Sheltie Concern???

I have a question.. My wife and I have been married for 8 yrs
and have had this sheltie (Sadie) for 6 of them. We did not have kids until
recently, we started fostering children as we would like to have kids, so
there were never any kids here full time all the time. We have older nieces,
nephews and cousins, 10 y/o and older that she is fine with. She is not good
with younger than 10 year old children. She has snapped at one of our
kiddos and has made contact and we can not have that.

She is house broken, a lover and very loyal, she just does not do good with
young children.
She has never been antaginized.
Can this behavior be helped? If so, can someone shed some ideas, I really do
not want to give her away.

--
Thanks,
Gregg

On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:59:33 -0600, "Gregg" , clicked
their heels and said:

Can this behavior be helped? If so, can someone shed some ideas, I really do
not want to give her away.

It's a tough one. A lot of dogs, if they haven't grown up with or
been exposed to a lot of small children on a regular basis, are not
great with them. Add typical Sheltie skittishness and herding
behavior and you can get some really unpleasant behavior.

Things can be improved, but it's doubtful she'll ever be "buddies"
with very young children (they're scary!). She can, however, learn to
not pursue them or nip at them, but you really need in person help for
that. And there should always be an adult supervising with any child
under 8, with ANY dog.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Gregg" wrote in message news
I have a question.. My wife and I have been married for 8 yrs
and have had this sheltie (Sadie) for 6 of them. We did not have kids
until
recently, we started fostering children as we would like to have kids, so
there were never any kids here full time all the time. We have older
nieces,
nephews and cousins, 10 y/o and older that she is fine with. She is not
good
with younger than 10 year old children. She has snapped at one of our
kiddos and has made contact and we can not have that.

She is house broken, a lover and very loyal, she just does not do good
with
young children.
She has never been antaginized.
Can this behavior be helped? If so, can someone shed some ideas, I really
do
not want to give her away.

You can't give her away - if she is a bite risk, you can't pass that on to
other people. The liability is too great. If she has bitten in the past,
most rescues will consider her unadoptable - I know the Sheltie rescue that
I work with does not accept known biters.
WIthout knowing more details, though, it is hard to say whether she will be
OK with foster kids in your home. It would probably be a good idea to have a
behaviorist consult.

Christy

Gregg:
Can this behavior be helped? If so, can someone shed some ideas, I
really do not want to give her away.

Really?

Because in a message you posted on dfw.forsale on 1/26/06. You said
you wanted to give your sheltie up because:

"The reason we are parting with her is becuase, I just recently aquired
2 Pugs and they are going to be indoor dogs and wanting to concenrate
on the smaller breed."

Btw, when did you decide to get pugs? Because on 1/7/06 on
dfw.forsale, you said:

"I am looking to buy a grey mini schnauzer pup, please email me ASAP
if you have any"

And just out of curiosity, what happened to the boxer you also wanted
to give away when you posted on dfw.forsale on 10/07/03?

"I have a 5 month old white boxer,her name is Tia, AKC registered, we
havent sent her papers in yet. she is deaf. She is current on her shots
and her ears and tail have been cropped. She needs a home that will
give her undivided attention. We did not know she was deaf when we
bought her. We just dont have the time that she needs."

All of these posts are listed in his profile.

They said she bites at very young kids little kids are loud and
unpredictable and it probably scares her. There is no reason to think that
she couldn't be rehomed into a home that has no children or one with older
children. I agree that biding is serious and this needs worked on.

Celeste



"Christy" wrote in message
news:aaOUf.39090$hC.2050@trnddc08...

"Gregg" wrote in message
news
I have a question.. My wife and I have been married for 8 yrs
and have had this sheltie (Sadie) for 6 of them. We did not have kids
until
recently, we started fostering children as we would like to have kids, so
there were never any kids here full time all the time. We have older
nieces,
nephews and cousins, 10 y/o and older that she is fine with. She is not
good
with younger than 10 year old children. She has snapped at one of our
kiddos and has made contact and we can not have that.

She is house broken, a lover and very loyal, she just does not do good
with
young children.
She has never been antaginized.
Can this behavior be helped? If so, can someone shed some ideas, I really
do
not want to give her away.

You can't give her away - if she is a bite risk, you can't pass that on to
other people. The liability is too great. If she has bitten in the past,
most rescues will consider her unadoptable - I know the Sheltie rescue
that I work with does not accept known biters.
WIthout knowing more details, though, it is hard to say whether she will
be OK with foster kids in your home. It would probably be a good idea to
have a behaviorist consult.

Christy

"Spot" wrote in message
news:A_cVf.53$Q9.2@trndny07...
They said she bites at very young kids little kids are loud and
unpredictable and it probably scares her. There is no reason to think
that she couldn't be rehomed into a home that has no children or one with
older children. I agree that biding is serious and this needs worked on.

Celeste

Who is going to take the responsibility for placing her in a home with "no
children or older children?" And how can one guarantee she will NEVER be in
a position to bite a child? How do you find a home who will agree to never
have a child or grandchild in the home, or a niece or nephew, or a neighbor
child, etc. If the owner places her in a new home, they are still very
subject to liability if she bites a child, which is the reason most rescue
groups will not take on the risk of known biters.
From the looks of the other post, this owner is not a particularly
responsible one anyway, as they intended to sell her to make room for pugs.
Poor sheltie. If I were her, I'd skip the kids and get in a few good bites
on the adults.

Christy