Chihuahua just bit toddler

[jacrispy]

My chi just bit my toddler on the face and either side of his nose he has a scratch. Ds did nothing to provoke this all he did was run towards me and the dog just bit him. Wwud? Should I rehome the dog as he he quite protective of me anyway. I’m heartbroken as ds is hurt but I know in my heart I have to get rid of the dog. Anybody’s advice would be welcome now.

I was aware of everything that was happening in the room at that time. There was nothing I could have done ds was playing quietly got up of the floor and just ran to me.

If you got him from a rescue then you can't just rehome him, they usually include dogs having to be returned to them in the contract.

You could not have put out a hand? Moved towards your child or shielded the dog? Why not?
You need to read what Cornflake has posted and decide how you can act to keep your child safe from the dogs in your house. It's not as simple as rehoming the one that bit.

I’ll phone the rescue tomorrow see what they say. Really I did my best and making me feel worse is not helping. I don’t like to see my child hurt and I would do anything to stop that and if I could have reacted quick enough then I would have done.

He’s going I’m obviously not doing a good enough job. He deserves a better home.

If you had been carefully watching and monitoring the situation then you would have done. It's no good regretting what's passed. How will you act differently in future? You don't have just one dog?

Look - I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong, exactly. Maybe you didn’t realise chihuahuas aren’t good with young children, but I’m amazed the rescue gave him to you tbh and responsibility for that is at least shared. You’ve given him a good home for a year and you are being responsible now, so don’t give yourself a hard time.

These sorts of threads always have the usual candidates implying that bad or undesirable behaviour on the part of an animal is always the fault of the owner and this simply isn’t true. Some breeds have tendencies which yes, you might be able to control 99% of the time, but that tendency is innate. And animals are always to a greater or lesser degree unpredictable. Rescues tend to be more unpredictable on the whole simply because you don’t know their history and they might have bad experiences which could easily be triggered unknowingly. A lot of responsible animal ownership is understanding the animal and working with their character/breeding, not working some kind of magic to transform a dog with inbred aggressive tendencies into a gentle trustworthy nurse, for example. And anyone who thinks they have that particular magic wand has been smoking something very strange.

Realistically you can’t guarantee you’ll be able to prevent him biting your son again. I would rehome. Your son is more important.

Wolfiefan you really are not helping you are implying that it is my fault that my ds got hurt. It happened in split second.

I would draw a distinction between an owner who lets her one year old pull the dog’s tail and then is horrified when the dog bites (yes, bad) and you who couldn’t have predicted your son would run to the sofa or that your dog would get such a fright from ordinary child behaviour, the dog having spent a year around the same child with nothing bad happening (sad and unavoidable).

I’d say combination of nervy breed and young child not being a good one. Easily remedied by rehoming dog. Sad, but responsible. Don’t feel too bad.

Thank you little kiwi that was advise. I will take it into account but you are right my son is more important.

OP, the thing is, dogs almost never bite out of nowhere... but the stress signals he'll have been giving off won't have to you looked like aggression.

Dogs don't follow the escalation humans expect them to, because they're individuals, so they don't all growl first, they might yawn or lick their lips instead and skip growling altogether.

So yes, you need to do a bit of research on dog behaviour so you can be better prepared in future (though yep I'd agree with you, not with this dog) but it's understandable that you didn't do anything to stop your DS or the dog when you hadn't spotted that there was an issue.

The dog is used to children. He lived with children before he was in the rescue I’d never let ds pull either dog around or go by them without supervision. It was so quick I just could not stop it happening. I feel sorry for the dog because he is really happy here and he’s so loving and I help ds throw his toy so he can play fetch with us.

The dog was lying on the sofa with his head down not even looking in our direction when ds was running and as soon as ds got to me it just happened he lunged out of nowhere

I had no time to put my hand in the way or move the dog

But you will still have a dog in the house and still remain oblivious to the risks. You need to educate yourself about body language and dog behaviour. You need to decide how to change the way you behave in order to protect your child.
Have you read what Cornflake posted?
Or did you think we would all day yes the evil dog had to go and you did nothing wrong?
Poor dog on home number three.
Poor child too.

I’ve told you I do everything I’m supposed to do the other dog spends most his day sleeping upstairs on my bed he only come down when there’s food about or he wants to walk.

I give up.
Your child had time to run to you. You had no time to move your hand?
The time to act is BEFORE the dog snaps. Not after. You should have realised that a child flying towards a nervous rescue with his face at teeth height was a bad thing. Not wait until after the dog growled or bit.

Finally you give up I couldn’t have done more than what I did.

I tried.
I really did.
You fail to see what you have done wrong.
You haven't even read what Cornflake posted.
You're not prepared to learn from this except to get rid of the poor dog.
Your child is still at risk as you won't learn.
Can't educate stupid.
I'm out.

Believe me if i has have spotted anything before and could have reacted then I would have.

I have read what she posted

I really wouldn’t bother replying to people who claim there’s always a warning sign/ there’s always something you can do to prevent a dog biting. Total nonsense. Nothing in your post suggests you were irresponsible or that there was something you could have done to prevent the bite. Children are unpredictable and your dog got a fright and bit. If your dog can’t cope with unpredictable child behaviour it isn’t the right home for him and such is life.

Good luck x

Your telling me to do what I already do. Your fucking me off now because I could not have predicted or stopped it. I’m asking for advice what to do now not what I could have done. I

You’re not stupid, either. You come across as responsible. Ignore these posters - honestly, they always turn up on these threads and they bang the same bloody drum irrespective of the OP or the actual circumstances.

Thank you little kiwi. I really tried my best.