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?

Indeed MyFriends. Any animal will kick/bite/scratch in defence if sufficiently stressed. As an owner or handler it's your job to make sure it can cope. Most animals give warnings well before they actually attack so you can remove the animal from the stressor in time.

Sadly some animals, for a variety of reasons, can become so stressed so quickly that managing them is too great a risk. Then you have to make tough decisions. IMO this dog has paid a high price for what were essentially human failings.

A child shouldn't have to live in a house where there is a risk they could be mauled.

I would take to the vet to be checked over first too rather than straight away Pts,so would my dh.
I don't agree your dh husband is right. You have just as much right to an opinion.

It's not 'just a dog' it's part of a family, mind you some people on here happily kill animals just because they annoy them so they won't understand op.
Yes, the dog may not be able to come back to your house but it sounds like the dog was simply terrified.
Anything could have happened to it, it could well have been hurt.
I'd rule that out first.
i'm really sorry you're going through this.

The fact that the op hasn't come back makes me think the poor dog has been pts

A sad situation that could have been avoided

I was thinking the same NeedACleverNN I hope we're wrong.

Poor dog It was clearly highly traumatised! A person should never put their face up close to a dog's (even their own, no matter how close) as they find it very threatening. Throw a terrifying event into the mix! The adults in this situation are to blame. People should learn a bit about dogs and how to behave around them - and make sure their children understand what's appropriate too - before they get one.

This poor dog may have paid the ultimate price for human ignorance, especially tragic given that, being a Chihuahua and only ten, it probably had a good few years left to enjoy life.

I would have tried everything before I pts. I hope the OP comes back and tells us she's exploring other avenues first.

As an aside, the OP should know that ANY dog, no matter how sweet-natured, how docile, friendly, laid back etc etc, will snap in the right circumstances!

I doubt the OP will be back. The thread's been very divisive so either way she could get flamed. But yes, I also suspect the dog is dead by now.

Mulling this over, I can't think of many animals who seek that kind of close face to face contact unless they're very chilled out and very trusting of you or they are themselves being aggressive. Think about the expression "getting in someone's face" - it's not intended as a good thing.

From what I've seen, very few if any people are saying the toddler should grow up with this dog and none are saying this should happen without huge changes. I've owned dogs in the past but not toy breeds - from what I've read about them young children and toy dogs are not a good mix actually because the dog itself is at risk of physical damage. So personally I would have been trying my best to rehome the dog with knowledgeable people who knew the dog's history and only if that didn't work would I be considering euthanasia.

Part of the problem with miniature dogs and horses is that people don't treat them as the species they are but as toys. They don't treat them with respect, don't train them properly and then are surprised to realise that actually they do have the potential to do some damage. I know the OP has had a hard time of it, but I really hope she doesn't get a dog again.

I agree with Shmoo and NeedACleverNN, the longer OP stays away, the more likely it seems that she and/or her DH have gone ahead and had the dog killed.

If so, then (as others have said) this poor little dog has paid the ultimate price for his owners' incompetence. All we can do is hope that they never have another dog.

Poor little thing. I can't help thinking about my own dog. He was a swine when we got him. Snappy, nervous, dog aggressive, food aggressive, guarding behaviours. If there is a behaviour issue, my dog has suffered it

I have a house full of teens atm. While I am keeping the dog close, I am comfortable enough to allow him out of his crate and for the teens to interact with him in a sensible way.

My own teen was primary aged when we found him straying. We managed to get through training him without her being mauled.

It can be done if you care enough to try. I hope you are all wrong and OP has not done the deed and is reading and thinking.

I agree with the folk who suggested that the well meaning lady in the park who tried to pick the dog up did the wrong thing. This is extremely intimidating for a dog. As is getting into it's face, well meaning or not. The dog was in a stressed state when the OP did this.

I am sure there will have been any number of small signs that the dog has been stressed. Lip licking, looking away, yawning, all signs we don't also factor

While the OP may love her dog, she doesn't understand dogs.

At the very least take him to the vet to rule out medical conditions. Teaching a busy toddler to respect an older dogs space would be very hard.

ADishBestEatenCold i agree. That poor poor dog. I've been bitten before, as a child too and all instances were my own fault.
I had gotten in the dogs face, in it's safe area and tried to take it's toy. It gave me warning signs. I didn't take notice.
My cats give the same signs ( mostly) when theone bites or scratches it's because he's wound up or i'm playing him up.
When people come over with little ones i keep him out the living room as it doesn't matter if he scratches me. If they want to see the cat then i usually hold him or let him in for few minutes and he ends up leaving himself. Idon't bring him back in as i know he's left because he's stressed and i don't want to put him in a more stressed state.

When will people accept there are worse things than PTS. To me sitting in a kennel in a rescue centre for who knows how long terrified and confused and wondering why it's been abandoned by its family is worse. Being ripped from its home and family it's known for 10 years to an uncertain future is worse. Being rehomed to someone via gumtree to someone else clueless and biting somebody else is worse. The dog is clearly terrified and miserable most of the time if what the OP says is correct. Ive seen dogs that have sat in kennels for years on end and trust me it's no life at all.

The sad facts are most rescues are not equipt to deal with rehoming biting or nervous aggressive dogs. Ive seen rescue dogs incorrectly assessed that have gone on to hurt people badly and I have helped pick up the pieces afterwards. Nervous aggressive dogs more often than not get worse in a kennel environment, catch 22 when trying to rehabilitate. Most behaviouralists won't touch something that's bitten, and nervous aggression is the worst to deal with. Let's face it there are hundreds of lovely dogs out there desperate for homes.

And before anyone accuses me of talking rubbish, I work in rescue euthanising some of these poor dogs failed by their owners. I see it day in and day out and perhaps I am slightly desensitised what happens to these dogs that are 'saved' by clueless people? They sit and rot in kennels for months or years on end.

Finally, I have a dog who is so nervous aggressive she can't be around anyone without careful management. I would never rehome her for fear that would happen if I wasn't there to micro manage her.
I wonder if some people here who are accusing the OP of being horrible IF she has PTS have actually owned a nervous aggressive dog. If you have you will know how exhausting and worrying it is day in and day out constantly being on guard, not being able to enjoy a family day out or invite strangers into the home. Most days are a military operation for my dog and to be honest people often don't have the time or experience to deal with something like this especially if they have children and I wouldn't blame them for making a decision to euth at all in this situation.

When will people accept there are worse things than PTS

Well yes, of course there are, although it's probably better not to push that to its logical conclusion in all instances. Because whilst there are worse things, there are also better things. If the gate to the garden had been properly shut, if the stranger hadn't tried to pick the dog up, if the OP hadn't pushed her face up close to an already stressed dog, the dog would in all probably still be around.

So basically the better alternative to being euthanized is actually being able to live to something like your natural term, whilst being properly cared for and managed. Unfortunately none of us can turn back time which means this dog's stress can't be managed properly which means it probably has been put to sleep. And yes there are worse things but really there were better alternatives before it got to that stage.

"I wonder if some people here who are accusing the OP of being horrible IF she has PTS have actually owned a nervous aggressive dog."

I have no idea if I am one of the people of whom you refer, Greyhorses, but I have certainly owned a "nervous aggressive dog". Twice, actually. The first of these was so bad that I sought professional assistance. I'm so glad I did ... the depth of understanding and advice I was given was incredible ... so much so that the whole venture became one of the most pleasurable and rewarding I have ever had with a dog. An incredibly positive experience (it seemed almost magical to me, way back then ).
Was it exhausting? Sometimes, but then keeping animals properly sometimes is. Was it worrying? Again sometimes, especially in the early days, but became steadily less so as things improved.
My second reactive dog, I decided to go it alone using the experience I had gained with my first reactive dog (along with an occasional call to the same professional, if I wanted a bit of advice or a second opinion).
Again a successful, positive and rewarding experience!

I suppose people might think I just got lucky with the two reactive dogs I have owned, but I have gone on to occasionally foster reactive dogs when asked by a professional organisation (in not dissimilar circumstances to those leading up to this Chihuahua being killed ... if that has indeed been the result) and, with professional advice on the end of the phone, have continued to get luckily good results.

Had I been this owner of the Chihuahua, I would have sought proper professional assistance.

The problem is there's no easy fix, no magic switch. It's all very well to try and try if it's adults or older children in the house. With my fear aggressive dog we tried for two years and sought more than one ADPTs advice during this time inc the bloke who is meant to be the expert in this country and cost £160 per appointment.

We followed his advice to the letter and never really got anywhere. It culminated with Dh having his eyebrow ripped off and during those two years Dh was attacked every single day!

I was prepared to risk Dh, I had a teen dd who I actually trusted that the dog wouldn't attack (he never did). Would I have taken the risk with a toddler in the house? No way.

Nervous aggression, like any kind of aggression, falls on all ends of the scale.

This is not a dog who had major issues, that would have taken a lifetime of work to manage. This is a normal family pet who had been pushed too far, just once, due to owner ignorance.

Had OP understood her dog, it would never have escalated this far.

The dogs, like my own, who require a lifetime of management, show their colours long before a decade of loyal companionship.

The risk just cannot be taken with a small child. I would consider PTS as a last option too but rehomimg probably would never be an option for this dog.

I have a very anxious dog. Luckily she has never shown any aggression with it. She is terrified of other dogs and anywhere unfamiliar. She was a bit nervy around my DD at first but now at 17 months they get on well. However, if things had been different, I know that my little dog would never have coped if she had to spend her days in a shelter. A very very sad and difficult decision to have to make.

Itwillwash I disagree. The issue is not that she bit the adult but that she might bit the child. Had the toddler put his face near the chihuahua the result would have been worse. Yes an adult use to dogs may not have made that error but a toddler could have easily done it instead which would have been a worse result. In general I don't think many dogs are suitable for small children. I don't see why putting an aggressive dog to sleep is worse than eating a bacon sandwich for example.

I am often genuinely perplexed as to how we, as a species, manage to keep fellow mammals as pets when we understand so little about them. The canine especially is more than we deserve.

This dog is the same dog as it was before it bit this strange, aggressive woman and it's angry, confrontational owner. It is no more a danger to children than it was 10 years ago.

How hundreds upon thousands of parents manage to keep animals they know so little about safely with their children is a genuine mystery to me.

Please people, for the love of mammals, educate yourselves on the pets you claim superiority over.

I'd love to know who is going to volunteer to take the dogs that bite.

I see plenty of people stressing that they will be euthanased, but no one claiming they take in and rehabilitate biting dogs.

There are as many as 3 million unwanted dogs euthanased in the UK every year. There are not enough good homes for all the dogs that need one, let alone the ones that have behaviour or health issues.

I'm a staffy owner, MIL has a chihuaha and my dog was absolutely terrified of it due to how nervous and nippy it could be.

It's a breed that really isn't suitable for being around children, and needs to have a calm, controlled environment due to potential nerves and aggression issues.

MIL dog has now been checked by a vet and has had sessions with a behaviorist to sort out underlying issues, turns out the grankids tormented him too much causing the issues.

I would find him a quiet home with someone who understands the breed, after being checked by a vet.

I am always interested in the standard response of those of say that we assign human emotions to dogs and we shouldn't. It seems to be a default on threads where people are suggesting disposal.
Why shouldn't we? It's been shown that dogs feel pain, jealousy, depression, fear, sadness. It's been proved as much as is possible in experiments.

Those experiments being designed by humans.

But in the end it does not matter because human children (or even human adults) matter more than any dog. Dogs that bite should not be destroyed as a punishment but to protect our species and above all the young of our species. Why is that so hard to grasp?

Will it be wrong to eliminate the species of mosquito whose bite spreads thus dreadful virus? It's a living creature too!

I just wish folk would try to ensure that they have a better understanding of how dogs communicate in general. Honestly, maybe an hour at tops of reading stuff easily found by Googling would suffice in the majority of cases.

There'a tons of Facebook pages too. It's just not hard.

If your dog is ten and this sort of thing has never been a problem before then I would seriously consider the possibility that he might be ill, stressed, frightened or in pain. It would be unfair to just get rid of him without thinking about why this might have happened out of the blue.

Of course your toddler's safety should come first but the dog was there first and you MUST make sure that you control how your toddler behaves around the dog to make sure he isn't being spooked, manhandled, hurt or in any other way made to feel stressed or threatened. People can sometimes be really dim at reading their own dog's body language and they don't intervene soon enough with marauding, screeching, poking, clambering children until it's too late and someone gets hurt.

You should be making sure the dog and the child are not left together unsupervised for a start, though I am sure you know that.

If in spite of all your efforts you feel that the dog is no longer safe to be around then of course you need to make a difficult decision to either re-home or PTS, depending on the severity of any attack, but please don't make a knee jerk decision without working to find a solution first.

for example, if your toddler hits or bites a subsequent baby, or your toddler hits or bites you, you don't automatically put it up for adoption, do you?