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Dog Bites a Child
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In my years of Veterinary Practice, I have had more than a few
cases of aggressive dogs who have bitten children.

I recall one in particular in which a dog ( Blackie) was recently
rescued from an Animal Shelter, the owners loved him dearly, but he
had some serious food aggression issues.

Their young child was in the room going near the food, and Blackie bit him on the arm.

So WHAT do you do?

I have seen clients agonize over this, and many other pet behaviors..

And non pet owners don't get it AT all.

Most of the 'non pet owner' advice is :

"Put Him Down"

In fact most non pet owners don't understand How in the first place
you spend so much time, energy or mo*ney on your pets, so perhaps it's best to just IGNORE their advice :-)

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So WHAT did  I say?
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I talked about Aggression in dogs being a difficult behavior to
change- and their first concern was the safety of their child.

BUT that being said, most serious DISPLAYS of aggression are first
preceded by warning signs first.

Such as your dog being the Alpha - not YOU

Or growling when you go near his food bowl..

Blackie had some of this.

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I ASKED what the owners wanted...
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Now IF only more professionals would do that first..

And they wanted to keep Blackie, BUT only if he would never bite again..

We discussed having a professional dog trainer assess him- which happened.

Blackie's owners needed training- and Blackie needed to deal with his SERIOUS Food Aggression issues.

And they did.

The owners were prepared to send Blackie BACK to the Shelter IF the
aggression could not be changed.

But it did change.

And Blackie is STILL with their owners. I have seen him as a former
patient, and he is a WONDERFUL pet.

My point of ALL of this is that in the past ANY form of aggression
toward a family member meant instant euthanasia..

And clearly that does NOT have to be the case.

IN some cases pets can't be rehabilitated, and then they have to
leave the home.

But in MANY instances they can have their behavior changed...as
with Blackie.

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