Dog bite advice needed. WWYD?

[CLHCO]

I'm trying not to over-react so I thought I'd get some opinions.

 

First, we have a really big dog, we think is part black lab, part newfoundland. He is neutered and a gentle giant (and a bit dumb, I admit) who just loves the kids. He's a wimp and cowers submissively to most adults but does try to act tough around other dogs. He's never attacked another dog but does bark like a tough man when they get near our yard.

 

Today our neighbor had their little dog out in their yard and he was watching the dog through the fence, on alert. My 3 year old daughter, whom he is usually very gentle with and loves, came up behind him and he, being a rather dim bulb, forgot his brain, knocked her over, and bit her in the head. The bite was not that hard, considering what this dog's jaws are likely capable of. She has 2 places that the skin broke, slightly, not even a puncture, just a surface really. He backed off immediately once he figured out this was not the dog and my older daughter yelled at him.

 

My husband is really overprotective of his children and the dog ranks pretty low so such an infraction could lose the dog his home. Is this an over-reaction or appropriate? I'm torn because I'm mad at the dog but he's my son's best friend. It would crush my son, though I'd risk the crush if I felt safety was at stake.

 

He isn't a very smart dog. He has a tendency to act kind of stupid around other dogs so it's not beyond reason that such a situation could happen again, yet is it fair to kids or dogs to not let them play together in the yard on the chance that he'll get stupid again?

[HomeOnTheRanch]

I'm sorry! DH almost got rid of our dog (permanently, if you kwim) because he growled at dd when she startled him. The only reason he is still with us is because we (the rest of the family) begged and pleaded, and dd wasn't harmed in any way (she didn't even know what had happened).

 

If the dog bit your child, who he knows and loves, out of stupidity then you cannot risk him doing it again...to your child or to someone else's child.

 

Find him a new home. If that is going to cause too much anguish with everyone else, at least change his habit of staring at other dogs, being left alone unattended with children, etc. It is too much of a risk.

 

:grouphug:

[melissel]

I'm so sorry. We had a dog put down last summer for safety issues around the kids (and us, actually). It's a heartbreaking spot to be in. I don't really have any advice for you because though I've always had dogs, I don't know much about the psychology involved. The first thing I thought of when I read your post, though, was: Is it possible that he thought he was protecting her from the other dog? My parents have had shepherds for many years and they will indeed nip if they think it's in the line of duty. The big galoot they have right now will actually try to take me by the wrist or bite my clothes to get me going in the direction he wants me. He's worse with the kids--not in a dangerous way but in a "pain the in the rear" way because he's so on top of them all the time.

 

Anyway, I don't know for sure, but that's what it sounded like to me. I'm sure others will weigh in. I hope you can come to a good conclusion for all involved :(

[Danestress]

That your dog has good "bite inhibition" meaning he bit softly. All dogs are capable of biting. All. Dogs. If you accidentally slam the door on a dog's tail, he might bite. If your lovely sweet dog gets old and loses vision and then you scare him by stepping on him, he might bite. What you want is for your dog to have good "bite inhibition." That means he bites softly.

 

Your dog could probably draw blood (or much much worse) if he wanted. He didn't want to, apparently.

 

I personally would not get rid of the dog just based on what I am reading here. But I WOULD have a trainer come to the home for an evaluation - someone who can really evaluate, talk to you about what happened, and give you honest advice.

 

But seriously, I think any dog is capable of biting this way. If it didn't even break the skin, I think he choose to bite softly.

 

Another thing you might want to do is to visit the forums at sitstay.com. There are some very dog knowledgable people there who might give you good advice.

[CLHCO]

Obviously, there is some risk in owning a dog - any dog. Is his reaction around other dogs anything that can be trained out of him, do you think?

 

When he acts like that, he does still respond immediately to us when we tell him to stop. He never loses his head so much that he won't mind but in this case, my older daughters (14) were watching him and ignored his behavior. I guess they figured it wasn't a bit deal since he was reacting through a fence and not actually confronting a dog.

 

I think I better just see what my husband does.

[battlemaiden]

Our dog bit a child years ago. We just figured it was the kiss of death and we called around to have him "put down". Every vet we spoke to refused- they said it was simply normal behavior given the circumstances- he was jumped on while sleeping.

 

7 years later we still have that dog. He has issues with being cornered, and he's gotten kind of ornery in his old age, but he's a dog.

 

Only you can make your decision, I just thought I'd throw out our experience.

 

I'm sorry you are having to think about this. I remember feeling quite queazy during our event.

 

Jo

[Lisa at Home]

I think the dog was probably intently watching the other dog, and nipped due to being startled.

 

I would never give a dog the boot based on the information given, and yes, he can be trained to :chillpill: while seeing other dogs through the fence. That's what training is!

 

Don't forget about training the kids, either. I always approach a dog cautiously when I know he's really concentrating on something.

 

~Lisa

[CLHCO]

Bite inhibition. That's a good point to bring up. This is a really large dog (over 100 lbs) with very strong jaws and you are correct that the bites were very minor compared to what he's capable of. He often play "bites" with my son and has complete control, never coming even close to hurting him. Despite the fact that he did break the skin in 2 places, he did not sink those jaws in hard, and that's obvious. Again, they're really surface wounds.

 

Thanks for the perspective. I'll bring it into the conversation with my husband.

[Unicorn.]

Dogs will bite when startled. You have a wonderful dog. One that was wanting to protect your dc, by doing what a dog does, a "motherly" nip, to say "danger, watch out". Just because a dog bites, doesn't make it vicious. There's a difference between an attack, and a nip.

 

I would explain to the 3 year old about startling dogs, and that it was probably wanting to protect your family. Just to calm any fears-kwim?

[CLHCO]

Thanks, we've pretty much come to that conclusion, except that I don't think he was having her watch out with a motherly nip, I got the impression, from what I was told, that he was startled while focused on a strange dog. I don't think he'd have done any worse to a dog if she was one. He was warning off a dog and mistaken her for a dog he was warning.

 

We'll work on training the behavior around dogs near the home first. My older daughters, who often watch them out in the yard for us, will be taught to be more on the alert when he is acting inappropriate, correcting the behavior, and to watch that the 3-year-old is not bothering him when she shouldn't be.

 

In truth, I think we're far more traumatized by this than the 3-year-old. We have to explain things to her to make sure she doesn't just do it again. She's not anywhere near as cautious about dogs as she should be and still, in truth, probably won't be even now. She loves them.