Janie, I can only speak for three of mine so far but they hadn't really been around children or babies when growing up but are fine with them now.

Dan, I hope and pray someone can help , everything crossed xxxx

Thanks, we'll carry on training with her, but I still think it would improve her quality of life if she could go to a home without young children. I read on another thread about a user called pagan who takes on difficult dogs so I may contact them to see if they have any available room for her.

Pagan commented on this thread back in February (on the previous page)...

whilst i agree dogs that kill small furries arnt gonna be 'baby killers' too

this is classic complacency imo...... dont be fooled u think u have 'cured' prey drive and small furries.(thats if it was true prey drive to start with)
my sibes lived with ferrets for 8 years never ever a problem..til one day,and many people i know say the same...no warning,no lead up and nowt to do with 'self control'

River looks lovely, such a shame your in this difficult situation with her now, not any easy decision to make at all.
River sounds very like my Inka, he loves the kids that live all round us, but he is pushy with them, he thinks its funny to push them with his big wet rubber nose.
Saying that, Inka went through a phase this spring, the worst hes been so far, started with a rabbit, dead, then a squirrel which we all would let them away with put it down to doing what dogs do, then 2 moore hens, which I was horrified at, then he broke a gooses neck...at that point I knew,kinda knew before it...some thing had to be done before he moved on to bigger things, in the coming weeks while I was working with him to keep away from the birds the stupid idiot tried picked up a cocker spaniel, that was a weird one,on the same day he tried to pick up a cavalier, Inkas not a fighter,if a dog challanges him he lies down, for some reason he thought if the dogs were running he could pick them up...
Thankfully he is back to normal, I allow chasing squirells and rabbits but he knows his place with birds and small dogs, he was 5 on the 14 th of june, this behaviour was new to me and him...

I'm sorry I didn't realise pagan had already replied, I'll shall not contact them about her.
I think it's hard for me to explain over a forum why we are concerned with her behaviour. If you could see the difference in behaviour between our two dogs towards children then I'm fairly sure you would understand our concerns.
River was the same with small animals as your Inka. She has been brought up with and exposed to lots of small animals and children. She has been in the house since a puppy with free running rabbits, lizards, cats and children, but since she killed the rabbit her behaviour has changed markedly and has refused to return to its previous state.
It may be a problem that can be managed but not eradicated and that is too much of a risk for me.

are u sure its not your view of her that has changed?

rabbit killers do not automatically become children killers (i have a house full of sibes so i think i can say that)

i find this all very sad......i hope she finds a trusting loving forever home asap.!

No, I do not believe so.

What a terrible sad place for you and your dog to be in.I actually think that the idea of muzzeling her in the house is a great one for now,as i personnally think that by her and your other dog spending nearly all there time just together in the garage is not fair,sorry if thats harsh but before baby they were able to be in your home with your family and now they cant this i feel may cause them to be really confused.they are either part of your family or not.its a shame that you have lost trust in your dog and i can sort of get that,and it must be horrible to live worrying with that,although your poor dog actually hasnt done anything wrong,bless her...you are concerned that her prey drive may get thebetter of her as baby may make a noise like prey,but then so as baby got older say 2 then she wouldnt be small anymore and no longer prey like???is it possible that you could muzzle and live it out till then???Or is it you are worried about her around children as well??
I will say that my sister has a husky with a very high prey drive and unfortunetly has killed 2 cats,she has a cat and the cat lives upstairs with a stair gate so she cant get to her..although would get squirrels etc as well if she was able.my sisters daughter had a baby and although her husky showed interest in it at first and i mean more alert,nervous etc as she bacame more used to the baby sounds (she was never left alone with it)then her husky settled and wasnt really that bothered anymore so it is possible for high prey gogs and kids to live very happily together.i am sure that you will find a lovely home for her and all will be well,but if there is still a nickle about letting her go then try a muzzle inside your home and see how you go...it may be worth a shot untill babys older...

Hello, a just a little update and thread bump. Basically we are still looking for a home for her, as we are sure it would greatly enhance her quality of life. We have tried a muzzle and we have tried a couple of different trainers as well in case they could think of any different ideas, but unfortunately they came to the same conclusions that she would be much better off in a childless or older child household. We have another newborn so if we were to wait until he gets older it will still be a few years.
I would dearly love to see her go to a good forever home, it would make me very happy, I can't really get across how friendly and cuddly she is it seems like I've made her out to be some kind of devil dog.
If it's any use I would happily take her to anywhere in the UK if it meant someone would take her, I'd also be prepared to take in another umwanted dog in return, I don't mind any behavioral problem as long as they're OK with kids.
There's a lovely staffie on the first page perhaps they'll do a swap lol