Can anyone offer any advice about my dog's behaviour towards our little girl?

[~Jilly~]

It's a while since I've been on the forum but we used to come on quite a bit.

We have a blue roan called Bella who is just over 3 years old. We also now have a little girl who is just over 1.

Our little girl, Lissy, is walking now so more inclined to follow or approach Bella. We are trying to teach her not to bother her when she's laying quietly but it is a bit like climbing mount everest!

Bella is understandably getting fed up of it sometimes but her reaction seems strange and we're just not sure how best to deal with the situation.

She keeps growling at her which has now progressed to barking but a lot of the time she does this Lissy isn't even touching or near her. But, when Lissy doesn't go to Bella, Bella goes to her and winds her up kicking off the cycle again. She also licks her a lot, even when growling.

Yesterday, Lissy was just playing on the floor about 2 metres away from Bella, she wasn't approaching her or even looking at her. Bella just ran towards her, it scared me but Bella got to Lissy before I could. She looked like she was going for her, she was growling. When she got to Lissy she just licked her face like a mad thing.

Anyone got any ideas about what's going on here? Or how best to deal with it?

I want to do right by both of them but I'm not sure what that is right now and any attempts to deal with it seem to backfire or give the wrong message (i.e. we've set up a quiet corner in the hall for Bella with her blanket but I guess she feels pushed out maybe? she doesn't go out there and wants to stay by me).

[spanielcrazy]

Without seeing the body language involved it's hard to say what is going on. It ssounds like Bella maybe views your daughter as a toy, or perhaps she has conflicting feelings about the baby.

I think it is best when there are very small children involved to get a qualified behaviourist to come in for a 1-2-1 with your family, who can come and view Bella and the baby together, interperet what is going on and give you some constructive advice 

[~Jilly~]

Ok, thank you, that sounds like a good idea. Do you know how I would go about finding someone?

With my limited knowledge I would say her body language is 'friendly', tail wagging etc. In fact, when I think about it, the only part of it that concerns me is the growling. If the growling wasn't there, I would say it's generally just being friendly, cuddling up, licking etc like she does with us.

[joanne_v]

Ok, thank you, that sounds like a good idea. Do you know how I would go about finding someone?

Try www.apdt.co.uk for a good behaviourist, preferably one knowledgable about spaniels. Its impossible to make a diagnosis without seeing the behaviour. The growling could be warning noises or play. If it is a warning then the barking could be an escalation of that but still restrained 'aggression'. The licking could again be playing or could be an appeasement gesture. So hard to tell!

Keep us updated 

[Cob-Web]

I would also recommend a one-to-one assessment; there is clearly something bothering Bella from your description of her behaviour   

In the meant time, I would ensure you are within arms-length supervision when they are interacting, and avoid allowing Lissy to play on the floor if Bella is in the same room    If that means using a gate to separate them until this issue is sorted out, then I think it might be best, as Bella may well get fed up with not being understood and escalate her behaviour to make her point; hopefully a behaviourist will help you work out what it is 

[KatieJean]

We had a cocker who used to 'talk' to our grandchildren. To outsiders it sounded like growling, is she definately growling or just making a lot of noise.

[~Jilly~]

Thank you all for your advice and for the link to that site. I will look into local one to one trainers.

We do have the means to seperate them but I'm a little concerned about the message that is giving to Bella as she is the one who ends up shut out/away from the rest of us. I can't shut the baby out so it ends up being Bella and I'm guessing that is telling her that Lissy being here means she is pushed out?

[Cob-Web]

We do have the means to seperate them but I'm a little concerned about the message that is giving to Bella as she is the one who ends up shut out/away from the rest of us. I can't shut the baby out so it ends up being Bella and I'm guessing that is telling her that Lissy being here means she is pushed out?

Not if she is given quality time as well; dogs don't think like us, thank goodness 
I know it is hard, and I am not suggesting it is as a solution, but until someone experienced has assessed what the problem is and come up with an alternative, it is a big risk not to - incidents can happen really quickly and you said in your OP, Bella suddenly ran and got to Lissy first even though you were close by 

[Tasha]

not the same and by no means is it the same situation but my lovely cocker does similar things to my weimaraner puppies lots of noise and fuss chasing around licking and growling you'd really think they were kicking off but its just her putting them in their place and initiating play on her terms.

Personally I would not be allowing my child to keep bothering my dog as I am responsible for both of them if its easier pop a crate up so that you can keep both out of harms way for short periods of time and teach your littleun doggy manners just as you teach your dog kiddy manners, always gently no pulling of hair both need to know the word NO.

I have two sets of twin nieces and nephews and a niece all under 4 years and they are all slowly being taught to stroke gently and not to fuss the dogs unless someone is there with them, at the same time the puppies (now 16 weeks old so jumping up and into everything) are being taught gently (bite inhibition), not to jump and to lie gently when they are being petted.  Funniest thing is when they were digging in the garden (my mum has a patch for the grandchildren to dig in when she's gardening) and the pups started to help dig the hole then they both suddenly stopped and looked into the hole as if it was the most interesting thing ever! Half a worm later and both puppies and niece were brought in for a proper dinner