My rott bit my daughter

[Tucksmom]

I have a 60 pound 5 month old male Rott who has recently bit my 6 year old daughter in the face. She apparently got a little too close to him while he was chewing a bone. He has been showing some food aggression, but is normally a wonderful dog (a little nippy while playing ). We are working on the food aggression. The bite that my daughter received required one stitch and since it happened, everyone in my family has shown great displeasure that I've chosen not to get rid of him. They all assume that he will bite her again and are on me so much, that I'm having a hard time trusting him, even though he's never tried to bite her before or after this incident. I refuse to get rid of him and have him be shifted from place to place. I guess my question is: Does his aggressiveness with food necessarily mean that he'll become aggressive in other situations? This is what some people have led me to believe.

[fbkeays]

This is the reason why you should never have children and dogs unsupervised. You could have been 10 feet away, but why didn't you tell your daughter to keep away from the dog while he had a bone? You had better tell all of your relatives that you and only you are to blame for what happened.
You said that you were working on food aggression with him. Why in the heck did he have a bone then???? Why was a young child given access to him while he was eating? The problem isn't the dog, it is his owner. You are setting him up for failure. It is about time that you set him up for success.
The whole family needs to be in boot camp NOW. No children around the dog while he is eating his food, chewing on a raw hide or any kind of toy. All of those "prized" possessions of his are going to be on a shelf unless you are actively working on his "food aggression" or he is in a safely locked crate. Also teach your children that when the dog is in his crate- he is not to be bothered, at all. If a child has food, the dog is no where nearby. IF the dog has food, the children are no where nearby.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by Tucksmom

I guess my question is: Does his aggressiveness with food necessarily mean that he'll become aggressive in other situations? This is what some people have led me to believe.

No......what he is doing is resource guarding a high value (to him) item. First off, you should not give him a bone and allow your little girl to hover near him. Any dog will protect high value items if they perceive that they might lose it, this is not a Rottweiler behavior, it is a DOG behavior. If he is guarding his bone, only give him a bone while crated or in a place where your child is not in danger of being snapped at, or it will happen again. She will be safe and he will be able to enjoy his bone in peace.

Have you done any work with him on trading? When teaching him to trade, you begin with items that are lower value, something his is willing to share (like a toy) and teach him to relinquish it to you by offering another item equal or greater in value (in HIS mind). Use a command word, such as "Out" or "Give" and as soon as he drops what he has, give him the trade, and praise him. As he learns that by relinquishing one item, he gets something good in return, he will be less inclined to feel he needs to protect his "stuff". When he does this well with lower value items, you can then start up the value ladder and work on him willingly giving up higher value items. Always make sure the trade item is equal or higher in value, so he will want to give his up for the other.

As far as your relatives go, you have to decide where the most genuine answer lies....in them or in your dog. Seems to me your dog is the one who you need to look to in order to determine if you can trust him. Work with HIM to build his trustworthiness where you note it lacking, and you're going to have a trustworthy dog, or at the very least you'll know his limitations and be in a position to manage his environment to accomodate them.

Do you have him enrolled in obedience classes?

[rottnelmo]

Originally Posted by Tucksmom

He has been showing some food aggression, but is normally a wonderful dog (a little nippy while playing

Other than the bone incident, what is leading you to believe that your pup is having food agression?

What have you been doing to change that?

As Moondog asked, is he in obedience classes? VERY important!!

Is he intact??? That makes obedience classes even more important for an intact male. If he is intact are you planning on keeping him that way or are you going to neuter?

I agree with fbkeays...why was your daughter alone with him when he was enjoying a high value item? Why was her face in his?

My boyfriend has a 4 year old son and I am working exteremly hard to teach him NOT to put his face in Elmo's. Now, Elmo is 4 and has his Delta Society Therapy certificate, as well as his Therapy Dog International Certificate...so is he safe? Yes, but I still NEVER allow the 4 year old and Elmo to be alone in the same room...much less let either of them have food. I KNOW for a FACT that Elmo has NO food agression issues, BUT do I want to take the chance that he could be having a bad day and he snap at my BF's son? NOPE. Your dog is a pup, and I feel from your post, that you are putting too much trust in him (before the incident).

Do not let your family tell you how you should feel about your dog...you need to figure that out on your own.

I dont know if you have PM abilities yet...but I am in your area and would like to help if possible. So, please PM me if you can.

[Carol Burke]

Originally Posted by rottnelmo

My boyfriend has a 4 year old son and I am working exteremly hard to teach him NOT to put his face in Elmo's. Now, Elmo is 4 and has his Delta Society Therapy certificate, as well as his Therapy Dog International Certificate...so is he safe? Yes, but I still NEVER allow the 4 year old and Elmo to be alone in the same room...much less let either of them have food. I KNOW for a FACT that Elmo has NO food agression issues, BUT do I want to take the chance that he could be having a bad day and he snap at my BF's son? NOPE. Your dog is a pup, and I feel from your post, that you are putting too much trust in him (before the incident).

.

I understand what you are saying and that your dog is reliable, but he is a dog and working hard to keep your BF's son out of his face is not enough. This is like the son running into traffic, it needs to stop, not be worked on.

To the original poster, you have a dog, dogs bite, big dogs bite hard. You need to keep your daughter and any other child away from your dog. Every day this scenerio is repeated and the dog pays. People who have Rottweilers have to be ever vigilent because a Rottweiler bite is a big bite and you can not afford to take a chance. As has been said this is entirely your fault. You need to train your dog, but more importantly you need to train your child to leave the dog alone.

[rottnelmo]

Originally Posted by Carol Burke

I understand what you are saying and that your dog is reliable, but he is a dog and working hard to keep your BF's son out of his face is not enough. This is like the son running into traffic, it needs to stop, not be worked on.

OOh, I was not clear...Whenever Ty (my boyfriends son) puts his face in Elmo's...he gets SEVERLY reprimanded EVERY SINGLE TIME. It is stopping, but Ty is four and it takes constant reminders. I have snatched Ty away from Elmo, put him in time outs and had stern talking too with him. I have even gone as far as putting Elmo away. Ty has never lived with a dog, so this is a learning process for him, I dont live with them, so it takes constant reminders yet when he comes over to my house, how to behave around Elmo. His dad included in all of the conversations. I was stating this more that even though Elmo is reliable, I DO NOT allow it to happen and I DO NOT allow Ty and Elmo to be in the same room together alone, EVER! My BF knows my rules and abides by them and helps to enforce them.

So, my point...I do not allow this with a four year old seasoned therapy dog, so I most certainly would not allow it with a pup! Just iterating that no matter what, dogs and children should NOT be left unsupervised!

Hope that adds to why I posted this to the OP.

[BostonRott]

Don't know if you have a crate, and/or if you use it or not, but we always give bones in crates, that way no one can disturb the dog. I would highly recommend this practice from now on. Until you can decide on some barrier method to keep the dog away from the child, I would not give any more bones.

I don't think your dog is a bad dog, I think there are some training lessons that need to be implemented for parents, child and dog. Parents: children should not be out of IMMEDIATE attention when dogs are loose (not in the next room, RIGHT there with you). Kids: Do not mess with dogs when they are sleeping, eating or chewing on a toy. Dog: food aggression is not allowed.

[rottnelmo]

Originally Posted by BostonRott

I don't think your dog is a bad dog, I think there are some training lessons that need to be implemented for parents, child and dog. Parents: children should not be out of IMMEDIATE attention when dogs are loose (not in the next room, RIGHT there with you). Kids: Do not mess with dogs when they are sleeping, eating or chewing on a toy. Dog: food aggression is not allowed.

Perfectly said...

(21 characters)

[Tucksmom]

I realize I am responsible for what happened, that's not the issue. I've also relayed this fact to my family, but their opinion is their own. As far as his food aggression goes... it didn't start until after he bit my child. He also growls if anyone touches him when he eats. So, we are working on that by not allowing him bones for the time being, and hand feeding him every meal. My only question was whether this kind of aggression could turn into something worse. I've read a lot into this and have read that it can turn into something worse, so I decided to post here since I figured who better to ask than people who own the breed themselves?

[Tucksmom]

Oh, and I forgot to add that he has completed his first round of obedience classes and will be shortly starting his second.

[Urika]

Is your daugter now afraid of the puppy? I hope she isn't seriously injured and will be OK.

I have never bothered Diesel when he's eating... we'll once I did after watching a dog be tested for food aggression on animal planet. It just so happens that they use a fake hand when sticking their hand in the dog bowl. I was curious as to how Diesel would react. So, I stuck my finger in his bowl. He just look at me and smiled. I have removed bones from his mouth to redirect him to another part of my home. For instance, if he's laying in the middle of a walkway I'll remove the bone and send to one of his dog beds.

Other than the wild hair I had after watching animal planet, I never bother my dog while he's eating. Just as I don't allow him to bother me while eating.

[rottnelmo]

Originally Posted by Tucksmom

I realize I am responsible for what happened, that's not the issue. I've also relayed this fact to my family, but their opinion is their own. As far as his food aggression goes... it didn't start until after he bit my child. He also growls if anyone touches him when he eats. So, we are working on that by not allowing him bones for the time being, and hand feeding him every meal. My only question was whether this kind of aggression could turn into something worse. I've read a lot into this and have read that it can turn into something worse, so I decided to post here since I figured who better to ask than people who own the breed themselves?

Okay, so why did the food agression start now??? Because you are allowing it. Is the pup crated? Feed the pup in the crate, give the pup a bone in the crate...do not give him an opportunity to be messed with while eating. Its not fair to the pup.

If you were eating something you loved, say a piece of chocolate cake, and someone walked up and tried to take it from you...what would you do? I personally would rip their face off...so equate that to your pup...while it is not right, your child should also not have her face in your pups while he is eating. So put the pup away and educate the child.

Quit messing with the pup while he is eating...do a search on food agression here, you will find a lot about not messing with a dog while he is eating.

[Vista]

This member came here for help & advice, not a tongue lashing. While I agree with the general idea of your post, your point could have been acheived just as effectively without the harshness.

Members are encouraged to assist the OP by making their own contribution to the topic, not by critiquing a fellow member's communication style.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by Tucksmom

....My only question was whether this kind of aggression could turn into something worse....

It has already turned into something worse. Your actions will decide whether it turns into something MUCH worse. It's your responsibility. That has been and will always be a large part of the issue. You need to keep the dog away from youngsters in any kind of possible harm scenario. At this point I would make sure the dog does not have any high-value item (bones, toys) around other people (especially any children). I would make sure you have a leash on this dog whenever you are around other people. The dog has way too much freedom to make it's own decisions (in my opinion).

[Tucksmom]

Originally Posted by Skip

It has already turned into something worse. Your actions will decide whether it turns into something MUCH worse. It's your responsibility. That has been and will always be a large part of the issue. You need to keep the dog away from youngsters in any kind of possible harm scenario. At this point I would make sure the dog does not have any high-value item (bones, toys) around other people (especially any children). I would make sure you have a leash on this dog whenever you are around other people. The dog has way too much freedom to make it's own decisions (in my opinion).

An answer to my question, finally. Thank you, I appreciate your input.