Has your dog ever bitten anyone

[Anonymous]

I don’t know about where you live, OP, it here in Montgomery County if a dog bites a person like that, that dog is deemed “potentially dangerous” and subject to much more stringent housing and leash control rules. If the dog does it again, the dog is taken from the owner and euthanized.

So it’s been reported. It may bring consequences to the owner, at least, if not the dog.

[Anonymous]

My dog has bitten me. It's always been when we were playing and she instantly realized she'd gone too far, and felt bad about it.

[Anonymous]

You should get a lawyer to help you get your medical bills covered. Most dog bite lawyers will do this on a commission basis so you pay nothing up front. This guy is never going to pay you, so what do you have to lose by at least talking to a few lawyers for free? They are skilled in dealing with insurance. Most dog owners are fine, some are awful. Glad you at least reported it. Your son will likely have life long fear of dogs and you might want to look into getting counseling bills paid for too.

[Anonymous]

Oh and a lawsuit is not over the top, despite your first comment. But what they will likely do is just deal with insurance for you. It's kind of sad you are not advocating for your son's medical bills, potential scar removal, and mental health because you don't want to talk to a lawyer to deal with someone you don't even know. this is exactly what lawyers are for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dog has bitten me. It's always been when we were playing and she instantly realized she'd gone too far, and felt bad about it.

She needs to be better trained, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was your son on public property when it happened? Was the dog loose, escaped from a fence, or what? we need more details.

That really does not matter.

This was an attack from the back on a child.

Dog should be put down.

DP here. It *absolutely, positively* matters from a legal standpoint. Did your son trespass onto someone's private property, where the dog was contained, OP? We need more details.

OP provided details up thread. Son was running on the sidewalk across the street from where the dog lived. Owner's 20 year old son was walking the dog WITHOUT a leash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our dog bit a stranger that reached down suddenly to pet him. We put our dog down even though he was up to date on shots and we felt he was provoked in the situation.

Disgusting. Your poor dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our dog bit a stranger that reached down suddenly to pet him. We put our dog down even though he was up to date on shots and we felt he was provoked in the situation.

Disgusting. Your poor dog.

And yet most posters here would probably support the dog in this situation being put down. Can’t win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go after this owner, OP. Next time that dog will kill someone.

That is quite a dramatic response!

It's not dramatic. These types of dogs can very easily kill someone. And the dog bit him, and then lunged again. That's not a playful bite, it's an attack that could have gone out of control very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go after this owner, OP. Next time that dog will kill someone.

That is quite a dramatic response!

It's not dramatic. These types of dogs can very easily kill someone. And the dog bit him, and then lunged again. That's not a playful bite, it's an attack that could have gone out of control very quickly.

+1 this is a very aggressive dog in the possession of dumb@$$es who don’t care about controlling it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our dog bit a stranger that reached down suddenly to pet him. We put our dog down even though he was up to date on shots and we felt he was provoked in the situation.

A little bit extreme don't you think, unless the dog bit the persons arm off? If someone reached down suddenly and you yourself feel that the dog was provoked, why kill the dog? Whenever I meet someone that I know with their dog I always ask first if it's OK for me to pet the dog. And if they say it's OK, I slowly put out my hand and let the dog sniff it first before stroking it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was bitten by a German Shepard while running (he’s 12, running with his sports team, they had gotten spread out but there was a witness behind him). A long story but the dog was identified and his vaccinations not up to date. Bites were in arm and upper back thigh and are healing fine but definitely a lot of stress as we had to identify dog, medicine to prevent infection, consultation about necessity of rabies vaccine, etc etc).

We spoke to owner who expressed concern about our son but hasn’t apologized or really acknowledged fault that dog was out of control and vaccinations not up to date. He also sent a follow up text message to my husband which was pretty incomprehensible but seemed to imply that our son wasn’t telling us the full story of how the bite happened (although there was another kid running behind my son who corroborated his story plus he’s told the story 7-8 times to school, police and medical professionals without variation, plus he has absolutely no reason to lie bc even if he was trying to pet the dog or anything we wouldn’t have gotten upset with him and he loves dogs and certainly would not have been harassing it or anything even if he had the time - which he didn’t bc he was trying to get back to school bc it was a timed run).

I guess my question is for dog owners, how would you react in this situation? We certainly don’t want to sue and my son is fine, but I am pretty angry that there isn’t more remorse and that now the owner is trying to shift blame. Am I wrong in thinking / wanting a different response? I also feel some sort of obligation to figure out a repercussion for the owner so they are incentivized to take steps for this not to happen to another kid.

Input or comments? Is there anything that we can / should be doing that isn’t over the top like a lawsuit?

This is a MAJOR event. Hire a personal injury lawyer and file a claim and possibly lawsuit. Call animal control and file a report. You don't care about offending anyone. Your son could have been killed.

I was attacked, and received a small settlement for my pain and suffering that will NEVER be enough to touch the damage. The dog was "taken away" (whatever that menas... put to sleep hopefully). The trauma of a dog attack does not go away, but it is possible put it out of mind and carryon with life.

I shudder to think what could have happened to your child.

good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our dog bit a stranger that reached down suddenly to pet him. We put our dog down even though he was up to date on shots and we felt he was provoked in the situation.

A little bit extreme don't you think, unless the dog bit the persons arm off? If someone reached down suddenly and you yourself feel that the dog was provoked, why kill the dog? Whenever I meet someone that I know with their dog I always ask first if it's OK for me to pet the dog. And if they say it's OK, I slowly put out my hand and let the dog sniff it first before stroking it.

No, not extreme. A dog who harms a person should be put down. Unless you feel dogs are more important than people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go after this owner, OP. Next time that dog will kill someone.

That is quite a dramatic response!

It's not dramatic. These types of dogs can very easily kill someone. And the dog bit him, and then lunged again. That's not a playful bite, it's an attack that could have gone out of control very quickly.

Why risk anything less than pursuing this to the full extent of the law, and your conscience. Protect other yet unharmed people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our dog bit a stranger that reached down suddenly to pet him. We put our dog down even though he was up to date on shots and we felt he was provoked in the situation.

A little bit extreme don't you think, unless the dog bit the persons arm off? If someone reached down suddenly and you yourself feel that the dog was provoked, why kill the dog? Whenever I meet someone that I know with their dog I always ask first if it's OK for me to pet the dog. And if they say it's OK, I slowly put out my hand and let the dog sniff it first before stroking it.

No, not extreme. A dog who harms a person should be put down. Unless you feel dogs are more important than people.

No, I absolutely do not feel that dogs are more important than people. As a matter of fact, I feel that the majority of pet owners spend too much money on Vet bills and treat their animals too much like people, which they are not. However, the person said that the stranger reached down suddenly and they felt that the dog was provoked. But it's the dog that was killed for doing what comes naturally to dogs. If the dog had run after some kid and bit him, I could see putting it down but not from the information given in this particular case.