I know that any dog can be vicious. But my American Cocker Spaniel was a prince among dogs IMHO.
He would guard my nephew when the infant was put down for a nap. He was always nearby later to play with the boy or cuddle stray kittens I would rescue. He really, really liked cats, which was great as we had nine of them!
At no time did we treat this dog other than as a major member of the family (pack). He was dearly loved and the hardest thing I’ve ever done was to euthanize him at 17-years of age.
There have been lots of threads about dog attacks but not all of them are driven by viciousness.
I want to remind folks that dogs are pack animals and will squabble among themselves for places in the pack. A family dog sees its family as a pack. Some will, I believe, attack family children who are seen as a threat to their place in the pack’s heirarchy. What seems like a vicious attack may in fact be something quite different but still unacceptable. None of us wants to see our children mauled.
I know of an infant killed when a German Shepherd bitch attempted to move a newborn baby exactly like she would a puppy, and accidentally punctured the newborn’s skull with her teeth. This was later determined not to be an attack but an accident. She was a really nice dog, but the family couldn’t tolerate having her in their home after that incident. She was given to a couple without children.
"Our 2 3/4 yr. old son has just started hitting our puppy and chasing and harrassing our cats (immitating the worst behaviours of the puppy). He is on his own initiative making the big change from diapers to potty, and I heard that some regression is to be expected due to that. I mentioned the hitting this morning to our daycare provider, and she said he and his 3 y.r old best friend (also a boy) have started hitting each other and her dog, as well as poking each other and the dog with sticks (yuck). Our son also recently went through a phase of calling us names like stupid and jerk. I personally find it easier to handle (ignore) the verbal assaults. I would really appreciate reading about how other parents have dealt with these problems.
We certainly do spend lots of time explaining to our son that the puppy (who weighs more than our son already) is our responsibility, that pets are to be taken care of and loved. We always stop him from hitting the pup and chasing the cats. We sometimes put him on timeout for his actions, and never hit him to discipline him. I am weary of having explained what is acceptable over and over without seeing any change in his behaviour. On name calling: we were told by other parents that using swearwords is mostly done to get a reaction, and so we handled the name calling in the way that was recommended for swearing. We told him that what he said was mean and could hurt peoples' feelings and then we let it go. "
Laurie
I would say that is a case of the dog thinking she was above the wife in the pack pecking order. The alpha female of a pack will steal the pups of lesser females. Or sometimes kill them.
man...when I first met my wife her cocker hated me...he would pee on my night bag