On 9/8/06 00:52, in article
, "Evan"
wrote:

Sacha wrote:
A lot of dog behaviourists advise
getting dogs *after* the baby is born because then the dog learns its place
in the pecking order naturally. I would suggest re-homing the dog might be
a better solution for all of you. To go from a house dog always living
inside to an unwanted source of hair and faeces can't be a happy experience
for the dog or for you.


Rehoming the dog is an ungoing consideration.

The dog loves the kids. She pooed on my one boy while he slept in bed
because she wasn't well and it's the only part of the bedroom she
wasn't allowed to be. Thus it saved her soiling her own doggy bed and
surrounding area. It was perfectly reasonable behaviour considering she
had to "go" really bad. I don't believe she did it out of malice.


Dogs don't think in terms of malice, really, anyway. They do think in terms
of pecking order, though and at the top of the heap has to be you and your
spouse, then your child/children and then the dog. Most dogs won't mess
their own beds for obvious reasons but I have certainly known a dog (not
mine, thank goodness!) that would deliberately pee on the bed that a teenage
visitor to his house slept in - whichever bed that was. In the case of your
dog, it doesn't sound as if she was trying to harm your child but I imagine
she *could* have pooped on the carpet round his bed, rather than on it!
It's possible that being so close to the 'rival' child brought on her attack
of diarrhoea through stress, too.
Watching doggie behaviour is really very interesting and we're observing it
in our own household because we have a 5 yo grand daughter who visits
frequently. The dogs are more than well aware that she is ahead of them in
the 'pack' because she is an assertive type and isn't frightened of dogs
anyway. The two Jack Russells are litter brothers and castrated and we get
some very bloody Jack Russell moments occasionally as they try to assert
themselves, usually resolved by buckets of water and a lot of cursing from
whoever is trying to separate them! We also have a wire-haired dachshund
who is entire and one can observe that he is slowly moving to the top of the
pack by the fact that he is now the one that goes through the door second
and that he is still submissive to one of the JRs but not so much to the
other.
However, we've now gone waaaay OT for urg so let's return to your hedgehogs.
Don't, please, don't, try to force them out of your garden because of your
domestic situation with the dog. Not only are they delightful creatures in
their own right, they are real friends to gardeners AND their habitat is
sparse and undergoing constant change or even demolition! They do need to
find homes in which to raise their own babies so think of yourselves as
kindred spirits and find a new home for the dog or a place she can safely
sleep at night. Winter will be here in a few short months and a housedog
cannot kindly be left outside all night.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(email address on website)