to want to get rid of our dog who has bitten our son?

[paulaplumpbottom]

We have a 5 year old springer spaniel. He has always been the most gentle dog you can imagine and we all adore him. He has always been especially good with children and he has never shown any signs of aggression.

On Wed night my 20 month old son and I were sitting on the floor with the dog. My son was patting him very lightly on the head. This has been a very common occurance and our dog has always been very happy and relaxed before. My dog suddenly turned and aggressivly bit my son on the forhead. My son was fine and it did not break the skin.He did cry but was fine a minute later and I spoke to a doctor who said he would be fine. I then called my MIL who came and got my dog.

My husband was away on business and was not there to witness the attack. When I described the situation to him he said that I must be mistaken and that our dog was so placid that he would never do anything aggressive.This was also my MIL's reaction. I have been very furious because I feel that what I saw was a very aggressive attack and I am hurt that my judgement is being called into question. I no longer want the dog around the children. I have told my husband that he is never to be around our children again and that I want no legal responsibilty for him. My husband wants him back home but kept outside. My children and their friends play outside and I feel that it would be impossible to ensure that he would never come into unsupervised contact with him.
My Dh and MIL think i am being completely unreasonable. Am I?

Sorry not read all the comments.

But just wanted to share my experience.

Bought a very boysterious retriever pup at 10 weeks. He grew to be very dominant over a few months, which was not nipped in the bud by us - the inexperienced owners.

The dog snapped and bit my daughter on the hand when he was 8 months old (she was 16 - by the way). She had tried to take something off him he should'nt have.

He had broke the skin in several places and we went to A and E for injections etc.

I was so upset. I wanted him put down.

My husband rang rspca and they recommended a dog whisperer. We had a £40 2 hour session with him at our house.

Since then after putting all the advise into practice. Our dog has turned into the most affectionate trustworthy companion we could possibly have.

I am so relieved that my husband got us the help we needed.

Basically I believe that a dog is what you make it.

There have never been any other problems. Good luck with your decision.

Blimey.

Reading this thread, I wonder if I've accidentally stumbled across MadDogLadiesnet?

Thank you Midori that is very kind. I certainly will email you when my husband and I find a solution we are both comftorable with.

Rehome the dog. It sounds adorable, and it was clearly not being aggressive. A "bite" to the face which doesn't break the skin is nothing - and not aggressive. It was probably a lick which scared your child so he cried. If there was anything other than friendliness from the dog, this was a VERY minor warning shot. Good dog, I say, for holding back and being so "polite", from a dog's perspective.

However, if you are a) so paranoid that you can't see this, b) don't understand dogs enough to understand this and c) can't teach your child at nearly 2 not to touch the dog's head you are not a suitable owner for this dog and it's all going to go pear shaped.

Try the Dogs Trust. They understand dogs well and will rehome him somewhere more suitable.

My son has grown up with a dog who is certainly not young child-friendly, and understands entirely how to interact with him. Never had a problem, never concerned about it - but I hardly allow them to play together nor did they stay in the same room together until he was over 5 - it's a managed relationship, by me, the adult. I'm comfortable with that. You're clearly not.

Dogs aren't playthings or creatures that you can "always trust". No dog, no matter how soft, is never going to defend itself. For a dog to be so careful as to say "oi", yet not leave any mark, that's a good, solid, safe dog to have round a child, I say. It's the adults I'm more concerned about

I think the OP mentioned that her son's forehead was quite badly bruised, so it was unlikely to be a lick.

I am so glad Midori knows someone who may be able to take this dog - I have been worrying about it being in its current situation all day, and was madly thinking about taking it, despite already having 2 rescue springers.

I would get rid of the dog by whatever means you have to, and never allow any dog near a small child, supervised or not. They are predatory animals and not to be trusted with small creatures like toddlers

older, I'm interested as to why people might think as you do. Are you speaking as a result of a bad experience or do you just have an aversion to/fear of dogs?

MillyR, hats off to Midori's contact and to you too. Springers are lovely but they wouldn't be my choice, they're not for the faint-hearted! Mad, energetic, clever creatures!

givecarrotsachance ffs! i think you're one of these people who prefer animals to people.seriously,it's just a dog.she's concerned about her child.what's more important?i'm glad you're "comfortable" with exposing your child to a dog that's not "child friendly". i'm sure that made him feel safe in his own home!

Good grief what a thread.

Woman comes on here after her small child has been bitten, wants some advice, strange dog obsessives come out of the woodwork and say it's her fault and she needs training.

Some people actually value their children's safety above the right of dogs, funnily enough.

I must say, there do seem to be quite a few people who appear to think they were in the same room as OP!! Personally I would take it a face value - if OP says her dog bit her son aggressively on the face (and left bruising) then that's what happened.

I'm glad we got a dog after the kids TBH!

spot on geroifmyland and put more succintly that i had managed. the vigorous shaking of my head made it difficult to type

we are not maddogladies on this thread.Just people who have children but who also happen to have/love dogs. we are trying to understand and resolve a situation that was out of character for the dog, and that happens to help everybody for the best dog and child.Don't know wether you have ever had the honour of having a dog as a much loved family member,perhaps you would then understand our concern of the situation.Perhaps you would then understand our concern that a dog is not vilified for an action that may have stemmed from illness/fear or whatever.
by the way Paula hope it goes ok when he is checked at the vets keep us informed.
by the way Two years ago my jr terrier had a haematoma in her ears it was very painful.she was sensitive to her head being touched. this could possibly be a problem with your dog.Or as I have mentioned bfore a tick in his ear.

I think that once a 'close' pet does something to threaten or potentially endanger a child, then it is really difficult to regard the pet the same way as before. Perhaps a built in instinct for us to protect our own?

The thing is, once that relationship between pet/owner has been affected, is the pet going to be so readily included in family life? My guess is not. If that is the case, then the pet may be happier in an environment where it is included rather than pushed to one side.

The other thing to consider is giving the dog it's own space where it is safe from being interfered with and likewise the child is too? Kennels with runs attached and creature comforts inclusive may be an alternative? Giving the dog time and attention on walks and play etc, but that it has somewhere to relax away from any interference (it's own den). It is an alternative but again, is down to choice.

Children aren't tiny for ever and dogs can be great company out on the walks on muddy puddle days and this phase may pass and there could be many happy times ahead for the LO and 4 legged friend.

Either way, the OP is the one with the dog and has the whole picture of the situation. Making a decision is really tough: being torn between the pet - part of the family - your feelings of loosing them -v- parental responsibility.

Good luck OP. It's a tough choice and don't give in to feeling hen-pecked by some of the more vocal posts on here. Do what you think is right for the dog and your family.

My thoughts exactly GetOrf.

I'm really, really shocked that people think the OP should:-

a)be putting her dogs needs above those of her DS - who is only 20 months old

and b)implying she's an awful, irresponsible owner - which is clearly not the case at all or she wouldn't be agonising over this decision.

darksandstormy since you ask, no I have never had a dog but I am a pet owner (also a pet lover) and have grown up surrounded by animals, so I understand that people love their pets very much and are attached to them.

However, if a pet badly hurt or injured my child in any way - in that scenario the child comes first and I find it utterly bizarre - not to say astonishing - that any parent would think otherwise.

I think that some of the comments from Valhalla are pretty harsh to be honest. Yes Valhalla you are very much for the rights of dogs and have your own agenda, however your comments are pretty snidey. Unnecessary.

I think it is pretty evident that the OP is in turmoil and loves the dog and whatever decision she makes will be hard for her. I think she is being very reasonable in the circs.

Paula, only just seen this thread today but thought you might be interested in our family?s experiences.

We had a much-loved cocker spaniel who suddenly, after 2+ years, started turning aggressive towards OH and DCs, snapping and growling at them on more than one occasion. We took him to the vet who made sure there weren?t any physical causes (injury, illness, cancer etc). She told us that there is a well-known phenomenon called ?Cocker rage? ? no idea whether there is ?Springer rage?, I?m afraid ? and that she doubted there was much she or we could do if this was the problem.

Cue several family discussions, with tears, including one with whole family and vet where she basically explained that the problem going forward was one of trust ? would we trust DCs to walk him in the future (as they used to do)? Children admitted that they were now nervous around the dog, as was OH ? and that pretty much decided our course of action for us.

We re-homed him. Our absolute, non-negotiable condition was that we would only give him to a rescue centre which guaranteed they would not have him put down ? if they couldn?t re-home him, they looked after him themselves. We gave them a largish donation towards his upkeep.

It was a desperately sad time for us all, but I don?t have any doubt whatsoever that it was the best solution for everyone. When all?s said and done, children have to come before dogs.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

i think i remember cocker rage being linked to a particular colour of cocker spaniel (i may be wrong).

Thank you Mattellie. I have an appointment for our dog tommorow so we will see what the vet says.

I'm very sorry about your dog. Its really hard.