What would you do? My dog bit my 4yo?

IHateDida

meanastheycome wrote: »

But you should love your child more.
Years ago my wife and i had a dog we loved but it too turned
it bit my son he was 5 at the time.
I had the dog destroyed immediately.
i hope your daughter is ok.
you can aleays get another dog.
you cant a child...

Whilst I agree with the fact that the dog shouldn't be living with a child - I don't agree with the fact that it should be destroyed.

I'm afraid its people with your "you can always get another dog" attitude (animals unfortunately have now become one of the casualities of our throwaway sociey) that causes no end of problems for rehoming centres. Owning an animal is a BIG responsibility and shouldn't be entered into lightly - what if the next dog doesn't fit with the "ideal".

If the OP decides to try and get the dog rehomed (which would be in my opinion a responsible thing to do), they should also consider that maybe now isn't the time to "get another dog" whilst any children in the household are still young.

Sorry....but I just hate the whole "throwaway" attitude that some people have with animals. Full respect however to the OP for asking for help.

Valli

xx_Jo_xx wrote: »

Regardless of whether the dog has enough stimulation or not, I would be unable and unwilling to continue to put my child at risk.

To me theres not much to think about and to be perfectly honest, I dont understand why youre taking this length of time to consider the welfare of your daughter.

couldn't have put it better myself

she could have been blinded - or worse - you're lucky to be asking this on here and not having your story featured on News at Ten IMHO....

***waits for onslaught of bile from dog lovers...****

bestpud

We grew up with a dog who bit at random and I can tell you my sister and I lived in fear of him, and still feel to this day our parents let us down by allowing him to behave like that.

The very same dog bit my son when he was a toddler and my parents made the same old excuses...

Now I know I did nothing to provoke the bites he gave me as a child and I know I have brought my children up to respect animals and never put their face to a dog, go near it when it is in it's bed or asleep, or torment it in any way. I was in the room when it happened and can tell you my son did absolutely nothing to provoke or upset the dog.

This dog was loved dearly by my parents but it had a problem with snapping and we weren't the only people he bit I may add.

I don't know if this is the case with your dog, or whether it is just small children he is afraid of for some reason, or indeed whether your child provokes it in some way, but I can say it will only get worse if he is aggressive, and your child may struggle to understand why you allow this to happen.

I will never allow a dog to bite my children, simple as. It isn't fair on the child and it isn't fair on the dog either, because I don't believe snappy dogs are happy dogs personally.

I'm glad you are seeking help as I feel the dog deserves that chance but I am also glad you are prepared to do what it takes to protect your child if the dog doesn't respond.

Good luck with it. I'd be interested to know how it goes.

Molly41

I have three westies, two girls and a boy dog. I also have four children (teens now). What i get from my doggies is unconditional love, what I get from my kids is unconditional hassle. That said i recently had to rehome my elderly westie boy as he was getting very terretorial as regards tall strapping adolescent lads (not my kids but kids friends !!). To be truthful I cant say I blame him but I had to make the difficult decision that for his benefit it was the best option. He has a much better quality of life, much less stressful. He now lives with my elderly parents, pottering around. He's a great guard dog though.
Molly41

smeged

PLEASE get rid of the dog, as I work in the community I have seen a childs ear been ripped off and a very large scar around her face. I don't trust any dogs because the owners always say it's fine when in fact it's not. We had a Alasation while growing up and it was very nervous and bit a few people but my mother would say he was fine to everyone who came to the house when in fact he was not. I would never have a dog while I had a child. Young children take on the parent role and smack the dog when you are not looking for doing nothing at all. You can not trust a child with a dog or vice versa. Better for the dog to be in a childless home where it can have a peacefull life.

Paradigm

As the OP last replied on this thread over a month ago (28.5.09) I would suggest he/she has already decided the course of action & that you are all wasting your breath.

Still posting on other threads though & most likely reading this, so thanks for all your help... not!

cheepskate_2

[QUOTE=smeged;22975737. We had a Alasation while growing up and it was very nervous and bit a few people but my mother would say he was fine to everyone who came to the house when in fact he was not.

Just because your parent could not train a dog properly and then blatenly told lies, dont tar us all with that brush.

I have had 3(since i left home) very dominent breed dogs, ALL have been exc with children and ALL have been trained to a high standard.


QUOTE ) Young children take on the parent role and smack the dog when you are not looking for doing nothing at all.

AGAIN, maybe people bring their children up differently from what you have experienced.



QUOTE)Better for the dog to be in a childless home where it can have a peacefull life.[/QUOTE]

My dogs adored my children and benefited from the child interaction and vice versa.

If i ever thought that my dog was showing any tiny tiny little bit of anything to the higher up pack memners in his group , I would have sorted it out there and then, sometimes this is the problem, .

The problem is people not dogs, people just arn't trained enough for a dog and dont get the relevant help when things are starting to go pear shape, but leave it (in general) until things blow up..