I never, EVER, thought it would come to this, but I am considering rehoming my Shiba Inu. If you can help us out with some advice to hopefully avoid the issue, please, I would love to hear it.
Our Shiba Inu is 5 years old. He is a wonderful dog. We got him at 9 weeks old and he was our baby. When he was 1, our first child was born. They were great together. We walked all the time with the baby in the sling.
The problem is now that our son is much older, nearly 4 years old. He is autistic, and moderate to severe. He does not speak, he screeches and wails, constantly (I'm sure you can picture what I mean).
My dog is just not adjusting to this. It has been almost 2 years since this behaviour has started. He is constantly upset, cowers, shakes, his tail tucks under, he tries to get outside asap. He's always sad. This dog is never happy anymore, except on his walks (which he still gets). The walks are another problem - he can get them during the weekend just fine, but I need to bring out son during the week. And the dog absolutely hates it. My discipline voice terrifies the dog, but there is no way I can do it without a certain tone of voice.
We've had another boy since then (he's 1) and him and the dog are great together. He's great with other kids that are "normal".
I cannot "fix" my autistic son's behaviour. This isn't a case of a bratty kid - they do not hurt the dog, tease, pull him. They love him. I feel bad for Simba, but I don't know what to do.
He will be started special-ed school in September, should I just wait it out and see if the "break" from him helps a lot? I will still be at home with the other baby but the older child will not be.
