Our dog bit me :(

[Jellymuffin]

Yesterday our dog bit my face, completely unprovoked though he had got out unknown to us and come back in so could have been stressed. We have a toddler who is typical tough and tumble. The dog and DS get on reasonably well but dog has always been nervous around him. The dog is 10 and my husband is adamant he has to go :( I understand why but feel so terrible about losing a member of the family. He really is a quiet and sweet little dog and this was massively out of character for him. AIBU to want to keep him when he is a potential danger to my beautiful child?

PhilPhil I see stuff like that on my newsfeeds and it really shocks and angers me. Oh my goodness, that is that parent doing, allowing a child to do that to a dog, my goodness there are some really irresponsible dog owners. Then they wonder why the dog snaps. I would not do that to my child, and so would not do that to a dog, respect them as living breathing beings, not a plaything. We would like to get a Golden Labrador as a therapy dog for dd who has ASD, but we also want an addition to our family. we are in the research stage at the moment and are investigating the breed and their temperament, and everything associated with it.

I was bitten on the face by a dog when I was little.
I was stroking the dog at the time, and with retrospect, knowing what I know now, it was giving clear signals, but I kept stroking it and no-one stopped me.

When I was in my teens/ 20s I had terriers. I never left them unsupervised with children. As a child though I was allowed round dogs but in retrospect I was naturally careful. Dogs can give children a lot, but yes, both need training!

just to show there can be a positive interaction with dogs and children. This is just now with dd and our dogs. one a very anxious terrier. The "fun" is on the dogs' terms and they were both vying for a place on her lap. She knows when to give the dogs their space and i trust them as much as id trust any dog. She is 10 however and able to "read" the fogs. Today they went to her.

Ah Lem that's lovely. So many dogs also act as therapy, guide and seizure alert dogs too. I wonder if the dog haters would be happy to use them then?
My dd2 was non verbal until we got ddog, it transformed her and our lives.

Videos pics like that piss me off. Those people should not be allowed to be owners.

I grew up with dog btw, i knew i had to treat it with respect. I got bit when i was 10ish because i teased it!
It was my own fault, i knew it. It warned me.
We had him for another 6 or 7 years.

The comments below that video are quite frightening Phil. So many people think it's fine and even those who don't aren't reading its body language correctly.

I'd say get him checked at vets too,he maybe in pain. Our dog when he was around 10 went for me and partner and was acting out of character. Turned out he had bad teeth which were causing pain.
He had them removed and has been great since he's nearly 13 now.
He doesn't like people going near his face though,he moves away if they carry on he'll growl. Most dogs hate people going right in their face.

"Phil, op has had dog for ten plus years so I would have thought she would recognise signs of stress etc, if there were any."
Not necessarily. Understanding canine behaviour is something that has to be learned, it's a skill not instinctive (unless the dog is being very obvious of course). And I do think perhaps (and I realise this is a massive generalisation) that many people who own "toy" dogs are not so motivated to learn this stuff because the dog is small enough to be physically controlled. Or they think of it like a baby not a dog!

"No, I would hazard a guess that most dog owners don't recognise a dog's stress signals, unfortunately. If you google cute pictures of dogs and babies, in most of the pictures the dog is looking uncomfortable."
^ This.

Oh god, Phil that poor dog in the first picture looks unhappy about what that baby's doing. It's not cute at all is it yet, as you say, there are plenty of pictures online like this. As for people letting their kids ride all over the dog...sheesh! And these idiots come out with stuff like "oh the dog's so good with the kids. They can do anything to him, pull his ears, pull his tail, pinch his skin, and he never complains". Arseholes! It's just as well most dogs have long fuses and are so forgiving.

"In this situation the dog owner is being irresponsible and if the dog bit that child it would be the owners fault but the dog that would suffer in the end. So sad because it is unavoidable."
I agree Iam if the dog bit the baby it would be the owner's fault, yet earlier you said if a dog bites it should be PTS. In every case?

"She never gets walked and stands in her own shit and is never walked."
The RSPCA are often useless but I'd still be inclined to report her. That dog must be going stir crazy!