Congratulations on the dog. My condolences on the toddler. And now, as if your life with an 18-month-old wasn’t stressful enough, the dog is having problems with the toddler. Is this the end of the dog?

Maybe not. First, has the dog bitten? If so, then you can not ethically give the dog away. You might even get into legal trouble if you gave a known biter to someone else and they bit again. Don’t even think about it. At that point, you have two options: get the dog to a trainer or put the dog to sleep.

In an ideal world, your dog would already have basic training. Since we can’t afford the tickets to “ideal world”, talk to your vet and a trainer. Your vet will need to run some tests to make sure that there is not a physical reason that the dog bit. Some illnesses can affect a dog’s brain and make them bite. Rabies, one of the worst, is contagious and fatal to humans. Don’t take any chances with your toddler’s life, take your dog to the vet. After that, your dog needs to go to a trainer for diagnosis. A good dog trainer will be able to determine the cause of the biting and offer solutions. If your dog bit, you and your dog need help.

If your dog has not bitten, this is a very good sign. Your next step is to define your dog’s problem behaviours and write them down. When you think about the problem, you keep reliving incidents in your mind. It feels overwhelming and hopeless. Like your child with a muffin on a white carpet. Writing down the list will show you patterns of behaviour. Some of these can be easily fixed.

One couple stopped letting the dog sleep between them and instead let the toddler sleep in the big bed. In essence, the dog lost his bed! This was just one of many behaviours that the couple had that let the dog know that he was being replaced. As expected with a Chihuahua, this did not go over very well. Or perhaps the toddler keeps dropping toys on the dog while he’s asleep. This is not a good way to wake up. Toddlers should never be alone with any dog. They can cause too much harm to the dog.

The problem may be a behaviour that you did not correct before the baby was born, that is a bigger problem now. Jumping up on you as a greeting is sweet when you are an adult but is terrifying and dangerous when you are two. A trainer can help you correct these problems. Experienced dog trainers have helped lots of couples with toddlers. Before they baby started walking, the dog could just ignore him. Now, there is another person in the house! This is a story that your trainer has heard so many times that they could tell it in their sleep. Together, you and the trainer can help your dog help you. After all, a dog is a great way to distract a rampaging toddler for at least 2 seconds!

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Author: National Missing Pets Register

I think that it is better much off to get a big dog after your kids are older and can understand the danger even from a very friendly canine. You can get small scaled dogs when you have 2 year olds around.

Problems can arise even with cats. We had to get rid of one cat when my daughter was born-he didn't bite, he was just being a cat. Meaning that every time he saw something move under a blanket he attacked it. Every time he saw a tiny limb flailing about in open air, he scratched it. I couldn't take the risk anymore, and so we rehoused him.

My daughter never got hurt, but I did.