American XL Bully dog

[BettyALJF]

My ex and I have two sons (7&9) and share them 50/50. His girlfriend has an American XL bully dog that now lives with them. I’ve had reservations about the dog as it’s massive but I can’t stop them having it and know all dogs are different etc. I asked my ex to never leave them unsupervised with the dog, which the boys tell me they are on a morning when they go down for breakfast and their dad and gf stay upstairs and god knows when else. I pick my sons up on Saturday afternoon and the boys tell me that my youngest has been bitten on the ear by the dog on Thursday. My ex didn’t tell me this had happened. Once we are home I look at the bite and it’s pierced the skin. I asked them what happened and he said he got on the sofa and the dog barked at him and got his ear. He said it hurt and bled a lot. They tell me they didn’t go to the drs to get it looked at. Obviously when the skins been broken it can cause an infection, so I ring 111 to ask what to do and they send me to the hospital to get it checked out due to it being a Saturday. The doctor cleans the cut and says they have to report it to the police. I let my ex know all this and he has a go at me saying he didn’t know what I was trying to do and that I should have contacted him to find out what happened. I basically think they’ve not taken him as they are worried what will happen to the dog, therefore not putting our son’s safety first.
Regardless of what happened, it’s pierced the skin and as his father he has a duty of care and he should’ve taken him to the doctors for it to be checked, cleaned and given anti biotics. It may have been an accident, but I don’t want to risk ‘a second offence’ which may be a lot worse next time. I’ve told the police I don’t want the dog in the house when the boys are there, I don’t trust them to put the boys safety first anymore. Would you do the same thing in my situation?

My children would not be going back to that house. Report this to SS.

My children would not step foot in there again.

The dog has shown itself.

It is only a matter of time...

You did the right thing. I would not allow my child in a house with a dog which has bitten him, especially a dog that is capable of doing extreme harm. Not negotiable. If your ex cares for his children he would not countenance it either.

You have done the right thing and shouldn't send your DC there again. I would think the fact it's been reported to the police woukd give you good grounds to refuse. Your ex can still have contact outside of the house.

Agree with other posters. No chance I’d be sending my kids back there while that dog is still there.

There can’t be a second chance, to put it bluntly, the next time it could kill one of them. I don’t think you have a choice anyway, the dog will be seized and put down.

Agree with everyone above, absolutely there is a high risk of it happening again.
I wouldn't take the chance. They didn't take him to hospital after a dog bite that's neglect on their side,

you wouldn't be unreasonable to keep the boys away and maybe dad will have to come up with some other way to see them.
If they keep the dog outside that's one thing, but it concerns me when people do leave those dogs locked outside or in a room, not all but certainly a lot of the attacks have come as the owner is letting them in from being locked away.
I think it must trigger them, so I would just stick to your guns and not let them stay there.

My kids wouldn't be setting foot in that house again while the dog is there.

And to be quite honest I'd be wary of sending them atall of this is his level of parenting after a dog bite.

They must be thick as two short planks.

Report them and their dog and refuse to hand over the children until further notice.

Report it to social services? What for?

OP my kids wouldn't be going into that house while the dog is there. Is he mad?

The kids will no longer be going to the house so the dog will get bored & find someone else to turn its attention to...........

It depends. It might have been a playful no aggressive intent accident from the dog. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t want to put the dog at risk of being put down. But if it was a territorial aggressive thing, that’s different. They need to supervise the dog more if it was a playful accident, but as usual the dog will suffer the consequences for having a bad owner

I wouldn’t let me children set foot in a house with one of those dogs, supervised or not. Your ex wouldn’t be able to stop the dog if it decided to attack. It’s his lookout if it attacks him or the girlfriend but not a chance I would run the risk with my children. I have dogs and small children. I could easily physically restrain either of my dogs if they went for one of my children (both are total softies so this is mainly an academic point) and I would never have a dog that was stronger than me.

Oh, and I would never EVER leave my small children with my dogs unsupervised.

No sorry, wouldn't let my children in a house with those dogs unsupervised or not. I would report to the police.

If the dog was a Pomeranian would things be better. I also would refuse to send the DC there until the dog is gone, I assume she has the necessary paperwork and all that.

This is a child protection issue. Your ex has a dangerous dog which has now bitten your child. They won’t be going back to his house full stop until that dog is no longer there. Hopefully it will be seized and put down soon. He will have to see them elsewhere until this happens.

This is absolutely shocking. Those dogs are monsters, do they not read the news? It's disgraceful that they are left alone with the dog but the fact that it's now bitten them is a child protection issue and they absolutely should not be going back there until the dog is gone or at least segregated. Not sure how effective segregation would even be for one of these things though, they are so powerful if they want something they'll get it.

Just keep your dc away, it's really not safe.

I would never leave children unsupervised with any dog, even a Pomeranian. I’m a dog lover but did not get a dog until my youngest was 7, and then put effort to train both dog and children how to behave around one another, and did not leave them alone until they were older. I wouldn’t have allowed my children to go to a house where they are left alone with a dog who is not used to them in the first place, let alone a breed that is so large and frankly, bred to be intimidating. Now he has bitten one then it is a clear sign it can’t be trusted around them.

Are the hospital reporting it? Surely they will.

Phone the police and tell them that the hospital told you to call them and report it. I would also tell one of the safeguarding people at your child's school. They will ask him about it anyway.

Is it registered with a Certificate of Exemption? If male, is it neutered?

Oh that’s terrifying. Don’t ever let them go back there. Ever. You can’t trust your ex to tell you the truth about it. The dog has tasted blood now and is clearly agressive. They can kill.

No way would my kids ever have gone there in the first place with an xl bully there. Just madness to have a dog like that, but around kids, no way.

Are you serious? This is an XL bully and it has bitten a child!

I’d report to the police as a dog attack. Not just tell them you’re unhappy. And when I had done that, I’d make damn sure my children only saw their dad in MY house again. And if he wanted to take me to court or whatever else, he’d be welcome to.

Your son is bloody lucky it wasn’t serious.

Just write back to your ex and point out that he didn't tell you what had happened proactively and you were making sure that your son was OK. It needed medical attention! Because you called 111 and followed their instructions to attend hospital and the hospital said they will report it. Not sure why he's having a go at you because you didn't do anything wrong.
That dog needs to be muzzled at all times.