To ask for others views

[edinburghlass1991]

I’ve just read about a dog which bit of a mans penis and testicles. Someone who knows the dog says it’s a angel. It was an English bulldog. I wonder what he did if anything and what the outcome of this will be. My knowledge of dogs is limited so it would be nice to hear others who are more knowledgeable about dogs pov thanks

I can’t link but google Edinburgh evening news and the story is on the first page.

I was a bit when I read your post but here is the story in all it's linked glory:

www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/dog-which-bit-off-haddington-man-s-genitals-is-absolute-angel-1-4815076

Apparently it was a friend of the dog owner whom described the dog as an angel so that's neither here nor there.

The man was found fully clothed which leads me to think he wasn't up to anything particularly nefarious.

My view is that even the most docile and friendliest of dogs have the capacity to flip and cause damage to anything or anyone in proximity. Sometimes that thing/person is a nearby cushion or teddy bear, at the most unfortunate of times it's a toddler so in this instance it happened to be this young man's genitals.

It’s a weird one... because looking at actual photos of the dog and reading descriptions of it, it’s not a large dog. As in definitely not large enough to bite a groin while the man was standing and doubtful its large enough while sitting either.

That type of dog tends to bite and hold on, so to get all his genitals you’d kind of expect it to be a bite around about them with the possibility of reattaching it... but apparently that’s not a possibility?

Other papers are reporting the dog is rumoured to have eaten it (totally not envy) and the record says rumours in Haddington are that the man was held down...

So, honestly, god knows, it’s not really a normal dog bite story tbh.

In that case are all dogs dangerous? And surely they shouldn’t be around small children at all if they can flip and attack. I don’t mean to be an idiot.

“In that case are all dogs dangerous?”

Potentially... yes.

They’re animals capable of doing a lot of damage, but dogs don’t really just flip for no reason, the reason might not be one that makes sense to the person in charge of the dog, but there is one.

Normal healthy, well adjusted happy pets don’t just bite.

From what they describe it sounds as if no one is really sure of exactly what happened. It's quite possible the dog was provoked in some way.

Small children should never be left unattended around an animal. That said, most animals, if socialized properly, generally don't attack for no reason, barring an illness. Usually there's a story of someone cornering them, getting in their face, teasing them, giving unwanted attention, scaring them, or going near them when they're eating or have young.

Wtaf is being asked here?
A young man has been horrifically mutilated. What is this thread about? The temperament of dogs?

.

I guess iam asking what makes a dog snap like this one did

The vast majority of dogs who 'snap for no reason' have not, in fact, snapped for no reason. The usual reason is that people have ignored the signs that a dog is unhappy.

For example, all the videos you see online of kids and dogs getting on 'so well'. If you know about dog body language, it's quite disturbing to see how many dogs are trying to communicate that they are not happy: whites of eyes showing, ears back, trying to walk away, etc. But that gets ignored and then someone is surprised when a dog that had apparently 'loved kids' has a warning snap because it had exhausted all other ways of saying 'I am not happy with this situation'.

Dogs who snap unprovoked are quite unusual. There's generally a reason: resource guarding, warnings being ignored, the dog is in pain.

This particular case is obviously an extreme example and it's impossible to say what happened, but in most dog bite cases, there is a traceable reason behind them. A lot of people just don't want to admit it so it's easier to blame the dog snapping 'out of the blue' than realising that your lack of attention or listening to your dog has led to a series of events that could be avoided.

“I guess iam asking what makes a dog snap like this one did”

Well no-one knows if that’s what happened though.

Really serious or fatal dog attacks have things in common, usually they’re dogs with a history of neglect or mistreatment and a history of showing aggression.

But those sorts of attacks aren’t usually what people mean when talking about dog bites, because they are very rare given how many dogs there are.