Question/ advise

[Sports3432]

I was wondering if you you guys could please tell me what you think or give me advise. I have a 4 year old female Cane Corso that me and my wife absolutely love. She is a great dog, she absolutely loves me and my wife. She listens very very well to me and pretty well to my wife, better to my wife when I am actually not there. She tends to defer to me when I am there. We have another dog that is about 60lbs that is a mutt, it does have some pitt and some hound. He is 8 and really just sleeps all day and doesn't do much. He listens to Amy human and grew up in a college house. Neither dog has EVER showed any aggression to a human other than being protective when strangers come to the door or trying to stand between us and strangers when we go for walks. My question is about my Cane Corso though. She has attacked the other dog 5 or 6 times over the last 3 and a half years. It has always been over either food or a toy, she does not want the other dog to touch her toys. Some have been very minor nips and 2 or 3 have been all out fights that were broken up immediately. We are about to have a baby girl any day now though. I can't imagine her harming a human but do you think I should be worried about the Cane Corso? Especially when the baby has toys? We obviously will never leave them alone in a room but my dogs have not fought in over a year and did tonight over a rope I had left out (so I will take the blame). I broke it up in about 3 seconds. What advise or thoughts do you guys have? Am I just worrying to much?

 

[marke]

everybody with a baby should worry about every dog that baby is around ....... i'm absolutely positive inter dog aggression has absolutely nothing to do with human aggression ...... can you and your wife take your dogs toys ? what i see called "resource guarding" is a different story , and i believe the biggest reason kids get bit ... never let your young kids take anything from a dog without your close supervision ......... teach your kids not to bother an eating dog , teach them not to grab , climb on , or pull a dogs fur . teach them to pet the dog in a way that the dog finds it enjoyable , teach them to reward the dog for obedience .... make sure the dogs know the baby is a good thing to be around ..... lots of folks do the new baby old dog thing without any issue , some folks just don't get it , or realize what a big deal it is . i'm sure the shelters have lots of dogs from the folks who don't get it .......

 

[Sports3432]

Yes, me and my wife can take her toys at any time with no issue, or just say drop it and she will drop the toy. Even if we are playing tug of war she will just drop it if I say the words. I can put my hand in the middle of her bowl while she's eating and she will just sit there. If the other dog does Any of those things it's on though.

 

[Boxergirl]

What Marke said. I would add that I would start controlling the environment. No toys or high value items and feeding in a separate area - or at least none of these things available if the child will be in the area and I would do this forever. My worry is redirected aggression or the child, particularly when he or she reaches toddler age, accidentally getting in the way. Meaning that I don't necessarily thing the dog would go for the child, but if she goes for the other dog and the child happens to be in the way then you could have a problem.

 

[DennasMom]

Make sure the baby is not a 'possession', also. The baby is an extension of the adults, never to be considered a toy.

I would make sure both dogs have perfect "place" commands - so you can have them go to their places and 'stay' while you feed/change/play with the baby. Then reward the dogs with some 'human time' after the baby goes down for a nap, so they don't get frustrated.

And, things still can just happen, in a blink. A friend had her therapy dog get in a fight with another resident dog over PROTECTING the child ... the child (10 or 11 yrs old) tried to break it up and was the one hurt in the process.
Be aware the fights can happen, and have a plan for dealing with them, make sure the child (when old enough) knows what to do to stay out of harms way.

 

[Michele]

NILIF -
http://k9deb.com/nilif.htm

 

[Sports3432]

Thank you

 

[fila4me]

NILF is awesome!
I will say, from the time my kids have been able to hold a bowl, they have helped in one way or another to feed the dogs. This has helped with where the kids are in the skem of things. I have always had Filas, with my 1st, had Dogos, springers, a pit bull and a husky too. So rules are very important.
My kids start feeding, watering, letting dogs in and out around age 2. Then we start with them working the dogs in obedience. They can take food and bones out of their mouths around 3-3 1/2 yrs old. They work their dogs in obedience everyday....by making them sit before going out, sit before coming un, sit before eating and not to eat until told. They are taught to drop it, that means any of us say drop it, they do it be it food, bone or toy. We had a pit bull choke on a ball while I was in the shower, my daughter got it out and she was only 4. My mom, of course freaked out, but daughter and dog were just fine. I allow it for reasons like this, I am not always right there and the adult that was freaked out!
You have been given some great info to help in preparing your dogs. I will add, I feed in crates only. I do it for bloat reasons and as an extra safety precaution. Kids are kids and dogs are dogs.