Dogs - what would you do if your child was attacked by a dog ?

[yellowrose]

Ds is only 3 and I have been noticing more and more dogs everywhere I go including what looked like a Pit Bull Terrier on a very strange, studded leash.

I am absolutley terrified to the extent that I pick up ds the minute I see a dog approaching, because he likes dogs, like any child and will often approach them before I can run up to him, sometimes with a stick he is holding (he always picks up and carries sticks in the park) and I worry that this will threaten an otherwise ok dog.

I am far from being a dog lover beacuse I was bitten by one when I was 10 and a cousin and I were chased by a pack of wild dogs when I was around 8. I know it is a bit irrational, but bad childhood experience means I will never consider buying any type of dog.

I know I am probably getting more and more paranoid by the day, but could someone with professional or personal experience tell me what they would do if a dog attacks their child ?

I am not talking about a growl or even being chased, I am talking about, god forbid, an actual attack where the dog is actually holding the child with its jaws and mauling it. What can you do in that situation ?

I read somewhere that you should stick something up its bum to get the dog to let go.

I really don't know what I would do. I know dp would attack the dog physically himself with anything to hand like a knife or something

sheep - I would carry a knife too - although I doubt it is legal.

do those sprays work on a dog that has already attacked, not one that is just approaching ?

I am also interested as locally I have seen a few dogs wandering about without an owner and have heard about a kind of high-pitched siren which wards off dogs but have no idea how to get one or even if they are legal.

I agree with the knife i'm afraid, dog v Child, a dog will not let go! I have a Jack Russell but he has his own pen in the garden & doesnt go into the childrens garden. would never leave him alone with dd's not that he's ever bitten anyone as he's only a pup but the potential is always there. If my dog went for my dd like that I'd kill it without hesitation.

Sorry if my post offends anyone.

I am a dog lover.

The only way to get something like a pit bull or staffie to release it's grip on anything-child,other dog etc is to stick something up it's arse.
Was told this by a vet after my beloved whippet was attacked by a staffie.Their jaws are so powerful,no amount of prising will work.

Following the attack-I always used to have a pen in my pocket whenever I walked him-not illegal but would certainly do the trick.

their jaws look like a croc

Kick/smash the dog in the nose, in answer to OP. I was explaining this to DS, recently.

thats usefull info woooooooooooooooosh

thank you

very useful. thanks. does any one know anthing about sprays also please ?

the pen thing is very useful info. if kicking does not work. thanks.

I am a dog-lover, yellowrose, but had a horrific incident last year when a dog we had rescued attacked the dog we already had. In this case the dog doing the attacking was a staffie-type and it was very hard to make her let go. I grabbed her collar and twisted it round as hard as I could right up under her throat. Basically I was garrotting her, and it was only when she couldn't breathe that she had to let go of my other dog. Needless to say, the dog went back to the rescue place immediately (though this was purely dog-on-dog violence, she was sweet as pie with people, including the kids).

That incident has freaked me out a bit with other dogs, so I do know where you are coming from.

On the other hand, it would also be a good idea to try to address your fear of dogs if you can, by exposing yourself to dogs you know to be friendly. It won't ever turn you into a dog-lover, but it might stop you passing your fear onto your ds. A healthy fear of dogs is a good thing (i.e. not just running up to strange dogs and flinging your arms around them... which is what I've had to try to stop my dd2 doing!), but being really petrified of all dogs isn't, especially because the instinct of a young child can be to run away, which is the worst thing he can do, as it encourages the dog to run after him (even if it's friendly and just wants to play). Have you got a friend with a 'tame' dog that you can learn to stroke in a controlled environment? Most dogs, remember, are friendly and most owners are responsible.

Good luck, and I hope you never need to use the 'how to stop an attack' technique.

LOL... just read that back... Obviously when I said 'expose yourself' I didn't mean 'expose yourself' in the full-frontal nudity sense!

ellbell - thanks no i did realise you didn't mean expose in that sense - gosh now there is something you will get arrested for - lol !

thanks for the tip re. getting to know dogs, funny really because my mum was a dog and cat lover - i just love cats because i have never had a reason to fear them. it is my childhood paranoia playing up. you are right i have read that you must NEVER run away from a dog, because it makes it worse, curl up into a ball on the ground with your arms over your head, play dead. i intend to teach this to ds as he gets older, he is only 3 though, so still in the stick waving phase which scares the hell out of me.

i don't have any friends with dogs, nor relatives which means i have never been exposed to a nice dog as you say. a friend has suggested i get a dog for ds when he is older, but to be honest not sure i want one nor do i think i would be a very good dog trainer.

weird as i am not normally such a sissy, just too many reports in the papers in the last few years and i was never concerned before i had ds.

apparently they run courses for postmen teaching them not to run away from dogs, masses of incidents of postmen getting attacked in the USA I read somewhere, so most get the training now !

If you live anywhere near W. Yorks yellowrose you are very welcome to come round and stroke our old dog (the one who got attacked, bless her). She is over 14 now and her hobbies include lying down, snoozing, um, lying down and, um, snoozing! The other day someone was banging on the back door. Her bed is literally right inside the back door, but she couldn't be bothered to raise her head from the bed to bark, so I didn't know they were there!

I wouldn't recommend getting a dog for your ds. (Why would you, if you don't really like them? They are a big commitment.) But just try to introduce him to nice ones as and when you get the chance, and try to 'act normal' around dogs as much as you can.

Good luck!

Mace/pepper spray works for stopping a dog in its tracks when its coming at you. It also prevents bears from attacking (should you ever meet a bear;)) I would only ever use a spray if I felt the dog was intent on hurting me, not just if it was coming over. I am v v much an animal lover, so I would consider the use of the spray a last ditch attempt if the dog insisted on coming at me despite attempts to stop it using other methods.

Hope that makes some sense?

thanks ellbell and nutter. not many bears around where i live (cambridgeshire) although ds sleeps with two teddy bears in his cot every night

ellbell, thanks for the offer, your dog sounds fab, but we live too far away

just two - lol ! very useful thanks !

i had to get ds to let go of my nipples sometimes when he was locked jaw on my nipples with new teeth (ouch) when he was a baby by pulling him in a bit so he couldn't breath well and had to let go ! sounds cruel, but it is one method recommended for teething babies, lasts for seconds and it works

i can see it working with a dog too.

the great thing about this thread is to know the various methods so one can try them all.

sorry, i hope to god i will NEVER have to try any of these things nor any other parent

to all dog lovers: please realise that i don't enjoy animal cruelty and do love most domestic animals, i just need to have the knowledge

I'm in Cambs too. I don't mind dogs but had an incident with one as a child. Think I was about 5 and was in a butchers with my grandad, there was a doberman puppy (was large still) which was the next door jewellers guard dog and it was playing with me bascially. It was following me around my grandad but then jumped up at me and scratched just under my eye which started bleeding. My grandad was terrifed as he thought it had got my eye. I have vague memories of that but quite vividly remember being taken into the back and sat on a stool and was asked if I wanted a drink, I said yes and they asked water or milk and I asked for milk. I also remember having to go for a tetanus afterwards. I wasn't scared of dogs though and was worried that the poor dog would get put down, I think that's one of the first things I asked my parents, whether it would get put down as I always loved animals.

I'd do anything it took to get a dog off of any of my children bascially.

i blame the dog owners of such dogs, not the dogs