Shelter:

Question
Hello,
We just adopted a mix breed under one year old female.
She was ok the first day, now when we feed her she growls.
When my child goes just near her, she lifts her lip to bite?
We are so disappointed to have to return her, she was so friendly and child tested?  Makes me wonder if they truly are tested, but she appeared so sweet with us all there.
Any suggestions, Thanks.

Answer
Hi Amia;
Yes, they are really child tested, but there is always a chance that other circunstances cannot be obvious in a short time.
The growling at her food bowl is of course protection of the food source, some dogs that were starved need more time and work to get them over this, and the work should not be don with a child present if the dog threatens to bite.
An adult can decide if they want to risk a bite to work with a dog, but this decision should not be made for a child. You are concerned for your child, as well you should be.
It could well be the children that were around this dog while it was being tested was used to dogs and very well schooled in how to handle and play with a dog.
If our child is new or fairly new to handling dogs, and is not old enough to get a good firm grip when they handle a dog, without sqweezing the dog, then the dog may be reacting to feared abuse. When we took out little sheltie, he had been treated very badly by children in the home he came out of, and he did not want children near him, he was afraid of them. Had he been more aggressive in nature, I am sure he would have growled and maybe nipped. He just ran and hid.
You never know what abuses the little thing went through.
I know you are disappointed, but if the dog is really threatening your child, I would advise returning the dog, and trying with another one. Talk to the rescue group you got it from. If you got it from a city pound, unless they are the exception at that shelter, the dog was not really tested.
Don't return the dog to the shelter, if it is a city pound, unless it is a no-kill shelter. They will put it down. someone could make a good pet out of this dog.
All my grandchildren would talk to Laddie (the sheltie) and try to win him over, and coax him to them, but it took a 3 year old.  He is sort of a reincarnated dog type like his dad and granny. He would sit on the floor across the room from the dog, and talk to him. The baby couldn't even talk really plain, but that dog undestood his heart, and started coming over to him to get petted. Now he runs to all the kids when they come over, and he romps and plays with them all, or any other child he can get to play with him.
For this kind of scared little animal, it takes a sort of soul mate person to reach them, and get them over their fears.
You know, it kind of sounds like maybe the dog had some really hungry times, or the people who had him before used taking away his food for punishment, or maybe just meaness, some people are so cruel to animals.
You hate to give up on the dog, but you sure don't want to risk a mauled child.
This is really a problem. Very hard to advise without actually seeing the way the dog acts.
When the dog lifts it's lip, look at it's back, by the shoulders. Are the hackles (hairs on the shoulder) standing up?
If so, I would not mess around with this. Hackles up mean business.
If the hackles are not up, that doesn't maen the dog won't go ahead and bite if it feels provoked, but if the hackles are up, a false move and it is going to sink it's teeth into whoever provokes it.
Unless it is an Irish Setter.
If it is, and it curls it's lips, moves it's mouth nd makes a rowling, kind of threatenig, but not like a real growl, and the hackles are not up, it may be talking.
I have had a couple of these dogs, and known several breeders of Irish Setters, and they all think they can talk.
My dog talked to my mother, and scared her to death. she said "Charlotte your dog is trying to bite me" and this insulted Bonnie no end.LOL She was just talking and trying to be friendly.
I don't know what the people you got your dog from call child testing. I work with several rescue groups as well as the Humane society here, and we take the dogs into out home and keep them for from one week to several, untill we find adoptive homes for them. We expose then to other dogs, strangers, children, and even cats. Most of us have animals that are our own and these dogs interact with them. We see what the dogs' personalities really are, and what they like and do not like, any behavior problems they have.
The city pound has the animals there, you go in and pay a small fee, get the dog and have a certain amount of time to get the rabies shots etc. They do not take any pains to test the dogs for personality problems or much else.
The rescue people go to the pounds and get animals from there when we have space for more, to save their lives, and put them where they can be observed so we can find a good permanent home for them.We keep them long enough, and watch them closely enough to really get to know the dog, and what can be expected of it.
If your child is very young, or does not know how to ease a dog into acceptance of them, then the dog might feel threatened by actions it misunderstands.
You could keep the dog, and work with it, if you have experience doing this, and make sure all the time your child is with the dog is supervised, for the protection of your child, or take it to a rescue group, and see if they will take it, and let you take a dog that has been acclimated to a family.The shelters I work with will do this if the people meet out criteria for adoptive families.
Good luck. I wish I could help more, but without being able to observe the dog, I cannot tell you why it is behaving this way.
Charlotte