My dog bit my child, not dogs fault.

[CollyWombles]

She is okay first off, cut her lip a little and just under her eye, gave her a terrible fright. She is 13 and for some unfathomable reason, blew on his ear.

My dog is a rescue. I got him when he was 10, he is now 13. He has never been a huge fan of the children, however he has never bit any of them. The children have all been brought up to be respectful towards dogs and respectful to him in the three years he has been with us. I cannot think why she took the notion to do that.

My stance is that he bit for a reason. It wasn't unprovoked. My husband however, wants my dog put to sleep. My daughter does not want the dog in the house.

I adore my dog, he isn't everyone's cup of tea, he had it rough and I think how he has come on is amazing. I don't think he deserves to lose his home, or his life for biting for a reason.

In the same breath, my children come before any dog and it feels like I can't win no matter what I do. I'm either a bad parent or a bad dog owner. Please help me work out what is the right thing to do for my dog and also for my family.

Well I trust that every time you leave the house from now on the dog will be muzzled and on a short lead, unable to ever get within biting distance of anybody.

If you want to put your own children at risk then that's up to you but I hope to god you do not endanger anybody else.

The dog bit your child’s face!

i dont know about putting the dog to sleep, but you cant keep it can you. Youve got kids. A family dog needs to be a lot more bombproof than that. If I blow on my dogs faces or ears they snap at the air like its a game. Never even come close to actually biting and tearing anyones face or a lip. It might have been startled but a dog that attacks a childs face because its been blown on, is not a safe dog to have around children. Surely that much is pretty obvious

Is your DD the youngest DC?
Did he bit her or nip at her? It’s hard to tell from your post. I’m guessing if it’s a terrier it was more of a warning nip than a bite. Still must have been scarey for DD but I think everyone is over reacting by suggesting pts. If DD is youngest and it won’t come in to contact with young kids then I think keep them apart and carry on.

I wouldn't do anything now as a knee jerk reaction.

The dog was provoked, watch him and you foolish daughter like hawks and see how it goes. Consider his behaviour in the past, and have word with her.

Why on Earth did she do it?

Your DH should not have made a snap statement like that you the children. To you maybe, but not the children. That is out of order.

Two hours ago

Very recent then. You cannot possibly make such an important decision with such raw emotion.

Ensure your DD is OK. Calm the dog down and separate for now, shut in the kitchen or whatever.

At 13 your DD is old enough to be able to rationalise this decision. But only - ONLY - when she's not in a highly emotional state. Does she normally dislike the dog? Chat to her tomorrow or mid-week, when she's calmer.

Your DH, I'd be livid with him making a snap decision in front of the children without any discussion with you. That's incredibly disrespectful. Regardless of what your family's final decision is, his being bolshie in the immediate after mouth is awful and does not paint him in a good light.

OP didn't mention A&E, so I assumed the bite wasn't severe enough to require medical attention.

I would recommend spending at least a full day to consider the situation before making any big decisions.

I'm not surprised at the dog's reaction, given his background. Lots of dogs are very sensitive about their ears, and it's just never a good idea to startle an animal.

My concern with putting the dog to sleep is that your daughter (or other kids) may feel that it's her fault that the dog is dead. That's not a dynamic I would want in the family.

I actually agree with you OP. That was a very stupid thing of your DD to do.

It was provoked and I certainly don't think your dog deserves to lose his life over it! If worse comes to worse and you really can't keep him then rehome him but don't bloody kill him!

Of course your dd didn't deserve to be bitten and I feel bad for her. I'm sorry she's had a fright but she certainly won't do something like that again. Lessons learnt and all that. Glad she is okay.

As I said, if he really can't stay with you, rehome him. I don't see why he needs to die. He's clearly sensitive being a rescue dog and it wasn't an unprovoked nasty attack. Certainly doesn't deserve to die.

My dog bit her. He cut her lip as in tooth puncture and a bruising cut below her eye. It wasn't a nip.

She is the oldest. My youngest is 8.

I have already contacted the rescue he came from to tell them and have asked their advice too. Awaiting a reply.

I think it's a difficult one... is your DD the youngest?
If yes and this was a truly "one off unique situation" than I would not put the dog down. But would give DD a stern telling off once she is over her shock. Tell her about future consequence for her and the dog if she repeat such a behaviour. And ask her what she would do if someone startled her in that way.
However, if there are younger children and the dog has issues that result in growling/ snapping / not keen on children, ... than unfortunately putting the dog down would be the only option to keep everyone safe.

I think you have to put your daughter's feelings first. Even though the incident might have been caused by her actions, I don't think you can make her share her home with a dog she is scared of.
What I would do is go back to the Rescue you got him from, and ask for their help in re-homing him after explaining the details. If they won't support that, then try to find a Rescue who specialise in dogs with 'baggage', or troublesome histories, like Last Chance Hotel.
Good luck - what a sad & difficult situation all round.

I don't know how you can even contemplate keeping the dog in the same house as an 8 year old child.

I grew up with a dog who was absolutely brilliant with children of all ages, except for one time, in exactly the situation you describe, my DB blew in his ear and the dog turned around in shock and bit his face leaving broken skin and a black eye. I wouldn't hesitate to suggest having a dog PTS in an unprovoked attack but I think PPs might be underestimating the pain and shock for a dog having someone blow into their ear. Think this one through

My ddog bit my dd10 when she ran over her foot in Heeley's.
Told dd off and moved on.

Your dh is out of order.
And dd should be apologising to the ddog not wanting to kill it.

I'd argue it was a nip, a bad one but not a bite. Dogs are not stupid, the dog caused a lot less damage than he could have done. A bite would've resulted in stitches or worse. He lashed out at the scary thing in his face. If he was sleeping, it's likely he didn't know it was your daughter.

If he'd wanted to cause serious injury, he would have done so.

I agree with you OP. Your DD should have known better. As for A&E, if tetanus is up to date they won't do anything. My DM's Labrador bit through my finger and I only went to A&E because it needed stitching and we had no walk in centre.

MN really seems to hate dogs. I have taken an aggressive 2YO dog to be PTS before on behalf of a rescue because he had no hope of a home and was clearly a very troubled dog, I am not anti PTS in the right circumstances but I am with you on this. Your DD can also see the consequences of her actions eg. The dog doesn't automatically get removed when he was provoked by her behaviour.

I really do feel for you OP, this is a horrible situation. I have a very reactive dog myself, he's a work in progress with a behaviour specialist and is improving but I am very anxious about what may happen in the future if we start a family (I have to constantly police him when my niece and nephew are round).

I think another thing to consider here would be the impact on your DD if your dog was PTS - I can't even begin imagine how I would feel if I had been 'responsible' for the death of a pet.

The cuts are small and did not require a&e. Antiseptic however which I will continue with until they heal.

I'm trying to accept he can't stay. That may be difficult for some on this thread to understand but I love that dog. He helped me through a severe depressive episode and many difficult times when I was still a lone parent. I trained him out of running away, trained him to be around other dogs and I will feel lost without him.

However of course I love my daughter more and I don't want her to be frightened. Putting him to sleep though, I can't accept that.

I wouldn’t put the dog down.

Did you go to A&E? You need to for a puncture.

As someone who has been mauled by a dog as a child (facial injuries) I actually agree with you! It was a bite in reaction to being provoked and doesn't deserve to be PTS. It's a lesson learned for your daughter.

If I were you, I'd leave your family- I can tell you love you dog more than your foolish daughter. I did it and it was totally worth it, you will never win them over, they will never understand the bond you have. If only there were a way to put ignorant teenagers down...

He's 13, no one will take him.

He might be put down by the rescue once they take him back.

Your DD is also old enough to understand how her actions provoked him, so I don't think this will migrate into a genuine fear based on this incident if you manage it carefully such as encouraging them to bond (get her to feed him a few times a week including giving him treats when she goes past so he starts to remember nice things when she is near). I got bitten when I was young by a dog that wandered into our garden. Dad gave it some food and I stroked it whilst it ate and it bit me quite badly on the hand. Lesson learnt, even now I give my own dogs plenty of space to eat including away from each other.

From the information you’ve given there is no way I would put my dog down. I say that as both a dog owner and having a daughter.

Your dog was provoked. He responded defensively and bit your daughter. But, as another poster has pointed out, he responded with great restraint as I’m sure if he had wanted to he could have done far more damage. It probably took him totally by surprise and his natural instinct, particularly given his past, was to respond aggressively.

You now need to be far more diligent in ensuring that this does not happen again. If you decide to keep your dog (which I believe you should, as presumably you knew when you adopted him that you would have children around) then I think you need to make sure that your dog and your daughter don’t come into contact. I’m a childminder and never allow my dog to interact with the minded children. Sure, it’s a total pain calling him to come with me every time I leave the room, or telling him to get off the sofa if a child is on it, or asking the children to take their toys a good metre away from where the dog is sleeping but in my opinion it is totally necessary as far as very young children are concerned.