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Original poster

our golden retriever has bitten my daughter.

88 replies

anastasia74 · 29/10/2007 10:55

Got a problem,could anyone whose had a similar situation advise me what to do. Our 6 month old nearly fully grown dog has biten my daughter, we were in casualty 3 hours having it xrayed etc. My first reaction is to get rid of him, but it would break my daughters heart. he was not been tormented,just did not want something took off him which she took away from him, and he whipped around and bit her. He also snapped at my husband the day before but just made indentations not breaking the skin. So, it seems to be escalating. I feel I want to give him another chance. My husband is very attached to him as well. The dog has always been very grumpy and bad tempered from being a little pup. My husband has rang a dog whisperer, who has been recommended by the r.s.p.c.a. any advice please how to go forward. thanks

OP posts:

LadyVictoriaOfCake · 29/10/2007 10:56

personally,. dog or daughter?>

i couldnt risk it.

Piggy · 29/10/2007 10:58

I adore dogs and have a 3 year old lab who is brilliant with my two sons (3 and 2). However, any aggression or biting and she'd be off, particularly in your situation as it's not a one off.

PenelopePitstops · 29/10/2007 10:58

im with LVOC, sorry think you should get rid

bethoo · 29/10/2007 10:58

sounds like the dog has a bad temprement which could mean bad breeding. get in the whisperer and if it does not work i would have to say rehoming! he sounds like he suffers from possessiveness which should be dealt with immediatley.

throckenholt · 29/10/2007 10:59

I would try to find out why he is aggressive - I don't think retrievers are normally that way.

If he is aggressive towards DH as well then it is not just a case of teaching him DD is higher in the pack than him. It seems like something more than that.

If you can find a professional pet behaviourist to help then go for it - otherwise maybe you have to cut your losses - an agressive dog is no use to anyone.

wannaBe · 29/10/2007 11:01

if the dog is only 6 months old and has already caused your child to go to casualty then think of the damage that is possible when said dog becomes an adult.

I am a dog lover but there's no way I could keep a dog if it bit anyone unprovoked.

But am sorry to say that there's no way you can pass on an agressive dog - if you pass it on and it bites someone else you would feel partly responsible - your only option really would be to have the dog put to sleep.

VioletBaudelaire · 29/10/2007 11:03

I wouldn't feel happy having a dog in the house that had attacked one of my children.

Particularly in the circumstances you describe.

It's just not worth the risk, imo.

Sorry.

MerlinsBeard · 29/10/2007 11:05

if the bite was so bad it need x raying then the dog would be gone within hours if it were mine.

its not a one off-you say the dog went for your DH as well. What would your reaction be if next time it went for your DDs neck?

paolosgirl · 29/10/2007 11:07

Agree with the other posters. If it's already bitten your DD and it's only 6 months, then what might it do as it gets older - esp. given that it was an unprovoked bite. Supposing the child had been a baby or toddler . I'm afraid I'd get rid of it. Sorry

sKerryMum · 29/10/2007 11:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

clumsymum · 29/10/2007 11:08

Oh, sooooo difficult, as I'm a dog lover, and really really believe that very few dogs are bred with bad temperaments, but all dogs need to be taught how to behave.

At six months, he is still young enough to learn. You and dh need to be VERY strict. If he snaps or triesx to bite, or even play-bites, he should immediately be smacked (sharp tap on muzzle, or hard smack on flanks) and sent/taken by the collar to his cage/kennel (I strongly believe in smacking for dogs). Then ignore him for 10 mins. This treatment should teach him pretty quickly that he cannot behave like this.

If you feel you are not beating the problem, then rehome him to a house without kids soon.

BTW You really have to teach your DC to respect the dog too. My ds has always known that he MUST not take anything away from our dogs. If the dog has something she shouldn't, then he tells us.

Please don't have this young dog put down.

clumsymum · 29/10/2007 11:10

The "attack" wasn't unprovoked. the child took something off the dog.

BernieBear · 29/10/2007 11:12

See what the dog whisperer says. Possesiveness over toys/food shows aggression which will only escalate if not got into check sadly. Also take your dog to the vets for a check up. A blood test may show thyroid probs which, I am sure I have heard somewhere, can cause aggressive behaviour. There maybe some other underlying medical problem which is causing his bad temper.

I have a dog who is also 6 months old and is tormented by my 3.6 ds. So far he has shown no aggression but I do not let play/interaction go on for too long between them and keep them seperated for some of the time too.

Good luck, but if you can get no help, sadly the dog should go.

NAB3 · 29/10/2007 11:13

This is hard as I am reaaly excited about us getting a dog in a few years, but I have also spent time at the hospital when my children have had accidents and it would be awful to think the family pet caised them. No brainer I am afraid.

My cat has scratched my youngest after over 6 years of nothing so I can empathise a little.

Piggy · 29/10/2007 11:14

Agree with clumsymum about the respect thing. My dses know that they must not bother the dog, take anything from her or generally annoy her in any way.

Does your dog still have a cage? If you decide to keep the dog and go ahead with really strict training (for the whole family) it might be worth reintroducing one. Dogs love to have their own space where they know that they will be left alone.

paolosgirl · 29/10/2007 11:15

Why "attack"? It was an attack - no need for quotation marks. The bite was bad enough to warrant an x-ray, so not superficial. I'm afraid I wouldn't even take the chance with the dog whisperer.

Also - the dog may be able to be rehomed, no need to think the only alternative is for it to be put down.

sKerryMum · 29/10/2007 11:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sKerryMum · 29/10/2007 11:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NAB3 · 29/10/2007 11:16

The dog is 6 months. Not sure how old the child is.

ghosty · 29/10/2007 11:16

We had a dog (a wire haired fox terrier) that was 'grumpy' from the day we got him as an 8 week old pup. He wouldn't train to walk on the lead and wasn't good at being house trained. He was an expensive pedigree dog.
He nearly broke my mum's arm when he was 4 years old. Then, after 'treatment' he attacked my brother's girlfriend - she wasn't hurt but the leather boots she was wearing were shredded. So he was put down. And we are talking a 'small' dog here, not a big retriever.
I still can't believe that my parents kept him so long. I wasn't a toddler and I was terrified of him. I have a lifelong dislike of dogs since him. Apparently he was so in bred that he was a screw short of a toolbox (according to the vet) ...
Get rid of the dog.

MerlinsBeard · 29/10/2007 11:17

i think its the dog thats 6 months

how old is your DD?

wannaBe · 29/10/2007 11:18

I am a huge lover of dogs. If one of my dogs snapped at my child because he had tormented/pulled/hurt it I would have little sympathy with the child. I strongly believe that children should respect dogs and I am generally horrified when I hear tales of how "little johny climbs on the dog/pulls his tail/pulls himself up on the dog's fur" ... etc because I think that that kind of treatment of a dog is totally unacceptable.

however

This dog went for two people in the space of two days. Unprovoked apparently. One of which spent three hours in casualty.

You cannot rehome a dog like that, not even to a home with no children, because A, you cannot guarantee that the dog will not come into contact with children again, and B, the dog still has the potential to bite adults.

If you rehome this dog and it seriously injures another human being you have knowingly passed it on.

I would have it put to sleep today.

NoNameToday · 29/10/2007 11:20

6 months old, the dog is still a puppy and still learning.

No,the dog should not go.

Keep the child away from the dog until it is trained ( and keep the child away from the dog until the child is trained to leave the dog alone).

On reflection, let the dog go to a new home where there are no children and it has someone who will train and care for it.

NAB3 · 29/10/2007 11:21

But the dog also went for an adult. What did he do?

seeker · 29/10/2007 11:22

I think that a person should be able to take something froma dog without being bitten. The dog need to be rehomed somewhere without children. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.

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