So upset and shocked.....my dog bit me

homeworkgirl

My usual gentle loving labrador bit me last night quite badly on my hand, I ended up at A & E and am now wearing a sling so typing with one hand. The pain was unbearable. I had been round to my neighbours house with my daughter, we came back round just as it was getting dark because we wanted to be with him when the fireworks started going off because he is petrified of them. When my daughter opened the door he started snarling at her and we told him to get in his basket but he wouldn't. Sometimes he defies my daughter but he always obeys me. He came into the kitchen where he is not allowed and would not move when I asked him. I did notice he was trembling a bit and wanted to get him into the lounge where he would not hear so much. As I put my hand down to grab him by the collar he turned on me. The hospital said it is quite a bad bite, a deep one. I have painkillers and antibiotics and have to go back Tuesday. I cannot describe how I feel, I am so shocked and so hurt and upset that he turned on me like that yet I feel sure that it was to do with him being so frightened of the fireworks, I had been warned by his previous owner that it affected him badly.

Friends and family are saying that once he has bitten h e will do it again and that I ought to get rid of him but the thought of that is unbearable, but I need to know whether or not he can now be trusted not to do it again, it could be a child next time. This is my first dog and I would like to have the opinion of some you more experienced dog owners as to what you think I should do. I cannot afford to pay for a dog behaviourist or obedience classes at the moment.

Kimberley

The poor dog is frightened, i'm sure he didn't bite through aggression but fear. He needs firework therapy, you can do things to help him with tapes etc but don't get rid of him unless he has bitten or bites at other times too.

eira

Take him to the vet for a check up to see if there is any physical reason for the biting. I would take the vet's advice before taking the 'behaviourist' route. 'Dog behaviourists' come in many guises and they aren't all competent-you need few if any qualifications to set up as one. Battersea Dogs Home used to have a very good behaviour line-I think you pay a premium rate but the money goes to the home. In my experience vets genuinely know dogs and see them in all sorts of shapes/sizes/situations and are very good at spotting 'genuine ' aggression.

a)How old is the dog?
b)What's his relationship like with your daughter? Who feeds him-i.e who dishes out the 'pack goodies'
c)What's he like on the lead-does he 'take the lead' by pulling or are you in charge
d)What's been his previous experience with fireworks-it may not just be the noise but some additional trauma that's intensified his fear
e)What you also need to think about is you-it's obviously distressing because of the pain and shock but because it's made you wary of him presumably

I would start with a visit to the vet for advice. The other things about vets is that they tend to focus onh individual animals instead of the one size fits all solution that a lot of so called 'dog behaviourists' suggest. The dog magazines have good advice sources as do some of the specialised internet forums-the local breed rescue might help (the back pages of the local dog magazines have contact numbers)

And I would contact the previous owners and try and find out some more re his background.Whenh nice dogs bite there is always a reason -and it isn't that they've suddenly turned into the Hound of the Baskervilles (and even that poor creature had a reason for his behaviour)

shoppaholic_returns

Hi homeworkgirl, I hope you are feeling a bit better,obviously your dog is frightened out of his mind by fireworks. I certainly wouldnt write him off already,we all do things in the heat of the moment if we are angry or upset,dogs are no different. I know what people are saying,once hes bit etc,but fireworks affect lots of dogs really badly,so much so that there are a plethora of products you can buy to help with this anxiety. Have you tried plug ins or spray,to relax him,these can really help.A website I use, called petmeds.co.uk , has these products and they really can work,they are called DAP products, and release relaxing hormones to help, your dog or cat relax during these times,you can also buy CD's with the background music featuring fireworks in a non threatening way to help get your dog used to this,importantly, I would prepare him now and build up the use of these products cause the same will probably occur on New years eve etc,the sooner the better, AND HE SHOULD REACT IN A MORE POSITIVE MANNER.
The only thing I would question is why his previous owners let him go?, if the aggression is just with fireworks than I would say that there are ways round it,but I would have to seriously consider my future with an agressive dog in other circumstances, with children around., but it certainly sounds like a firework problem, as long as youre sure the other family didnt part company with him because of other agressive tendancies. Good luck,and get started with those dap products.

Raksha

Imagine if you were frightened of something, really really wanted to run away, and somebody you really trusted tried to prevent you - you'd probably lash out and hit them wouldn't you?That's what your dog did. You need to tackle this two ways - one - desentisation to fireworks/bangs etc - you can get CD's of firework and other noises dogs are scared of, start playing it so quietly you can hardly hear it, and over a period of days/weeks, increase the volume (a remote control is handy here, so the dog doesn't notice the volume is increasing) and while the sound is playing, do his favourite game or training, with lots of rewards for accepting the sound and not stressing out. A friend of mine did this with a totally fireworks freaked out stray she adopted and he now goes outside to watch them........Secondly, appreciate that he was worried by being restrained and teach him that having his collar held is OK, and respect that you may sometimes need to guide him by other means, use your body to block exits perhaps, or use a house line on him so you can move him. Also build his confidence back in you by learning a little more about how dogs think (Why does my Dog do that by Gwen Bailey would help)

London05

Do wonder why the previous owners passed the dog on to you, Labs are usually bomb proof with noises etc

Had three labs, they never bit even under severe provacation from the Cat.
Had a Ridgeback - it bit the instructor at the dog training class and hated men - had it from a puppy but thinking back there were no men in the household.

Anyway had it put down as could not trust it anymore.

I am sure I read somewhere that more people have been bitten by labs but think this is due to the amount of them there are.

Having said all this you cannot ever allow a dog to defy any member of the household they must be bottom of the pack at all times.

If my dog bit me regardless of any reason I would have it put to sleep - how could you ever trust it again and I am sure you would always feel a bit afraid of it.

Best of luck what ever you decide and hope you get better soon.

Paparika

I've just got over a nasty dog bite, and yes i can understand the pain you are in it is unbearable. (wasn't my dog)

But hopefully your swaps will be clear Tuesday *fingers crossed


Your dog bit you because the poor thing was absolutely petrified. the last 2 nights I've had to sedate my pup because he was in a bad way Wednesday with the fireworks, so he has just spent 2 nights out of it and none the wiser.

Your dog didn't mean to do it, it's something a dog will do it he is scared.

Don't get rid of him or destroy him, this wasn't on purpose.

aurora_borealis_2

Our dog bit my husband's hand down to the bone. She was trapped under a car at the time though and was being burnt, poor thing.

In your case, I couldn't keep the dog. It seems to have been deeply disturbed at some point and can't be trusted.

Sagz_2

I hope your bite is feeling a little better today although, from experience, I expect the bruising will be kicking in by now, get well soon xx

I agree with others that a bite from a frightened dog can be excused but there was one thing in your first post that worried me: 'Sometimes he defies my daughter '. This would seem to point to there being other issues going on that need to be sorted out.

I don't think this forum is the best place to do this so would urge you to see your Vet and get professional advice ASAP.
Good Luck

homeworkgirl

Thank you all very much for your replies. I am going to have a good think over the next few days and decide what to do, though I couldn't contemplate having him pts. Even though I have only had him 5 months I love him too much to do that.

Previous owner had to rehome him due to family problems, illness related. She had rescued him 4 yrs previous from kennels in Ireland but did not really have any history. Unfortunately I have lost contact details for previous owner now. She did say though that he was a very loving and gentle dog and he has been up until now, though he seems to have a bit of a problem accepting orders from my teenage daughter at times and will snarl at her. I have tried getting her to feed him and walk him in the hope that he will recognise her as more of a leader. However, I am very much pack leader in his eyes and he is extremely attached to me.

My biggest worry now is that he is going to attack my daughter when I am out, I feel that because he has bitten me, his owner, then he could bite anyone. So many people keep telling me that he will do it again even if there was a good reason behind him doing it. I am dreading the fireworks again tonight, they are like bombs round here. I will certainly try some of the remedies suggested next year if I still have him.

All your opinions are gratefully noted.

bellrooster

Hi, I hope you are feeling better. It's awful when a loving member of your family (which a dog is) hurts you and is aggressive towards you. I've only ever been scratched (aggressively) by a cat - and I was left feeling shocked and upset.

but if I have to give my honest opinion I would get the dog rehomed, I just think that without that 100% trust in your dog when you've got kids it's not worth the risk. I know it's heartbreaking, but I just feel I have to be honest.