Dog bit my daughter's face - advice please

Taadaa

In a nutshell, we visited relatives over the holiday period. Two dogs were present, both of which are used to children but not my daughter. She is 4.

One of the dogs, a 4to female staffie, bit my daughter just under the eye. It broke skin and is swollen and blue underneath. One person witnessed the incident and said she did something that could have provoked the dog - blew it it's face. They said it a good five minutes after the incident and l think it may have been said to protect the dog. That is out of character for my daughter. She's nervous f dogs anyway. The dog later growled at her but she was kept next to someone most if the time and l.stayed with her in case of another incident. She said the next day the dog was biting the pillow, she went to stroke it and it bit her. She's only just 4 and hasn't told lies as far as l am aware.

It turns out the dog isn't spayed. So they are going to do that and see if the dog calms down. It's never been aggressive to anyone else before. Now l'm not going to have the dog around if we go again. I'm going to tell them the dog will have to be crated when we are there, which isn't that often anyway. Is this reasonable? I feel like l might be over reacting if l insist on this.

Person_one

Asking for the dog to be crated/shut away while you visit is perfectly reasonable.

I would also make sure you talk to your daughter and start teaching her about how to behave around dogs, do you have any friends and family with calm, child-friendly dogs she can spend some time with? You don't want her to develop a phobia after this incident either.

Lily-Rose_3

Taadaa wrote: »

In a nutshell, we visited relatives over the holiday period. Two dogs were present, both of which are used to children but not my daughter. She is 4.

One of the dogs, a 4to female staffie, bit my daughter just under the eye. It broke skin and is swollen and blue underneath. One person witnessed the incident and said she did something that could have provoked the dog - blew it it's face. They said it a good five minutes after the incident and l think it may have been said to protect the dog.

That is out of character for my daughter. She's nervous f dogs anyway. The dog later growled at her but she was kept next to someone most if the time and l.stayed with her in case of another incident. She said the next day the dog was biting the pillow, she went to stroke it and it bit her. She's only just 4 and hasn't told lies as far as l am aware.

It turns out the dog isn't spayed. So they are going to do that and see if the dog calms down. It's never been aggressive to anyone else before. Now l'm not going to have the dog around if we go again. I'm going to tell them the dog will have to be crated when we are there, which isn't that often anyway. Is this reasonable? I feel like l might be over reacting if l insist on this.

If someone's dog attacked your daughter, and bit her near her EYES, (whether she provoked it or not,) why on earth would you take your daughter to that same house, near that same dog? And especially to a place where the people insisted your daughter basically asked for it.

Why will people never learn.......... large dogs and small children do NOT MIX.

Words literally fail me.

bouicca21

Lots of dogs have difficulty with small children - looking a dog in the eye is interpreted by the dog as aggressive. Watch dogs in your park, see how they approach each other from the side, not the front.

This is of course no excuse for a dog biting a child or anyone else. I'm with Lily Rose. I wouldn't take my child back to that house or allow her anywhere near the dog.

Don't worry about upsetting the owners, they're lucky you haven't reported the incident to the police and aren't having to face court proceedings that might result in the dog being put down.

Lrimas

Are you sure the dog bit her and didn't just accidentally hit her with her foot?

One of my dogs accidentally bit me (while playing with a stick) and there was a LOT of blood.

If the dog did - then absolutely. Do not take her back unless the dog is crated or muzzled. (I muzzled my dog when my sister came to visit with her two young ones. It was good for them to get used to big dogs and good for the dogs to get used to them.

Glad to hear your young one is OK. It must have been super scary.

Taadaa

Muzzling her sounds like a good option. I don't want her in a cage crying to get out constantly. These are close relatives not casual acquaintances. They are very concerned about it as well. DD was asked was it her paw and she said no her mouth.

Edited to say the dog had never anything like this before and l wouldn't want it pts, l think it's the small child / jealousy part that has caused this. The dog seemed unhappy when my sister was holding DDs hand, although this was after. The dog was made to sit next to someone the rest if the visit.

Person_one

Taadaa wrote: »

Muzzling her sounds like a good option. These are close relatives not casual acquaintances. They are very concerned about it as well. DD was asked was it her paw and she said no her mouth.

Don't be tempted to get drawn in by other people's hysteria, you are reacting to this very sensibly.

Of course you aren't going to stop seeing close family members, but you are going to take steps this never happens again. Either a crate or a muzzle is enough to render the dog safe, you don't need them to do both, I'd suggest the crate is probably the better option for now, it fully removes the dog to a place of safety so you can relax and if they do the training properly the dog will feel comfortable and secure in there too so won't get worked up.

Don't dismiss the possibility that the dog was reacting to something your daughter did that spooked it though. You didn't see what happened after all, and its not a way to 'blame' the child, and it doesn't mean the child did anything maliciously, its just a fact that children need to be taught how to behave around dogs and dogs need to be taught how to behave around children. Neither are born knowing how to cope with each other in their space!

I hope your daughter is recovering and feeling ok.

Taadaa

Person_one wrote: »

Asking for the dog to be crated/shut away while you visit is perfectly reasonable.

I would also make sure you talk to your daughter and start teaching her about how to behave around dogs, do you have any friends and family with calm, child-friendly dogs she can spend some time with? You don't want her to develop a phobia after this incident either.

I will give it some thought. She's always been a bit nervous anyway, l agree l don't want her to end up terrified of them.

Person_one

Taadaa wrote: »

Edited to say the dog had never anything like this before and l wouldn't want it pts, l think it's the small child / jealousy part that has caused this. The dog seemed unhappy when my sister was holding DDs hand, although this was after. The dog was made to sit next to someone the rest if the visit.

Just to add, dogs don't feel jealousy. They can get protective and start trying to 'guard' their owners if they are stressed out though, and if they aren't used to small children then the noises they make and the way they move (very different to adults!) can make them very anxious and tense.

Lrimas

Yeah, if it is your sister muzzling is probably the best option. It doesn't have to be permanently, just until you are all sure the dog is safe.

It is a very difficult situation as your number one priority is to keep your young one safe, but you still want to keep in contact with your sister (who probably loves her dog)

Taadaa

chucknorris wrote: »

I totally agree with you, and furthermore if that was my dog (my dog is actually an extremely friend lab) the OP would literally have to kill me (or die trying) to get his daughter anywhere near my dog again. He is far too precious risk an incident, and I'm amazed that he doesn't think the same of his daughter.

Really? I'm not happy to risk an incident, but rather than say 'we are never going to visit you again' l'm trying to find a reasonable solution by sounding out people that know more about dogs than l do.