I am fed up with Eric's dog - Page 2

Have you ever seen a child that has been bitten in the face by a dog? I have and its scars for life. Its time for the dog to be out of your home now..before something happens.

Honestly, if a cat posed a danger to my infant, I would look at rehoming it as well.

It's a sad situation yes, but I'm sorry, when it comes between rehoming an animal into a home more suited for it ( a 90lb dog does NOT belong in an apartment + showing aggressiveness) vs risking injury of my child.....well, my flesh and blood will win.

The OP is more than willing to try to train, but what does she do in the meantime to protect her son? Alot of people have given training tips, but the bottom line is, training the dog will take time..... how does she protect her son while she's doing the training that her spouse doesn't seem to want to keep up with?

Ok, I read all the posts, and what seems to me is a typical German Shepherd behavior... They are VERY protective...
IMO, Comet is not being aggressive... On the contrary - she is protecting Jaiden. In her mind, flower could hurt Jaiden. She will try her best to protect her, and that means being close to her on a watch, making sure nothing will hurt Jaiden. She will continue to break whatever is in between her and Jaiden (i.e. baby gates)
This is easy to test - just pretend you are going to slap Jaiden in front of her - she will go into a full on attack mode against you (make sure your husband is holding her!! )
IMO this dog will never hurt your baby, unless it is by shear accident... BUT... an apartment is not a place for a German mix... and to make it worse, cats are not very good to have around either, unless they were brought up together since she was a puppy.
Basically, IMO, this dog chose to be Jaiden's protector, and he will bark, threaten anything that he considers threatening for Jaiden; of course cats included.
I think one way to keep the peace for now is to have either her or the cats around the baby, not the two.
But, I do feel really bad for her... I have seen this protective behavior with germans before, and it is one of the things that make them extremely loyal dogs... She is just doing this out of love, and she doesn't understand why she is being punished, or being kept away from her "beloved master".
Anyway, this is just a different perspective that I thought might help you a little... Comet loves your baby, that's for sure!
(and yes, I would consider re-homing her for her own happiness - an apartment with cats and a baby is not a good environment for her)
Vibes for peace in your home!

What is sad about all of this is that it's not the dogs fault here. It's the fact that Eric has never bothered to train the dog and he is now out of control. If you keep this dog, the burden is on both of you to retrain yourselves first so that you can get Comet under control. It's not going to be hard for you, but I wonder if Eric will seriously do anything about it. If you've tried NLIF and Eric hasn't stuck with it in the past, will he do so in the future? And if Comet is more his dog than yours, then his behavior toward the dog will have the greatest influence on him. Without Eric's full support, you have a lost cause (IMO).

And there is one comment that you made that really struck me. You said something along the lines that Comet should know better. No, Comet only knows what he was taught. If Eric never enforced good behaviors, Comet only knows bad ones.

Anyone that takes dog training to heart has theories on how to best raise a dog. I love NLIF, but also love Jan Fennell's philosophy. My nephew turned around his large fear aggressive dog with her techniques after he saw how he responded to me when I first met him. He usually got aggressive with strangers, and without a word, glance, or touch to his dog, he was licking my hand in submission after 5 minutes. His dog had bitten 2 people and the next bite would have him euthanized.

I wish you a lot of luck with this situation.

I regret my post, It was written in anger.
I agree with everything you said.
Are there fosters that specialize in this sort of thing, re-training an agressive dog, then re-homing them?
I just feel bad for this dog, and really mad at the husband. And, sorry for the OP stuck in the middle of all this.

Good. A lot of people talk about "getting rid" of a dog, and for a large older dog, that almost always means euthanasia. Taking a large, dark colored, rowdy dog to a shelter is pretty much a death sentence, and many people don't quite understand the odds. I think if she could go live with "grandma", that would be ideal.

That is very good news!!

First of all....ERIC NEEDS TO WALK THE DOG!! He needs to wear her out..take her to a dog park or just a long walk. (what kind of dog is this? Depending on the breed, at 7, this could be a geriatric dog). You said the dog doesn't know any better...but then you said but she "should"...I disagree...the OWNERS should know better (and TEACH the dog!)...not trying to be hard on you; you and Eric are a team...you both need to work together on this. He needs to take more responsibility for the dog.
Second, you don't necessarily need a one on one trainer...how about a good obedience CLASS? They usually cost something like $75 for six weeks (an hour a week). Try to go together if possible. Try to avoid a treats-only obedience class. There is nothing wrong with collar correction. You'll be amazed what the dog can learn.
Third--yes, you need to crate this dog at night and ANY time you cannot watch her and the baby (such as baby is playing and you have chores to do).
This is NOT the dog's fault. It is unfortunate when people make poor decisions (wrong breed, wrong home situation, no forethought); this situation is not hopeless however.
Good luck!

I'm glad things are going better for you, Eric and Comet. Maybe that was the wake-up call he needed.

I second the walking. A dog that sized needs at least two 45 minute walks daily. AT LEAST.

This is a disturbing thread...

Cally

yes, lets banish the dog to the outdoors because she wasn't properly trained. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people think dogs should know better. A dog is a dog. She was chasing the cat, not trying to eat the baby. If you feel that she would not be adopted, then have her put to sleep. Don't put her out in the backyard and forget about her. I have 3 dogs, and 10 cats, but I am a dog person. I just have all the cats because fostering cats is easier than fostering dogs. At least the OP has the common sense to know that the dog wasn't inetntionally trying to harm the baby, and that its' her hubbies fault in the first place for providing no training.

Curious on how its going Em?

This is great! The biggest problem with dog training is not sticking to it! Reinforcement will help 1000xs! And I do second the longer walks and more frequent walks. I will send you a PM btw!

Im curious on an update too. I didnt really have anything to say before after reading this the first time. But I agree about the shepard protectiveness. I grew up with 2 shepards and a rottie and each of them all showed their own signs of protectiveness to certain members of the family. But still Comet needs to be trained and if your bf is willing to put forth the effort she can be made into a better trained dog. And also the walks and playtime outside is a good thing these types of dogs need a lot of mental stimulation and are quite destructive and have poor behavior if they dont get the mental stimulation they need...*Yes Im a fanatic of Victoria Stillwell and have watched her show Its Me or the Dog all the time*