Dog bite: concerning behavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yikes, tough situation.

I'm a long time dog owner, involved with rescue/rehab, showed, etc. The fact she bit you on the face - multiple times and drew blood- concerns me a lot. I will say, that one of the cardinal rules of dog ownership is never get your face near the dog because they can interpret that as a threat - that being said, most normal dogs don't act on it the way your dog did. Usually they will hang their head and pull their ears back in a submissive gesture.

This is one of those times when euthanasia would be entirely appropriate, the other option would be to get an appointment with your vet to talk about medication. Biting is really a one strike you're out thing (unless truly provoked, but it doesn't sound like that is what happened). I am not an advocate for medicating as the easy way out, but in certain instances it is necessary. I have a totally messed up rescued Westie with awful anxiety issues (would bite at DH's legs) and Prozac has been a huge help getting that issue under control. Talk to your vet, see what they have to say.

Op here. Thank you so much for your response. I neglected to mention (because I actually forgot until you mentioned it) that our dog was on Prozac while in the shelter but the adoption folks said it was ok to wean her off because the meds were due to her proximity to other dogs, which is what we did years ago. I’ll speak to the vet as a first step in handling this issue. Thanks again for your perspective.

Quoted PP and you're welcome. Your vet will probably tell you this, but - if you try the medication route, it will take time to get into her system and for you to notice a change, and you may have to adjust dosage or type of medication, etc. It's been a work in progress for us - with continued talks with our vet. We actually started with Trazodone because we were remodeling a kitchen and she has a fear of strange men (she's a mill seizure dog, food/abuse/anxiety issues), and after that was over our vet took her down to Prozac which has really mellowed her out. I mean, the trazodone was awesome, but she was a zombie for about 8 weeks, with the prozac she is is there, just not cray cray.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who are talking euthanasia are crazy. You knew the dog had aggression issues, if only towards other dogs, but he still has some aggression issues. If you knew you wanted kids, you should not have adopted that dog. It doesn’t mean the dog is bad by nature, but he’s probably not a good fit with a family. If you really want kids, consider finding him a home with adults only. If you want to keep him, contact the vet and a trainer.

Yeah, this is OP, we adopted the dog knowing she had dog aggression, so I’m not going to put her down for this. I’m just frustrated because we thought she’d calm down with age and this has sort of reset the clock. We will probably wait until she passes to start a family now. I guess the point of my post was more to ask whether people thought the attack was in-line with the dog aggressive behavior or new people-aggressive behavior (given that I was arguably “acting like a dog” when she attacked, but she knew it was me). Anyway, no worries, she’s not going to be euthanized.

[Anonymous]

If she knew it was you and she didn’t sneak up on you, I would be very concerned. Definitely don’t bring children into your household but also just generally be careful. I am worried for you that she bit your face (truly- it could be so much worse next time).

[Anonymous]

You cannot have a baby/child anywhere near this animal, but surely you already know this. I would not keep a dog that I can’t trust not to attack me but the notion that you would even consider putting helpless baby near a vicious dog is insane and a recipe for disaster.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am not a dog expert. But I am a mom to a 10yo boy who still has a scar on his cheek from a dog bite that he got when he was 2.

The dog who bit my child was friendly, well-known to us (belonged to extended family, we'd known the dog for years), no history of aggression to people. But he was not well socialized to other dogs and had a tendency to react to stranger dogs, barking and lunging. He'd never actually attacked another dog; his owners were good at keeping him away from any opportunities.

The dog was also starting to lose his eyesight. And so when he was standing on the sidewalk, on a leash at his owner's side while we chatted, and heard a dog barking across the street, he reacted quickly and violently by lashing out at the first living thing near him. Which happened to be my toddler, who of course was the perfect height to be face-to-face with the him. It took 12 stitches at the ER to sew his cheek back up.

We are incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse, that he didn't hit an eye or anything unrepairable. I'm very thankful that he only bit once, and then turned tail and tried to run - it was not a prolonged attack. I'm thankful that DC was young enough that he doesn't really remember it. He knows the story because he's asked us about the scar, but he (mercifully) has no memory of the blood-soaked, screaming car ride to the ER or being held down for the doctor to give a local anesthesia so they could stitch him up.

You know this dog has the potential to do the same, or worse. Please do not ever let this dog be around children. Don't put yourself or another parent through what DH and I went through 8 years ago. I don't know if the answer is medication, euthanasia, or rehoming - like I said, I'm not a dog expert - but I know you have to keep him away from children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am not a dog expert. But I am a mom to a 10yo boy who still has a scar on his cheek from a dog bite that he got when he was 2.

The dog who bit my child was friendly, well-known to us (belonged to extended family, we'd known the dog for years), no history of aggression to people. But he was not well socialized to other dogs and had a tendency to react to stranger dogs, barking and lunging. He'd never actually attacked another dog; his owners were good at keeping him away from any opportunities.

The dog was also starting to lose his eyesight. And so when he was standing on the sidewalk, on a leash at his owner's side while we chatted, and heard a dog barking across the street, he reacted quickly and violently by lashing out at the first living thing near him. Which happened to be my toddler, who of course was the perfect height to be face-to-face with the him. It took 12 stitches at the ER to sew his cheek back up.

We are incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse, that he didn't hit an eye or anything unrepairable. I'm very thankful that he only bit once, and then turned tail and tried to run - it was not a prolonged attack. I'm thankful that DC was young enough that he doesn't really remember it. He knows the story because he's asked us about the scar, but he (mercifully) has no memory of the blood-soaked, screaming car ride to the ER or being held down for the doctor to give a local anesthesia so they could stitch him up.

You know this dog has the potential to do the same, or worse. Please do not ever let this dog be around children. Don't put yourself or another parent through what DH and I went through 8 years ago. I don't know if the answer is medication, euthanasia, or rehoming - like I said, I'm not a dog expert - but I know you have to keep him away from children.

OP here.. thank you for sharing your perspective, and I’m very sorry about what happened to your son!! Strangely, both my husband and I were bit by our own dogs as children (though mine was a corgi who bit my nose and didn’t do damage, but my husband has a huge scar on his cheek from being attacked by a German shepherd who pinned him to the ground). It’s very scary stuff and rest assured that we won’t be ignorant and bring others’ kids (nor likely our own) around our dog now that she’s bitten me. Thanks again for sharing your story xo

[Anonymous]

You cannot have this dog and a child at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You cannot have this dog and a child at the same time.

unless you want the dog to mistake the baby for a snack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who are talking euthanasia are crazy. You knew the dog had aggression issues, if only towards other dogs, but he still has some aggression issues. If you knew you wanted kids, you should not have adopted that dog. It doesn’t mean the dog is bad by nature, but he’s probably not a
good fit with a family. If you really want kids, consider finding him a home with adults only. If you want to keep him, contact the vet and a trainer.

Good luck trying to find someone to adopt a dog with a bite history. It’s frankly irresponsible to do so. And rescues will not touch such dogs with a 10-foot pole due to liability issues.

[Anonymous]

Most dogs will bite when provoked. This was an unusual interaction with the dog, sniffing the dog’s back. The dog was scared by this behavior. Don’t put your face so close to the dog’s face and it’ll probably be fine in the future. If you have kids, you will just have to watch them all the time with the dog and don’t let them get too close to the dog either. But this would be good advice for handling any dog with small children.

[Anonymous]

I’m very confused by this. The high-pitched bark would indicate to me that you did something to cause the dog pain. I would take the dog immediately to the vet to see if there is some sort of physical problem first. Barring that, I am very concerned that the dog did not growl or give you a warning that it was unhappy with your touch. It went straight from aggravating factor to drawing blood, and if there isn’t a physical problem I would not put that dog in a hole with children.

[Anonymous]

The high-pitched bark is a warning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am not a dog expert. But I am a mom to a 10yo boy who still has a scar on his cheek from a dog bite that he got when he was 2.

The dog who bit my child was friendly, well-known to us (belonged to extended family, we'd known the dog for years), no history of aggression to people. But he was not well socialized to other dogs and had a tendency to react to stranger dogs, barking and lunging. He'd never actually attacked another dog; his owners were good at keeping him away from any opportunities.

The dog was also starting to lose his eyesight. And so when he was standing on the sidewalk, on a leash at his owner's side while we chatted, and heard a dog barking across the street, he reacted quickly and violently by lashing out at the first living thing near him. Which happened to be my toddler, who of course was the perfect height to be face-to-face with the him. It took 12 stitches at the ER to sew his cheek back up.

We are incredibly lucky that it wasn't worse, that he didn't hit an eye or anything unrepairable. I'm very thankful that he only bit once, and then turned tail and tried to run - it was not a prolonged attack. I'm thankful that DC was young enough that he doesn't really remember it. He knows the story because he's asked us about the scar, but he (mercifully) has no memory of the blood-soaked, screaming car ride to the ER or being held down for the doctor to give a local anesthesia so they could stitch him up.

You know this dog has the potential to do the same, or worse. Please do not ever let this dog be around children. Don't put yourself or another parent through what DH and I went through 8 years ago. I don't know if the answer is medication, euthanasia, or rehoming - like I said, I'm not a dog expert - but I know you have to keep him away from children.

I’m so sorry this happened to you, that sounds terrifying. I’m also doubly sorry because I know how many insane dog people are quick to blame a child for “provoking” an attack. I hope that didn’t happen in your case. I agree OP should put this dog down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In a way I think you set your dog up to fail because I assume she didn’t know you were right there? Or did she know and bite you anyway. Anyway, huge dog lover here who has taught my kid how to behave around dogs, and I would NOT want your dog around children. I think the kindest thing you can do is put it to sleep.

Unfortunately, she was 100% aware that it was me. She was watching me sniff the air around the room and had a bewildered look on her face the whole time. I probably should have taken that as a sign not to invade her space. Thanks for weighing in.

This dog should not be put to sleep. OP, you've got your answer right here. When your dog is staring at you with a strange look, that is a warning not to approach her. The high-pitched yelp means she was scared and possibly in pain. Take to vet to rule out pain, work with trainer on reading dog's body language.

[Anonymous]

OP, we raise and train German Shepherd Dogs. We have three right now. One is a rescue with some behavioral problems. You cannot ever allow that dog near a child. Ever. You have a tough choice to make in terms of deciding what to do with the dog. But there is no choice when it comes to having children in the home with that dog. Absolutely never.

I would probably rehome the dog accepting the reality that he may have to be euthanized.