hello i have 2 akitas the problem is with the male hes 3 next april 2 months ago he snapped at my brothers baby today he nipped my husbands friend not pierced skin but i have concerns, i am plannin on having a baby and a bit worried on how hes goin to be. the question is will it change his behaviour if i get him castrated or would u try n rehome elsewere

I am not going to beat around the bush, and this post is not deliberately harsh.

It would be totally irresponsible to re-home a dog with an unreliable temperament or one with biting history.

You have only two responsible options, management with finding out what is triggering the biting incidents.  If the dogs character is unreliable and you cannot guarantee to keep him safely, there is only one answer.

I agree with Brainless, there is no way I would ever keep a dog that was not trustworthy, and passing the buck is not the answer unless it is to someone who is experienced with dogs like this.  In the meantime set up an appointment with a behaviourist for an expert opinion on whether this is a character trait, or a reaction to something.  Keep your male behind a dog gate whenever you have a visitor and if he is off lead then keep him muzzled, there is no point in taking any risks whatsoever.

Nipping at your husband's friend is something you can certainly control with a dog gate, it is the snapping at the baby that is the biggest worry. Was the baby screaming, touching your dog or just getting the attention which he did not like, this all needs working out, someone needs to get into the mind of what makes your dog tick, it is not a lost cause and certainly many of these incidents can be helped especially if it has just started, just please take all precautions to avoid your dog getting in the position of hurting anyone. :-)

Pick up the phone and make that call for a behaviourist quickly.

Big, powerful dog with history of biting - baby in house - no brainer I'm afraid. Get the behaviourist asap and deal with this before you consider having the baby.

I'm with the other posters on this one I'm afraid. Those dogs are huge and have one nightmare of a power bite that just demands respect.
Sorry.

Would you leave a loaded gun on the floor when you have a baby crawling around? You'd have to be pretty sure of the dog to risk it... surely.

Are you Boss i dont think so
You and your hubby need to take control
firm commands and making him listen
get his nuts off,  and then get a GOOD trainer in to do 1 to 1 training......

Sorry corsogirl, I disagree completely. No-one needs to be 'boss' and there is quite a bit of evidence to show that castration can make problems like this worse.

Is the dog used to babies? Is it used to a baby in the setting where it snapped at the babay? Coudl your husband's friend have done something to un-nerve the dog? There is usually a reason for these things, and often it is that us humans haven't been able to recognise the very subtle signs that the dog is not comfortable with somethign before it gets to the biting stage. Did the dog growl before biting/snapping? Has he ever been told off for growling?

As others have said, it is easy to move the dog to another room while you have visitors and I would do this. You need to get a behaviourist to come out and look at your dog and his behaviour to get to the bottom of it, someone needs to see the dog. What area are you in, maybe someone here knows of a good behaviourist near you.

I would just like to add that it is best to get a Vet referal, as there are many so caled behaviourists and trainers etc who really can make things worse.  You need to be sure that teh person you get in really is qualified and knows what they are doing.

I agree with Brainless' last post.  Get a vet referral as I did with my dog who is a snapper/nipper/biter.  It's not cheap and in my case it didn't actually have any effect, however, I believe that was down to my lack of training skills to follow up the advice.  Behaviourists don't train your dog, they only tell you what YOU have to do. I wish you the best of luck because it's hard to change a dog's behaviour and mine is only a small dog. In the meantime you have to manage this behavior as suggested by other posters. My vet advised that castration would most likely have no effect on my dog whatsoever so that is not necessarily the best route to go. Please be careful also with the children thing - my dog is not good around children and is a sneaky nipper when you're back's turned.  Always be vigilant.

CG

An Akita was PTS last week in Preston after it's second attack on a child .

This dog was given a second chance after hospitalising a child .  Does your dog deserve a third chance ? Only you can decide .

There's a massive difference between nipping or even biting and attacking.

I feel extremely sorry for the Akita you mention St. Domingo, as after it attacked a child once, you would think it's owners would have the sense to keep it under proper control and away from children. Very Very few dogs attack people just for the fun of it, there is almost always a human cause.

Try www.apbc.org.uk for a reputable behaviourist.

Lindsay
x

hello the baby is about 1 and he kept chasin dog round the room i ended up puttin him outside as for hubbys friend he sed it might of been becos he didnt take him on usually he would greet him we was in the garden messin with a car he only nipped him didnt mark him at all just made him jump, hes comin up to 3 now hes always been a big softy even when we have new people in the house he might bark at first but after 5 mins or so he calms down and gets all the attention they will give to him. hes usually very obedient in the house but with us being outside it was maybe tht he got ignored,other then these 2 accasions hes a fantastic temperment ive no intentions of gettin him put down ive spoken to my vet and hes agreed with me no need to have him put down.

This dog was given a second chance after hospitalising a child .  Does your dog deserve a third chance ? Only you can decide .

A third chance for what - the dog has not bitten!  He snapped, which is a warning that he is uncomfortable.  Lots of dogs are uncomfortable with children, as they often tend to be at eye level and quite starey.  When he nipped he didn't leave a mark so again he was showing he was clearly unconfortable, but he also showed restraint, had he wanted to bite he would have done so.  Neither of these things are how we want our dogs to behave or appropriate with people but they are perfectly normal dog communication skills. 

I can't really make out from your description what happened but it is likely that he was giving signals before both these events that he was unhappy. Getting someone professional in to be able to help you recognise those signals and to also help you with a training plan to get him happier with others being around him would be a great idea.  I do find it bizarre that people suggest having a dog of nearly 3 years old PTS for two recent seemingly out of character incidents.

Obviously in the meantime you need to manage the situation as others have suggested, don't take any risks especially with children.  Always ask people to ignore him until he approaches them.  It may also be worth popping him to the vets to get him checked over as sometimes out of character behaviour can be as a result of an underlying medical problem, so it may be worth getting a full check with bloods etc.  Hope all goes well :-)

Our Dobe will nip at our son 21 and daughter 23 if they ignore her. It's a different nip than that of aggression and doesn't leave a mark, it's more of a "Hey....what about me?"
Is that the kind of nip you mean?

The dog does not need putting down.  I would firstly get the help of a behaviourist and then take precautions to not put your dog in the position to become anxious enough to want to nip.
I have a Rottie x GSD who despite being very well socialised is terrified of children because they run fast at eye level making lots of noise.and will lunge and snap through fear at them.  So I just don't take risks,  if my grandchildren pop round she goes into another room and when I walk her I do not go anywhere there could be children.  It saves her stress and me the worry some child may come running up and get bitten.

Surely the lesson of that poor child being mauled to death by her grandmother/uncle's( same house) pitbull, splashed all over the media for the last year........ you know the one....... Grandmother looking after grandchild....... kept the dog in another room....... known to want to bite children...... should have taught us something for goodness sake!!! AND then we all be-moan the anti dog culture arising from the back-lash. really.. who wants to be next weeks front page news?

Children visiting occasionally is very different from a baby in the house constantly. If the OP had not said she hopes to have a baby  then I'm sure the advice would have been to keep the dog away from stressful situations, but its very different when the situation is constantly stressful for the dog. This is a very powerful breed and a behaviourist will give the OP an honest opinion as to whether the problem is curable or manageable. If curable then the dog may be OK with a baby at home and careful management, manageable then rehoming into the kind of situation you have may be an option, but if a powerful dog snaps for no reason and with no warning then there may be no option other than being PTS, as hard as that may be  :( . All of us love our dogs and want to do the best we can for them but sometimes the humans have to come first.

hello the baby is about 1 and he kept chasin dog round the room i ended up puttin him outside

This is important info, as the dog was showing his discomfort. Dogs have a ladder of aggression which all to often owners do not understand.
Unfortunately often the situations we put dogs into cause the escalation of aggression - it is not the dog's fault, the dog cannot always control
his situation. It is always the owner who must keep the dog and child safe.

Dogs have no way of communicating with us except by their body language and other signals. We must always remember that, and be vigilant and
try to understand them. If you are insured a good behaviourist will be paid for by the insurance compnay.

Was it the dog you put out or the child? as if it was the dog, he may have been partially relieved, but also may associate the child with
being isolated from the family. Areputable behaviourist can assess the dog and situation and give good advice based on management and
a realistic view of safety :)

This little book may be useful, it explains the appeasement behaviours offered by the dog in the ladder of aggression;
http://www.bristolpublishers.co.uk/shop/index2.asp?proddesc=245

Please don't delay in getting professional advice.

Lindsay
x

I am not suggesting that she has her dog PTS , i was merely pointing out that it is not only Pitbulls who bite .
Also , i am sure the owner of the Preston Akita didn't want it PTS ,the decision was taken out of her hands .

From her follow-up post the dog sounds naffed-off in the first instance , and perhaps attention seeking in the second .

I believe that children are precious gifts ( eventhough mine don't always act like it ! )  and need to be protected .

People will make all sorts of excuses to explain why their dog bites.  Anything to avoid facing the truth.

Nipping is often a euphemism for biting ie if MY dog bites it is nipping however if YOUR dog bites it is biting etc.

You need some advice from a reputable behaviourist who can see the dynamics of the household and how the dog interfaces with all others in order to ascertain the cause of this entirely unacceptable behaviour.

They will ask for history which will include frequency and severity of biting.

Some people manage dogs such as these, some can be counter conditioned and desensitised and some unfortunatley need to be PTS, we cannot divine which via the ether.

>Nipping is often a euphemism for biting ie if MY dog bites it is nipping however if YOUR dog bites it is biting etc.

There is a difference between nipping and biting, just as there's a difference between a slap on the hand and a punch in the face.

I cant remember where i read this happening,not in the Uk though,but only happened recently.

A couple had just had a baby and decided to leave their Malamute with friends for 2 weeks while they settled the baby in :rolleyes: Anyhow after 2 weeks they brought the dog home and the very same night their baby was dead.The dog had walked into the babies room(parents thought he was outside),probably saw a wriggling,gurgling 'prey item' in the bassinet,he pulled the baby out and shook/mawled it to death!

Personally i blame the parents 100% for this They should have never sent the dog away,they should have got the dog acclimatised to the baby and it's scent etc before bringing it home,they completely left the dog out of everything,probably tossing him out in the garden as soon as he got back home etc etc.

I know this has nothing much to do with this thread,it just reminded me of this story and how humans are most always at fault for attacks :(

And I bet that this dog was their baby before the human one came along. Some owners are do not have the sense that they are born with. Poor baby & poor dog!

If I ignore Skye she pokes me in the bum with her nose and if that doesnt work she takes hold of my wrist and shakes it, never hurting its more of hello I'm here why arent you fussing me. She has never done this to anyone else.
Mary