blocking off under the bed & snapping issues

Cgelske

I have 2 issues,  I hope I find some answers here,  

1st, or pup takes child toys and other things (mostly disgusting things) under our bed and chews them up.   We are about to move and I would really like to keep her out from under our bed in the new place.  Do you know of anything we can buy or make that will keep her from being able to get under the bed?

 

2nd, we got our dog when she was a puppy and she has grown up with my son (she is a little over a year old),  they love to play,  but all of a sudden she has started snapping at him (yesterday she but him on the eye).  This can't happen and I don't know what to do about it.  Any recommendations or I any idea why she might have just started doing this? 

Tia.  

blue_elle

Re: the snapping, I read this as it has happened once, correct? What was your son doing when the dog snapped at him? Was he being overly rough or touching her in a particular place? If it's a sudden thing my first thought would be something wrong with the dog physically. Could she have a tender spot somewhere that's causing her pain? Dogs try not to show when they're injured or sick, so you may not have noticed anything; give her a good check all over.

Has she been taught not to mouth or put teeth to skin? If not, start now. If she tries to mouth you give her a sharp "NO" and turn your back to her. Teach your son to do the same. She should also be taught to stop play when you say, so that if she starts getting to rough you can stop without dragging her off. When she's playing tell her to sit and reward, reward, reward when she responds. Work on getting that response immediately. 

Cgelske

blue_elle:

Re: the snapping, I read this as it has happened once, correct? What was your son doing when the dog snapped at him? Was he being overly rough or touching her in a particular place? If it's a sudden thing my first thought would be something wrong with the dog physically. Could she have a tender spot somewhere that's causing her pain? Dogs try not to show when they're injured or sick, so you may not have noticed anything; give her a good check all over.

Has she been taught not to mouth or put teeth to skin? If not, start now. If she tries to mouth you give her a sharp "NO" and turn your back to her. Teach your son to do the same. She should also be taught to stop play when you say, so that if she starts getting to rough you can stop without dragging her off. When she's playing tell her to sit and reward, reward, reward when she responds. Work on getting that response immediately. 

Thank you. It wasn't the first time but it has not happened more than 3 or 4 times.  They were playing but not extra rough.  I'll check her out to see if she has any sore spots.  I've been thinking about trying a Thunder shirt on her too because she gets kinda antsy or anxious.  

Cgelske

blue_elle:

Re: the snapping, I read this as it has happened once, correct? What was your son doing when the dog snapped at him? Was he being overly rough or touching her in a particular place? If it's a sudden thing my first thought would be something wrong with the dog physically. Could she have a tender spot somewhere that's causing her pain? Dogs try not to show when they're injured or sick, so you may not have noticed anything; give her a good check all over.

Has she been taught not to mouth or put teeth to skin? If not, start now. If she tries to mouth you give her a sharp "NO" and turn your back to her. Teach your son to do the same. She should also be taught to stop play when you say, so that if she starts getting to rough you can stop without dragging her off. When she's playing tell her to sit and reward, reward, reward when she responds. Work on getting that response immediately. 

Thank you. It wasn't the first time but it has not happened more than 3 or 4 times.  They were playing but not extra rough.  I'll check her out to see if she has any sore spots.  I've been thinking about trying a Thunder shirt on her too because she gets kinda antsy or anxious.  

RedheadBaker

Cgelske:

blue_elle:

Re: the snapping, I read this as it has happened once, correct? What was your son doing when the dog snapped at him? Was he being overly rough or touching her in a particular place? If it's a sudden thing my first thought would be something wrong with the dog physically. Could she have a tender spot somewhere that's causing her pain? Dogs try not to show when they're injured or sick, so you may not have noticed anything; give her a good check all over.

Has she been taught not to mouth or put teeth to skin? If not, start now. If she tries to mouth you give her a sharp "NO" and turn your back to her. Teach your son to do the same. She should also be taught to stop play when you say, so that if she starts getting to rough you can stop without dragging her off. When she's playing tell her to sit and reward, reward, reward when she responds. Work on getting that response immediately. 

Thank you. It wasn't the first time but it has not happened more than 3 or 4 times.  They were playing but not extra rough.  I'll check her out to see if she has any sore spots.  I've been thinking about trying a Thunder shirt on her too because she gets kinda antsy or anxious.  

Can you give a detailed description of what was going on leading up the snap? Where was the dog? Where was your son? What was the dog doing (napping, eating, etc.)? What was your son doing? Was your son holding food, a toy, etc.?

Cgelske

They were playing, before they stayed playing I had been eating dinner and she had been begging for some, she begs a lot because we don't give her table scraps. But then they started playing, I don't believe he had her toy this time but often when they play DS has her toy and he will run from her and she chases.  She is less than 15lbs, her mother is a miniature poodle,  but Gypsy,  our pup,  is a mix. They've been playing like this for the better part of the year and its never been a bad thing but it's clearly going to have to come to a halt if we can't turn her behavior around.  

nital

One to two years is adolescence. It's a trying time for everyone. I go back to treating and training the dog as an untrained puppy, and would not allow rough play.  If running and chase get her so worked up she snaps, I would not allow that either. She will grow up, but I wouldn't allow her to get overly excited for now.

nital

Is the bed high enough you can put storage containers there?  If not, I'm sure those mats for office chairs on carpets would be unpleasant enough she wouldn't hang out under the bed.  Just lay them upside down so the pricklies are up.

LuckyAngel07

Cgelske:

I have 2 issues,  I hope I find some answers here,  

1st, or pup takes child toys and other things (mostly disgusting things) under our bed and chews them up.   We are about to move and I would really like to keep her out from under our bed in the new place.  Do you know of anything we can buy or make that will keep her from being able to get under the bed?

Keeping your child's toys off the floor so the dog can't steal away with them would solve this completely. Start teaching your LO to clean up his toys/help him clean up his things when you're done playing for the day and/or leaving the house and can't watch the dog. I know it takes work, but it's just like keeping anything else away from the dog that she might like destroying (like phone chargers and our dog; it's a pain to remember to unplug them and put them away when we're done using them, but the alternative is lots of expensive chargers constantly getting destroyed). 

Ditto PPs advice on the snapping issue. If you don't already, institute NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free) with your pup (Google or check the board FAQs). You should be giving your undivided attention to your LO and the dog when they're interacting also (not sitting eating your dinner while they run around and play). Dogs give signals when they start getting antsy or anxious in a situation, and it's possible (actually, it's highly likely) your dog has given signals that she's done with the situation before her previous snaps. If she's just getting way too rowdy, then you need to teach her and your DS how to play more gently, and end playtime if either of them gets too excited/worked up. 

Cgelske

nital:

Is the bed high enough you can put storage containers there?  If not, I'm sure those mats for office chairs on carpets would be unpleasant enough she wouldn't hang out under the bed.  Just lay them upside down so the pricklies are up.

That mat idea is AMAZING!!! I think I have some old ones in storage too!!