Sounds like separation anxiety, which a trainer could give you advice on. Also, a “snout slap”..that is a form of abuse, please, don’t let anyone hit your beloved puppy!!

Just as a follow up, I do not agree with any form of hitting, or threatening with anyone’s pets. The reason he was boarded was to combat the separation anxiety. And as I said, even though my dad is 89 and “old school” he has agreed to never raise a hand or yell and we are now watching out for each other to curb any bad behaviour on our part. My worry is that after two weeks of boarding/training to curb the separation anxiety my boy was anxious again and not happy about me leaving him.

ANY sudden behavior changes should be met with a vet visit first to rule out any medical problems.  please, take your dog to the vet and get him checked out.   i’d also talk to a veterinary behaviorist about this situation.

If you have to remove that sweet dog from your home, call a reputable rescue in your area and try to find a good home for him. Perhaps his tail was pulled harshly and it was just a warning to your child, but I understand she is too small to know better. You can take him to a behaviorist and see what that say but please don’t put a family member in a shelter. Can you imagine what he would feel like after only know your family all these years. Best of luck to you!

This is one of the hardest situations I have ever had to deal with. He is definitely a family member, and this is why it is very conflicting for me. I have family members telling me to just send him to the humane society but I know what would happen and I cannot do that without feeling extremely guilty. If it was just me I would do anything to help the dog, but my husband does not agree. I am in a very difficult situation and heartbroken. I thank everyone for their honest advice and will take this all to heart and continue to soul search in which road I should take. I do not believe he needs to die in any way shape or form.

i can’t imagine how difficult this is, but please, do the medical checks to make sure there isn’t something else going on. it’ll make it easier for a rescue to place him, as well.

Thank you, I will be looking into the Chihuahua rescue to see if they can assist me, I truly appreciate your help and honesty!

Totally and absolutely agree with P K here. The brutal truth is you allowed this to happen by letting an 8 month old baby pull your dog around, and how many times has she done it before? Look at it from the dogs point of view, if someone was constantly poking you and pulling your hair what would you do?
You would retaliate. Which is just what your dog has done.
This is honestly not your dogs fault. You shut him away now and you are compounding the problem, I’m not surprised hes stressed and barking….dogs pick up on our emotions very well indeed.
Please don’t rehome this dog. Rather be sensible and keep your baby out of his way for both their sakes. Again I agree with PK I would not let a dog go to a home with a child under the age of 7 years when they are old enough to treat a dog with respect.

Hey Brittany,

I just came across an article in The Whole Dog Journal about getting your dog ready to deal with a baby – this article mentions a company Family Paws Parent Education in Cary, NC which has a program, “Dogs and Toddlers” which is available to families through a worldwide network of more than 200 licensed presenters.  Jennifer Shryock developed this program in response to a huge number of families that wanted to surrender a dog after an incident (bite) had already occurred with a child in the home.  This program takes an in-depth look at helping the family dog successfully live with kids (and since he has been living with the 2 boys successfully I don’t think you have a big leap to hurdle!).

I can’t encourage you enough to give a trainer a try – they can help you design a training plan to keep everyone safe, while minimizing the dog’s anxiety.

One of the techniques recommended in the article is to teach your dog to be calm and happy in a room that is gated away from where the baby has access.  This works best if it is a room where the dog can see your family.  For example gate the kitchen so the dog can be in there with you while you cook and he can peek out and see the living room or family room.  Since it is dangerous for babies to be in the kitchen anyway (hot food or knives falling, reaching for pot handles…!) it makes sense to let the dog be in there, but not the baby.  The older boy can let himself through the baby gate to interact with the dog but the younger children are kept safely away in an area where they can be overseen but not touching the dog.

Ways to keep the dog happy in this space is to interact with him there, and when you are not interacting give him toys and chews to work on.  A Kong stuffed full of goodness and then frozen will keep him content for hours.  A trainer can help you with this!

I am just so worried for this sweet little guy!  My best wish for him is that he stay in the home he has known his whole life, with the people he loves.  But if that is out of the question I wish I could come scoop him up!

Thank you again for this information! I am full-heartedly trying to convince my husband that we can help our dog and keep him at the same time. He has had no prior aggressive behavior towards anyone in the family or anyone I bring into the home (the only aggression he has ever showed is to strangers when he is outside in the fenced yard – but I just think this is because he is very protective of his territory)…. I really do appreciate your opinions, help AND suggestions (rather than just being told I am at fault for everything).

Hello Carrie, there is obviously something very wrong with your dog. We can’t tell you what but he needs to see a Vet urgently.

It could possibly be a toxin or poison the way it started on his face and has spread….though it could be something else entirely. 

You need to take him to a Vet urgently. Someone on here mentioned Care Credit perhaps you could try them…but this is an emergency it seems your dog is getting worse and needs urgent treatment. 

Hello Britanny…..have you vaccinated your dogs yourself? I believe you can do that in the States I’m in the UK and we can only have their shots at the Vet here….and theres always 2 injections not just one.

I’m so sorry to hear you have lost 2 of your 3 dogs to Parvo….., its a dreadful disease I know. You would be doing the right thing surrendering the puppy to a shelter. If he can be helped they would do that. You need to have a look in the phone book for Shelters in your area, give them a ring and see what they say. I only wish you could take this puppy to a Vet yourself and save him…at least you would have one dog left to love and receive it in return. Perhaps it may be worth phoning Vets too and ask if they could help you? Please do try, its very sad to think you will lose them all.

However if you do surrender this puppy to a shelter please please don’t get another puppy until you can afford to get its shots at a Vet and have enough funds for its future health care. 

I wish you good luck and thank you for putting your puppy first. 

I have 4 dogs and I keep them separated when not at home. It hasn’t changed the way they act towards each other when I am home. Pets in some ways are like people and like time to themselves. In my experience my pets don’t seem to mind having a little alone time. And it does prevent the more aggressive ones from bullying the others when I can’t supervise.

Hello,
It sounds like a trip to your vet for an exam is in order. Lumps and other issues should be checked out by a vet. It is impossible to know for certain if lumps are skin related or from fighting without seeing your dog and knowing it’s history. If you can ask the previous owner about what is going on.
~good luck!
~kelly

Hi Angel, you need to take her to the Vet urgently! 

Never mind starve her, keep her away from water….this is a 3 month old puppy who has just lost her sibling from an unknown illness. Plus shes been here there and everywhere, fed different foods (why didn’t you get her food to send with her?)  and could have picked up any infection going. …now shes got diahrrea and is vomiting?

Why aren’t you at the Vet already?! 

Oh I see…..apologies to you Angel, you should have made it clear this wasn’t your puppy. Well I hope your friend takes her to the Vet urgently or she could easily lose her like her sibling.

The vet told them not to feed her anything or to give her any water what you

I don’t want to speak out of turn here Angel…but doesn’t your friend realise how serious this is? This pup could still have Parvo even though shes had her shots. Her sibling died…..this puppy is very ill and needs to see a Vet urgently. I don’t understand why people get dogs and then risk their lives…it astounds me

No need for the abuse. You asked for advice on here. You got it.

EXACTLY I don’t see how people like you are allowed around animals at all. My dogs would all bite you if they met someone so rude and judgemental

And Cleopatra has been to the vet test came back negative for canine distemper, adenovovirus type two, parainfluenza, and the parvovirus that is why we tried searching online to see what could be wrong. Before you assume we don’t take care of our animals.

Hmm i’m blocked really this lady shouldn’t have stuck her nose into my business nice try though you wanna block somebody then block the one that wants to start the attitudes and sarcasm crap BY THE WAY MY DOG IS FINE SO DON’T RUN YOUR MOUTH WHERE IT AIN’T WANTED PEACE OUT

I hope your on the way to your vet