Our dog bit our DD this evening

[onwardsnupwards]

Large 18 month old DD fell onto our small, 6 year old Lancashire Heeler this evening. He bit her - Hubby was in the room and saw everything, but I was in another room. DD has a long red mark from her eyebrow down to her cheek, more like a scratch than a bite mark. I'm trying not to over-react, but my instinct is to have the dog re-homed, particularly as he bit my friend's baby 10 months ago: admittedly, friend's baby kept chasing him round the room and pulled his tail. I love the dog, and don't want to break up our little family, but DD is the priority and she will fall on him again, and who knows what may happen next time...? Can anyone advise? Has this happened to you?

Absolutely with those that say that this was not a bite. The dog was shocked and possibly hurt from being fallen on....it's reaction was an instinctive snap which is very different to an intentional bite.

I'm rather aghast that you would allow a baby to chase and pull your dog's tail. Terribly irresponsible. It's a dog, not a plaything. And like any living creature, there's a limit to their patience and tolerance. The dog should be kept separate from babies and toddlers as much for it's safety as theirs.

I do change details to stop being recogniseable in RL. My original thread was here and did indeed refer to ds as I was afraid that if I referred to dd, anyone who knew us in RL would know that it was us at the time - not such an issue now as time has passed. Dd had plastic surgergy - don't think I ever said it was a scratch.

Just confirming as I don't deliberately mislead people here and don't want a reputation for doing so.

My dog bit my dd when she fell onto her whilst crawling......dd was left with small puncture mark above her eye.
My take on it was that it was not dog's fault as the situation should never have been allowed to happen. I felt dog was only reacting to being hurt, surprised, threatened and shocked etc
I monitored them closely for the rest of 'toddler time'. My dd is now 9 (plus has younger sibling) and they grown up alongside my dog and there never was another incident. (My dog died a month ago at the ripe old age of 15 btw!)
I believe you do have to think very carefully about the whys and wherefores of your dog biting incident. You DO have to think about your own kids and other visiting kids and making sure this never happens again. But I would also urge you to not over react, and make too hasty a decision. Mull it all over with the family etc and slowly come to terms with what has happened and what your next step is going to be. Good Luck x

we had a labrador (5yrs) who bit our dd (13m) because i had a biscuit in my hand which he thought i was going to give to her. he bit her on the side of the head - it was all over in 3 secs but she had about 15 stitches. we had him put down as i felt i could never trust him again. fortunately the scars are hidden in her hair and she has no memory of it. it was all very traumatic although i have no regrets about having dog put down.
you need to ask yourself if you can totally trust your dog not to do this again should the situation arise.

Yes of course it's not the dog's fault, and it should never have been allowed to happen - but can you absolutely guarantee that it will never happen again? That nobody will ever not close a baby gate properly, or let the dog out without noticing, or fall asleep on the sofa while supervising the two of them or be distracted why the phone.......I know I couldn't guarantee any of that.And 20 seconds of carelessness could lead to disaster.

Thanks so much for sharing! Took DD to Docs and she agreed that it was a scratch, rather than a bite. Poor dog, probably just put his paws up to defend himself. Just to clarify, our DD is told not to bother the dog. Friend's child was first time we'd had another baby around him & we know we were too polite and will never allow dog to be "played with" again. Great tips about giving him a safe space away from DD to rest; he tends to sleep anywhere, but we'll try and change that. By re-homing I meant sent to live with Granny and uncle up the road, not a re-homing centre but he'll stay with us, we'll re-inforce pack rules and be more careful. Thanks again x

That's great news onwards! And sorry gooseyloosey I didn't mean your dd only had a scratch, I was then talking about onwards post - I'm not a very experienced poster yet!

I'm really glad to hear that it was no more than a scratch, for both DDs sake and pooch's. Just as glad too that you're willing to put in the work to address the small person and dog mixing issue - I wish everyone in your position would give such problems as much careful consideration and not just automatically go down the rehome or kill route.

Wishing you the best of luck with it, I'm sure that you'll manage it all, you clearly have the desire to and that speaks volumes. :)

I just wanted to add that it is entirely possible to keep the dog apart from your toddler, and leaving the gate open for a second is not going to result it full scale savaging (that was really in response to seeker).
I have 2 dogs (one of which is only 7 months old) and a nearly 2 year old DS. We all coexist very peacefully. The dogs have been taught not to go through a gate unless invited (I use 'stay there' as a command if I don't want them to come through- that way I can get easily get through with my DS without dogs escaping/barging through). My DS is absolutely clear that he does not hurt the dogs (or cats which we have too) If I feel that he is getting too overexcited then I will separate them for everyone's safety. The dogs get their time and attention when he is asleep after lunch and in the evening. Even in 6 months time, things will be so much easier to manage with your dog and DD I promise.

Well done OP, and I know it can be tricky with friends.

Friends of ours have two children much younger than our teen girls, and they are pretty much never said "no" to. The 3 year old was running around chasing our sheltie. I kept saying "don't chase the dog, he'll get cross with you!" Now, this is the most gentle, easy going dog you can imagine, but he's 9 and it's not fair on him to be chased.

Of course, parents did nothing to back me up. Then the boy suddenly grabs dog and pulls out a massive handful of fur. Dog immediately nipped him. He didn't break the skin, but the little boy did have a very red mark across his hand, and he started screaming the place down. Parents immediately cuddled him saying "poor you, naughty doggy" etc.

Well, I saw red, I tell you, and all politeness went out of the window! I was so cross! I said to the little boy, " that's what happens if you pull a dog's fur. It will bite you. I told you to leave him alone." To my friends I said, "You are jolly lucky it was our sheltie and not our young terrier, because she would have had his hand off (maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point ) and it wouldn't have been the dogs fault."

They went home in a bit of a sulk. But they got over it, and he's never tried to annoy the dogs again! You just have to be firm and say your piece sometimes. You're doing people a favour, because who knows how a strange dog in the street might react.