dog has bit my son

ljs1977

i have had my jack russell aged 6 since he was 8 weeks old yesterday my 4 year old was sat next to him stroking him when he bit him quite badly,he gave no warning.my daughte rwas there and is still very upset by it all soI feel i have to try and re home him but am going to be honest why as the children are upset i need him re homed asap if i take him to rspca or blue cross will they have him put down as iwould not want this

meritaten

I would take him to the RSPCA. they will do an assessment of him and maybe rehome him with older people, but to be honest, if you heard that the dog had bitten badly again in years to come - wouldnt you feel a bit guilty? I know I would. I am probably going to get jumped on - but once a dog has bitten badly with NO provocation then that dog cannot be trusted. I would be (heartbroken) but taking him to the vets to be PTS. if it had been a child outside your family then you probably wouldnt have a choice anyway.

McKneff

Oooh how awful for you, (and your family of course) Jack Russels are notoriously unpredictable.
Did the skin break on your child, did you have it checked, dogs teeth can cause major infections.

Give the RSPCA a ring and ask them for guidance.

I can also understand that you dont want him put to sleep but talk to them, they should be able to help.

ljs1977

yes it did break the skin he has stitches and he is on antibiotics my 9 year old was there too and it has left her upset and shaken (there was a lot of blood) i am worried that he will now do it again and there are a few under 5 s in the family and its not fair on dog as we will be on edge with him now

McKneff

I dont doubt he will do it again.

Poor little dog, it really is an instinctive thing in JRs so dont be too hard on him.
He will be wondering what on earth is going on because he wont realise the consequences of what he has done.

Try and explain this to your children, hope they will both be okay. Bless.

EHL123

What an awful situation. Has he ever shown aggression before? If not, my first thought would be to get him checked out by the vet - he could be in pain from an illness or injury that you are unaware of, causing him to snap when touched on the sore area. Even the gentlest of dogs can snap when they're in pain, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll do it again. If the vet can't find anything wrong, obviously there'll be difficult decisions to make. But please don't do anything drastic until he's been checked over.

gettingready

Did YOU see it whe/how it happened or you just know from the kids about how it happened?

You say the dog was not provoked but you do not really know, he may be unwell, in pain - your son may have hurt him accidently without meaning to/without knowing.

My personal first point would be a visit to the vets with the dog to see if he is ok to find a reaosn why he has bitten - not the rehoming...

All the best

Rosamie

Don't take him to the RSPCA! They put down dogs they cannot rehome. Take him to dog's trust.

orlao

I'm sorry your son was hurt and understand the horrible position that you are in now.

I would agree that the dog needs a vet check especially if he has never shown behaviour like this before. Depending on the results of this you may have some really hard decisions to make
1) to keep him with some precautions ie training, never leaving him unsupervised with children and so on.
2) Rehome him through a rescue. The problem is that most reputable rescues are packed to bursting and tbh, rehoming a known biter is a huge risk for them. Many rescues will not accept him.
3) Rehome privately. It might be possible to find a home with someone you know and trust. However, rehoming through small ads, gumtree and the like means you cannot do a proper homecheck and have no control over the dogs future - you have to take on trust what ever you are told by the buyer. Sometimes they are genuine, often they're not. A big risk.
4) The hardest choice - have the dog pts by your own vet after taking any advice they give. This would be my decision if number 1 wasn't an option .The dog isn't passed on to an uncertain future, nobody else can be hurt but while IMHO it is the responsible thing to do, I'm not saying it is easy.

I hope that everything works out for you.

ailuro2

A friend of mine had a 4 yo jack russell, he was a lovely wee dog, really good natured, all of a sudden he turned on his family, they got him checked out, nothing untoward and he resumed his usual sweet nature. A few weeks later he turned again and none of the family could get near to him to put a lead on him to take him for a walk.

It was with tears in his eyes that my friend told me they had to do what was best and called the vet and had him pts, he said he would never live with himself if the dog bit a kid in the street, his sons were teenagers and knew to keep clear of the dog judging on his body language.

You can't expect your 4 yo to be able to do that. How would you feel if he was rehomed to an older couple who had grandkids.

It's heartbreaking, but I can't see a way out of this one. Sorry.

Kimberley

I agree with the above, once a dog has bitten then the dog will do it again. Next time could be a lot worse, it could be your childrens faces being scared for life or another child outside. Rescue centres would not be able to rehome this dog to those with children in the house or those who have visiting children. This dog is now a liability. We have a 15 month old JRT but if she ever turned on us then I would have no hesitation but to surrender her to a dog rescue. You love your kids and no matter how much you love your dog the kids come first. Pets always have to come second to people.