Anyone offer advice? We have just resued a 11 month old bullmastiff. 3 of my 4 sons are over the moon with him but my 4 year old is scared. He hasnt got off my lap since the dog came home.

I have said that if he isnt happier within a week then the dog will have to go, but none of us really want that.

The dog is fantastic, his name is "menace". At the moment he is still getting used to us and our home so he wondering around a lot and jumps up at every new noise he hears. All of this is scaring my son more.

I am going to take him for a health check on Friday when the vet reopens and i am going to get him booked for castration ASAP.

Anyway i would be gratefull of any advice anyone could offer me.

Thank you Debbie

PS. I am going to feed him eukanuba puppy and junior dry mix for giant dogs and i was just wondering how many mugs fulls a should give him and how many times a day. I have had so many different types of advice on this. Thanks again.

Hi Debbie,
    By saying you're giving it a week, that's not enough time.  It could take 3 or 4 weeks before your son feels comfortable with the dog.  And he will do eventually I'm sure - just takes getting used to with some children.  Don't forget as your son is only 4, the dog will look massive to him.  In the meantime I would take a no-nonsense approach with him - don't let him be babied by you over it, as he will take even longer to get used to the dog. If he starts crying, whinging or whatever when the dog comes near, I would ignore that and go and pat the dog, saying something light, like 'you're such a good dog', so your son can see the dog isn't actually going to do anything awful.  Try and involve him in playing and feeding the dog, even if it's just giving a treat, and I'm sure he will soon feel more confident around him.  I look after children, and have had this same problem several times - when they aren't used to dogs, they are initially scared of them - but haven't had one yet who hasn't come round! 
  Hilda
(sorry, can't advise you on the diet!) - I'm sure someone else will though.

Not sure exactly how much to feed him, I would go by how much he eats and feed him twice a day never only once a day as that is hard on their throat and tummy...better to have two meals then one....As long as he is the idea weight and not getting skinny or to fat that is what you watch out for, every dog is different....I free feed my dogs but Im sure someone will be along soon to help you more with that...:)

For your child I wouldn't send the dog back, children do get use to animals. It may sound mean but I wouldn't cuddle him all up because you are only encouraging him to be afraid. Try and get him to be more involved with the dog like petting him, feeding him ect. One I found that helped with little children and big dogs was to make the dog lay down and have the child come over and pet the dog with you there. Don't allow him to jump up since that will be pretty scary to a little one. Get your son involved as much as you can in taking care of Menace (love the name I had a boston by that name. He was a menace lol), he will soon get use to him. Never leave children and dogs/animals alone ever they should always be watched. Also ignoring his behaviour may help...People may not agree with me on that one but children do come around.

We have some friends who's children were very scared of our dogs and I have 4 little ones and 1 big one. We showed them that they were friendly and I had them give them a treat. I put my rowdy boston's in a kennel and left 2 boston's and the big guy out, they got use to them because they were not jumping up at them and the children were fine after awhile. Your dog is still very much a puppy.

Good luck and I'm sure someone will be along with some more advice :)

Hi Debbie, to encourage you my 9 year old was even more frightened of dogs when your little lads age. We didnt over reassure her nor did we force her to approach them, but we did interpret what the dogs were doing e.g. dog barking outside shop is a dog saying hurry up Im lonely.  She was cured by a motherly boxer bitch belonging to her childminder, whose family have always owned dogs and their example rubbed off. She is now saving up for her own dog and is my deputy dog trainer, confident and respectful of all dogs.:D  I agree about adopting a matter of fact approach about your new dog and offering him a chance to fill the water bowl if he wants, but I wouldnt force him into contact with the dog. As your dog settles in and is trained not to jump up, your boy will get used to him. Little kids can be unpredictable and scary for dogs too, so maybe they both need a time out space at home. Mastiffs are a great breed to have with kids gentle and loyal when trained, so congratulations on adopting Menace. All the best, Ill be interested to hear how you get on together.

Debbie - if you are anywhere near me you are welcome to let your son come and meet my Dane, Willis. I have a 4 year old son too and Willis is so, so gentle - he just looks down at them and gives them a lick :) Might help him get some confidence with even bigger dogs :)

Hi Debbie, i have Bullmastiffs an your dog will win your son over if you give them a chance as it's been said dont make a big thing of it and let your son tell the dog to sit in front of him and to give a few treats, as for feeding dont feed eukanuba at all and certainly not giant you will do damage to his joints as it makes them grow faster, if you want to use a dry food please use Burns fish and brown rice or venison and brown rice or you can just put him on to raw tripe and terrier meal minced chicken and terrier meal. Did you get him from breed rescue? lots of luck with him

Hi, I mix Eukanuba (one meal) with Science Diet (another meal) and home made food (two meals a day - so total is 4 meals a day)(no salt/sugar added: boiled beef with veggies), and I have a GSD puppy, why do you say Eukanuba is not good for big dogs? Our vet gave us the sample of Eukanuba big breed puppy food. Should I stop giving it to her? I have no idea where to get another source of vitmains essential for puppies.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Alina D.

Alina D hi, i would not mix the food as this will damage your dog i would give your pup BURNS OR ARDEN- GRANGE OR JAMESWELBELOVED you will find these are much better for your pup i would also give some raw meat tripe green/minched chicken/beef which you buy in frozen packs from most pet stores

We had a problem with our neighbours little boy at the time we got our new GSD and the little boy was 3 and puppy's love to chase children. Well the children ran down the garden with my own kids and pup followed and tugged on his shorts well all sense of ah what a lovely pup went out of the window. It wasn't until i started childmining him that he got over it. I only him twice a week but his mum was worried about me having to carry him around the house all day, so i simply said to her don't worry i know he is scared but i will not carry him and he will get over it. Well 3 months down the line and the are best pals.
What i did was every time he shouted to me for a drink or snack (food and drink in kitchen only) i would say to him well come and get one then, well he would scream NO Inca will get me, so all i did was hold his hand and walk past she would sniff and lick him but i would tell her no and say naughty Inca, then tell the little boy to say No Inca and in the end she got the hang of leaving him alone and he got the hang of saying NO if he didn't want a wash.
Funny thing is now when we go to the shop and come home again he always goes to the kitchen for a chew for her then lets her out of the cage makes her sit then he gives it to her.
Please percevere with your son but try and push a side any fears he has by just saying thins like 'what a silly do he is' or get him to feed the dog you could even say 'gosh this dog bowl is heavy would you mind putting it on the floor for me' that was he is invovled in the feeding without even realising what he is doing,. When you take the dog for a walk get him to hold the lead with you, helping you to groom him.
But i would strongly suggest that he if needs to go past the dog don't pick him up hold is hand and walk with him.

all the best

Cordelia

Congratulations on our new family member - they are great dogs :D

Just wanted to echo a lot of what has been said before - give him more than a week to come round to the dog, it takes more than that time to make a 'best friend' - and don't baby him.

I've got a dane puppy and most of the time my kids love her - sometimes when she mouths them with those little sharp teeth they aren't quite so keen ;) but even the 2 year old has learned to say 'No Dizzy' and he's not in the least bit worried by her :D

As for the food I can't recommend Burns adult complete enough - and I did a lot of research... even down to a taste test :P

Hi all

Thank you all so very much for your advice.
Sadly, we have had to let the dog (scooby) go. He became very possesive of me and he bit me 2 year old one day when i was giving him a cuddle.
He was fine with my older children but right from the start there was friction with him and my yougest son. Scooby jsut wasnt happy when ever i spent time with my son. It started with the odd growl which we told him off for and then ignored him for a few minutes then on the last day he just turned and bit my son.
I cannot tolarate that behaviour and i am just glad that i had never left them alone.

Anyway i have a friend whos bully died of old age a few months back and he has happly taken scooby on. This means that i can still see him when ever i want but i will be keeping my youngest well away.

Thanks again. Debbie

Of course you have to put your children first. It's good to hear that he went to an experienced owner and you can still keep in touch with him.

Maybe once the kids are older you'll be able to try again with another dog.

We have bought a lab puppy. (a lot smaller and calmer) and have decided to wait untill the youngest is at least 8 before getting another bully.
We only had scoobey for 5 days but in that time we all fell in love with him, and it broke my heart watching him walk out of the door with my friend.
He is very happy know tho and when i saw him saturday he gave me a big kiss and cuddle.

Debbie

You have made the right diecsion, i myself got a rescue do he was 4 but after three weeks he turned and had to be returned. We have not got 8 month GSD which we got from 7 1/2 weeks and she is fine.
Good look with your pup. Is you little one alright with the pup.

Cordelia

Hi Debbie, sorry it didnt work out with Scooby, maybe it was best. Good luck with your lab - whats his name and does your little boy feel better around him/her?

Hi

The lab is great, we have called her Buffy. I am finding it a bit hard to go from such a big dog to a very small one, but she is soooo funny and does the sillyest of things.

As for my 4 yr old he sobbed like a baby when scooby left!! He does love Buffy tho and enjoys giving her a cuddle, he is still a bit worried about her teeth but is doing much better. We are moving at the end of the month into a bigger house with a garden (we havent got a garden right now) and i cant wait to see the kids and Buffy playing in the paddling pool this summer.

Thanks again.

Debbie