Big Paws Only Dog Forums

 

Thanks to all!

Katie

     Well, I guess I'm not too sure how we could have further evaluated the dog or the incident.  We did have him physically checked out but not his thyroid as I've already mentioned.  I only have what my 5 yr. old is telling me to go on and her story has remained the same, I do believe what she is telling me.  As for leaving her alone with him, my husband and I were in the kitchen with her and the dog, I left to the next room to get my 1yo. and my husband went outside to the grill.  Yes, we did leave her alone with him and it happened that fast.  It really was an innocent mistake on our part.

What would you have done to further evaluate the situation?

     As for the first incidents of growling I gave him an immediate and firm "no" and then put him in his crate for a time out.  As for pecking order, my kids would take turns daily training him as well as giving him his food or a treat with a sit or lie down command first.  I made him sit and wait for my kids to first come in the house, out of the house, up and down the stairs, in the car etc...

What would you have done to discipline the growling incidents?  I really want to know what I could have done differently.

What are a dog's boundaries?

Those of you with children, truthfully, do you NEVER leave your children unsupervised with your dog?

Do you teach your children never to approach or hug your dog from behind?

I know that we have a lot to learn before getting another dog and I will be following up on the reading recommendation s   but here is a great place to start too.

I know sooo many families with dogs that are great family dogs that haven't done 1/5th of the amount of training and work with them as we did with Solomon.  You can bet they leave them alone with their kids, you can bet the kids are not a part of training them, you can bet their dogs have never been to a single obedience class.  I think that is what really gets to me.  We may not have been perfect but we really, really tried.

Katie

     Thanks for the article, very informative!  I think it has pointed out a few of our problems.  I think one main problem is that I viewed Sol almost as another one of my children.  I thought in order to have a great family dog you needed to treat them as a part of the family.  Don't get me wrong, I did do a few things right according to the article too.  I made him sit before everything.  He slept in his crate.  If I told him to do something I expected him to do it but now I see that a lot of his behavior was Alpha behavior.  He really only listened to me and when he wanted to he might and I stress "might" obey my husband and kids.
     We did not have his thyroid checked.  About a month prior I had his stool checked for parasites and other things because it was runny, but everything checked out fine.  At the same time the vet palpated his hips and other joints just because I thought he was walking funny and all that checked out well too.  Again, after he bit my daughter the vet palpated his joints again and really cranked on them and he was not sore at all.
     He has been gone from us for about 3 wks. now, 4 this Thursday, and the breeder happens to also be a vet. so hopefully she will check out his thyroid if she thinks it's needed.  I have had only a little communication with her and from what she has said he tried to be dominate right away with the male newfs and she had to separate him from a few. He was great with his sister and then later with another male and I think now he is milling around with most of them (she has 9).  She also said he is very well behaved better than her newfs and she thinks he just had a stupid hormonal male moment.  I believe she said she was considering neutering him early but was unsure if that would have helped.  She is searching for an owner that does not have kids and has experience with Newfs.  She also said that she has never, ever, had any problems like this with her other dogs she's sold and Solomon's parents had great temperments. 
     I have judged others in the past for giving dogs up, I always viewed it as being irresponsible, but it was for things such as they barked too much, they smelled too bad, too much hair, too energetic and destructive.  To me a bite is different.
     Again, the article was great and would love other suggestions for reading.  Do you all have a favorite book or article on dog behavior?  I need to educate myself and family before getting another.  I did a lot of reading prior to Solomon but now will view it a bit differently.

Thanks again to everyone for your replies, much appreciated!

Katie







 







 







 

Hi all,
     I need some input here as to what went wrong with our Newfie, Solomon.  Briefly, we got him when he was 3 months old and loved the heck out of him.  He was an indoor dog and I'm a stay-at-home mom of 4 small children so we were always around and he got lots of attention.  We took him to puppy obedience class which he did very well in and was daily exercised.  He came to as many places as possible with us and my 6, 5, and 2yr. olds all were a part of training him.  They all had him trained with both hand signals and verbal.  The kids just adored him and he seemed to adore them right back.  Actually, Solomon adored me over everyone else, truly dedicated to me.  Three weeks ago I heard a terrible sound from the kitchen, an agressive, rip into someone sound that just made me sick to my stomach, then my 5yr. old started crying.  I ran in and she said, "He bit me mommy!"  I just couldn't believe it.  He bit her on her stomach and broke the skin.  This was NOT just puppy mouthing (he was 8mnths. at the time)is was an aggressive attack.  I asked her what happened and she said he was standing in the kitchen and she went to hug him around his back, coming from behind and he just freaked out.  She said she didn't pick her legs up and put her full body weight on him nor did she pull his hair or hit him or anything else.  My three older kids are girls and were never aggressive with him, ever, so I can't imagine she was lying.  I noticed a few weeks before the incident that he would growl on occasion when one of the kids would go to pet him and he would also try to get in between me and the kids if I was on the floor hugging them or playing, almost like he was jealous.
     I know this is long but we are heartbroken.  We gave him back to the breeder because I just could not trust him anymore.  We are so sad.  I researched this breed and thought I had found the perfect breed for our large family.  I thought they were good with kids.  He was perfect in every way but then he just sort of snapped.  What went wrong?  I guess I want to know if you all think we as a family were just too much for him or for any other dog, 4 small children.  We really worked with Solomon and the kids on respect, respecting his space, being gentle etc...  He was not sick or in pain, I had the vet check him after it happened thinking maybe his hips were sore but he was totally fine. 
     I would really like to get another dog, especially a Newf but am really scared.  Is it because he was a boy?  He was going to be neutered at 10mnths.  Are female Newfs less possessive?  Should we wait to get another dog when our youngest is 6yrs. old, 10yrs. old?  Was this just bad luck with a Newf?  I really wanted a family dog to grow with the kids but am so disheartened after this.   Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much,
Katie

Hi all, I'm Katie and have a 14wk. Newfounland named Solomon.  I'm hoping some of you might have advice on getting him to stop pouncing on my 2yo.  For some reason he pounces and nips her more than the older children.  This is what happens, he will run up and knock her down then stand over the top of her and nip at her head.  I yell "no" then run over and pull him off and give him a time out in his crate.  Today he knocked her down and she hit her head on a cement edger in my garden.  I really want this behavior stopped because he could really hurt her.  I only allow her around him while I'm there but like today it happened when I turned my back.  How do I get him to stop.  We clicker train and I have been trying to click good behavior and teach the word "easy."  Any ideas would be fantastic.  Thanks!  Katie

Hi Amy Lynn, welcome to the group.  I also recently introduced myself and am glad to have other newbies with me.  My name is Katie and my husband and I have 4 children whom we also homeschool and our 14wk(give or take a week) newfie named Solomon.  Can't wait to hear more from you.  Good luck choosing your new family member, what a tough decision! 

Hi all, I'm a proud owner of a black Newf named Solomon and boy am I glad I found you guys!  He is about 14wks. old and a great little guy but I have so many questions.  I love coming here and reading because many of you are/have gone through many of the same things we are going through.  I have 4 children and he has been such a great addition to our family.  I will try to post a picture as soon as I figure out how, in the meantime I thought I'd just say "hi."