Mum's dog bit my LO

notanewuser

The dog should be put down having now bitten 2 children.

I wouldn't be going back there until the dog was gone.

Solsol

Top_Girl wrote: »

In all fairness, if I knew anyone who had adopted an animal known not to be good with children, I would refuse to take my child there from day one.

I agree but I wasn't aware that it didn't like children until after it had bitten my son. I also didn't know about the times it had bitten my niece either as I assume the family had chosen not to tell me in case I decided to keep my son away from my mum's house.

I've left the ball in her court with regards to seeing my son. I think she'll have to wait until she's well enough to come and visit us as I am not comfortable with taking him there.

I also don't agree with locking the dog away - and no the dogs don't get walked regularly - IMHO she's not well enough to be looking after any animals at the moment.
This dog is a danger to other people. She keeps them in the garden but I'm pretty sure there are holes in the hedges through which they could escape if they tried.

I would honestly like to report the dog to the dog warden but I really don't want to fall out with my family. I know she loves her dog but just can't see why she is putting it before the safety of her grandchildren

peachyprice

Solsol wrote: »

Mum has two dogs - one of which she usually keeps locked in the spare room when we visit as she can be quite aggressive.

My mum is currently recovering from illness so the dog wasn't locked away

I have to ask, why didn't you lock the dog away yourself as soon as you got there?

trolleyrun

I'm a dog lover but I wouldn't put up with a dog like this. If I were you, I'd refuse to come round until it was guaranteed that this dog would not cause injury to anyone, be it a child or adult. This dog sounds viscous and shouldn't be around people - unless it can be retrained properly.

I hear that your mother loves the dog, but how can there be any joy in owning such an aggressive dog? If your mother won't get the dog retrained, there's no other option but for you to stay away. Why should you have to get a child minder because your mother has an agressive dog?

In regards to your siblings, they're being selfish and irresponsible. How that can keep bringing the children round after two attacks beggars belief. There's a distinct possibility that they'll be mentioned in the paper for all the wrong reasons at some point, unfortunately.

I'd be speaking to my mother and give her the options
A) get the dog rehomed
get the dog retrained, starting immediately
C) you and child will no longer come round
D) dog gets reported

Solsol

Mojisola wrote: »

It doesn't solve the problem but couldn't you have put the dog away and kept your son safe?

If I had known how dangerous the dog is then I would have but like I said previously, I was only told about it biting before after it had bitten my son!

Solsol

peachyprice wrote: »

I have to ask, why didn't you lock the dog away yourself as soon as you got there?

I knew the dog wasn't as playful as the other one but had no idea it was dangerous and had bitten before. My son loves dogs but I would never let him go near a dog I didn't know or knew to be dangerous

Mojisola

Solsol wrote: »

If I had known how dangerous the dog is then I would have but like I said previously, I was only told about it biting before after it had bitten my son!

But if your Mum usually shut it away when you visited with your LO, hadn't you asked why she did this?

It's going to be hard on your Mum doing something about the dog but it would be worse if it seriously injured someone. As the dog came to her with a history of biting and it has now bitten two children, there really isn't much hope for it.

Top_Girl

Solsol wrote: »

I agree but I wasn't aware that it didn't like children until after it had bitten my son. I also didn't know about the times it had bitten my niece either as I assume the family had chosen not to tell me in case I decided to keep my son away from my mum's house.

I've left the ball in her court with regards to seeing my son. I think she'll have to wait until she's well enough to come and visit us as I am not comfortable with taking him there.

I also don't agree with locking the dog away - and no the dogs don't get walked regularly - IMHO she's not well enough to be looking after any animals at the moment.
This dog is a danger to other people. She keeps them in the garden but I'm pretty sure there are holes in the hedges through which they could escape if they tried.

I would honestly like to report the dog to the dog warden but I really don't want to fall out with my family. I know she loves her dog but just can't see why she is putting it before the safety of her grandchildren

Then your mum and the rest of the family have knowingly endangered your child's safety as well as the other children and I'd be fuming.

I would honestly report it, for the safety of your nieces/nephews as well as any other children it might come across.

If you won't do that, then I agree, at the very least your mum will have to come and see you or meet you away from the home. Even if the dog is shut away, people open doors all the time, our old dog could open them himself.

Hope your LO is okay.

persa

The dog shouldn't necessarily be put down or reported, but it shouldn't spend time with children or be walked without a muzzle.

It's down to your mum whether she would rather keep the dog or have her grandkids visit. She can't have both.

Solsol

She always said she was shutting the dog away because it wasn't used to being around children I now know that she meant it didn't like them.

Trust me I've been asking myself since it happened if I could have prevented it but the truth is I had no reason to believe that the dog would attack my son and therefore I didn't question why it wasn't locked away. He loves dogs and is always happy around animals so I didn't see any reason to keep the dog locked away. I honestly would have insisted on it if I'd known how dangerous it can be.

Anyway, I just wanted some advice on what to do next but I think I will just have to tell my mum that I won't be visiting with LO and if she has a problem with it then she needs to seriously consider getting rid of her dangerous dog. Even if it was locked away I would now feel uncomfortable just being there. After my son was bitten the other day, the dog was then locked away and it kept scratching at the door and banging into it trying to escape and it just left me on edge the entire time and I couldn't wait to leave