should bot be alone with the puppy nor should they be playing with him when the puppy is fully of energy. 3 bites in one day suggests not enough supervision and very poor timing in terms of when the children are with the puppy.*

Since my son is small child he bitten him in hand twice and once (today) to finger with power that there was blood coming out of hes finger (I doubt it was that hard, there was blood because my sons skins is still young and delicate, and puppy's teeth are sharp thats what I think )
*--> yes, puppies have VERY sharp teeth and are just learning to control themselves.*

He growls and bites when he is tired, or when hes not playing with my son/me , generally when he is like alone or wants to have time for him he even growls ( sometimes ) at him when he is about to take hes toy and throw it for him like a kog I bought from him ( not stuffed with food ) 

He even growled at him few times when he just walked past him.
*--> your puppy is trying to communicate with you. if you intend to keep this puppy, it will be very important that you learn more about canine communication.*

After he bited my son I louded on the puppy and threw him to garden and hitted him gently in the nose (not directly in the nose, with 2 fingers I don't know how to name it )
*--> bad idea! please do some reading about how to properly correct a puppy and teach him how to behave. Throwing him to the garden and hitting him in any manner will not help and is a reflection of your anger. Are you using a crate!?*

I don't know what to do for me it seems like he is not tolerating him, or he wants to dominate him or I don't know.. he doesn't do that to me or my wife..

I don't know what to do, I'm about to sell him to someone else which I don't want to, but my children are first priority and the dog is last after the last in house.
*--> have you contacted your breeder? Did you get guidance from the breeder about how to raise this puppy? if you cannot keep the puppy and the breeder won't help please consider contacting your local golden retriever club or rescue organization.*

Please help me is he agressive or showing signs of agressions? 
*--> i do not think he is aggressive. I think you need to learn more about how to raise a golden puppy.*

Ps. never gonna believe stuff they write on internet about dogs , Ive read that golden retriever breed is the best for child , what a nonsense I grew up with multiple dogs, caucasian, german shepherd and small breeds no one never biten or growled at anybody and my father I believe didn't train dogs as I do because he just "let them be" and hited them when they did something wrong.
*--> well, you've come to an internet forum for advice and have received a LOT of good advice here that I hope you will follow. Many adults remember their childhood dogs in ways that only the "good" memories remain. All dogs, regardless of breed need training and guidance and proper socialization.*

And also my dog knows commands such as sit, lay down, give hand, don't touch ( he waits until I give him permission to eat from food bowl ), stay and he sometimes know place command.
*--> that's great to hear.*

Please help

*I hope you will take time to read everything that people here have shared as there are many things to consider.*


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

'If you have somebody hitting puppies, that is a problem.'

The OP said he 'hitted him gently in the nose, (not directly in the nose, with two fingers... )'

not sure how that can be construed as a 'problem' ie: intentionally causing physical harm to the puppy.

Granted, not an appropriate response, nor one that will help to resolve the puppy biting issue, teaching the puppy that hands near his face predicts unpleasant consequences, is not a good thing, but not one the would lead one to believe/assume that the puppy was at risk of being harmed and should be rehomed.

It is absolutely about the dogs, being rehomed is traumatic for them, perhaps helping a new dog owner understand what is happening, learn how to appropriately and gently handle and raise a puppy will improve life for this puppy and any the OP may have in the future.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I stand by what I said, having raised a few puppies as opposed to adopting the messes that other people have made when those dogs were puppies. 

A 3.5 month old puppy btw is easier to rehome than a 3.5 year old dog that is very messed up. There is less trauma to the puppy who has not formed as close a bond to his owners as an older dog has.... 

I don't approve of people hitting puppies, yelling at them, and throwing them outside in anger. That isn't proper dog training. Period. The owner floated the idea of "Selling" the puppy, and honestly if they've already considered it - they probably should do it. 

And not bring any puppies home until their kid is older. Period.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

It's good you have come to the forum asking for help, it seems you are a bit overwhelmed and that's to be expected when you are dealing with a new puppy and have a small child. You have received some good suggestions that may be helpful, some not so much. 

Be patient, gentle, loving and consistent with your puppy, he's a baby and is counting on you to show him what you want him to do and learn, you should never hit your pup. You can be firm, but there's no need to yell or hit an animal. 

Teach your young child how to be gentle and loving with your puppy and never leave your child unsupervised with the puppy for both of their safety.

Puppies bite, they don't realize they are hurting someone, you should give the pup a toy or something to chew on. I don't think your pup is being aggressive, he is playing. If your pup gets too rough with your child, you may need to crate him for awhile until he settles down. 

I hope you'll update and let us know how things are going.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

If I were you this is what I would do:

1. Learn as much as I could about puppies.
2. Learn about puppy behavior and socialization.
3. Keep the puppy and your son seperate. If you had brought your son to the hospital there is a good chance that the dog bite would have been reported and your puppy would have been quarantined if it didn't have rabies vaccine (Happened to a friend of mine).
4. Keep in mind that your puppy is a puppy for a long time.
5. Teach the puppy what is right and what is wrong.
6. Teach my son how to interact with dogs when he is old enough to understand.
7. Never leave a puppy/dog unattended with a child.


Yes, Goldens are great with children but a puppy with a 3.5 year old is a recipe for trouble. In fact when placing my puppies I would not place them in a household with young children and inexperienced owners.


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## DogOwner (Jul 30, 2015)

This is why many rescues will not adopt out a puppy to a family with small children. With a young child or multiple young children it is difficult to deal with a puppy because you are already busy. I once looked at a statistic where it said most dog bites are from golden retrievers. GRs are popular dogs in many family homes. Children should not be left alone with puppies and adults need to put in lots of effort with puppies. Magic doesn't happen overnight. Okay...I understand there are many comments which are to the point and can seem cruel and a bit too rough but it is the truth.

Sometimes, it is best to wait to have a dog until your children get older.
Wishing you the best...


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## peter2321 (Jun 10, 2016)

CalMom said:


> This is why many rescues will not adopt out a puppy to a family with small children. With a young child or multiple young children it is difficult to deal with a puppy because you are already busy. I once looked at a statistic where it said most dog bites are from golden retrievers. GRs are popular dogs in many family homes. Children should not be left alone with puppies and adults need to put in lots of effort with puppies. Magic doesn't happen overnight. Okay...I understand there are many comments which are to the point and can seem cruel and a bit too rough but it is the truth.
> 
> Sometimes, it is best to wait to have a dog until your children get older.
> Wishing you the best...


But I already have him I can't go back in time.

Thanks to all answer people, but few of you seem like these guys from TV "don't cut that tree because world disaster will happen" if you get what Im saying, not gonna argue with anybody here because that's not what it is all about.

To the guy that said I should rehome the dog because I'm aggresive towards my dog? Dude are you out of your mind? because I said I hited the dog when he bited a CHILD? sure would it be better if he bited a child when he would be 1 or 2 years old? then ill tell you what would happen; things would go to court > i would of course lose ( I wouldnt even think about not losing I didnt want to ) > police would tell me to put my dog to sleep and you would still blame me for my mistakes , who would lose on that? of course dog, so keep your assumptions to yourself.And by the way rehoming the dog at this tim when he already feels affection to me, my wife and maybe my son would destroy the puppy.

As to evereybody elese thanks for suggestions, I called a breeder and he told me that he wants to dominate my son ( we spoke for 40 mins ) and that I need to be more harsh with him and can't leave unattended and it will just go away... well I hope the desire for domination will go away because if not I would need to makes hes home in my company garden otherwise... which I of course don't want to because that was supposed to be a house dog.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

" he wants to dominate my son ( we spoke for 40 mins ) and that I need to be more harsh with him "

"I would need to makes hes home in my company garden otherwise... which I of course don't want to because that was supposed to be a house dog."


Please seek out help from a professional dog trainer. 

Your puppy is just acting like a dog that hasn't understood any of the training you have been working on or just hasn't been trained. 
They don't come out of their mothers with the skills to act with good manners in our homes. 

If you are not willing to seek appropriate help please contact a rescue and rehome your pup as being a yard (garden) dog isn't appropriate for a golden retriever.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Are you located in the US? Some of the things you have said makes me think you may not be and if that's the case, I understand things are done differently in other countries. 


Here in the US and with the members here, our Goldens are considered part of the family, they are a family member and live inside with us. Goldens are very people oriented and want to be with their families. 

Most of us also believe in using positive only training methods, always being loving and gentle when training our dogs, you can be firm when it's needed but there is never a need to hit an animal or even a child for that matter. 

I hope you will consider trying some of the methods members have suggested here, you may be surprised at how well and quickly your puppy will respond in the manner in which you'd like for it to. 

Raising, training and working with animals is similar in manys ways to raising children......

I also do not believe your puppy is trying to dominate you........ your pup is a baby.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

How about you take your two year old toddler out of the equation? 

Meaning your child does not belong on the floor with the puppy when the puppy is up and moving and running around. 

Meaning you have to work at being a kind and intelligent owner. Give this dog a good home. Don't be creating fear aggression and fear dominance based on your handling of the dog - which DOES happen when people don't actually study up on dog behavior and learn what's what based on real education and real on the spot evaluation from people who have been around the block a few times more than an owner who is frazzled, upset about their toddler getting bit multiple times by their puppy, and worried about how to handle the situation. 

You have to commit to really working through the situation and changing your family stuff as far as how casual and lalalandish about not being hands on and actively protecting your baby from accidental nips, scratches, bites... and preventing a mauling situation when the dog is 5-6 months old or older.

If your child is mauled by the dog - there is no rehoming for the dog. There's barely any rehoming for the dog if he has a bite record. If he mauls your child, that means that the dog gets put down and you and your wife get examined for being neglectful. 

This is a reason why many breeders over here will not be responsible for putting a living being in a home where the people are expecting the behavior and temperament of an adult dog right away and don't realize that there's a lot of cutting teeth and fireworks until they get that adult dog. 

There was a statistic being thrown around over here... I think it is still basically true...

Dogs who are purchased as gifts for very small children - particularly around the holidays (Christmas and Easter) - the issue is that by the time the dogs are 6 months old, they get thrown away. Sometimes it's the lack of love from the owners when the cute puppies are growing into somewhat ugly adults.... but it's also because at that point the poop starts hitting the fan as far as untrained and unmanagable puppies becoming 60-70+ pound untrained and unmanagable adults. 

I guess my thing is the young the dog is when rehomed, the less damage he has done (no bite records) - it's easier to rehome them into good homes. Don't let your pride or concern convince you that it would traumatize or destroy the puppy to be rehomed. The only thing that would destroy the puppy is being placed in a bad home - which people certainly do when rehoming dogs themselves. 

You probably should contact the original breeder of the dog and really discuss what your options are and hopefully figure out a good way forward. 

I'm saying all this as somebody who had two aggressive golden retrievers - but particularly one who had two bites on his record (and a third unreported one). The aggression was not there when he was a puppy. It was there when he was between 12 and 24 months - very big, very powerful, and very fast with the jaws. Each time he bit - it caused enough damage to require stitches. The third time he went after my then little sister who to this day has scars on her stomach and back from him. She was very little at the time too. 

People get into this breed thinking they will have a calm and well-behaved dog - but it's a long way until you get that. And a lot of the time, you have dogs who never get there because it's such a rough road and they do not have the proper temperament.

The two boys I have right now do not have the temperament to go after anyone. I would be stunned if that ever happened. Because they have the very same temperament as a prior golden who went through his entire life without once showing his teeth or growling. 

I say this even though the one boy caused nonstop bruises and even broke the skin a few times when he was a young dog. A lot of the mouthing and excitement nips have nothing to do with aggression. Just a lot of it was having a particularly oral dog who uses his mouth like we use our hands. It's how he explores his world and expresses his joy...  To this day, when he's very happy and showing the love for you - he will nibble on you. And actually his "nibbles" aren't that bad. My younger boy who never ever even mouthed - learned to do the nibble thing from the older boy and he doesn't do it very well. It really hurts. With the younger boy though - I come home from swimming at the lake with him covered with nasty looking scratches all over my arms, back, and legs - all thanks to him using his feet the way the other boy would use his mouth. Younger boy does not like me swimming - and will come flying at me with paws flailing. 

^^^ The above is described to show that it is not a for sure thing that a dog biting a two year old child is him trying to dominate the baby or being aggressive. 

I know I did a video sometime ago showing my dogs playfighting. And even showing how the younger dog playfights with our cat. The cat video is interesting because as a puppy he learned what's too much and how to play with the cat. A lot of the paw batting and threatening is learned directly from the cat who does the same thing when playing and threatening with claws (which he never uses with his dogs). It's all posturing. The younger dog never uses his teeth on the cat to bite him. He will pounce at the cat and feint with his mouth, but the teeth never close on the cat. It's fun to watch because generally speaking the dogs could hurt the cat if they were not careful. But even playing they know their size - a lot of this was stuff the cat taught the dogs (particularly the youngest) along the way. When the cat hisses or growls - the dogs stop and listen. 

The above is describing the mechanics of play as far as these dogs. They don't naturally play by retrieving. The most natural play for dogs, especially retrievers, is a lot wrestling and mouthing. 

All of it is stuff that is not safe for a baby to get tangled up in the middle. That's why your child is not a proper playmate for a puppy at times. And why every interaction between the two needs you and your wife to be hands on training the puppy and your child what is and what is not allowed. If you are constantly managing interaction between the two - it means that down the road you can start relaxing a lot of that as the dog will know its own size by then and your child will know not to hit, grab, pinch, poke or otherwise hurt the dog. Or get angry at the dog. 

It is a lot of work - which if you are up to it. Can be done and 3-4 years down the road, you will have a really good dog who by the time you have more kids and more kids down on the floor with the dogs - you don't have to work as much with managing the dogs. You can strictly work on the kids. 

The dog I referred to above who had two bites and went after my baby sister back then - he never growled or snapped again in his life. My parents were both too emotional and erratic to handle it. They grew up during a time when you beat the dog into submission if he acted up. The main people working with this dog was all us kids who kinda banded together and said we were going keep the dog and not let anything happen to him. This was both training the dog and really training the little kids on how to avoid bad situations with the dog (and our other dog). 

A lot of it common sense stuff - and a lot of reading the dog and learning how to read the dog. Dogs communicate by posture, by eyes, by movement... and a lot of this is very easy to read, particularly with family dogs who are always with you. It's so important to avoid looking at what a dog is doing and assuming that it's something that needs to be corrected with anger. A lot of people fall into that hole because the various behaviors their dogs show is identified sight unseen by somebody who says it's dominance (a dog getting up on the couch next to you is a dominance thing, etc) - and as dominance is always framed as a bad thing that leads to predatory behaviors from the dog (or something), it's handled by beating or mistreating the dog into submission. Never mind the fact that how you handle a dog who is uncertain and lacks confidence may create fear aggression which causes many of the mauling situations that occur. 

My suggestion is that you look around and find somebody who is a mentor. Somebody who has sound and happy dogs who has been through what you are experiencing.... and learn from them. Hopefully it is somebody who rather than calling up on the phone, you are inviting to your home or going to see them and having them really help you through this situation through appropriate handling and training. And also help train you as far as reading the dogs behavior, understanding dog behavior. The key to problem solving bad dogs is understanding them. You don't have to bring in a hollywood behaviorist... but it should be somebody who's got more diverse skills than recommending that the best way to keep a dog from dominating you is dominating the dog.  

I doubt that any of the above will be read in all seriousness or help at all if you are set on not taking advice from people who have already told you that the easiest way to handle this based on your own words is rehoming the dog. I don't want anyone acting in anger with anything - not their kids or their dogs. And you have to understand that the mental picture of a half-grown dog repeatedly being in a situation where it's biting a baby is a bad one for people who have a lot of respect for the many cases accidental or misunderstood damage that a dog could do to a very small child.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

peter2321 said:


> But I already have him I can't go back in time. (...) And by the way rehoming the dog at this tim when he already feels affection to me, my wife and maybe my son would destroy the puppy.(...) I called a breeder and he told me that he wants to dominate my son ( we spoke for 40 mins ) and that I need to be more harsh with him and can't leave unattended and it will just go away... well I hope the desire for domination will go away because if not I would need to makes hes home in my company garden otherwise... which I of course don't want to because that was supposed to be a house dog.


As others have said, your puppy isn't aggressive, he's just doing what golden retriever puppies do: he's being "mouthy". Goldens are RETRIEVERS, meaning that they're hard-wired to put things in their mouths. It's up to their human families to teach them (gently) what is acceptable. This is why many golden retriever breeders won't place pups in homes with very young children. The risk of an inexperienced home running into the problems you are describing is too great.

Hitting the puppy, or being harsh with him, will only make things worse. The puppy is only doing what nature has conditioned him to do, i.e. putting things in his mouth and mouthing them. When he does this to human skin, he draws blood because his puppy teeth are very sharp. If you simply punish him for this, without teaching him what to do instead, he won't understand, and will become wary and mistrustful of you. Harsh punishments are likely to make him bite more, not less, because he'll be frightened of you. He's not aggressive now, but if you're aggressive towards him, by treating him harshly for no reason, this may change.

As for re-homing him, you raised this possibility yourself, when you first came to the Forum. I refer you to one of your earlier posts, where you said this:

_Forgot to add that my son everyday gives him food from hand and that he plays with him, and sometimes I think that this dog is jealous that I hug my son or something which is wierd for me and I also believe that he thinks Im (myself) a god and everything to him.. I really dont want to sell him but I dont see any other option I cant trust him_

Personally I agree with your own conclusion in the above quote: that the best option might be to re-home your pup. If you can't trust him now, and are going to treat him harshly or even relegate him to an outdoor kennel, it's in both your best interests to find him another family. Your posts, from both their tone and content, suggest that you don't like the pup very much, so why keep him? And please be assured that it won't destroy the puppy at all. Pups are very adaptable, and he'd adjust quickly to his new family. In any case, his current situation as you describe it doesn't sound like it's particularly happy for him.

If you do keep him, I hope very much that you'll take the excellent advice you've been given here: don't allow your child to interact with the pup without supervision, don't allow your child to feed the pup until both are older, treat the pup gently and educate him using positive methods.

It would be helpful if you would say where (which country and area) you are from, so that other Forum members can refer reputable trainers who may be able to help you.


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## Kalhayd (May 4, 2016)

I agree with the above. The puppy has no idea how to properly behave, they have to be taught. Just like your child has to be taught manners. 


Hoping you find a good solution for the pup and your family.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

When my son was born, I had two dogs and when he was 2.5-3 years old, I had added another one. It's good for children to grow up with animals, but I feel it's very important you teach your child to be respectful of animals and how to be gentle and loving with them. 
It can be done, I raised my son to be loving and gentle with animals, he's a young adult now and loves dogs in particular. 

It's important that you train and treat your puppy with kindness and always be gentle, often times people are mean and too rough with young pups, this sometimes leads to behavioral problems or the dog even becomes fearful of people depending on what has been done to them. It is very difficult sometimes to undo what humans have done to animals, it is by far much easier to treat them with kindness and teach/train them what you want from them. Your dog will develop a bond with you and will want to learn and please you if you treat it with kindness. 

You have gotten some good advice from some very knowledgeable long time dog owners, one of the members who has posted in this thread is a certified dog trainer and animal behaviorist.

I hope you are willing to put the time and effort into working with your puppy that it requires. A puppy is a 24/7 lifetime commitment just as your child is.


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## Elsa Cholla's Mom (Feb 8, 2016)

> " he wants to dominate my son ( we spoke for 40 mins ) and that I need to be more harsh with him "
> 
> "I would need to makes hes home in my company garden otherwise... which I of course don't want to because that was supposed to be a house dog."


Okay, the guy may breed dogs, but he doesn't know Golden retrievers. I was totally new to raising a golden only 5 months ago and I can tell you the other dogs I have raised did not prepare me for my pup. She was not cuddly, she was very bity, and not much interested in being trained. I can imagine of I had to have raised her with a small child. 
I tried Alpha techniques and they totally failed on a Golden pup. Goldens are bred to be a very different kind of dog to a Shepherd, or a Husky. They don't seem to think in hierarchy as much as other breeds. Not saying they don't, but they don't really get it. The whole world is a part of their pack, that's why they make lousy guard dogs.

If you want to keep the dog, as a 'survivor' of a difficult puppy, this is what I suggest.
Crate you pup if you don't already. One of the few things that got Elsa calmed down when her bity behaviour went over the top, was a 5 minute crate time. In fact she learned what Time Out meant by the time she was your pup's age and would try to hold back.
Let the pup play bite you, teach it Gentle. As soon as it bites too hard, whine, stick your hands under your arms, and turn your face away. You and your wife should be teaching this all the time. Then the command transfers to the cat, to your son, to a smaller dog.
Lots of fetch sessions. I think I had to do about 5 - 10 to 15 min. fetch sessions a day with Elsa at that age. We just got a Husky puppy and I amazed how much she sleeps! Elsa didn't like to sleep during the day it seems. By 4 months old we had her out fetching in water, and that wears them down faster than other forms of exercise. 
Baby gates. One suggestion from on here is when the pup bites, whine/yelp (which ever works) and refuse to play anymore. Even turn and walk away. Which with Elsa resulted in a bit butt! But someone said just hop over the baby gate and turn away from the pup. That too worked on Elsa. She wanted to be with her people very much. 
Training when the dog does get over amped up. I did this on walks a lot. I would get Elsa to go through a Sit, Down, and Wait...holding treat about 6 inches away for 30 seconds. Her Energy levels would drop right away once her brain had to work. 
If it interests you, look up clicker training. I used it with Elsa, especially for teaching, Look at Me. And coming to my hand on Here command.
I can't say I trained everyday for a prescribed amount of time, but Goldens are smart, Elsa slowly but surely took her lessons to heart. The biting dropped off dramatically the week the last of her baby teeth fell out. 

Elsa is now 71/2 months old. She is finally becoming so much calmer. She has her puppy brain moments still, but her and I have gone from many moments of tears and regret, to I adore her. Try to separate the times when your dog is being a puppy brain, from when it is the dog you want. Praise A LOT for the good moments. When the dog is playing as it should, tell it Good Play, or Good Gentle. You are focused on the negative right now out of frustration, but you need to focus on the positive behaviours and really let your pup know when it is doing it right. I still praise Elsa when she just comes and lays beside my chair, because she was so hyper before! Elsa has no doubt in her brain, this is the behaviour my mistress likes. Walking on leash could be a whole new post! I spent way too much money on trying to figure out how to get my, originally leash aggressive pup, to walk nicely.

The fact you came to the forum shows you want to be solution oriented. You can key word search biting puppy on this forum, you'll find lots of threads with lots of good ideas. I wish you the best of luck. Please don't be harsh to a Golden. They are very sensitive dogs, and it is that sensitivity that makes them a good family dog in the end. They know how everyone feels. As pups they can react very badly to all that extra emotion until they learn to manage it.


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## Champ (Jun 10, 2006)

This sounds like fairly normal behavior for a young puppy. Puppies bite when they play and will often draw blood. I wouldn't say a golden puppy is best for a very young child. Will your breeder take the puppy back? If rehoming is not an option, looks like you've been given some good advice here. Best of luck


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## Kalhayd (May 4, 2016)

Champ said:


> This sounds like fairly normal behavior for a young puppy. Puppies bite when they play and will often draw blood. I wouldn't say a golden puppy is best for a very young child. Will your breeder take the puppy back? If rehoming is not an option, looks like you've been given some good advice here. Best of luck





off topic- but swooning over your signature picture!!


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

Being harsh with your dog will only hurt both of you, regardless of why your dog is behaving this way (normal puppy or something else).

I had a very rough time with my puppy who is now 18 months old. He had biting that wasn't typical puppy nipping starting when he was close to 5 months. I shed many tears and wondered if we could keep him as a family dog. However, as many bruises as my dog left, he never left them on my young children (youngest had just turned 3) because he was always highly supervised with them. 

With positive training, time, and patience, our dog eventually grew out of these behaviors. Every once in awhile he will still get the aroused look he used to and SEEM like he's about to bite (on walks) but we can quickly settle him and he doesn't do it.

But now-- I can let him outside with my 4 y.o., even alone, and he is very gentle with her. He knows how to play tug differently with her, will even drop the Frisbee for her (doesn't with us!) and keeps an eye on her while she plays. We did this with a lot of positive relationship building, not harsh techniques, and it paid off.

That being said, he has never ever growled at us beyond it being in play.


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## peter2321 (Jun 10, 2016)

Thank you for all advices, I live in Poland and I love my dog if I didn't love him I would already sell him end of story on that subject.

Rehoming is not an option because I decided I want this dog to behave the way I want and never ever in he's life growl at ANY child especially family member.

But how do I do that? You guys are saying positive methods: Im ok with that I was doing positive training for past 2,5 months and thanks to that I teached him sit, lay down, stay, don't touch, and he learned place just few days ago.

And he got that all very quickly the first command sit took him 9 tries after that I believe he knew what that meant.

BUT, how do I use these positive methods when it comes to growling at a CHILD?! Maybe I don't get something or few of you people place your dog above your kids.. seriously I don't see HOW I could positively reinforce growling at a child (GROWLING NOT AT PLAYING normally when child walks past dog or want to just hug him) 

How? Give me some examples, I can try everything really. 

Lets say child walks to a dog, hugs him , he growls ,I hit him in the nose and throw to a garden - does he get it? I know he know's he did something wrong (and im 100% sure of that ) but why is he doing that?

Now the positive method: Child walks to a dog, hugs him, he growls > what I do? Back off? give him a toy? throw him a treat when he STOPS growling?

^ Based on that how the hell is that going to stop that? Maybe I gave bad example, but if not to my understanding if I reward him for something I want him to do - let's say he stops growling I throw him a treat instead of hiting him in the nose and throwing out - I believe he will know that growling is a good thing.

Give me some examples people, everyone that met my dog tells me he is the smartest dog they ever seen and I also say same thing - but why the hell is he growling and bitten my child 3 times AFTER growling so it was like Growl ( Warning ) > 1 second later > Bite in the hand


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## anamcouto (Aug 15, 2015)

Ok think we all need to calm down a bit, different countries, different traditions and cultures (not saying some are better or more correct than others we are all simply different) so let's try and be more positive about things specially when this person is seeking for help. Having said that I understand your frustration regarding the situation both the new owner seeking for help and the more experienced owner with different backgrounds. Pretty sure we can all educate ourselves to be better persons, better owners, better parents because there's always room for improvement, right?

So going to your help request:

I don't think that is suitable for your kid at such young age to play with your puppy that is also very young without any supervision. My explanation for this is:
Both are still learning the rules of coexistence, babies tend to pull, bite, slap as their normal process of growing on the other hand puppies, specially golden retriever puppies are very well known to be big bitters specially between 3-6 months of age. I still remember very well the condition of my arms and legs from my puppy that is now almost 1.5 years and I'm an experienced owner, seriously it looked like I was dropped in a bucket with wild cats.

So my suggestion is for you to keep your puppy and your baby separated by a babygate or xpen, if necessary add a couple of obstacles in between so that your baby can't put is hands through the bars. Time will come that both will share the same space without the need of any barriers and will be best friends.

Training biting inhibition is very hard on my experience but I'll give my advice. You and your partner at this moment should be the main focus of the play where your puppy will inevitably bite you because that's what they all do at this age. What you should do when this occurs is push the puppy away gently, say no and try and give him something you consider acceptable for him to bite as he gets focused on that you praise by playing more with him. There will be times where it seems your puppy is just crazy wild, when this happens just put him back on his area with the babygate or crate until he calms down, he should only regain "freedom" when calm.

Note that a lot if this craziness is due to 2 things: lots of energy that needs to be vented out at something, swimming, playing fetch, etc will help with this (it's well known that a tired puppy means a happy owner) or because he is too tired and just like a baby is having difficulties to put himself to rest, in this case puppy should be placed in his area with some toys and left to calm down.

Now regarding the interaction with your baby. Considering your puppy is so young I would do it in reasonably small space so things don't go crazy, teach your dog to lay down for your kid to pet him, lots of praise etc, if puppy starts getting "aggressive" or very excited stop the play and separate both. Another thing you can do is play with your baby and puppy with the baby gate in between them to make life easier for yourself.
Also you need to teach your kid when is OK to pet the puppy when is not for example is ok to pet when puppy is laying down while playing but is not ok to pet puppy when he is sleeping, eating.
Teach your baby to pet gently your puppy and on the body not the face, a lot of dogs don't like it and a lot of them tend to start playing rough and your baby is still very small. Praise both baby and puppy.

Note that this will take long time, also for your reference my entire family have dogs and we also lots of kids different ages some more used to dogs than others, I don't let my puppy run loose on the house with the kids around we have older dogs also some can be completely loose others not really depends on the size of the dog and kid.
We have a baby now with 2 years, we can play loose with one of the older dogs to which he already says no and tells to sit but not with my dog because she gets too excited with the baby.

Bottom line we all have this dream of kids and dogs as best friends since both are babies but it's not really like that most of the times and it takes a lot of work and patience on both kid and puppie.

Like you said throwing the dog outside he understands he did something wrong however I would like to point out that he won't understand what exactly so don't think is the best thing to do, and you don't want your puppy to become afraid of you or not trusting you so much, right? Seems to me what you want from your dog is very similar to what the majority of the people in this forum, so my suggestion is to do like I mentioned above instead, remove the puppy to his area with some toys inside (they don't understand punishment in the way we do) this way he will learn that certain behaviours mean he gets a timeout and goes to a spectator position instead of being part of the fun of being with the family playing or just relaxing with you guys.

Hope my notes help you and that you still come here whenever you need help.

FYI I'm from Portugal and in my country as in a lot of countries in Europe the actions you described are still what majority of people believe is correct specially when it comes to big dogs like Golden Retriever, this is changing people now have dogs indoors and what's expected from both parties is also evolving.
Countries like USA and others that had great influence from UK are a bit more ahead on this department and consider some of these actions as unacceptable. All of us have still so much to learn and with each other.


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## peter2321 (Jun 10, 2016)

anamcouto said:


> Ok think we all need to calm down a bit, different countries, different traditions and cultures (not saying some are better or more correct than others we are all simply different) so let's try and be more positive about things specially when this person is seeking for help. Having said that I understand your frustration regarding the situation both the new owner seeking for help and the more experienced owner with different backgrounds. Pretty sure we can all educate ourselves to be better persons, better owners, better parents because there's always room for improvement, right?
> 
> So going to your help request:
> 
> ...


thanks a lot for your answer, I will surely implement the things you told me! thanks


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

anamcuto-very good post, very helpful, Thank you!


peter2321, here in the US we use dog crates (kennels) for our pups and dogs. It aids in house training, also young pups usually sleep in them, are sometimes fed in them, and put in their crates when they become too rambunctious-over stimulated and need a time out. 

If you are not familiar with crates-I know some of the members who are from other Countries don't use them, here is an example of what a crate looks like. If you don't have access to one, you can always put your pup into an area of the house where he can't get access to the rest of it by using baby gates as anamcuto suggested.


https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics...TF8&qid=1465902297&sr=1-2&keywords=dog+crates


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

I wanted to add, hugging is not polite to dogs. They can learn to tolerate it, but if your puppy doesn't like it I would train your son not to hug your dog. He can pet the puppy all he wants with supervision but don't make the dog unhappy just so that your son can hug him.


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## peter2321 (Jun 10, 2016)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> anamcuto-very good post, very helpful, Thank you!
> 
> 
> peter2321, here in the US we use dog crates (kennels) for our pups and dogs. It aids in house training, also young pups usually sleep in them, are sometimes fed in them, and put in their crates when they become too rambunctious-over stimulated and need a time out.
> ...


If I put him in place where he sleeps (behind baby gate) will it also work or it must be some different place where he cant get access to/never been there?


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

peter2321 said:


> *Lets say child walks to a dog, hugs him , he growls ,I hit him in the nose and throw to a garden - does he get it*? I know he know's he did something wrong (and im 100% sure of that ) but why is he doing that?
> 
> Now the positive method: Child walks to a dog, hugs him, he growls > what I do? Back off? give him a toy? throw him a treat when he STOPS growling?
> 
> ...


It's important to understand that, in the situation you describe, the problem is the child, not the dog. And before I go further, I'm in no way treating the dog as more important than the child. I have a daughter. She was 5 years old when we got our first Golden puppy, and believe me, it was a lot harder to educate the child to behave well with the dog, than to educate the dog to behave well with the child.

So: a child, especially a toddler, should NEVER, EVER be allowed to go to a dog and hug it. Not your dog, not any dog. Dogs don't like being hugged: there are scientific studies out there. And generally speaking, they don't like toddlers either. Toddlers don't behave in a logical or predictable way. They make sudden movements, they can grab and hurt a dog (without wanting to - it's just the way they are), they yell and scream at odd times. So to solve this situation, your job is to teach your child not to hug the dog. The dog is not ever going to enjoy being hugged by a toddler - there is no point working on that. But your child can be taught not to hug the dog. So that's how to deal with this situation.

Second, others have said this but I'll repeat it: a toddler should NEVER, EVER be allowed to interact with a dog - any dog - without very close supervision - for all the reasons I just listed above. I get that it's hard always to supervise: this is the reason many breeders in North America are reluctant to place puppies in homes with babies or toddlers. Unsupervised interactions, or situations where toddlers are allowed to hurt or harass a puppy, will cause the puppy to become fearful of the child, and this can lead to aggression. This can happen to the nicest puppy in the world. Many years ago (30+ years), I purchased a 1-year-old golden retriever from a breeder. The dog had been returned to the breeder by the family that purchased it as a pup, for "lack of time". It quickly became clear to me that the dog disliked children: he growled at them, tried to avoid them, and was actively aggressive towards them if they persisted. I contacted the original family, and it turned out they had allowed their toddler - 2 years old - to pull the puppy's ears and whiskers, sit on it, poke it, hit it and so on. The dog eventually got sick of the behaviour and bit the child. This WAS NOT the dog's fault, it was the parents' fault for not controlling their child's behaviour. That dog was never able to be around children again - and yet, he was the nicest dog in the world with adults and other dogs.

So: you ask how to teach your dog to behave well with your child, using positive methods. It's not hard. All you have to do is make sure that the dog's only contacts with your child are enjoyable for the dog, and leave a positive impression on him. For example, hold your child in your lap and get him to offer treats (on a flat hand) to the pup. Teach the child to throw a toy or ball for the pup to retrieve (again, the child should be in your lap). If the pup enjoys being brushed, involve your child in the process (making sure he doesn't hit the dog with the brush). And so on. Teach the child never, ever to approach the pup's food bowl. And never, ever leave them alone together, not even for a second. If the dog doesn't perceive the child as a threat, it will start to relax.

Your job is going to be more difficult because, based on the situation you describe (child hugging the dog), the dog has already started to be fearful of the child. So you have to overcome that fear first.

I urge you to be very careful as you move forward. A dog is an animal, and all dogs will bite if placed in the wrong situation. Raising a pup with a toddler in the house is possible, but it's not easy.


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## Coopsmom (Jan 13, 2015)

crates are useful for a variety of reasons - containing a dog when you cannot adequately supervise, providing a "time out" (not punishment) and, for many dogs, provides a sense of security. Our almost 12 year old golden still likes crates and often finds his way into the 2 year old golden's open crate when we're just hanging out in the house. A baby gate is good for creating a barrier between the puppy and others or confining to a small space, but a crate would probably be a very useful addition given all you're needing to do in terms of training the puppy.


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## anamcouto (Aug 15, 2015)

I used the cage/crate during 15days when I got Ella, she was around 3 months and I hated, I think it's cruel and too small for a puppy that grows so fast (that's my personal opinion) so I got a baby gate and put it on one of the bathroom doors (I actually removed the door to avoid scratching and chewing. And that bathroom was Ella space until she was around 6months.
That was where she would sleep and stay whenever I couldn't supervise. I have friends/neighbors that followed my suggestion but they preferred the kitchen for example.

It's not a punishment place, it's just their space. Progressively Ella gained more space always with babygates and by the time she was 1year she already stayed loose in the house anytime we are also in there, even when we are sleeping. The last 2 months she's starting to stay loose when I'm at home.

Your puppy will drive you crazy at times, mine did and the ones I had from little before also did.
I confess they've also lost my nerve once with each one of them and they got scalded more rushly and got a small pat on their rear ends, nothing that hurt them and I'm not proud.

When that happens, when you feel your loosing it just send your puppy to his room so that both can cool down.
I'm a full working female in construction industry (casino and 5star resorts) the pressure me and my boyfriend live everyday (he does the same) is not comparable to any other similar job any place outside of Macau because we do projects here in a third of the time of elsewhere and also with a third if resources and none of us knows Chinese so sometimes we just can't handle it all. And both of us lost it at one occasion, we regret it so much so we also decided to teach our dog to go to her place with a command to avoid rough situations, it works for us on happy moments and on stressful moments. She now knows that if we tell her to go NaiNai independently of what she's doing she needs to go to her space sit and wait until she's called back out, if it takes too long she will eventually go get a toy from one of the toy boxes that are on that place and will play there.

We train this all the time because it really works for us.

Like I said no one is perfect and we are all learning. After the first 2 years with time, consistency and tons of patience you will get the dream dog.

Trust me, otherwise none of us here that are on the second, third, fourth dog wouldn't repeat it again coz it can get really tough


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

peter2321: May I suggest reading the book: On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas. It provides a basic understand of how dogs communicate, what they are 'saying' to us.

This article explains some of the most common calming signals, there are so many more, often subtle and fleeting but they are easy to discern if we know what we are looking for. 

http://en.turid-rugaas.no/calming-signals---the-art-of-survival.html


If we can learn, even on a basic level, to understand how our dogs communicate, what they are trying to tell us about how they are feeling, they do have emotional lives not so much different than ours, it can go a long ways to making their lives, and our lives, easier and safer for all concerned. We bring a dog into our lives, expect them to learn, to understand what we want/need from them, and to 'listen' to us, if we expect from ourselves, to learn and understand what they want/need from us and to listen to them, we stand a much better chance of building a relationship built on understanding, friendship and trust.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Your pup should never be in the position to growl at your child. Your child should not have the opportunity to hug your puppy. Ours is 1.5 and hates being hugged. It's all about management. Keep them seperated and teach your child the proper way to let w dog. That's how you stop it.


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

Chloes safe area was always the small area in the kitchen with a baby gate. If you can find a area like that it will keep both your child and puppy safe.


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## Elsa Cholla's Mom (Feb 8, 2016)

> BUT, how do I use these positive methods when it comes to growling at a CHILD?! Maybe I don't get something or few of you people place your dog above your kids.. seriously I don't see HOW I could positively reinforce growling at a child (GROWLING NOT AT PLAYING normally when child walks past dog or want to just hug him)


Your Pup is only doing what a dog would do with another puppy. He's saying 'Please don't do that' with a growl, and 'Stop that' with a bite. The growl isn't always an aggressive thing with dogs, it sounds like that to us. There is degrees of growls. 
My Golden has always hated having her head touched, and she is not a cuddly dog either. Dogs show affection differently than people. They lean on you, bring you a toy, or just hang out with you. 

In that above situation, Show your dog you can be the leader, I would probably say No, or Uh Ah, (what ever sound you use to get the dog's attention), to the dog, but I would remove the child and say No to him/her as well. Then redirect them away from each other. When I am taking the time to pet my dog, I have let her show me what she likes. She likes chest scratches and scratches at the base of her tail. And she is starting to like scratches behind the ears too. So I would teach a child how to touch the dog appropriately.

I grew up in a world where dog's had to conform to what ever human's wanted, however unnatural for the dog. That required a discipline based regime of raising the dog. People raised their kids the same way. I was raised that way, and became a fearful person, which is why I changed how I raised my kids, and now my pets. 

Elsa is still young, and when we meet people on the street, she really wants to, but when they reach out to her, she bounces away, bows down to them wagging, then she tries to come towards them, and bounces away, because she won't let most people touch her if they are going for her head! As soon as someone reaches down, under her chin, she goes right up to them and sits for them. It's like she says, 'Yay, someone who knows how to pet me.' 

I relate it to how I feel when I meet people who want to hug me because they know my parents well, but this is the first time I have met them! I I find it unsettling., but I don't growl at them because I know that it's not polite, and lots of cultures do hug a lot.

That is what your dog is trying to say. He is not comfortable and no one is getting it. I really think if you and your family can respect his need for personal space, he will no longer need to growl or bite. (although puppy biting will happen for awhile yet.) What you might find, I know it is true with Elsa, is that he will become more affectionate, and tolerant with age. I have seen Elsa (71/2 months) put up with heading petting at times, but that is really only in the recent weeks. And on one occasion that was from a soft spoken 9 year old girl. Elsa has met very few children, because we are retired, so she is wary of children, and even scared of them. I was quite pleased she gave the girl extra leeway. 

I hope that helps you look at the issues with your pup from a different point of view. Given time, your pup can be the welcomed member of your pack that you hoped for.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

peter2321 said:


> If I put him in place where he sleeps (behind baby gate) will it also work or it must be some different place where he cant get access to/never been there?


I think you've gotten some really good suggestions so I won't elaborate on this too much. 

Crate, bathroom, laundry room-here in the States most houses have a separate laundry room located inside their homes. If you have something similar that would work. 

If you're not using a crate, check the area where you plan to put your pup and get down on their eye level. You'll need to puppy proof it similar to how you may have child proof your home when your little one arrived. 

Look to see if there are any electrical cords he may chew on-he could get shocked or electrocuted..... electrical outlets, look at everything really closely
and I mean everything. You'd be surprised what they can get into in a very very short amount of time.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Rethink the growling. The dog may be communicating that you have made him uncomfortable. You should be glad he is communicating. I don't think you want to stifle the puppy's communication.

There is much to be learned by keeping an open mind and learning as much as you can about dog behavior.

I spoke to one person who finally learned her puppy was giving a play growl. I have found that some dogs will present a toy and give a "growl". This was an invitation to play.


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## CedarFurbaby (Jun 6, 2016)

anamcouto said:


> Now regarding the interaction with your baby. Considering your puppy is so young I would do it in reasonably small space so things don't go crazy, teach your dog to lay down for your kid to pet him, lots of praise etc, if puppy starts getting "aggressive" or very excited stop the play and separate both. .


Just going to add that I have been trying to get my 11 week pup to be polite to people on the street including children. Often when people touch them, he wants to mouth them. The way to foster positive interactions, is to have other people touch them while you continuously feed him treats. One hand on collar and one hand feed treats. He's busy eating, so he doesn't go to mouth anyone, and the child or adult gently touches his side. I also tell people on the street where to touch and so on. If he gets too excited, time to tell kid/adult to back off and you're holding collar so he doesn't get the chance to jump or chase them.


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