My dog just snapped at DD

[starshaker]

He was on the sofa and she went for his collar to pull him down and he snapped at her.

This is her arm and im not sure if she would need a tetanus

Not sure , but

Give it a good wash and put germolene on, keep an eye on it over the next few days, but it should be fine.
If she's up to date with her vaccinations it should be ok.
I had a similar bite a few years ago, went to minor injuries who were that I'd gone.

How old is she? Has the dog been snappy before or was this out of the blue?

Ouch! Hope she's ok.

Is this out of character for the dog? Does your dd normally pull the dog? I don't ask in a judgy way, just wondering if the dog is used to being pushed or pulled off the sofa.

To be fair on him no he's not a snappy dog. He loves the kids.

Yesterday I was clipping him and I nicked him enough to make him yelp. I think I hurt him. It's the only thing I can think of.

Shes 4. What has vaccinations got to do with a dog bite (not being nippy genuinely curious)

This happened with us and it turned out my dog was ill... Had a high temperature and an infection.

She should have been vaccinated against tetanus.

Is your dd ok? It must have been a shock!

No she's not had a tetanus as far as I'm aware

Has she had her preschool booster? It's usually given at around 3.5. That includes tetanus.

Tetanus is part of the 5 in 1 shots they have as babies. If she had those she will be fine. Just make sure the wound is clean and if it's not bleeding leave it uncovered.

If she goes to school or nursery you will need to tell them what happened and just hope they don't report it to ss. It's one of those things that happen.

I'd get the dog checked out too in case it's poorly if this is out of character.

No hasn't had boosters. Ill keep an eye on it. Have put bepanthan on it for now

www.patient.co.uk/health/dog-and-cat-bites

Good advice here, beware if deepish puncture ie risk of infection

I don't think he broke the skin. There was no blood to wipe if that makes sense

It's difficult to tell from the photo how deep the puncture is. Personally for a 4 year old I'd err on the side of caution and talk to nhs direct or a&e to get it properly cleaned/ assessed

If she's never been vaccinated before then I'd get her seen.

Tetanus is not a high risk with dog bites; infection is (dogs' mouths are not cleaner than humans' as sometimes suggested).
If she had her baby vaccinations she'll have some immunity to tetanus anyway.

If you cleaned the wound, she's ok and you are keeping an eye on it, I don't think you are at risk of missing a significant infection.

I'd be more concerned about why the bite occurred in the first place tbh, not the bite itself IYKWIM.

Your DD needs to learn never to pull a dog by its collar. If she wants it to leave the sofa she should be taught to give the dog a cue e.g. the word Off or Down. Many dogs are understandably nervous of being yanked or pulled round the neck or head. There are some excellent resources for child/dog interactions. Try here for a good overview. Dr Sophia Yin also very useful resources. This post also worth reading.

What Pacific and Scuttle said. I've never known anyone get tetanus from a dog bite but known a few people have severe infections.

You need to retrain your dog to come down when asked nicely and retrain your daughter never to grab a dog's collar.