Better move my sofa in a different direction too? Any idea which is best

My cage is in the garage though I did have his canvas crate he sleeps in, but this has been covered early in the thread and yes I agree he should have just gone in it straight away he didn't though

We have the same issue with our springer and children. As a puppy she was scared by a friends small child and since then she has the occasional bark and growl at them hackles up....

We take her to training classes for gun dog and obedience and trained by a very well respected behaviourist who did once tell us that if all else fails a rolled up newspaper on the backside will always work when she was biting as a puppy. The dog associates the biting with a smack from the paper and not your hand... That stopped that over night.

With regards to the kids, the dog needs to associate them with goods things, so we always have treats with us and when a child asks to pet her we respond with "no but you can give her a treat" Been doing this for 6 months or so and its working.

It's a gradual process as it's very hard to change a dog after its socialisation period, sometimes they can't change and you have to manage it, a little like separation anxiety.

Remember children are scary small noisey things!!!!!!

Good luck

Our Susie doesn't like small children (I think she was chased around our house by a visiting friends small child when young) and will avoid them at all costs but bizzarely, put her anywhere near a small child (or adult) with special needs and she is all over them, letting them stroke and pet her.

Behaviourist. Don't struggle on alone. Don't speak with your vet. Total waste of time and money on vet consult unless you think there is pain... We get half a day on behaviour! I'm keen to promote properly qualified behaviourists and have one at my practice on a Tuesday evening. She's fab! She travels quite far south so PM me if you can't find anyone and I'll put you in contact with her.
In the meantime, until you have a strategy, avoid any potential flashpoints.
Good luck and don't forget I'm here to help you if you get stuck.
MM

Can't say anything about MM advice; she's a professional
And we don't have children in our house except for visitors.
Different scenario to your problem Npinks,
We have Border Collies, very easy to train if you've time.
But we do expose our dogs to children and the public; carefully.
And young children do like pulling dogs tails.
So I train our dogs from a few months old to accept that having their tails pulled is normal,
I brush and comb their tails from an early age every day whether it's needed or not until they get to the stage where they actually enjoy it.
So they don't mind having their tails pulled, no response whatsoever.
Takes about two years training, but if any child pulls my dogs tail, the only response is more please rather than a nasty bite.
Patience and trust is the key. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

maybee a quick e-mail to this young girl may help ....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-27...ather.html

 Wales
Were the mud is thicker, and the ruts are deeper.
(And we have the water to wash it off, and more on the way..! )
Sd4 and chrome Ar*e piece, Auto box for best fun
09 Xs Gone
12 xs Gone
HSE with Leather seats and 4 years warrenty.. staying for now !

MightyMildred wrote:

Behaviourist. Don't struggle on alone. Don't speak with your vet. Total waste of time and money on vet consult unless you think there is pain... We get half a day on behaviour! I'm keen to promote properly qualified behaviourists and have one at my practice on a Tuesday evening. She's fab! She travels quite far south so PM me if you can't find anyone and I'll put you in contact with her.
In the meantime, until you have a strategy, avoid any potential flashpoints.
Good luck and don't forget I'm here to help you if you get stuck.
MM