HELP! - Bentley snipped at my nephew???

[Bentley's Mommy]

I know from reading my "Chihuahua's for Dummies" book that Chihuahua's are said not be great around little kids, as little kids tend to move quick and play too rough.



My nephew (Kaden), who is 3 1/2 years old, spent the night with us last night. This morning after breakfast, Kaden was moving very slowly, with my supervision, to reached out and pet Bentley very gently on his back side. Bentley was laying in his little day bed that I move him around the house in. Anyway, as he did this, my nephew was whispering "nice puppy" and Bentley made a pretty loud, growly snip at his hand. I've never seen a puppy, of any breed, act so aggressively. Bentley is 11 weeks old today. Is it too soon to introduce him to children? Or is there a special way I should do this next time? Bentley's temperament has been wonderful with many, many adults???



I'm concerned...any advise, information, explanations, etc???:cry2:

[islandbabies]

Sorry Holly, I don't really have any advice for you here. My furballs are usually very good with children. But yes, it is said that chi's don't do go with children. Maybe you could hold Bentley the next time Kaden wants to touch him. Or have Kaden put the top side of his hand down to Bentley so Bentley can sniff him. I don't think this is too young of an age to introduce Bentley to children, I think it's better to do it when they're young.

[Chloe's Mom]

I think holding him next time is a good idea too, Holly - he needs to feel safe when introduced to anyone new at this stage. I imagine you were holding him when he met the adults...unless they got on the floor to say hello? Sometimes it's more intimidating when something is coming at them that's right on their level. My Pit Bull, Buster (God rest him!) nipped ONLY once in his entire life, and that was at my nephew, too...when when they were both on the floor, and he was "eye level" with Bubs.

[Romans Mom]

Hi Holly, I'm no expert, so I can only share what I have done. It sounds like Kayden loves Bentley and treats him well, so that is great! :) From what I'm reading here, perhaps Bentley is like a lot of dogs and doesn't want to be pet while in his bed or special place, or by children anyway. Bentley may be afraid of Kayden's quick movements he observes during other times and not just during the petting. Or even a too slow creeping-type movement coming towards her scares her too. I play a game with my dogs, "I'm going to get you" and I move slowly towards them which is awkward and unnatural to them. They know it's a game coming from me, but not with anyone else. Since he's so young, a childs happy laughter and cute baby sounds may frighten Bentley.

Sheba's never likes children to pet her until she wants it. She's almost 15 years old, so we have come to the conclusion she will always be like this. LOL But Bentley is still very young, so that could be the only reason at this time. I've had to teach kids and adults who come to visit to "just look at the doggie" and don't touch because she will bite (snap and nip). The rule with Sheba is, you can say hi and talk to her, but do not try to pet, touch or pick her up. If she comes up to you, you can let her sniff you, and then pet her. Then she will not bite. Everyone sees her as "little baby Lassie" and is drawn in by her cutesss, tries to touch her, and tries to pick her up. And my Chi's are very appealing to children as well. One little girl fell in love with Elle, who isn't afraid of anyone, and had taken her out to the car and waited for her parents to go home with the puppy. Elle wanted to go too. LOL Roman takes about two minutes before letting kids pet him, but it was not like this until he was over one year old, he would show his teeth and snap.

So no matter what age, babies or adults, everyone loves that magic moment when my dogs "let" them be pet.

I would have some very brief petting sessions while quietly sitting down with Bentley. If Bentley thinks that's OK, keep doing it, and work with Kayden that is the only time he can touch Bentley. Other times just say hi to Bentley.

Let us know how things go, and if I find any information, I'll post it for you. :D

[Amaze]

DO NO HOLD BENTLEY NEXT TIME YOU TRY ALLOWING A CHILD TO PET HIM!!! Chihuahuas are VERY territorial over their owners and if he has ANY hint of aggression, you will only make the situation impossible for him to react correctly to! Allowing the child to pet him while he was in his "safe zone" was also a mistake on your part but can be fixed.

Puppies between the ages of 8-12 weeks are the most impressionable and are discovering the role that dominance plays in their life. Now is the time to take Bentley anywhere and EVERYWHERE (dog free because his shots may NOT be protecting him fully yet) and handing him around to anyone that can be trusted with him. If he shows aggression, you MUST NOT TAKE HIM BACK! It will reinforce that as his alpha, you agree with his decision and give him what he wants! Instead, the person holding him should correct him with their voice and then offer him a reward (always carry treats with you) afterward. The more you fuss over him or make a big deal of his behaviour, the worse it will probably get. The easiest, and best in my opinion, way to correct the behavior is to punish him for unwanted response by putting him in "time out" or isolation. Puppies are very social and do not like to be pushed from their social circle.

I can't stress how important it is for you to work through this RIGHT NOW or you may have problems later with Bentley's aggression.

[Chloe's Mom]

Whoops! I stand corrected...

[Romans Mom]

Oh oh! I'm sorry I got Bentley and Chloe's name mixed up in my post! I meant to put Bentley, who made the thread. :rolleyes: All these cute little Chihuahua faces here mushed my brain, and all I could see while I was posting was Chloe's cute little face! LOL So sorry about that. I'll correct it. :D

[islandbabies]

Thanks for the correction Lys. I just about this somewhere on the net last night...afer I posted what I posted. And thought, 'oh crap! wrong info' LOL. Taking note of this type of situation. :)

[Bentley's Mommy]

DO NO HOLD BENTLEY NEXT TIME YOU TRY ALLOWING A CHILD TO PET HIM!!! Chihuahuas are VERY territorial over their owners and if he has ANY hint of aggression, you will only make the situation impossible for him to react correctly to! Allowing the child to pet him while he was in his "safe zone" was also a mistake on your part but can be fixed.

Puppies between the ages of 8-12 weeks are the most impressionable and are discovering the role that dominance plays in their life. Now is the time to take Bentley anywhere and EVERYWHERE (dog free because his shots may NOT be protecting him fully yet) and handing him around to anyone that can be trusted with him. If he shows aggression, you MUST NOT TAKE HIM BACK! It will reinforce that as his alpha, you agree with his decision and give him what he wants! Instead, the person holding him should correct him with their voice and then offer him a reward (always carry treats with you) afterward. The more you fuss over him or make a big deal of his behaviour, the worse it will probably get. The easiest, and best in my opinion, way to correct the behavior is to punish him for unwanted response by putting him in "time out" or isolation. Puppies are very social and do not like to be pushed from their social circle.

I can't stress how important it is for you to work through this RIGHT NOW or you may have problems later with Bentley's aggression.I appreciate all of the comments from everyone, thanks! Lys you obviously have a great deal of experience which helps in situations like this.

I want you to know that I did put Bentley in a "time-out" immediately after the incident. Then, later that night, when Bentley was wide awake and not in his "safe zone" the day-bed, (thanks Lys, I didn’t' even think of that, that wasn't very smart of me) I brought Bentley out and got him in a playful mood, fetching his rope and playing with his squeaky toy. I then brought Kaden into the room and had him throw the rope for Bentley and talk to him. Everything went very well. Bentley actually kept trying to climb into Kaden's lap as he was sitting Indian style. Bentley was wagging his tail the whole time.

I'm guessing the "safe zone, early morning, half asleep" Bentley may have contributed to the incident. At least I am hoping so.

I do take him everywhere with me and will follow your suggestions if her ever does this again. Gosh, I sure hope not.

You know what else? I've been using these Tear Clear Stain Remover Pads on Bentley and he is either allergic to them or it's irritating his eyes. His left eye was very red and swollen that morning and he kept it half shut. Needless to say, I stop using those pads immediately. His eye seemed some what better that night and he hasn't shown any attitude problems since or even before his eyes were irritated. Do you think that may have contributed?? or am I wishful thinking?

I just don't think he has an aggressive problem. I think if you met him you'd understand why. He is around a lot of strangers and loves the attention every other time. He's not timid or overly aggresive...

Anyway, Thanks so much for the information. I love my little baby so much! I'm going to apply your advise and nip this in the butt, as I agree these are important weeks for the little guys personality molding.

[Bentley's Mommy]

You know what else? I've been using these Tear Clear Stain Remover Pads on Bentley and he is either allergic to them or it's irritating his eyes. His left eye was very red and swollen that morning and he kept it half shut. Needless to say, I stop using those pads immediately. His eye seemed some what better that night and he hasn't shown any attitude problems since or even before his eyes were irritated. Do you think that may have contributed?? or am I wishful thinking? So, as I mentioned above, Bentley had an irritated left eye that seemed to get better, then looked worse, and then better again. I couldn't figure out what was going on so yesterday I called the vet. We discussed the eye pads I'd been cleaning him with and how I had discontinued use. We decided that I'd take him in to the vet on Saturday if he still was having problems and scratching on his eyes.



This morning he looked a lot better. I decided to take him with me to run some errands around town and to lunch on an outdoor patio. When I saw his eye in the daylight I could see that it was turning blue. My first fear was, OMG he is going blind:cry2: . I called the vet immediately and brought him in. They said his eye is swollen in the inside and he may have an ulcer on his cornea (or whatever it’s called- something like that) and that it may be from his scratching his eye and/or from using those pads ~ may have caused a superficial ulcer of some sort.



Anyway, he is on medicine and I take him back for a recheck on Monday. They seem positive but still very concerned. I guess we’ll see...In the mean time, we could use all the prayers we can get. Thanks for listening.

[Chloe's Mom]

Oh, Holly!! I'm so sorry you and Bentley have to go through this ordeal! I'll be praying that everything turns out ok...puppies have amazing recouperative powers, so hopefully Bentley will come out of this with no residual damage. Chloe sends him lots of puppy kisses in the meantime!

[Bentley's Mommy]

Oh, Holly!! I'm so sorry you and Bentley have to go through this ordeal! I'll be praying that everything turns out ok...puppies have amazing recouperative powers, so hopefully Bentley will come out of this with no residual damage. Chloe sends him lots of puppy kisses in the meantime!
Thanks Ri and Chloe, it's been a very scary deal for me and Bentley. I worried he wasn't going to be able to see, at least in his left eye. I've never seen anything so strange. His eye was, well still is, but getting better, soooo blue. It was bright like Cobalt almost. Scared me to death. He's been on eye drops every three hours and finally today I'm starting to see his old eye color coming back - Thank God!!!!! The vet said it would be about 3-5 days.

Anyway, Bentley loved the puppy kisses from Chole...I think he's in love now!

[Romans Mom]

Hi Holly, I just saw this. I'm so sorry to hear Bentley's got something wrong with his eye. I would have been worried too. :( Please give him Chi hugs from Roman and Elle. :wub:

PS When he gets a clean bill of heath, just in case you don't want to use products on his eyes for a while, you could try plain bottled Mineral WATER for Bentley's tear stains. :)

[momof1chi]

Good Luck At The Vet Today! Hope Every Thing Is Ok!
Chassi And Chili

[2Chiwawa]

I just saw this post. Poor Bentley and poor Mommy. I can imagine how frightened you would be. I hope all goes well to day. Let us know.

[Hercules Momma]

Oh Bentley.. The H2's send puppy kisses for a speedy recovery on your sore eye. OUCH.

Bentley.. Hercules does the same thing to my step sons all the time. IF Hercules is laying in his bed in the kitchen or if he's chewing on a chewie or eating he gets very aggressive and snaps at the boys whenever he's eating. I tell the boys all the time to stay away from him if he's eating or if I'm eating something so he won't snap. I know it's not great behavior, but I've warned them so many times. So if he snaps at them I feel like it's their fault for messing with him.

[EmilyStrange]

Samson wishes Bentley a speedy recovery!!!! (Samson likes to scratch his eyes, too.)

[Bentley's Mommy]

Thanks everyone. It's so hard when one of our babies has something wrong. I'm going to try to attach a pic of Bentley showing his Blue eye. I hope you can see it on the post. It's unbelievably blue. It's starting to get brown again very slowly. Now, only the pupil looks blue.

Denver had a huge snow storm last night so Bentley's check-up got changed until tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes, but since his eye is starting to change back to normal, I'm not as stressed out.



Thanks for all the support and thanks to your pups for all the puppy love sent our way.

[Romans Mom]

Wow! I see the blue. :shock: He's such a sweetheart. :wub:

[Amaze]

It sounds like you handled the situation perfectly! I don't think that Bentley has an aggression problem, he is just a puppy learning who is dominant and how to properly handle situations and your job is to show him how just like you did!

That can be scary when they have an eye problem, Heuser had a severely scratched cornea when he was 12 months old and his eye started to turn blue too. We did the whole eye drop thing too and it healed quite nicely.

I use lukewarm water with a tiny bit of Hydrogen Peroxide around my dogs eyes every other day. Sometime wiping them every day actually stimulates the ducts to water more and the stains get worse. As Bentley matures and teeths, he will have more staining/tears but then they should slow down afterwards.

Renata-not that it is any of my business but I am of the opinion that Chihuahuas should have the same manners as any other dog, regardless of size-biting, snarling, or snapping at anyone in my house is a huge no no(although you can see it in Tally's eyes when once in a while around kids, so we are quick to correct the situation and not allow her time to react negatively). ...

[2Chiwawa]

Poor little Bentley. I can see his blue eye. It's a good sign that it is turning back before you even get to the vet. I heard you were due for a big snow. How much did you get? Please let us know how your baby does at the vet tomorrow.

[momof1chi]

Oh My His Eye Is Really Blue! Poor Baby I Hope He Gets Better Soon.:)
Chassi And Chili

[Bev&Casey]

Poor Bentley

What a stress for you mom!


I hope all is better today

bevandcasey

[Bentley's Mommy]

Poor little Bentley. I can see his blue eye. It's a good sign that it is turning back before you even get to the vet. I heard you were due for a big snow. How much did you get? Please let us know how your baby does at the vet tomorrow.Bentley's appt. at the vet went great. They said his eye is healing nicely and the blue is reduced to a small speck about the size of his little toe nail. I'm continuing the medicine drops and will see the vet again for his shots on April 21. They will check him again at that time, but say he's going to be just fine. Whew!!!!



We actually live South of Denver about 20 mins. We got 20” of snow out here. I believe Denver got 16”. We shoveled a big square of grass for Bentley, he loves being out side today and checking out the snow. Today we still have snow on the ground, but it’s actually very nice and warm, believe it or not, which is very common for Denver. - Blizzard one day, out playing basketball the next ~ pretty crazy.

[2Chiwawa]

Hi Holly, Wow, I am sure glad that Bentley will be ok. You were a good Mom getting him the help he needed and taking such good care of him. It is hard when things happen to them when they are so little.

[Hercules Momma]

Renata-not that it is any of my business but I am of the opinion that Chihuahuas should have the same manners as any other dog, regardless of size-biting, snarling, or snapping at anyone in my house is a huge no no(although you can see it in Tally's eyes when once in a while around kids, so we are quick to correct the situation and not allow her time to react negatively). ...[/QUOTE]

Lys,
I do try and correct Hercules when he snaps at them, but I've also warned the boys so many times that if he's eating or chewing a chewie not to come up to him and try and play. So I'm siding with Hercules on this one.. the boys understand or should understand better than Hercules to stay away. Course he doesn't do this to me or my husband.. Personally, I'm not so sure he's in love with the boys. They want to play rough and I just don't play with my puppers that way. Although, he is nice to them lots of times and gives them kisses. Just stay away from his food, chewies, and don't try to take me away from Mommy!