[Love2nicks]

We have had our dog since he was 14 weeks old, he will be one in 2 weeks. He is not an aggressive dog (beagle/sheltie mix) but he tries to be dominant over our youngest son. Today he was riding his bigwheel down the path that runs near the dog's tie out. The dog was chasing him like he usually does but today he was trying to grab ahold of his shirt and bit him on the back and he did bleed. I am so torn what to do. I know when I tell my husband he will insist we get rid of the dog. My 7yo is petrified to tell him now because he doesn't want to get rid of him. Honestly I am not certain what to do right now. I am now at the risk of when the children have friends over, will the dog try the same thing? He is constantly trying to grab at my youngest's clothing, I have lost count of how many articles of clothing I've had to throw away because they were torn by the dog. I am so nervous this will happen again.
What should I do

[borzoimom]

Shelties are herders and known to nip. Also with the dog tied out, not able to continue, and smart enough to know that- probably nipped to stop the vehicle from continuing to move along.
I would be a behaviorist. This would also include letting the dog have exercise and training.

[lovemygreys]

I remember growing up if the dog bit or snapped at us, my parents' response was "What were you doing to the dog?" and then it was "Don't bother/annoy/pester the dog." Now it seems the first reaction to a dog being, well, a dog is to dump it.

There aren't really enough details in your post to give you a good answer. Is the dog always tied out. How much exercise and mental stimulation does he get. Was your son teasing or taunting the dog (even if it wasn't out of any sort of mean spiritedness) - I know four year olds may think it's a riot to ride back and forth and have the dog chase them.

Tied up dogs are not a good idea in general. Dogs weren't meant to be tethered and they dont' tend to do well when they are tied. And, border collies are herders. That means they are prone to chase and nip. Their GENES tell them to be this way. You shouldn't have a border collie (mix) and expect it not to act like a border collie at all!

Realize if you dump this dog, it will most likely be put down now that it has been allowed to get a "bite" under it's belt.

[Dorygirl]

I am pretty quick to say "get rid of the dog" when a bite has happened.
But this doesn't sound like that kind of situation. From what you've written, I would get a trainer/behaviorist to your house asap to help deal with all the problems of having a dog with young children in the home.
Big Wheels can be really loud and your dog is still a puppy. Go with your instinct here, but it sounds like you can make it work. Good luck!

[DogAdvocat]

Since your dog has torn clothing before, may I ask why you allowed your son to ride that close to the dog at all? This was a situation that could have been predicted, and prevented. Big wheels are loud, and also painful if they run over feet, including dog feet. What you are basically doing is teaching the dog that children are toys to attack. This is not the dog's fault in any way, and obviously it's not the child's fault because he hasn't been taught and is too young to understand the consequences to his actions.

I too would suggest that you bring in a trainer or a behaviorist, but primarily to teach you, not the dog. The dog's doing what comes naturally for the situation. What you need to do is have supervised quiet time when your child can gently play with your dog - but take the tethering out of the equation. Tethering only serves to frustrate the dog and heighten his desires to chase what he can't reach.

When your son is being active or is playing in such a way that the dog is likely to be excited by that activity, then it's time to crate the dog inside or away from the child. The same thing goes for other children coming to your home. There is no reason that the dog needs to be around a bunch of running and screaming children.

Remember, and you can explain this to your son as well, dogs don't have hands with which to grab. They only have their mouths. And this would have been no different from another child grabbing at your son as he rode by. The only difference is the teeth. The dog had no intent to hurt.

[Ginny01OT]

I would not keep the dog tethered where the children play. You need to expose the dog to the children playing, while he is on a leash with you supervising him and correcting him as necessary. He probably doesn't even think he did anything wrong.

[Jen D]

There are alot of books on dog attacks and most of the dogs were dogs that were tied out. Like said above get a trainer/behavorist he is still a pup and it does sound from the little bit of info the dog just wanted him to stop.