gets animated when we hug, carry, or move sleeping children

[josephharris]

Thanks, everybody, for your time today.

Whenever my partner and I hug or pick up/attempt to move sleeping children, our 21 month old male immediately becomes animated. He will come right over and jump up (during the hugging), will jump up on the bed even to the point of straddling them (when we move the sleeping children), and he seems very concerned when we carry a child.

He never bites, although he gets a bit wild sometimes after these situations.

Oh, another note ... he is rarely allowed on the bed ... only when invited.

Questions ... what is he doing? is he concerned that we are hurting the children? when we hug does he think I may be hurting my partner or vice versa? does the behavior need to be corrected? and how?

We appreciate your help!

[mjfish]

I'm not an expert, but my first thought when you said that he straddles the kids is that he thinks he owns them...they are his...and is therefore being possessive of them, which I definitely would not accept. As far as your hugging and the carrying of kids, that to me seems more like protective behavior. Our Rott did this at first when we hugged -- we sternly told him NO and had him lay down. He's fine about that now. He still does get aggitated when I play with my nephews, especially the younger one, and I view that as being more protective than possessive (but I could be wrong in viewing it like that). Again, we tell him NO and make him down or make him move away from the area of activity.

He needs to understand that you control the activity, not him. What do you do when he jumps on the bed to straddle the child? How do you handle the other times he shows this behaviour?

At any rate, it's not a good behaviour and should be corrected. Put him in a down outside of the room, so that he see what is going on but cannot be involved. Oftentimes, I've found that separation is more effective at getting your point across because they just want to be with their people so badly. How much obedience training have you done with him? I would be very careful about letting him up on furniture because it is obvious he has decided at times to allow himself up there...a possible "no furniture/beds at all" rule might be warranted for a while.

[Shelby427]

I agree - this dog sounds like he owns the children, he's in charge. You need to stop this behavior now! He should not be telling you what to do with the children, when you pick up the children or hug and he gets in the way, tell him "no" and move him or put him in a down. Is he in classes? I would stop letting him on any furniture - he's clearly not ready for that priviledge. Implement NILIF - do a search if you're unfamiliar. He must work for everything, food, affection etc.

[TRAINorBEtrained]

My dog does this same exact thing. my pitbul will jump up from where ever she is at the time my GF and I kiss/hug. Gets very hype jumping up on us. Obviously all couples have been know to argue. With that said if I or GF get loud Hazel will bark and in some cases nibble at me. Yes i said ME not my GF. Hazel is very protective over my GF wo rescued her from a guy who abused her because she was not a good fighter.
This same dog is really great with kids, even toddlers can feed her.

[Shelby427]

Originally Posted by TRAINorBEtrained

My dog does this same exact thing. my pitbul will jump up from where ever she is at the time my GF and I kiss/hug. Gets very hype jumping up on us. Obviously all couples have been know to argue. With that said if I or GF get loud Hazel will bark and in some cases nibble at me. Yes i said ME not my GF. Hazel is very protective over my GF wo rescued her from a guy who abused her because she was not a good fighter.
This same dog is really great with kids, even toddlers can feed her.

Do you do anything to correct this behavior? I would not be letting either of my dogs nibble on me if BF and I were fighting. It's showing them that they are the boss of me - no thanks.

[moz205]

As kids our GS would do this when anybody was sleeping. You couldn't go near a sleeping family member. He would stand in between and would bark at you. As kids, of course we would do just that. He never bit any of us kids though nor showed teeth etc. He saved me one night from an abusive ex who broke into my house and thought King wouldn't do anything since he knew him from a pup. He was so wrong.
Mom was favorite so once she was in bed he definitely didn't want us going into her room. To let Dad in Mom would have to get out of bed, let him in or he would give his warning. He also wouldn't let anyone near the car window if he was inside. Nobody including ourselves could go near the windows- he turned into a junkyard dog. We would just open the door and get in and he would greet us with big slobbers, tail wagging. We think he was abused prior so he had issues but we loved him anyway. We worked around them. Guess we didn't know better 30 yrs ago.

[TRAINorBEtrained]

Originally Posted by Shelby427

Do you do anything to correct this behavior? I would not be letting either of my dogs nibble on me if BF and I were fighting. It's showing them that they are the boss of me - no thanks.

I knew i would get this exact feedback. Actually thought more would have chimed in though.
Anyway. Believe in I when I tell you that my dog(s) yes both of my baby's totally know who is the boss of the house and them.
Hazel (pitbul) just seem to be very protective of my GF. I am a smart man and do know my limits. Now i don't think it's all that bad that Haz is so protective
(of her). If a stranger was to enter and try to hurt my GF I would really hope my dog would protect her.
Not do as other dogs and go lay under the table.

[TRAINorBEtrained]

Originally Posted by moz205

As kids our GS would do this when anybody was sleeping. You couldn't go near a sleeping family member. He would stand in between and would bark at you. As kids, of course we would do just that. He never bit any of us kids though nor showed teeth etc. He saved me one night from an abusive ex who broke into my house and thought King wouldn't do anything since he knew him from a pup. He was so wrong.
Mom was favorite so once she was in bed he definitely didn't want us going into her room. To let Dad in Mom would have to get out of bed, let him in or he would give his warning. He also wouldn't let anyone near the car window if he was inside. Nobody including ourselves could go near the windows- he turned into a junkyard dog. We would just open the door and get in and he would greet us with big slobbers, tail wagging. We think he was abused prior so he had issues but we loved him anyway. We worked around them. Guess we didn't know better 30 yrs ago.

I like your story Moz. I'm glad that the dog protected you.
My Hazel is only protective over her mommy. I am not mad, actually i feel good knowing my GF is really safe when i have to leave the house overnight and she is alone. Like you were also im sure.
Franko