My 8 year old has a silly habit of rushing up to our 2 wire-haired fox terriers and shoving his face in theirs, resulting in several near misses when one of the dogs, understandably, lashes out at him. He is coming very close to having his face bitten if he keeps going like this.

He is a very clever boy, but on this one thing, he will not listen to our repeated warnings, sendings to bed, threats to re-home the dogs, etc. If the dogs do bite him, then they will have to go, but should we re-home them now, before my son winds them up too far.

This has been going on for quite some time and it really isn't fair on the dogs. I should add that we are extremely fond of our dogs and I would be very reluctant to part, but if we have to, we have to...

I had a similar problem with my 7 year old but to be honest i MADE him understand.

You need to find a punishment that works and gets the message home. Maybe a trip to a rehoming centre and a serious talking to about what happens to these dogs. At 8 years of age he should be able to understand.

Seperating him from the dogs in the meantime will help, no unsupervised access (easier said than done i know but worth the effort if its the only way)

Maybe if he is restricted from the dogs and told he isnt allowed near them until he learns how to behave himself might make him think about it.

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

How about offering a reward as opposed to a punishment for your boy? Because although yes you could re home the dogs but your boy could still do it to other dogs and face the same consequences if not taught. And some children (infact most) respond much better to rewards as opposed to punishment.

i.e if you don't put face in dogs faces for week (for example) then get a reward - whether it is a trip to cinema, a toy or what ever the boy enjoys doing....then build on that.

Ifi the dogs are no other problem in any respect and the only time it happens is if he rushes up to them and sticks his face in theirs, and at all other times they are fine, then the only way is to make him stop it. Sorry cant offer you any more advice, If the dogs had other behaviour problems and were doing it constantly in all different situations for example then it is a canine behavioural problem. If its the only time and situation they react then its a child behavioural problem.

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I agree Mrs D and in most cases its always the best route to take but Trouble was with my lad he didnt really know he was doing it. It wasnt a conscious, thought out thing that he could "not do" because he didnt really think about it which is why we had to impress on him the importance of not doing it.

Teaching kids about a dogs body language and why things we like doing (like cuddling or kissing) is not necessarily a good thing to a dog will also help. At 8 years old i wouldnt dumb it down for him.

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

Good idea about the reward.. But please make sure you never leave him with the dogs..

Cause if they do snap at his face. It is irreversible..

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I do agree with you Rainy....I guess we all know our children the most.

But the whole point is to teach the child what he can or cannot do with dogs.

And whether the method is by reward or punishment, both methods will make the child think about what they are doing.

And it seems that at the moment the child is not learning by being punished - although I guess the way he would learn is if the dog actually bit him

But obviously we do not want this to happen.....

OP - thoughts?

I think you hit it on the head here, with heavy emphasis on what he CAN do.

Restrict access (to prevent what at the moment seems the inevitable because quite frankly if the dog is giving warning snaps and they arent being listened to its highly possible it will end in a proper bite)
Get the child to do some positive training with the dog
Teach the child about positive interaction, get the kid to understand things from the dogs point of view and why hugging, kissing, shouting in faces etc are a big no no.
Use the internet or TV to discuss animal behaviour and why its different to our own, showing how animals show affection (chimps grooming) anger, distress etc.
Show the lad what it looks like to the dog and why the dog will react negatively.

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/

Maybe show him some pics of kids with dog bites too....


You see with Lily, we are spoilt in a way but also a bit of a worry. Because she does let kids cuddle her and kiss her (I do too ) and she don't bat an eye lid. But I try telling my kids that not all dogs would like that and for them not to do it to others....but cos they are young they don't understand.

Oscar is the same to be honest, he loves a good cuddle .

With him it was my lad taking things off him when we had the guarding trouble but that seems fine now and thats largely because we taught the kids how to deal with it.

The most important thing you can teach a kid about dogs in general is when a dog growls BACK OFF !! The amount of kids (and adults to be fair) who have no idea of this is frightening !!

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/