All About Jake

Thanks for your wonderful messages about our dog.  Here's what happened on Saturday morning.  Jake, Pearl, and I were out in the front yard, walking around and visiting with our neighbors.  Lots of people were chatting.  One neighbor had a small yard sale going on.  Several had not seen Pearl walk before.  Excitement. 

Then Pearl draped herself across Jake's back, or perhaps she actually fell onto him.  It surprised him.  He wheeled around and snapped.  The bite did not break the skin, but she was extremely upset.  I was extremely upset.  Jake did not seem to think he had done anything wrong.  In his doggy way, he may have actually been playing with her.  It did not seem malicious or vicious in nature, but he was startled, and he did bite her.  There were dots on her face from the teeth marks. 

Jake is a foundling.  One June summer day seven years ago, we discovered him limping along the White Oak Bayou.  To be more accurate, he really discovered us. 

We were enjoying a Sunday morning walk.  He followed us for miles.  He was just a puppy and one back leg was injured.  Because the park is so public, we were concerned that he had an owner who would come looking for him so we left him there.  That day we returned to the park to see if he'd been claimed.  On our third trip, it was late afternoon.  He was underneath the bleachers of the baseball field, hoping for edible trash to fall through.  It was hot, over 100 degrees.  Marcia asked all the baseball fans in Spanish, Is this your dog?  Does this puppy have an owner?  Everyone said, no.  So Jake came home with us.  Our friend Mary Zimmer brought us a leash, dog food, a bowl.  He's been a part of our family ever since.

We named him Jacob from the Bible story, in part because of his injury.  When Jacob wrestled with the angel, he eventually received G-d's blessing, but in the process in was smote on the hip.  The story seemed to match.  After an unsuccessful surgery, the bad leg was amputated.  Based on the X-rays, the doctors believe that he was hit by a car.  So Jake is a three-legged dog.  Off leash, he runs remarkably fast.  His nature is absurdly cheerful.  Marcia's father, a minister, has actually delivered sermons about him.

Jake is a mutt, part chow and part German Shepherd.  The shepherd part of him is very determined to keep our "flock" together.  He has a strong desire to integrate, to be a part of our pack.  Separation, to his mind, is punishment.  The chow part of him makes him occasionally high-strung and anxious; the fact that he was abandoned as a pup may add to that.  He loves routines, and change unsettles him. 

Before Pearl arrived, his anxiety became an issue only when we went on vacation.  Adding Pearl to the pack meant that the rules changed for Jake, and they continue to change as she has become more mobile and able to interact with him.   

We sent an email seeking a new family for Jake on Saturday.  No one has expressed an interest.  In the meantime, we have created some new structures to keep everyone safe.  Our friends Lynda Grindrod and Trish Herrera have helped us rethink our strategies, and the new plan is keeping everyone safe.  Jake is separated from Pearl by see-through gates.  Before this bite, we didn't use the safety gates consistently, and every time we did use them, Jake yelped and complained at a high volume.  Now he seems to have adjusted to this change.  Maybe it's even a relief to him because he has not understood how to interact with a baby. 

At night Pearl goes to bed at 6.  Then the gates go down and Jake lounges with us as we talk or read or write.  Who knows.  Maybe it will work out that we can keep him after all.  That's what I am not-so-secretly hoping.

Comments

[ange]

My aunt and uncle experienced a similar incident with their dog. They enrolled him in obedience school, with fantastic results. Might you consider this option?
The plan you currently have in place (with gates etc.) sounds like an excellent strategy and I hope you'll be able to keep the dog. When a pet is like another member of the family I can't imagine how difficult something like this could be.
Good luck

[Robyn]

i'm so glad to hear this Robin. i KNOW that you will do what you need to do to keep your entire family intact. part of it is teaching Pearl how to best interact with Jake. and part of it is training Jake. you CAN teach an old dog.

[shannon]

Poor Jake and poor Pearl--they just don't understand each other! Maybe the baby gates will work long enough for Pearl to learn how not to scare or be scared of Jake.

Sending you happy family-dog vibes as hard as I can!

[Nickie]

This -exact- same thing happened to me when I was about Pearl's size (I don't remember, but my mother does.) My grandparents had a beautiful Doberman named Duke. Duke was a friendly dog, but like all animals and small children, there was fear from the grown-ups. That and he wasn't very keen on my older cousin (she was six months bigger than me.)

When I was learning to walk, I guess I fell on Duke while he was napping. Duke reacted by nipping at me. He didn't break skin, but left a little mark and everyone freaked out. There was talk of getting rid of Duke or putting him down.

But a few weeks later and before any decision could be reached I came back to visit and managed to toddle away from my watchful adults and snuck up on a sleeping Duke who had been carefully separated from me for the visit. Excited, I flung myself onto the dog.

At the sound of what they thought was yelping, all the big people came running only to discover that my yelps were laughter: I was laying on top of Duke, chewing on HIS ears, with him wagging his tail and licking me, each lick earing a squeal of delight.

Duke was MY dog from that day forward until, when I was about ten, Duke died of old age. I was the only child he allowed to feed him or play fetch with him. I rode him around like a pony at times. Duke loved it. He was and still is the benchmark by which all other pooches are rated. I don't think I would have had that kind of relationship with him if he hadn't nipped me.

The moral of the story? Don't give up hope of keeping Jake. He could end up Pearl's best friend!

[Rachel]

For what it is worth ... I work with dogs a lot, and from what you have written -- you don't need to re-home Jake just yet. There are several things that make me say this.

#1 -- First and Foremost! Jake has demonstrated that he has something called "good bite inhibition." Although he was annoyed, although he snapped, he did *NOT* break skin. This may seem like no big deal to you, but please trust me when I say I would rather have a nippy dog with a soft mouth than a almost-perfect dog with a hard mouth. Ten nips that leave a small mark but no real damage are much, much preferable to one really bad bite.

Bite inhibition is something that a dog learns in early puppyhood, usually while playing with littermates and mother. If the mother and littermates tolerate hard bites, the puppy doesn't learn to control it's bite. It's almost impossible to teach a grown dog with a hard mouth to soften up -- it's either something they know or they don't. If you need more explanation let me know -- I could go on and on.

#2 -- "Provoked" vs. not. It's pretty clear to me that this bite was a provoked bite -- no dog likes to get fallen on. Of course, you'd prefer an "ideal" dog who just shrugs it off or gives a growl warning -- but honestly, a nice inhibited nip is not the end of the world.

I'll show my true colors now when I further say that it can be "good" for a child to learn that they can't do just anything to the animals around them. Both of my boys have experienced a meaningful and inhibited nip from my dog. In one case, my oldest boy went into her crate and bit her first! :) Of course we don't want our children to be injured, but sometimes a small injury early on can be instructive.

By way of comparison, I've let both my boys pick up something hot (but not burning) as a lesson -- as in, we're at a restaurant and the waitress delivers hot French Fries. I say, "Watch out, they're HOT." The toddler picks it up anyway, experiences "hot," and drops it. Crinkled nose, a few tears maybe -- I say, "Yeah, that's HOT. Next time wait a little." Later on, when they get close to the oven, I can say, "Watch out, that's HOT," and they know what that means. Of course I wouldn't let them "learn" from something that could truly hurt them, but little ouches and bumps and bruises can be great learning experiences.

#3 -- Owner cluefulness. Your "for-now" soluation is extremely smart. It's not actually reasonable to expect most dogs to tolerate all child behaviors -- nor is it reasonable to expect most toddlers to totally respect a dog's needs all the time. The key is supervision, training (on both dog and kid sides), and time.

With some cluefulness on your part, any escalation can be prevented. Pearl isn't quite old enough to start reliably following dog-respecting rules, but she's almost there.

For more on kids and dogs living happily together, check out this link:

http://www.canineuniversity.com/news.html

(scroll down to "The Family Dog")

ps. I just re-read my post and realize I sound a tad (ok, a lot) didactic. This isn't intentional, please take the post in the mood it's meant -- loving, helpful, and hoping for the best.

[Deb]

I am crying. I am so happy he is still with you. What a blessing. I figured something of this nature happened but didn't want to pry.

I do want to say and will say though that dogs disipline OUR children in a much gentler way then their own. I have been a doggy midwife for ages and have seen it first hand.

He won't do it again I am positive. My Chow mix (not truly mine but is a live in) is so good with my little paralyzed (doggie) girls.

A girl from my moms church fell off the couch onto her dog and he bit her hard but it was an old dog and they didn't get mad of course. Thankfully.

My Moms Rottie bit the baby rottie ONCE and she screamed holy hell and he never did it again. I am just soooo glad that you still have the boy with you. Keeping them separate till Pearl knows how to walk and understands will be the perfect perfect solution. Big hugs. Deb

[panthergirl]

We have worked through similar issues with our rescued greyhound and my son (who is older, though). There is a WONDERFUL book called "Dogproofing Your Child" which, if you do keep him, would be great to get as Pearl grows up a bit.

[lisa]

interesting comments. especially those by Rachel. We to have what we now call a 'special' dog. When my son was a baby we had a lab who he could jump on and pull her hair without her budging. He learned to stand by pulling himself up using her fur.
Now we have a mixed breed from the pound...and we call her 'special' because she has nipped (but not bitten) (well there are many reasons for her to be special...you can reference my Free Dog series on my blog).
Oh...and obedience school did nothing for us other than teach her a new trick or two. Did not change her temperment.

[susoz]

Hi, it sounds like you have friends who are knowledgeable about dog behaviour, but in case you need even more support, we had an animal behavouralist come to our home a year ago after our second dog, who'd been rescued from the pound a few months earlier, air-snapped in our five year old's direction. Our son did provoke the dog on that occasion, but then again, we wanted a dog who would not react even to provocation (like our older dog, who was five when our son was born and has been totally trustworthy around him.) The behaviourist was very helpful in supplying a theoretical framework for understanding the new dog's point of view and for giving us some basic ground rules to apply, in order to teach the dog his position in our family pack. The dog learnt very quickly and I now trust him as deeply as the older dog, however, we are always very firm with him. Getting that sort of input might be something you could consider. Good luck. I'm glad Pearl is okay.

[Fionnaigh]

I think it will be good for her to have the dog around still. I got nipped by a dog when I was a toddler. I was dancing around with a plastic bag, and the noise startled the dog. I was left with toothmarks above and below my eye. The dog was shoed away, and I was told off. Anyway, we didn't have a dog of our own, and I didn't have any close contact with dogs after that. And even now I'm still a little scared of all dogs, especially bigger ones.

[G]

Wow. I can understand and relate to your fear, anxiety, and your hopes surrounding your dog and your child. I have two dogs, that in the past have always gotten along with children including being tugged, yanked, pulled, and pinched by little ones almost their entire lives. There had never been any indication that they would bite a child.

They are 8 years old this year and the majority of the time they get along. It's only been recently that the older one has gotten more possesive with the other dog about food. My partner had never owned a dog and hadn't yet learned their behaviors or learned to sense when they were uncomfortable or agitated.

Anyway, I went out of town and the MIL (whom the dogs had never met and who kept yelling at them) came to visit. My partner let the little one (4yrs at the time) feed the girls. The 4 yr old stood right next to the small one and the older one came over to eat the small one's food. There was growling and the little one lifted her leg to "push" the older one away right at the moment that the older one went to bite the smaller one. Needless to say the 4 year old was bitten. She wound up with one small puncture wound near her knee.

We immediately scheduled a session with "Bark Busters" and an animal behaviorist. The trainers helped us establish a heirarchy with the girls and stay firm to it. The behaviorist evaluated the girls to determine their temperment and whether it was compatible to having a young child in the house. He gave us reasons as to why this escalated to a bite. He also gave suggestions on how to avoid situations like this in the future. It was invaluable.

Thankfully, we've been able to keep the girls and the 4 year old LOVES them. Even after the bite she asked for them constantly (they were kenneled every weekend while she was there, until everything was resolved) and talked about how much she missed them. She's learned that she doesn't get to handle their food, lean on them, hug them too tight, or pull on them. It's a learning process for both the 4 year old and the dogs which is heavily supervised by either myself or my partner.

Anyway, if you still have fear about your dog being around your child, I would strongly suggest contacting a good animal behaviorist to do some evaluations on your dog.

Hope everything works out.
G.