Way too rough with kids

[ACSGamlen]

Hi!
We just got a 9 month old Boxer female. They owner wanted to rehome her because he didn't have time for her and she was being crated for 10 hours a day! Yikes! She is spayed and pretty much housebroken as long as I walk out in the yard with her and make sure she goes. She knows some basic obedience like sit, lay down, off. Sweet dog and loves to cuddle! She has been sleeping in the bed with us and is just a sweetie pie, but she is being way too rough with my kids. The minute I brought her home, she ran straight for my 3 year old and jumped on her and knocked her down. Okay, we started working on no jumping by enforcing sit when she wants attention. She is doing really well with that. Well my 6 year old daughter was out in the front yard playing when I heard screaming so I ran to see what was going on and Sophie was grabbing her arms and legs every time she tried to walk! She was covered in scratches! I yelled at Sophie NO! and she stopped. My daughter said she was running to catch her because she dropped the leash (which our yard is fenced so she was fine being loose). Then 2 days ago, it happened again and this time it was because my daughter was going to throw her ball for her and this time she has bruises on her legs the next morning where she was biting so hard. Then yesterday, Sophie was chewing on her bone and my 3 year old went over to pet her and she growled at her! I made sure to really test her out when we brought her home about food and treats so this shocked me. I went over and took her bone from her and she didn't growl at me at all. I talked to her old owner and the only thing he said was that his 6 year old son and himself rough played with her. I cannot tell if she is being mean to the girls or just being too rough. She only does it when I am not in the room and has never been the least bit rough towards me even when I am throwing her ball or anything I have done with her. My 3 year old is now scared of her and every time she runs towards her, she screams and my 6 year old doesn't want to play with her either. We really liked this dog and she is so sweet and smart. When I went to meet her she was really calm and obedient and now I am doubting if we should have gotten her or not. We really wanted a family dog to take with us places and let her run with us out on the farm. I stay at home all day so we have a lot of time and love to give. We have a lot of experience with dogs but this is our first boxer. I have never had a dog do this before. Please help!

 

[ouesi]

First off, at your kids ages and with a 9 month old pup who’s new to you, I would NOT allow any interactions that are not 100% supervised. IOW, dog and kids don’t ever get to be alone together.
Your job is to teach BOTH dog and kids appropriate interactions and to stop inappropriate ones before they escalate. You can’t do this unless you are supervising.

If you don’t already have a crate, I suggest one, and start crate training. Make the crate a wonderful place for the pup to be. Feed her in her crate, and give her high value treats in there. This serves a dual purpose. Maker her crate “her” space where she knows she can get away from things (read kids) and take a break, and it keeps kids away from her at times where she should be left alone by kids - ie: when eating or sleeping.

I would also look in to some impulse control games. Do a search on youtube for games like “its yer choice”, “crate games”, and “go crazy freeze”. All of these are about the dog learning to control herself. It doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with playing too rough, but believe me, impulse control in one area (around food) spills over in to other areas (exciting kids).

I would look in to a good positive reinforcement based puppy class or good manners class, with an instructor who will encourage the kids to come and participate. It always a good idea to get a trainer involved in any new dog - particularly a rehome, and particularly when there are kids involved. You will all benefit.

HTH

 

[srennie]

I agree with the above. The pup and your small children should NEVER be together unsupervised. If that means baby gating the pup in whatever room you are in then do that. Pup sees you as an authority figure and respects you but does not respect the children. Try to involve the children in obedience commands and feeding rituals as much as possible. Have her sit and wait for her meal. Even the 3y/o can empty the cup of food into her bowl and then give her permission to eat with a simple release word. Teach the children to never scream or run around the pup until pup has better impluse control and more respect for the children. Boxers are generally amazing family dogs but they need to be taught rules and manners. That pup growled when your daughter approached her bone and not you shows that she sees the children as 'littermates' and does not respect them as an authority. Please, do NOT EVER leave your pup with a bone/toy/treat alone with your children. That she growled is not necessarly a bad thing. She gave a clear warning instead of over reacting. I would have pup only chew bones in a crate and the children need to be taught to respect the crate as the pups space and never bother her when she is in there.

 

[ACSGamlen]

Great advice

THANKS so much for the great advice! I will definately try all of these things. I have a crate but wasn't using it because I was afraid she might look at it as a bad thing since she was being crated 8 - 10 hours during the day and at night at her previous home! But I will try feeding her and giving her treats in it. Also, her previous owner left food out constant for her. Is this the best thing or should I feed her twice a day instead? Thanks again! Glad I found this forum!

 

[FuFuBear]

I would also look in to some impulse control games. Do a search on youtube for games like “its yer choice”, “crate games”, and “go crazy freeze”. All of these are about the dog learning to control herself. It doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with playing too rough, but believe me, impulse control in one area (around food) spills over in to other areas (exciting kids).

My 12 week old boxer mauls or jumps at my 3 year old son. I want to teach both them the "go crazy freeze" game. He does it with me but how do I teach my 3 year old to do it? If I put him on a leash his attention is towards me not my 3 year old :( They are about the same height now.

 

[srennie]

I do not like the practice of free feeding for a few reasons. 1, there is no opportunity to work for food. I like to have my dogs earn their meal even if it is just sitting and waiting patiently while I prepare it. It's a form of impluse control for them to practice two times a day, every day. 2, free feeding means there is no routine or ritual around eating and I think dogs enjoy having a routine. 3, free feeding does not allow the children to be involved with being a source of food which I think is important for the dog to have more respect for the children. 4, free feeding can sometimes lead to 2 extremes...a fat dog...or a dog that loses interest in food all together and becomes 'picky'. I'm a big advocate of breakfast and dinner in a very routine way with clear expectation of where to sit and wait and they are not permitted to move toward their bowls until I have set them down and given them permission to eat. You can see the respect in their eyes as they watch the every move of the person preparing their meal and don't even look at the food, they look at the person, waiting for them to give them the 'ok' to eat. And 5, practicing this feeding ritual gives you more control over food on tables or food that has fallen on the floor. My dogs will sit in the kitchen as I prepare meals and wait for somthing to fall on the floor but as soon as they see food hit the floor, they look at me for permission to 'clean' it up. If it's something like grated cheese I allow it...if it's something they shouldn't have like onion there is no rush to pick it up before they get it...no panic to get to it before the rush in.

 

[jblackjr]

Sorry your having such a hard time with your new pup. Just give it time and watch them closely together. My 2 year old daughter will put our dog in his crate now when its bed time and he doesn't even try to fight her. Just takes a lot of patience and you making your dog understand that its on the very bottom of the totem pole. If it comes between my dog and my kid I think even my dog understands who will always come first and that really shows in how he treats her.

 

[MrsBeeks]

I love the idea of getting the kids to take part in the feeding ritual! Our 5 year old daughter does well with Dutch now, but to begin with it wasn't so great....she is old enough that I have included her with his training and the difference is night and day! My 3 year old son however....not so much! Dutch has 0 respect for Gerritt, and sees him as a litter mate to chase and play with....Gerritt is to young to really understand or have the attention span to help train, but maybe simple tasks like the feeding ritual will help things along!