Reply to Dog bite: concerning behavior?

Forum Index » Pets

Reply to "Dog bite: concerning behavior?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

Thank you for the sympathies, and also thanks to OP for the earlier response.  In our case, no, the dog owners were horrified at what had happened - truly shocked at what their dog had done, but in no way blamed the child.  They were actually wracked with guilt and seriously considered putting the dog down; after long conversations with us and with their vet, they decided to let the dog live out its natural life, but in a VERY restricted environment.  That dog didn't come within 50 feet of anyone other than the dog-parents ever, for the rest of its life.  If we went to their house, the dog was crated in a closed room half an hour before we arrived.

My point here is that even the least frightening dogs can be unpredictable, and when a dog is known to have aggressive tendencies, bad things can happen FAST.  There was truly only a split second from the dog sitting calmly at its owner's side to hearing the other dog and then lunging.  No warning whatsoever.  Now that OP knows her dog has these tendencies, you literally have to assume that anything could set it off at any second, no matter how long it has been since the last incident.

Good luck, OP.  I know this is not what you had in mind when you adopted the dog.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics