Help with dog to kid aggresstion please.

Hello- this is my first post but my husband and I are seriously considering re-homing our dog, Will, and I need some help. We purchased our purebred Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier from a breeder last May and he is now about 13 months old. He is our first dog, and while we underestimated the challenges of the terrier temperament, we have been working on training. We socialized him with other puppies and adults well when he was younger, but he didn’t have a lot of interaction with kids. Over Christmas, we had two incidents where he became extremely aggressive with my 4.5 year old niece and my 1.5 year old nephew (separate times and locations). It was not defensive- he was trying to attack. It scared us, but we were in the process of buying a house and moving so we forgot about it and moved on.

Last Saturday, my brother and sister-in-law, along with my now 2 year old nephew and 4 month old niece, came over for brunch. We watched them carefully and Will started jumping at my nephew, wanting to play. Since my nephew is much smaller and was getting scared, we put Will outside in the yard. About an hour later, we let him inside, but kept him on a leash just in case. I was sitting on the couch and had him by my side, petting him, when my nephew walked by. My nephew didn’t move towards Will, didn’t touch him or anything and Will lunged and bit his hand. Luckily, I had him on a leash and jerked him back quickly so it didn’t break the skin, but it did leave a mark.

While my husband and I don’t currently have children, we are planning on starting a family in the next 2-3 years. We can simply keep him in his crate or outside when our nieces and nephews come over, but we cannot keep him isolated when we have children of our own. We are open to hiring a trainer to help deal with this, but is it fixable? If we are going to have to re-home him anyway when we have children, I would rather do it now, before we’re even more attached and while he is still young and easily placeable. The breeder would take him back and help find him a good, child-free home so I know he would not end up in a shelter. However, I want to keep my puppy and allow him the opportunity to be the family dog we envisioned. Will we ever be able to trust him?

Thank you in advance!

Oh dear. I hope you can get some expert advice and help.

Meantime, have to say after the first incident, I would have kept the dog RIGHT AWAY from any visiting children - outside all the time or shut in another room. Just isn't worth the risk where very young children are involved.

Oh dear....sounds like a difficult situation, and one I don't really think can be properly assessed over the Internet.

I understand what you say about not wanting to start down the road with a trainer if you are going to have to rehome him later but I think you will need to get a full behavioural assessment and then they will be able to advise you on the best course to take.

You need to find a properly qualified behaviourist though, which can be hard than it seems, and steer clear of anyone who uses punitive methods.

First off, sorry about the typo in the title. I noticed it as soon as I hit submit. And thank you for your responses.

We did keep him away from kids after the Christmas incident for quite a while, but I guess I was just naive and thought maybe he had gotten over it in the four months since he had last seen my nephew. He is just so loving and cuddly and wonderful otherwise. He has no issues with strange adults or dogs, other than some food and toy aggression. And he had interacted with my nephew with no problems between May and December of last year, so I thought maybe it was just a one time thing.

We have contacted a couple trainers to get quotes- is there a difference between a trainer and a behaviorist? I just don't want to invest a lot of money, time and hope in something that is impossible.

Well, I'm not sure how it works in the states really but I think no behaviourist should have qualifications in dog behaviour, so that they can assess the issues behind the behaviour and help you to implement methods that are kind, fair and effective.

http://www.animalbehaviorassociates.com/behavior.htm

How about these? They seem to use scientifically based methods.

http://www.awaggingsuccess.com/?page_id=31

Or this one?

Uggggh just read one who goes on about wolf pack theory....avoid avoid avoid! He also says he disagrees with 'any unnessecary force or harsh styles of dog training'.....mmmm, but does that mean that he feels some force is necessary?

http://www.wagandtrain.com/PrivateSessions.aspx

That is the lady that hosted the puppy socialization and early obedience class we attended, and we were thinking of hiring her since she already 'knows' Will. She specializes in aggression and uses positive techniques, which I thought were both good signs?

Yep, looks good. Really hope she can help you, and keep us posted on how you get on please!