to say something about a dog that 'bit' me?

[CorraLinn]

Today DH and I with our DD (2) and DS (6 months) went to see a house for sale. The lady owner was there but her DH was out. She had her 2 DS's with her (18 months and 12 weeks). When we arrived she opened the door and there were 2 dogs there - one fairly quiet and laid back and the other a bit hyper. She was holding the hyper one back by the collar so it didn't run out to us. We said it was fine as we're used to dogs (we had our own beloved dog pts in April as she was getting very old and sore and I used to work in animal welfare so am well used to dogs of all kinds).
She then showed us round the garden and the hyper dog ran around like a loon. We then all went back into the house. The quiet dog came for a pat then went to bed. Hyper dog followed us around - licked DD on the face a few times, wagged it's tail played with the owner's DS etc.
Near the end of the tour, we were all in the living room. I was kneeling down playing with my DD and the owner's older DS. The hyper dog came over and I turned around and patted it. Fine for a minute then it came at me and 'bit' my face. It got it's teeth around my nose and on my cheek. It didn't draw blood and didn't clamp down or growl but I got a terrible fright. I gasped and the owner definitely saw as she said 'Are you ok?' and immediately came and got the dog by the collar again and held it back.
I was in a bit of shock (not due to pain, just got a fright) and I was actually a bit embarrassed too (daft I know) so I just said I was fine and sort of laughed it off. She then said the dog was 'mad as a box of squirrels'. But we made our excuses and left sharpish and she kept sending the dog to bed as we were going and not letting it near us.
Once back in the car I had a look and I had red marks on my nose and cheeks but no broken skin and no pain but I could 'feel' where the teeth had been if know what I mean.
I'm surprised how shocked I was about it and I felt a bit shaky all the way home. I said to DH that I could never have a dog that I had seen do that in a house with young children and if that had been our dog I would have been putting it to sleep if I couldn't get it rehomed/retrained to be safer.
I'm now not sure what to do. Completely ignore it - after all there was no real harm done and it's not really my business what the owners do. Or say something to someone? I don't think it's really something I could report the to police as there was no real damage to me and after all, I said nothing at the time! But I was thinking that when the estate agent calls me for feedback I might say something about it.
Any thoughts?

YANBU - also I don't see what the down side of mentioning this to the agent is. If the vendors are serious about selling their house they'd presumably prefer not to put people off and an out of control or 'mad' dog could easily do this - so you're actually doing them a favour. In the worst case scenario you could be preventing an actual dog bite to someone elses' DC, and / or preventing a small child from being seriously frightened and put off dogs for life.

My aunt got a rescue dog once. It was fine for 6 months then out of the blue one day bit the face of her son (who was 18). They were simply sitting on the sofa together - the son was watching TV and the dog was (he thought) sleeping next to him. He had stitches and now has a scar. A little kid could have been far worse off. I know you've already decided to do this but I think it really is the best thing to do to tell the agent.

Seriously, put to sleep and it's out of control.
What an overreaction, from a non dog owner.

Thank fuck i don't have friends who think it's ok to call others 'mental dog owners'

This isn't aggressive biting from what you say, this would score a 1 on the Dunbar bite scale, (six is dead. 0 is no contact made at all).. but inappropriate play/mouthing behaviour which has been encouraged by someone.

We find dogs putting their teeth on our faces highly inappropriate however for a dog, it isn't - i wouldnt let the fact that it was your face influence your actions.

What i WOULD do however is drop the owner a note explaining htat you realise her dog was playing and whilst you won't be taking further action, she does need to be aware that you would legally be able to do so, as her dog gave you a fright and technically, did bite you.

I would be strongly encouraging her to seek professional help from a behaviour consultant, before another accident occurs either where someone DOES take action or someone is actually injured.

The fact the dog is only playing, has been taught this is ok and only bit your face because your face happened to be there as opposed to some predetermined aim to maim you for life is not relevant.

It does sound likethe owner is suffering from what we behaviourists call 'behaviour myopia'... they don't truly SEE the behaviour thats right in front of them or recognise how serious it is!

We find dogs putting their teeth on our faces highly inappropriate however for a dog, it isn't

But unless the dog lives in a kennel on it's own then it's going to come into contact with people on a daily basis. It just isn't adequate to explain away this behaviour as OK and normal for dogs. If they are to live amongst people they need to behave appropriately, and safely. Sticking its mouth and teeth around a person's face is not normal or safe.

I cannot believe you left your DD at eye level with a dog you didn't know on its own territory especially as it was already "hyper"

Blimey. If a dog did that to me, I'd be reporting it to the dog warden.
But then again, I don't think that I would have stayed in the house if a dog was charging around like that.
I have been the victim of an unprovoked dog bite; (I walked into a park, and a dog ran up and bit me) I don't think I'd be hanging around to check the differentiation between a bite and mouthing, that would fucking terrify me and I'd have nightmares. again.

Dogs of any age can mouth and grab if overexcited, not just puppies. It's not ok, it's incredibly manners, can be bloody painful and potentially dangerous if it happened to a small child. Anyone who allows their adult dog to still bounce and grab is an idiot and anyone who knows their dog is liable to do that and still allows them to greet visitors is an even bigger idiot. OP has every right to be shocked and pissed off. Having said all that, an overexcited lacking in manners dog is worlds away from an aggressive dog. This dog doesn't sound aggressive, if it had wanted to cause injury it would've done so before anyone had time to do anything about it. It would be awful for this innocent dog to be labelled dangerous and potentially put to sleep just because it's owner is a moron.

Incredibly bad manners, even.

Thank God it didn't nip your DD, it would have left her with a phobia for life.

Extremely rude (and foolish) of the woman not to contain her dog. Complain to the agent.

She is mad to have a dog in the house for viewings, no way will she sell like that. Get it outside in its kennel if it has to be there but for God's sake not indoors

You mention the dogs in the feedback to the estate agent. You say that you aren't going to make an offer on the house, but that the two dogs were uncontrollable and people not as comfortable with dogs could easily be intimidated.

Had that been me turning up for the viewing, I would have insisted the dogs be put in the garden for the duration.

This should be taken seriously and could end in tragedy.

It may well be the owner's fault and not the dog's, but that won't be any consolation when a child ends up in hospital/worse.

I'd say there's responsibility on both sides. The vendor (especially with strange DC in the house) should have put the dog outside in a safe place for the duration of the viewing e.g. in the car, or garden while you are in the house, then on lead while you look round the garden.

You (especially as you claim to be experienced in animal welfare) were in a strange house with young toddlers and a dog that you don't know. If that was me, I'd politely but firmly ask as soon as I arrived that the dog be placed somewhere safe for the duration of the viewing. That way, you can concentrate on safely viewing the house and wrangling your DC without the extra dimension of a totally unpredictable animal.