Dog that have bitten

Wow! Great article -- I have to start a file to save the training tips!

Very practical advise.

Thanks!

 

Well being a recent victim of a dog bite I have to say it is not always the dogs fault and not always the owners fault. This time it was my fault for being a stranger in the dogs territory and not being familiar with the dogs tendencies. I stuck my face in his face and got a reminder for it.
Should that dog be PTS or re-homed? NO EFFING way!
Should it be trained not to nibble? Maybe.
Should I be more careful? Hell yes! (time for retraining)

I have seen dogs bite children several times and it has always been the child's poor behavior that causes the bite, weather it is from the child pulling ears or hitting the dogs face or chasing the dog with toys and ride in cars. And even one crawling to the dogs feeding area and sticking his face in the dogs face while it was eating (that was the grups fault). Children should always be taught to respect that dogs are animals and dogs can bite, and there are times that you do not approach a dog and things you do not do to a dog. Then the parents need to be taught not to leave a child and an animal in a situation that may progress to a bite. Not just alone because a dog moves much faster than a child or adult when it is going to bite. I have pulled a child's ear once to demonstrate just how good it felt for the dog. Then offered to give the child a hair pull be he declined and agreed it was not so much fun.
I would never let my dogs have a chance to bite a child, just the thought of those massive teeth on young skin makes me cringe, they bruise me often just playing.
People need training just as much as dogs need training.

 

how do I print this topic?

 

OK. Just going to throw my oppinion and 2 cents in here. so take it for what you want.

For what its worth, i've trained, dealt with several rescues, and have owned many diffrent breeds of dogs and other animals. First things first. Dogs bite for a reason.

There may be an underlying health issue, obviously this child should not have been left alone. And its quite obvious the dog was guarding food and oculd have been injured or hurt by the childs tendacies. EIther way, the child got bit, the dog is blamed.
is this fair? No.

For one, I will not, I repeat, WILL NOT allow anyone to adopt a dog nor purchase any of my future dog if they have small children or expecting and are unaware of the dangers and do not know how to properly handle a dog.

First and foremost. Training is the essintial. All children should be involved. Your dog see's you as part of its "pack" and each pack has a status order. From highest ranking alpha to lowest ranking dog. Somewhere in there you have to show that you and your family rank above your dog. Not to be mean, not to harass, but to safely let him know that the family is superior and should be viewed with respect.

I have 6 dogs. I know where each of my dogs stand in the "pecking order" and they all know that I'm boss. Here a while back, my dogs showed signs that they were beng dominant towards their "daddy". My hubby isn't around them nearly as much as I do, and while he viewed alot of their "behaviors" as being playful, I knew they were displays of dominance. So quick reenforcemtn and some training with the family quickly resolved the problem.


One thing I let anyone intrested in my dogs or any dogs know, is that FAMILY, especially children should be very active in the obediance training of the dog. Also Food agression, toy agreesion and any signs of that natureshould be evaluated and handled appropriately. I always allow each of my dogs to eat separately from each other and I fool with their food as to keep the agression from becoming a problem. As with toys. They are not allowed toys when in a big pack. Singlularly they can have one at a time.

Now, back to the post. The little girl was left unspervised, with food and a dog. Theres the first two problems. The girl had probably teased or fed thedog before this incident. and when she dropped it and tried to get him away, theres no teliing what body part the girl grabbed. Possibly an ear or tail.. causing pain. Each would result in the dog yelping or turning around to snap and get the pain to stop.

I just don't see this as being the dogs fault. We don't know the behavior of the dog, we don't know if its bitten before, nor what exactly when on during this "incident" what we do know is that dogs react for a reason. And each reason can be handled appropriately.

Now there are times when theres nothing anyone or anything can do to help a dog or rehabilitate it.

I had a beloved dog named Smokey that was an awsome dog. never showed agression, was an awsome working dog and BRED TO BITE. He was an ACD. He got injured and every day after that would bite at anything. No matter what we did. He was put down. I had rescue that was horribly beaten and mistreated. NOthing we could do (and I tried for over a year) could stop her from fear biting. No medical problems were found and with the help of two behavirists and a ton of money, the conclusion was to have her put down. There was simply no turning her around.

Wether its medical, environmental, mental.... theres a reason behind every bite.

I've personally had each and every one of my dogs temperament tested. And I've made each one bite. That way I know their breaking points, and I know that their suited and well established and conformed to the breed standard. I reccomend everyone that can, to do that and have their dogs temperament tested.

Sorry for the long post. I just had to throw my 2 cents in...

 

My turn....agree with a lot of whats been written already. A dog biting someone once doesnt mean that the dog will bite again, then again if put in the same position again then it might, if no one was with the child in this thread then no one knows how it happened....personally I get sick of people phoning and saying that their dog is biting their kids hands....then when I ask them if the kids feed the dog treats they say yes....oh well "duh" any chance that the dog thought it was going to get another treat but no one has taken the time to teach the dog what "gentle" means, no one has bothered teaching the kid not to tease the dog (which may not be intentional on the kids part but look at it from the dogs level, kid normally gives treats, then kid has hot dog in its hand, dog thinks its his treat, kids waves arms above head to keep dog from getting hot dog, dog thinks its a game and the next thing you know the kid gets bit and the dog is one step away from being euthanized......had a responsible adult been there it never would have got that far).

I put a dog to sleep years ago after he attacked my daughter (suspected brain tumor) wed had him 3 years and while I knew he was a fear biter there was never a problem with the immediate family or people who knew and he was crated whenever visitors were over, he woke up one evening, charged and attacked my daughter right in front of me, no provocation in any way whatsoever.

Then theres BJ, I knew from day one that she would be a problem dog....and she proved me right. When I had visitors with young kids that she didnt know she was crated, never had a problem with one of my friends young kids nor my room-mates 5 year old but she didnt like toddlers at all, she never got the chance to get too close to them, when you have a dog like that then its your responsibility to ensure that people stay safe, she is now 6 and a half, the only person she has ever bitten was a friend of my daughters (18 yo at the time) he picked up my daughter goofing off, my daughter screamed and BJ bit his butt (didnt break the skin but refused to let go for a little while).

Ive worked with plenty of rescues that I would not rehome where there were toddlers, some where they would not be rehomed with anyone under 12 and some would not be rehomed with any kids at all, I find that 99% of the time a bite is either the fault of the child or rather the fault of the supposed 'responisble' adult for leaving the child with a dog unsupervised.

 

Just to bring you up to date with this dog's situation --
Rescues thankfully have been a little slow about removing this guy from the home he is in. It could be the holidays, or it could be that their experience and instinct tells them to wait and see what the owners want to do.

Well, the dog is still in his home! And I am praying that he stays there. His life is good with this family.

As it turns out -- the mom was babysitting and left her charge unsupervised. This terrible accident could have been avoided if there was adult supervision! I am not an expert trainer or behaviorist -- but I have encouraged the family to get the dog in a good behavior modification program, get enrolled in basic obedience training classes, to keep the dog in a crate or gated room when there are new visitors, and to never, ever, ever, EVER leave the dog alone with young children!!!

They love the dog, and have the means to provide him with a comfortable home. I believe the best place for this dog is with the family that he lives with now.

Like DeLaUK said, too many times a dog has an accident or makes a mistake and the dog becomes one step away from a lethal injection. This situation would not have occured if there was proper adult supervision.

I actually told the mom - that if she wanted to keep the dog --- no more babysitting!!!!

I am rooting for this guy - he is a gorgeous dog, with a generally sweet disposition. I am praying that his family will make the minor lifestyle changes to keep him.

Thank you to all you kind people who have posted on this thread -- you have taught me a lot!!