dog has bit my son

ladymarmalade1970

My old JRT bit my daughter once when she was 4 for absolutely no reason that we could see. Fortunately she had jeans on so it didn't break the skin but she had a nasty bruise on her leg. I smacked my dog (Alfie) for this and ignored him completely for about 2 days. It was the only time i ever smacked him. He was a lovely dog and he adored the children and me. There was no way we would have "got rid of him" for that 1 incident but i never trusted him again with children. He also bit my ex partner when he was being nasty to me (he was very protective). I think this breed is quite a difficult breed as they are strong willed and implusive but given they small size i think they should be given a chance.
I will definitely have a JRT again at some stage.
JRT's are lovely dogs but they are very demanding dogs also. We had to re-home Alfie in the end due to work commitments on my part but he is still alive and well and as far as i am aware he hasn't bitten since. The people who took him in were my best mates in laws and elderly and they dote on him. He is 14 now and still going strong so please take time to make the right decision for you.

ameliarate

Rosamie wrote: »

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

Can I just say, going slightly off tangent, this is not true. A friend of mine has just adopted a dog who was in the RSPCA for six years.

ladymarmalade1970

ameliarate wrote: »

Can I just say, going slightly off tangent, this is not true. A friend of mine has just adopted a dog who was in the RSPCA for six years.

This is probably because the dog was good with other animals and had never bitten. The RSPCA DO put down healthy dogs if they don't think they can rehome them. They only have a limited number of resources and a JRT that has bitten a child is unlikely to be rehomed by them IMO.

Lizzieb151

Oww hugs to you - it must very hard to decide. I would try the vets. My neighbour had a terrier that suddenly turned and bit him and when he went to the vets it was discovered that he was very ill which had caused the unprovoked attack. The dog was PTS but because of the illness not the bite.

The rehoming side is still a possibility, I have a rehomed dog who was unpredictable when I got him and I have 3 kids, never shown any agression to us but has when out only if I take him out on my own never when with my partner. Of course if he attacked my children then definitley a different matter and we would have to ocnsider rehoming.
But the rescue homes will assess him and decide on the best course of action. If needed then the dog wear a muzzle when out if people were worried of other attacks. There are fab people who work with rescues and help to find suitable homes for them.

We even have a rescue near us that has permanent dogs who can never be rehomed but they don't believe in PTS.

Good luck with your decision

Youdontseeme

Its awful for you OP but I do think a trip to the vets is top of the list.

Lizzieb151 wrote: »

We even have a rescue near us that has permanent dogs who can never be rehomed but they don't believe in PTS.

When I visit my Mum I walk dogs for a rescue that also has this policy, and I am not really sure if I agree with it or not.

They have one dog there that only 1 or 2 of the helpers will walk as the others cant get near him, this means the poor thing only gets walked 2/3 times a week as opposed to twice day like the otherdogs.

Hence he is in his kennel almost 24/7, he has been there about 5 years now, and seemed to be getting grumpier, I'm not sure if it is in his best interests to keep him there.

His kennel has huge "Beware of the dog" signs on and warnings to keep figures out etc. I cant see how they will ever rehome him.

All rather sad.

YDSM

ameliarate

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

This is probably because the dog was good with other animals and had never bitten. The RSPCA DO put down healthy dogs if they don't think they can rehome them. They only have a limited number of resources and a JRT that has bitten a child is unlikely to be rehomed by them IMO.

He has bitten another dog in the past and one of the RSPCA staff. He was re-homed but brought back before my friend took him.

Arvey

Poor Dog.You have him for 6 years, surley you know this pet well enough to decide his fate. Its seems to be alot of reply's are making a very big deal out of this. So the dog has bitten someone for some reason he can not tell you about. maybe they are right that the child did something or the dog was frightened or hurting, its a natural reaction for animals. Why can't you just keep the dog in his own safe space free from children! lets face it, he was there before most of them. Maybe he is now a grumpy old man and just wants to relax rather than have his ears pulled be picked up and bothered! have sweets and food waved under his nose and then be expected to be on his very best behaviour! he's a dog, let him be one. The RSPCA will be likely to put him down, you are responsible for him you decide his fate, but surely there must be middle ground for him rather than the death penalty!!! he may never do it again.......hope you find a happy resolve

Beckyy

This is why a child should never be left unattended with a dog. Even something like a hand coming towards the dogs face could be seen as aggressive by him and JRTs are only small dogs.

Take him to the vet for a full health check, including blood tests. If they come back clear then ask your vet to recommed a behaviourist to help you work through this.

If you really are set on 'getting rid' of him then try local rehoming centres with no destroy policies. If you take him to the RSPCA and say 'he's bitten my child so I need to rehome him' the only place he'll be going to to the vets to be put down.

ladymarmalade1970

I think it's a rare dog that has never bitten. They all go through the mouthing stage anyway. The smaller breeds it's a lot more common as they don't do so much damage so can get away with more. Also, we tend to humanise them. I now have a rottie and a staffy X. The staffy X gets away with lots more than my rottie does, such as jumping up or stealing bones etc but when i think back to what i let my JRT get away with, purely because he was small, it's not surprising really that he bit. In fact, most small dogs i know have bitten at some stage. My mums shitz zu (apologies for spelling) even growls at her and bites her when she is being groomed! It's shocking! I wouldn't let either of my dogs get away with this but then if my dogs bit they would do serious damage so we have to be consistent and NEVER forget they are just dogs.
I feel for you but as another poster said no dog should ever be left alone with small kids. I think it's how you react to it that determines if they will do it again. Have you made up your mind yet what you are going to do????
Oh and it's an interesting point that the other poster made about the no kill policy with the old grumpy dog that can't be walked. Makes you wonder :-(

WeirdoMagnet

I'm really surprised at all the posts recommending that you have your dog euthanased, and that once a dog has bitten once you can't trust it, and that JRs are unpredictable.

It doesn't appear that you saw the incident, so it's impossible to know if it was truly 'unprovoked'. Your dog might not have wanted to be stroked incessantly by your son, or your son might've adjusted his position and accidentally squashed your dog, or any other number of stimuli. JRs are small, and it's very easy for them to feel unable to get out of a situation, which may have been the case in this situation.

As many sensible posters have suggested, the first course of action would be to get your dog to the vet for a thorough check-up - it's pretty much accepted that pain can cause unpredictable behaviour in animals and humans.

Just as you have responsibility for your children, you also have responsibility for your dog, so personally I think you owe it to you dog to do all you can to protect him too. Get him to the vet, and in the meantime you may have to implement rules to safeguard your children and your dog. If you do decide that you have to rehome him, do be truthful with the rescue centre and pick carefully.