I'm in a bit of a pickle, and quite frankly very upset. We have two dogs who are basically Baby 1 and Baby 2 and then there's our child, Baby 3. Baby 1 and Baby 2 where pretty great until Baby 3 came along...now they have something to hate. Buddy and Jessie were really good with Connor when he was little, but now that he is growing and is twice their size, I think they are intimidated. I should also mention that Connor likes to hit, slap, pull hair, steal dog bones and play with their dog food, so they are intimidated for good reason. Therefor, when he does the nice things like kiss them, hug them and pet them, the dogs are defensive. They have recently started growling and gnarling, showing teeth and sometimes go so far as to snap at Connor. They've never actually bit him, but my gut tells me that isn't far off. They don't seem to have any tolerance for him anymore and this scares me. It's actually gotten to the point where I never feel at ease anymore. It's exhausting. Every time Connor goes near them, I cringe. I could never forgive myself if it they bit him.

I was so upset about a gnarl today, that I spent some time Internet researching to see what other conclusions other people in my same situation have come up with. It nearly brought me tears. I came across a chat site about aggressive dogs. A lady was having basically the exact same problem as us...toddler, two dogs, aggression, fear of something worse happening. These answers given by other readers basically sums up all of the other comments on the page;

-"Keep the dog away from your child! You owe it to your child and your dog to keep your child safe. If you want to follow your heart, you should consider how you will feel if/when your child is bitten. Anyone who has ever seen a child bitten (often in the face or neck) will advise you to take no chances."

-"what's more important, the dog or the baby? find the dog a nice new home before something awful happens. "

-"I have to urge you to think of your children. I know what you're going through, as we also had a dog that growled and snapped, and was aggressive with other dogs. In many ways, he was a marvelous dog, and at first, he was OK with the kids, but as he got older, and crankier, and they got more rambunctious, it was an accident waiting to happen. And it did. My five year old crawled past him in a narrow hallway, with my 20 month old behind, and I don't know if he was sleeping, or guarding a ball or what, but he snapped at him and nicked him below the eye. I knew in that instant I would have to put him down, and that it was overdue. Every time I see that tiny scar on my child's face, I think of what I risked. "

The thing is, all of our options suck!!!

1) Get a dog trainer in here to fix the situation...would cost us a fortune

2) Never leave the dogs alone in a room with Connor...pretty tough and not to mention alot of extra work on my part. I don't have time to bring the dogs (or Connor for that matter) into every room I go into through the run of a day.

3) Keep the dogs and Connor separated at all times...that would mean keeping them separated from Mike and I too. What a great life that would be for the dogs.

4) Find a new home for the dogs...heart breaking.

I don't know what to do. Just the realization that our situation is not working... something has to change. I love those dogs so much, but since I've had Connor they've dropped pretty low on the totem pole. Their not my babies anymore. They may be my beloved pets, but Connor is my son and it is my job to protect him and keep him safe. Mike doesn't worry about it like I do. If they growl at Connor while Mike is around, he'll punish them, but he doesn't seem to think past the moment. I think he just hopes that it will eventually fix itself. What if it doesn't? Does Connor have to get hurt before we take action?