Dog bit my daughter's face - advice please

ripplyuk

Taadaa wrote: »

There was an adult next to the dog, the dog was sitting on the sofa. They didn't react quickly enough although it was a split second, we didn't hear the dog. DD came over to her dad crying saying 'the dog' and l could see the mark coming up on her face. No the dog is excited when people arrive but not aggressive.

Then do not let your daughter be near EITHER dog in this relative's house. It's impossible to judge what happened from a forum, or what the problem is, but dogs do not bite for no reason. The reality is that the adults present were not able to judge body language effectively, noticing the dog tense up etc. Perhaps they have also not dealt with any guarding issues, or it hasn't been a noticeable issue until now.

It really makes little difference now. It worries me that you say the dog later growled at your daughter. If you want to continue visiting, then using a crate is fine for short periods, as long as the dogs are also out of sight.

Spaying will make absolutely no difference here, behaviour wise.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

ripplyuk wrote: »

Then do not let your daughter be near EITHER dog in this relative's house. It's impossible to judge what happened from a forum, or what the problem is, but dogs do not bite for no reason. The reality is that the adults present were not able to judge body language effectively, noticing the dog tense up etc. Perhaps they have also not dealt with any guarding issues, or it hasn't been a noticeable issue until now.

It really makes little difference now. It worries me that you say the dog later growled at your daughter. If you want to continue visiting, then using a crate is fine for short periods, as long as the dogs are also out of sight.

Spaying will make absolutely no difference here, behaviour wise.

If the dog is growling, it's warning her that it's unhappy, so that's a good sign in a way, as it's trying to avoid further confrontation.


A small child climbing up on the sofa could upset an animal of any kind and blowing in its face if it was already uncomfortable could easily be thought of by the dog as a surprise attack - her face would have been very close to do that (and it's not the sort of thing somebody would imagine happening to give as an excuse, before such obvious excuses as pulling the dog around or suchlike). Small children are squeaky and wriggly and excitable and fidgety - and scramble onto sofas with less body/proximity awareness than adults do.

It doesn't excuse it as such, but this could go some way to explain it - and, much as I would like you to be right, four year olds can and do tell untruths even when upset, or forget what they did immediately leading up to whatever frightens them or makes them cry; my youngest at the same age, through sobs, would say that x child had been mean to them and snatched a toy, but had completely forgotten that she had spent the minutes leading up to that point refusing to give them their toy back.


I think for the peace of mind of the dog, it would be happier kept away, rather than muzzled but potentially kept in a situation where it could become anxious again. And through that, there's a safer way for your DD to become more comfortable around it without either being stressed out.

*****************

As an aside, do you know anybody else with another dog, one that is calmer? You can learn to be comfortable around dogs by learning how to introduce yourself to them.

If she learns how to approach a calm dog who is sitting/on the leash, she might be less over excitable/anxious/erratic around them - the body language I've seen from people who are frightened of or inexperienced with dogs screams DANGER DANGER DANGER to everybody around them. Are you confident/familiar with dogs? If you aren't, than it might help you as well, as you'll become more aware of what a relaxed and comfortable dog looks like, compared to one whose stress and/or excitement levels are going through the roof.




The dog should be spayed. But it won't make a difference to whether or not she was anxious, or felt threatened by your DD - it's their behaviour/interaction that needs looking at. And the best way to start is by the dog not being stuck in a similar situation again.

krlyr

I know it's not much consolation right now, but you say that the area was bruised and you "saw the mark come up" - this suggests to me it was not a serious maul. Hard to judge without having seen it, but I would say it sounds like the dog was uncomfortable around the child, surprised by the child's sudden presence, and let off a warning snap and perhaps made accidental contact - her young, thinner skin being more susceptible too. Had it wanted to cause serious damage, as a Staffie it certainly could have. To show some form of bite inhibition in a stressful situation is a good sign, and should give some hope for future interactions (but yes - I would do these very cautiously, and after a thorough vet check to make sure all is right with the dog)

thorsoak

I've loved and owned (and occasionally bred)dogs for over 50 years, whilst bringing up a family - and had visiting grandchildren. And I have to say that I have never, ever, allowed a toddler to play unsupervised with a dog - especially not a visiting grandchild. For their own safety, the dogs have always been placed in their crates (which they've used as their refuges) when there have been loads of people around. It's only now, when the youngest dog is over 6, and my grandchildren are teenagers, that the dogs don't automatically seek out their crates when the family is around!

For the safety of all children and the dogs,please use a crate. Spaying is not going to change anything. The next time, we could be reading about another tragedy - and we certainly don't want that.

Tiddlywinks

thorsoak wrote: »

The next time, we could be reading about another tragedy - and we certainly don't want that.

For the dog's sake as well as for the child.

thorsoak

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

For the dog's sake as well as for the child.

Exactly. I know of one very sad case, where a beloved dog uncharacteristically bit the grandchild (a toddler) - very seriously. The grandfather was distraught, but immediately took the dog to the vet to be euthanised - but asked for a post mortem as he could not understand why the dog had suddenly turned on the child.

The vet found a broken off, sharp pencil in the dog's ear.

Tiddlywinks

thorsoak wrote: »

I know of one very sad case, where a beloved dog uncharacteristically
The vet found a broken off, sharp pencil in the dog's ear.

That makes me so sad and angry.

Children must be supervised with any animal until they can be trusted to be responsible.

I remember many decades ago my cousin was visiting and kept teasing the cat. My nan told him to stop and made him stay in the front room whilst the cat went upstairs. Cousin went out a while later to go to the loo, was gone a while and then we heard a big thump and howling.

Cousin comes in crying and bleeding - saying the cat had attacked him.

Nan's first words to her beloved grandchild? "What did you do to provoke her? I told you to stay away."

She then explained at length, again, that animals need space and will come to you if they want to talk - if not, they've decided to be on their own so leave them alone. They are not toys.

Animals often need protection from the children (and owners who haven't got a clue) and not the other way around. The countless YouTube videos of toddlers grabbing and chasing fluffy dogs or of cats being dressed up with hats or glasses etc just gets more people believing that animals are objects not living breathing beings.

It gets my goat.

fierystormcloud

thorsoak wrote: »

Exactly. I know of one very sad case, where a beloved dog uncharacteristically bit the grandchild (a toddler) - very seriously. The grandfather was distraught, but immediately took the dog to the vet to be euthanised - but asked for a post mortem as he could not understand why the dog had suddenly turned on the child.

The vet found a broken off, sharp pencil in the dog's ear.

Heard this story like this before too. But I think it was a pencil sharpener in the ear. sad.

On a lighter note, when I saw this on the forum list of pages, it made me laugh, because it said 'dog bit my daughter's.....tiddlywinks.'

(Won't say it now as I have now posted, but if tiddlywinks posts again, it will come back IYSWIM.)

rockey100

Same thing happened to my step daughter at a young age! some dogs are to easily wound up.

Tiddlywinks

rockey100 wrote: »

Same thing happened to my step daughter at a young age! some dogs are to easily wound up.

I'd like to see some people tolerate the sort of irritating stuff that some dogs have to put up with... poked, prodded, nearly strangled by their collar, chased, hair pulled, shouting in ears etc. Sometimes it's amazing they don't snap more often.

A guy spills a bloke's drink in a pub, he thumps him - result a warning or court fine at most.

Dog reacts on instinct after human child frightens or hurts it - likely outcome, sentenced to death.