Dog question??

[domarloc]

Okay here is my question....I have a 1 1/2 year old border collie/lab mix. She has been a good dog and always plays very well with my kids. She tends to lay on the floor in front of the livingroom chairs and often the kids just jump down off the chair without looking and accidently step on her. She always seemed to tolerate it okay but lately she is snapping at them if it happens. I am not sure wether or not I would consider this aggressive or excusable because they are afterall stepping on her (usually her foot or tail or something not right on her). This may seem like a weird question to ask I just not sure what to think about it all. Any thoughts??

[Atchbe]

You dog is giving warning signals, too many more incidents and a bite may occur...in fact most likely if the jumping on the dog is not stopped a bite will occur.

I would teach the children to look before they leap :) You dog is actually showing a lot more tolerance than most dogs.

Keep in mind as well your dog is just reaching maturity so the puppy stage is almost over. Do not just excuse the behavior, change the circumstances that lead to the behavior.

Just one question, did your dog start growling at the start as a signal and now has move on to an air snap? Hopefully this is the case as this shows the dog has learned to give plenty of warning. Air snaps are the next step to actually connecting with the skin, and you you may not know at this point how much bite inhibitation your dog may have (this is learned during puppy play and puppies learn how much pressure to apply before it actually hurts).

You have a few choices. Train your children to be more careful this is also a wonderful way for children to learn respect for others. Teach your children that the dog is not a stuffed animal and ask how they would like it if you stepped on their feet all the time and pulled their hair. We really expect way too much from our pets, if someone were to continue to step on my feet or pull my hair after I've warned them many many times...I may just decide to slap them or punch them if it keeps happening...if a human cannot tolerate certain behaviors....why should our pets???

You can also teach your dog to lay else where. Set up a doggy bed somewhere off the beaten path in your living room so your dog can still be with the family but have her own space. Or even a crate and set up in the family living area this way your dog can get away when the need arises.

Good luck :)

[domarloc]

She is not growling before she snaps and is does connect with the skin. I have tried getting the kids to look before they jump down but they just don't think (my youngest is only 4) as for training the dog to lay elsewhere, I wish I could....we have a very small livingroom and there is not much floor space to be had. She does have her own bed off in the corner but being summer and hot out she likes to lay on the hardwood floors because it is cooler. I just did not know wether I should concern myself with this behaviour or just chalk it up to her defending herself. Good advice though....I do appreciate any thoughts!

[Atchbe]

I would be concerned. It's quite difficult to teach a dog to be tolerant of things that hurt them.

I wonder if you set up a floor fan for your dog in her special spot if that may encourage her to lay there. With my dogs they all have "their" spot, having multiple dogs this works well.

With a 4 year old child it is quite difficult to teach them to respect the dog. But, perhaps if you made it into a story and told it on the dogs behalf they child may understand. childen love stories and can sometimes "see" more from a visual fairy type story. You can start out with your magical talking dog and the mean step sister dog that kept hurting her. :) Something along that line anyway you know your child and will be able to tell the story to her liking.

Just a suggestion for you as I certainly don't want the bite from your dog escalating to breaking the skin. Just keep in mind you have to do something about it now as when the bite does occur it could be bad enough to scare your child mentally for life and have a fear of dogs...or worse, it could cause physical scars. The worst dog bites occur in the home towards young children. It's also bad when the parent reacts towards the dog and treats the dog as if it suddenly just "turned" on their child. There are plenty of warning signals so to avoid the worst do something now...do not ignore this.