dd was bitten by a dog at a kids party today

[Moomin]

The dogs were kept indoors for most of the party then someone let them out towards the end. Dd1 who's 4 loves dogs and was stroking them in the garden. At the end of the party she went indoors to use the toilet. One of the dogs was standing in the kitchen from what we can gather and dd went to stroke her again and the dog went for her and bit her face.

dh found her crying hysterically and realised what had happened. The skin on her cheek was punctured in one place and was bleeding a bit, the rest of her cheek was swollen. He came out to tell me carrying her and i think i was in shock. The parents of the kid whose party it was were apologetic but not horrified. They have 3 kids under 4 and apparently the dogs have never done this before. I think i was in shock. we decided to go home not to hospital as we had the baby with us too and i rang nhs direct when we got in. Her tetanus is up to date but Dh took her up to primary care on the advice of the nurse on the phone and they prescribed antibiotics just in case.

the dad rang dh to see how dd was. I think i still can't believe how close she came to being really badly hurt i feel quite numb. I was so angry when we left i could hardly speak. It was all so fucking middle class, dh saying to them not to worry and them saying oh dear but not too loudly in case we spoiled the end of their ds's party (well that's what it felt like)

I agree with janh that it would be better to talk to the dog owners before going to the police. Sleep on it and speak to them tomorrow if possible?

Moomin, what a sweet brave dd you have (dog/prison comment)
TBH I would report it. You are certainly not overreacting. I agree with all those who say there's always a first time for biting. (I'm a bit dog-phobic myself and am dreading situations like these when ds is a bit older)

The dog would probably have to be put down. I'm not sure what the procedure is in cases like this?

When I was 4, my family dog snapped at me because I teased her. I think she must have seen me as a puppy that needed telling off or something, as she had been in the house before I was born. Anyway, M&D gave her to a friend to look after, because she could have actually bitten me, and it could have happened again easily.

What would you have wanted the family to do? How would you have wanted them to react?

\link{http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/dogs.htm\dangerous dogs and the law}

Firstly I'm really sorry to hear what happened to your little dd, Moomin, and I hope she is OK. Can I just add a post from the other side of the fence please? We bought my ds a terrier puppy last summer after I had a miscarriage and although he is technically ds's dog he has become my new baby IYSWIM. I have never been so attached to a dog as I am to this one.

Last weekend we took him to a dog show and he bit a woman walking past us on the leg. I have no idea why he bit her. He was on a lead and was in a good mood. We apologised to her and to the show organiser and we took him straight home. They could see we were mortified. We aren't the sort of people to get all arsey or brush it off. The woman said it was ok. Friday evening the police turned up on the doorstep. She has reported us but gone off on holiday so we have to wait a week before we find out what will happen. The police said it might go to court. The internet says the court may order the dog be destroyed and we might have to pay her compensation or be fined or imprisoned.

I have a history of depression and this has set me right back again. I haven't been able to sleep all weekend, I'm constantly in tears and snapping at the children. We are already in debt so if we have to pay her compensation I don't know how we will pay our other bills. I am quite willing to replace her trousers and pay for any costs she has incurred but I know what these compensation claims turn into. Yes I can see her side of it but why didn't she sort it out with us there and then? if they take my dog away I think I am seriously heading for a nervous breakdown. In the meantime she has our name and address but I've no idea who she is, so I couldn't send her a written apology and flowers as I would normally have done.

It's not quite the same situation as yours as mine was in a dog situation in a field, but do you not think that these people might be going through the same sort of worry and sleeplessness as I am? If you do go to the police, at least do it Monday so they don't have the strain of it hanging over them all weekend when they can't contact anyone. :( :( :( :( :( :(

I would most definately report it, it doesn't matter if the dogs haven't done it before, it has done it NOW and unfortunately, your dd was the first.

I'd report it too. The dog most definitely has the potential to do it again and if a dog bit my child and I heard they'd done it before and it wasn't reported, I'd be livid.

I'd be livid anyway of course.

I understand that the owners of the dog probably love it very much and it will be distressing for them, but not half as distressing as it would be for a child to be bitten by it - especially on the face.

If I were you, I'd be really worried about it happening again, potentially causing even worse injury, and me having not said anything but having had the opportunity to.

I know several people who have been bitten by nice family dogs. The dog has always been put down by the family. As far as Iknow, noone has needed to report anything because the family has realised themselves what action they need to take. I think if the dog wasn#t normally around children, I might leave it and then just hope the owners have the sense to keep dogs away from children in the future. But in this case......No I would report!

Everyone says 'Oh, that's the first time my dog has done that'. My dad was badly attacked by an Alsacian when I was 8. It was a spring evening and there were loads of kids out in an excellent neighbourhood. That dog would have killed a child had he attacked one. As it is, my dad suffered serious lacerations - he still has the scars - and badly broke his right wrist -pins, three surgeries, a cast for 9 months, off work for 2 months.

'He'd never done anything like that before.'

Bullshit.

That was the third time he'd escaped from the backyard and bitten someone. The first two times, however, were members of the owner's family. They'd not reported it to police, but my dad's lawyer - he had to sue the owner's homeowners insurance after his medical insurance (this was in the US, where you use private medical insurance to pay for healthcare) company refused to pay b/c the dog attacked him on their property - found out the two people had been treated in local hospitals for dog bit injuries.

Oh your poor dd Moomin. It's a difficult situation - they should have had more sense than to have dogs around at a children's party. I'm not sure of the law around 'dangerous dogs'especially if they are within their own property.

I'd be prepared for you dd's bite to look a lot worse over the next couple of days (sorry).I was bitten by a dog 10 days ago - thought it was a minor bite at the time but TBH it's a real mess, especially the bruising. I didn't report it at the time, but wish I had now. dh went up to see the owner who was very apologetic but even on that visit dh couldn't get out of the car as there were 4 Jack Russells barking and growling. It's a little different to your situation as they are farm dogs who were roaming free - but we weren't anywhere we shouldn't have been as the public footpath runs past the gate.

Last week I was driving through quite a rural area and a dog ran out infront of me growling and snarling at two young boys walking along the opposite path. I had to break because of the dog and it was a big rotweiler. I kept pressing the car horn because this dog was really going for these two boys. I stopped the car but revved the engine and kept pipping the horn while the two boys ran off down the path. The dog kept looking at the boys and moving to go after them everytime I stopped distracting it. Finally the dog retreated back to the stables it had come from but I was shaking. I had my two kids in the car but I was only seconds away from getting out. The boys were perhaps ten years old and they were terrified of this dog. Once I'd made sure the dog wasn't coming back out I carried on down the road and caught up with the boys. I asked them if they were okay but of course they weren't. I felt at the time that I should have phone the police but when I told dh he talked me out of it.

I know exactly where this happened where the dogs came from. Should I contact the police even though this happened about a week ago?

I would.

My uncle was bitten by a dog recently too, on his leg, and it's a real state. I'm pretty sure he's reported it (he was on duty police officer).

My dog has been known to growl occassionally. For that reason he is shut upstairs when we have visitors (except family as he is fine with regular faces, kids best friends etc - just not new people) & when we have large crowds or parties he is sent to kennels for a day trip.

It's a pain & expensive but not worth risking anything else.

Flip
I'd report it. A vicious rottweiler is not a normally harmless family pet in a bad mood because his territory has been invaded.
Moomin
Hope your dd is OK, and that this horrible incident doesn't have a lasting effect on her.
How would you feel if the dog had to be put down?

Oh god, this thread is awful.

OK, so I don't like dogs, but I think that Flip should report it and that Moomin should, at the very least, not risk her child going there again.

I hope your daughters is ok, bless her heart it must have been a real shock. My ds and his friend were attacked last year at the end of our cul-de-sac by our neighbours german shepard. My ds was severly bitten and mauled luckily our neighbour is a nurse and she took us to her childminders dh who is a doctor and checked the boys over. My dh took a digital photograph of both the boys injuries. My ds still has the scars from two bite marks. Typically I was at work and didn't hear about it until I got home late at night.
I was absolutely livid as this dog is always allowed to run around without a lead on - we live on the edge of a park. Another friend's child was nearly attacked by it and the owner is full of 'Oh it's alright it won't hurt you.'
I think what made me the most angry was that the owners husband was away and his wife never even came over to see how my ds was. I rang the police and showed them the photograph and ds injuries and they put me in touch with the dog warden. They asked if I wanted to press charges and I said no not this time, but if I ever see the dog without a lead running down my road I will.
Since I reported the incident a dog warden has trained the dog once a week for about 6 weeks and touch wood there hasn't been any other incidents.
My dh and the other boys parents did not want me to report it. But everyone who I spoke to and once they had seen the injuries agreed it was in my child and any other childrens best interest.
Good luck with what you decide to do.

Forgot to add if you didn't want the police to go round to their house you could always report it and they will give you an incident number.

I think the dogs should have been kept away from the children completely. A dog doesn't even have to 'viciously' bite a small child to cause harm. A bite that could have been a 'play bite' at an adult's hand or another dog could obviously really harm a child who is too small to push a dog away and whose face is at completely the wrong height. Also a party is precisely the kind of situation that is going to challenge a dog's sense of territory. It is amazing how many dog owner's assume that a dog can be trusted to think like a human, not a dog. Not sure what you should do - I don't think I would report it, but I wouldn't be happy about going there again.

However, thank you very much for posting. The next time somebody in the park lets their dog get really close to my toddler because "they are really good with children", I will remember what happened to your Dd and not feel I have to be nice to them. (Obviously its my responsibility to be aware of dogs too, but its that "Oh Rex loves children, you needn't worry" that annoys me)

The other day, I was waiting at the bus-stop with ds. A woman let her two dogs off the lead, to allow them to run on some grassy land next to the stop. I shielded ds as one of the dogs sniffed him, and she muttered 'they won't hurt him' as she walked past. She didn't say it out loud, but I heard her. I said, 'Well I don't know that do I?', but she just carried on walking and shook her head, like I was a nutter or something!

I think that people with dogs, especially those with no children, forget that the dog is an animal, even if well trained. My SIL has a Rottweiler and a large Black Labrador, and they always shut them in thew kitchen when we go round. I think that they think I'm over-protective of ds, and I do know that the dogs are well trained. However, it only takes one attack to mar a child's body and/or life forever. Better to offend someone than regret it IMO.

IMHO as a dog owner whose dog has never bitten but she is a 'bouncey' type of springer spaniel. She once growled and snapped at a child who had hit her with a stick, and I went ballastic - at the child not the dog! He knew better and was deliberately hurting her

I woudl call the family agin when you are felling a little calmer and discuss things with them. I would hesitate to report it as there is a huge difference between a dog 'going' for someone and one that reacts to something IYKWIM In this situation you cannot be sure what the dog did. However I woudl discuss it with the owner and suggest that they looka t ways of controlling teh beast better, and locking it up when company is around.

I bloody hate dog-owners like this Dior. They are just so stupid and inconsiderate. And they're probably the same ones who can't be bothered to pick up the shit.

I'd report it Moomin. I can't believe they were so stupid as to have their dogs around when there's a bunch of strange kids in the house. It's disturbing for a dog to have all these strangers on their territory, they're just behaving as dogs if they get defensive FGS. Dog owners should know that.

Yes, because I then started wondering if I was in the wrong, and molly-coddling ds! Then, when I thought about it, I knew that I wasn't. I'm sure that there are loads of dogs who would never attack anyone, but you do hear some awful stories, and it is surely better to protect your child rather than take that risk...

My dad got bitten by an Alsatian when out jogging, years ago, when I was about 8. He stopped jogging as these two huge dogs came near. The owner assured him that he could keep running, so he did. He then got bitten, and still has a scar on his leg.

Blimey, I have quite a few stories don't I! I also got bitten by a Jack Russell once, because I tried to stroke it. My fault I suppose, but it bloody hurt!

In my dad's case, no one reported it. So the dog was free to very nearly kill him. It definitely would've killed a child - my dad's 6ft. tall and it knocked him over three times.

Animals who bite need to be reported before someone REALLY gets hurt. Let's think of the next person it bite's feelings before we think of sparing someone embarrassment, etc.

Let's think instead: how would you feel if another child were seriously injured or killed by this animal, knowing you didn't report it the first time?

I'd feel pretty shit.

I also think that people who don't react appropriate when their dog bites a child (ie with horror and mortification) they are possibly more likely not to take proper measures to ensure it doesn't happen again.