Having problems with Pita

[princessnmi]

Hi everyone,
I have been having some TERRIBLE problems with Pita. She is acting very aggressive to my 2 month old daughter. I took her to the vet and the vet said she is healthy and nothing is wrong. I can't put my daughter down at all if Pita is in the house. Pita bites her hands, arms, legs and feet. If I put her in the swing she will jump up until she either gets in the swing or can grab onto her poor little feet. The other day I put her in the pack n play playpen that we have set up and went to make dinner Makaylee was sleeping and Pita was asleep...all of the sudden I heard Makaylee crying. Pita dug or chewed a hole through the mesh part of the pack and play and was in it with Makaylee's leg in her mouth.  I have tried a very firm no and pushing her away. I have tried a spray bottle, a can with beans in it, I have tried clapping my hands, I've tried distracting Pita with a toy but nothing seems to be getting better. Any suggestions? She isn't like this with me or my husband and she doesn't act aggressively towards the neighborhood kids who come over to play with the dogs at least once a day. The neighborhood kids range from 2 to 9yrs. But as much as I hate to say it if I can't fix this problem soon Pita is going to have to go to another home. Any help??

[greek4]

This might be one of those situations where the dog can't live with kids or babies.  It would probably be best to find her a new home before your child gets hurt.  Where are you located?

[Good Hope]

I don't know what exactly you can do right now.

What did you put in the spray bottle?  Plain water only works with dogs that dislike being wet; maybe vinegar or lemon diluted in water would work better.

A crate might be a good temporary solution until you can stop Pita's behavior or find a new home.

Sofia

[Anky]

I don't think that Pita is being aggressive persay.  I DO think that she views your baby as an equal, ie:littermate.  All the things you've talked about are ways that puppies in a litter play with each other.  I'd start low level NILIF with her.  She needs to respect your authoritah!

[princessnmi]

I am using a vinegar mixture in the spray bottle and it works on her when she is chewing on stuff that shes not suppose to be chewing on ex. the chair, shoes etc. But when it comes to her and the baby it just doesn't work. I am located in Tucson AZ. She is a very loving puppy and a LOT of fun, she gets along great with our other dogs however she is just plain mean to the baby. I never thought of her looking at Makaylee as her litter mate. What can I do about that. I would love to make this work but I'm kind of worried because I am adopting 2 boys 1yr and 3 yrs, and getting back into foster care where we will have 2 foster kids I'm not sure of the ages yet but most likely under the age of 4. So I don't want any of them to get hurt because of Pita's behavior.

[Anakalia]

I agree with Ang on this one, she views your daughter as a playmate and puppies can play HARD those little teeth are sharp, I can totally understand why you're so worried!!  I'd crate her whenever you're not able to be in the room with her and the baby.  Pita should never be alone left alone in a room with the baby.  You could use a squirt bottle and squirt her in the face if Pita gets close to the baby.  You want her to realize that the baby is NOT a chew toy and she needs to stay away.  I'm one to take the tough love approach with my dogs, I hate doing it but it's always worked for me.  If they're being horrible pups I give a firm NO or squirt them with water and ignore them for about 10 min.  They HATE being ignored. lol  I really hope you can find something that works for you and Pita.

[Saintgirl]

I don't think that Pita is displaying aggression either. I think that Pita thinks that she is playing with your daughter, and that she views your daughter as  an equal. Unfortunatley for Pita, this behavior is unexceptable. Crate training, and 100% supervision when Pita is around your daughter would be a great first step. The thing that you have to determine in Pita's case is what is the positive consequence from biting your daughter? Why is it that Pita likes to do this so much? Is it because your daughter makes a noise (cry) much like a squeek toy? Does your daughter quickly tug whatever body part away that is being biten, does Pita equate this to a tug toy? Is Pita getting attention from people when she does this, and remember negative attention is still attention. Maybe Pita has discovered that when she bothers the baby the big people pay attention to her very quickly.

When Pita does start to disturb your daughter an immediate negative consequence NEEDS to occur, and then Pita needs to be ignored by her pack, including the other dogs. Maybe place her in a room by herself without any toys, or interaction with any people. Whatever the case make sure that she is completely ignored after the negative consequence, and only allow her to interact with you again when you decide it is time, not when she wants to get a little loving.

The good news is that Pita is young, and she is still quickly learning how to live within her pack, and once she discovers that the baby isn't a fun toy anymore, she will quickly learn to leave her alone. The toughest part about this is to be consistent 100% of the time, including the other people in your family. Good Luck with Pita, and your decision on how to deal with her.

[greek4]

I am using a vinegar mixture in the spray bottle and it works on her when she is chewing on stuff that shes not suppose to be chewing on ex. the chair, shoes etc. But when it comes to her and the baby it just doesn't work. I am located in Tucson AZ. She is a very loving puppy and a LOT of fun, she gets along great with our other dogs however she is just plain mean to the baby. I never thought of her looking at Makaylee as her litter mate. What can I do about that. I would love to make this work but I'm kind of worried because I am adopting 2 boys 1yr and 3 yrs, and getting back into foster care where we will have 2 foster kids I'm not sure of the ages yet but most likely under the age of 4. So I don't want any of them to get hurt because of Pita's behavior.

Wow, you are going have your hands full.  You must be a wonderful person to adopt and foster.  Good luck and have fun.

[Moni]

I'm going to interject that Pita might not even think of your daughter as high as another littermate.  Some dogs don't realize that young babies are human.  They make weird noises, move erratically and smell funky.  So they seem like some odd creature instead of mini humans. 

However, the same training kind of applies and everyone has good points about starting Pita in some kind of NILIF training and some Puppy Kindergarten classes.  Nothing teaches a puppy bite inhibition faster than other dogs to wrestle and play with.  Also I would totally advise against leaving Pita and your daughter unsupervised together, even if the baby is in something.  Dogs can jump, climb and chew as you've sadly found out, especially puppies.  All it takes is that 1/2 second for an accident to happen. 

I found using the umbilical method easiest for raising a puppy.  That just means keeping them on leash with you or right next to you.  That makes it easiest to interrupt bad behavior.  Pita is still a puppy, so there is good chance that just training will help.  Dogs have difficulty learning NOT to do something.  Instead it's easier to teach them what you want them to do instead of what not to do. 

The best dog training mantra for just about everything is "Interrupt, Redirect & Praise".  Basically you stop them from doing the "bad behavior", ask them to do something "good" and then treat and verbally praise the "good".    It will probably be easiest for you if you try and work with Pita while Makaylee is napping, like in a swing so she'll still be "interesting".  Get a load of treats and make sure Pita's on leash.  Walk close enough that she can see the baby, but not reach her.  If she starts paying the baby attention, call Pita over to you and have her sit, then treat her.  Try and do this as many times a day as you possibly can.  Eventually you'll be able to get closer and closer and she'll realise that that type of behavior isn't allowed.  However I would definitely keep her crated or gated if you can't be in the same room, she's just a puppy but could still do a lot of damage unintentionall y.

Puppies and children need to sometimes be taught how to interact together.  As many Disney and Lassie-fied stories are out there, most dogs don't fit that bill and need to be taught to act that way.  I hope that it all works out for you.

~moni