What would you do? Dog growling

[Ali]

We just adopted a 4 year old dog yesterday. Everything was great aside from the cat issue in my other thread. However, today my son just walked right by her when she was sleeping and she growled at him. At first I wasn't sure if it was a growl, or just a sleepy noise, but a few minutes later my son sat near her (like about a foot away) and was saying "hi doggie!" and not touching her at all. She growled and stood up and barked twice at him. I pulled my son away quickly and she went back to sleep. I was really shocked. I am very nervous about her now. What would you do? Woud you return her to the rescue, or try to work on it? I'm just not sure I'm capable of dealing with even a remotely aggressive dog. I know she was sleeping and they don't like to be disturbed, but I know there are plenty of dogs that are more patient with kids. Ugh. Anyway, what would you do?

[expatmom]

I'd be nervous and wouldn't leave my kids unattended with the dog. Yikes, a difficult situation!

[MamaCare]

I would return the dog... let the rescue know she is somewhat child-wary. If you'd had the dog a long time, and it was part of the family, I'd try to work on it. But, IME, that takes a lot of time and energy. If you're already knowing you don't have that kind of extra to give (and I don't blame you.. I sure don't!) I think it's more loving & better for doggy to find a new home.
Carrie

[Amber]

What a hard situation to be in. I would be *very* wary of a dog that growls at children for walking/sitting nearby in *any* situation.

If you do decide to keep the dog I would suggest setting up a special place for her to sleep, a crate would be best. Whenever she wanted to nap you could direct her to the crate or bed and have her sleep there. Then you would need to teach your DC that under no circumstances do they go near her when she is in the crat or on her bed. You would also want to get in touch with a good trainer who is comfortable helping you work through this problem.

It may be in the best interest of your family and the dog for her to go to a home without children. It does not make her a bad dog if she doesn't always get along with children, but she does need to be watch even closer than normal when in that situation.

[Sanveann]

I agree with the others ... I would talk to the rescue and tell them that while you love her, you are NOT comfortable with her growling at your son unprovoked. They will probably be glad to take her back -- no group wants one of their pets placed in a home where it's not a good fit, especially not one where a child could be at risk!

[SouthPaw]

I agree. While it is completely *possible* to rehabilitate a protective/agressive dog, I wouldn't want to put my children in danger during that process. I would take the dog back to the rescue, and look for either an older dog that was raised with children, or a pup under 16 weeks of age that you can properly socialize. It's so good of you to try and rescue an older dog, since many of them are less easily adopted due to no longer being cute little fluffy things...but in this case, I think he needs a home without kids :(