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Originally Posted by ChibiLuv  That’s the hard part though,Taco loves my son. They play outside, they run and love to go for walks. Taco wants to be part of whatever my son is doing. This is not a dog who is insecure around kids, this is a dog that was never taught to have a soft mouth or that he can’t claim things are his. I did talk to the rescue this morning and we are going to have a chat with a behaviorist. If they say it’s best to rehome him I will, as much as it might break my heart but I have to know I did everything I could.  |
I feel your hurt and sorrow. I know exactly what it feels like. One of life's hardest decisions and so painful, but easy when an injured child might result. I'd be inclined to think it's not as much about lack of soft-mouth training or not knowing he can't claim things as it is fear-based and a deep-seated insecure need to regress to aggressively guarding things he wants. Some insecure dogs openly resent little kids taking their resources and perhaps hurting them, so an insecure dog will use the only tools he's got to stand his ground, regain control, back the child off. Unchecked biting of a loved family member always escalates and sometimes there are open wounds, permanent facial, limb scars, even by small dogs when biting little childrens' faces or arms.
When a dog crosses the line to actually resort to biting his caregiver's child, he's become emboldened by his fear and needy possessiveness of resources which is beyond easy help. Most dogs aren't insecure around their family members, readily give in to their humans, especially the little ones, who take things from them or even who might move aggressively toward them and just back down, move away, instinctively sensing they are puppy-like but big enough to hurt them. Some toy dogs seem to be more nervous around small children but learn over time how to avoid them. I can never trust a dog who doesn't readily give in, back down, move away from any little child he loves during innocent play until he's successfully undergone extensive positive rehabilitation.