Dilemma

[BoiBoi]

Ok so here's the story, My dog is about 2 years old now and he likes everyone he ever meets, that was true up until a month ago. My sister came over with her son mike who's 5 and his friend maggie who's also 5. My dog was raised around my nephew since he was a little pup so he lets my nephew do pretty much anything with him and he always watches him to make sure he's safe. When i walk my dog he always wants to stop and play with kids. A month ago my nephew's friend maggie was playing outside with mike and went over to pet the dog at which point my dog knocked her down and was standing over top of her. I blame this incident on my sister because she didn't introduce the girl to my dog right when they got there, i was not home at the time. I took it as he didn't know who this girl was and he was on his chain so maybe he got excited and knocked her down. Well this past weekend i was away and my sister was over my parents house with mike and maggie again. Well this time they introduced the girl to the dog while he was inside, now understand that this little girl has a dog and loves dogs so she isn't afraid or anything like that. My sister calls me and tells me that for some reason when maggie was giving my dog a treat he began to growl at her. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this because im not sure what to do other than keep her away from the dog. I think one main reason this happens is because im not home at the time my sister comes over with the little girl. What do u guys think?

[mikelia]

I don't know exactly but you know your dog better than any one else. If it were me I'd want to see the dog and the little girt with each other in front of my own eyes before I decided to do anything.

[FearlessKnight]

Well you know they say that dogs sense "evil".....LOL..just kidding. I have no idea, but I do know that my little dog..(not a pit..thank God) has a terrible time trying to pretend to like kids, I guess it is in his blood...you know how them little terriers are!
Seriously though, maybe your dog senses some kind of "smell" on her that ge doesn't like....or maybe its like you said, you are never there when she is around. I dont know, but I hope you get some positive, worth-while posts....cause I sure didn't give it you...sorry I coudn't be of more help!

[BoiBoi]

I don't know exactly but you know your dog better than any one else. If it were me I'd want to see the dog and the little girt with each other in front of my own eyes before I decided to do anything.
Well the first time this happened when i got home i took the girl to the dog with me there and he was fine just licking her and happy as ever so i don't understand. I've heard that dog's can sense things about people that they might not like but what in the hell could he not like about this little girl?

[14rock]

You are the top-dog of the pack, with you gone...he sees himself as the top dog. When newer members try to come into the pack while your away, he feels it is his duty to "protect" the rest of the pack, and put this "new arrival" in its place...at the bottom of the chain. What can you do? Be around at all times when your dog is with strange people, and make sure your dog never gets away with dominant behavior to smaller creatures. Teach the girl to give the dog commands, sit, lay, etc and have her give him treats. Humans are at the top of the chain, everytime, and you need to enforce that.

[BoiBoi]

He fully understands that everyone in my family is higher in the chain than him because he was raised around everyone and he was never treated as something other than what he is, a dog. My 5 year old nephew can even control him with sit and stay commands so it must be that this girl is new and he has never met her before. But the thing is he growled at her the second time he met her while she was giving him a treat so that confuses me a little.

[Luke.UK]

Maybe the dog isn`t too sure of it`s standing in the`pack`when this girl visits.She`s entering his enviroment and he could just be a little unsure,if he`s uses too your sis and the little boy,he`ll know where he position his.This stranger could be confusing him?He could be trying too get dominance over her,which goes without saying,you dont want!!!Introdutions can take a long time,play it safe.When she visits next time,let them both meet but then remove the dog,outside ,other room, re-enforce in the dogs mind that he is at the bottom of the family.

this is just an idea,it could be somthing totally different.i hopeyou get the advice your looking for,take care:)


Good luck.

[BoiBoi]

Thanks Luke good info. What confuses me the most is that i have strange people over all the time that he has never met before and he does fine with them whether im there or not so i don't get why its just this one girl that he doesn't like.

[asaj]

My German shepherd did the same thing to one of my friends daughter. I was there, and up to today I can not understand why? Pepsi know her place, and she have never before or after, done anything like this.
The little girl likes dogs, but I know that she put playdough in their dogs ears and made a drawing with a maker on the dogs belly. So, maybe they can smell troublesome kids?lol!

[maryellen1]

first off, dont let any children near your dog when he is on his chain. he has no where to go, and might feel threatened.
second, i am the leader of my 3 dogs. if i am not home and hubby is, or my parents are watching the dog, god help them if any of them growl at anyone in my house just because i am gone and they want to be leader wanna be's..

sorry, but that is still unacceptable in my book. the child was in your house, and just because you were away doenst give the dog the right to make him self leader over a child.. now, if the child poked your dog or was mean to it, it doesnt excuse the growling at all, but maybe she did something to him while he was on his chain, but the growling at a child is still unacceptable to me..

[jeeperino]

Plain and simple. Some dogs dont like some people regardless of the age of dog or person. It could be a smell or a 6th sense or something like that. There are a few people and children in this world some of my dogs DONT like. They get a funny vibe from them or something.

[BoiBoi]

Plain and simple. Some dogs dont like some people regardless of the age of dog or person. It could be a smell or a 6th sense or something like that. There are a few people and children in this world some of my dogs DONT like. They get a funny vibe from them or something.
Im thinking that it might be her smell because of her dog, maybe he can smell her dog and doesn't like it.

[FearlessKnight]

Plain and simple. Some dogs dont like some people regardless of the age of dog or person. It could be a smell or a 6th sense or something like that. There are a few people and children in this world some of my dogs DONT like. They get a funny vibe from them or something. In this aspect, dogs are just like people...not everyone or every dog is going to like everybody. I personaly like the fact that my dog goes a little crazy on certain people/kids...it tells me that I need to watch that person, something can't be trusted. Especially when you know they like almost everybody and dont have problem with them! JMO

[BoiBoi]

In this aspect, dogs are just like people...not everyone or every dog is going to like everybody. I personaly like the fact that my dog goes a little crazy on certain people/kids...it tells me that I need to watch that person, something can't be trusted. Especially when you know they like almost everybody and dont have problem with them! JMO
yeah i hear that dogs are good testers of a person's character. The thing is i don't see how anything could be so dangerous about this little 5 year old girl but hey i guess my dog knows something that i don't so i'll keep my eye on that girl LOL

[MercedesMama]

She's 5 that's what's so dangerous..lol! I'm thinking he is just confused/threatened of who is this person. Like was stated before, you're pack leader and she's there when you're gone, he's protecting his pack since you are absent. Well, at least that's what it sounds like. As for dogs growling at bad kids, Blaize would be eaten by now if that was the case..lol

[davidlau_2002]

the dog smell on her could be a factor. she is a child that is dog size so that could make him tweak out.

i have the same issue with a little half brother. mine was an issue of my younger 5 year old brother giving me attitude while i was scolding him being a spoiled brat. my little brother then grabbed a cup and hit me point blank in the head. my dog then jumped off his bed and knocked him over and started barking at him when he was on the floor. he stood there and stared at my brother until i told him to sit and put him in the yard on the chain. to this day he does not like my little brother. i hate myself for correcting him bc my father is raising a spoiled brat but the kid is not welcome at MY place anymore. i go to their house without the dog. maybe the girl did something wrong to your kid and the dog saw that. also like mentioned earlier, she could have done something to your dog that no one saw.

[Riptora]

You are the top-dog of the pack, with you gone...he sees himself as the top dog. When newer members try to come into the pack while your away, he feels it is his duty to "protect" the rest of the pack, and put this "new arrival" in its place...at the bottom of the chain. What can you do? Be around at all times when your dog is with strange people, and make sure your dog never gets away with dominant behavior to smaller creatures. Teach the girl to give the dog commands, sit, lay, etc and have her give him treats. Humans are at the top of the chain, everytime, and you need to enforce that.
Perfect... as usual! http://www.game-dog.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

[kensloft]

the dog smell on her could be a factor. she is a child that is dog size so that could make him tweak out.

i have the same issue with a little half brother. mine was an issue of my younger 5 year old brother giving me attitude while i was scolding him being a spoiled brat. my little brother then grabbed a cup and hit me point blank in the head. my dog then jumped off his bed and knocked him over and started barking at him when he was on the floor. he stood there and stared at my brother until i told him to sit and put him in the yard on the chain. to this day he does not like my little brother. i hate myself for correcting him bc my father is raising a spoiled brat but the kid is not welcome at MY place anymore. i go to their house without the dog. maybe the girl did something wrong to your kid and the dog saw that. also like mentioned earlier, she could have done something to your dog that no one saw.
Good point! People tend to think that canines are empty-headed containers but kids aren't? On the same token kids are taken as being empty-headed containers, ... according to humans, but they aren't.

If you listen to some people they will talk about how their dogs have the equivalent intelligence of that of a 3 year old or(if you own a staff or pit...) 5 year old.

Somewhere along the line there is a disconnect! I am sure that the child loves the dog. I am sure that the dog loves the child. The smells, the actions and the paranoia of the interactions of humans and canines tends to make things morbid to the witnesses.

You get many kudos for keeping your eye on the situation. I could go into a long story about my rescuing a friend from injury, being witnessed by his dog, which then turned into my being the villain because I was in physical contact with him... but, after an introduction, she realized that we were friends.