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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.