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.

Anyone who thinks that it would be better for a 13 year old dog which has bitten to go to a rescue rather than be put down is not a dog lover.

My brother was bitten on the face after blowing in the dog's ear. She was only a puppy at the time.

He was fine, no scars at all, fortunately, & the dog was kept & was fine. He didn't do it again!

I was trying to think of an alternative to PTS. But tbh I tend to think of dogs as potentially dangerous animals, especially larger breeds and not a pet for children. Perhaps this is because my father likes to take in dogs with troubles that no one else wants. Sure I like these dogs but I don’t get to thinking they are just one of the family. I’ve seen what a dog can do when it puts its mind to it. I think a lot of people treat dogs like humans when they really not. They have their own hierarchical rules and ways. I hear people call their dogs “children” and they are not children. And don’t get me started on dressing dogs up in outfits...

So perhaps I’m the wrong person to take advice from. But I wouldn’t keep a dog near a child if it had drawn blood. So it’s Pts or rehome for me.

The dog was provoked and it was your daughters fault, she's been around the dog for years and she should no better. The dog was scared.

The thing is, you now know how this dog might react to a very minor bit of “provocation”. Can you absolutely guarantee that nobody will ever do something like that again? Obviously she shouldn’t have done it, but he is too sensitive to be a family pet.

I am so sorry you are going through this @CollyWombles and you are right your daughter should know better, she is playing up to what your husband has said. I would be of the same opinion as you one of my cats scratched my daughter in the face after she knew she did not like to be irritated. Taught her a lesson to leave the cat alone and she was only 2 then, my daughter that is.

I would definately not put my dog to sleep and I would tell my daughter that she needs to stop acting like a spoilt brat, she was warned before not to annoy the dog. Put your foot down with your husband and tell him it is not going to happen and if he continues he might find himself at Dignitas.

This has made me really sad, how can people advocate the death of an animal on a whim? The first sign of trouble in 3 years and he deserves to lose his life, for something that wasn't actually his fault?

I have the most beautifully tempered JRT and I also have an over excited, sometimes very annoying, 6 yr old ds. I have always taught ds to respect our ddog, not to provoke, leave him alone whilst he's eating and don't try to wake him up. Once ds decided it was a good idea to try and pick ddog up from his bed whilst snoozing and he let out a low level growl, never heard before or since, and ds wanted me to tell him off. Absolutely not, it's his way of communicating that's he's unhappy as he can't talk, but ds got a bollocking for doing that and I reinforced the rules. I likened it to when I wake him in the middle of the night for a wee, he gets really grumpy and hates it, it really is no different.

I would work with a behaviourist, get vet checked and have a discussion with the family. This dog is pretty old and nerds to live out it's days in a loving home.

People have a (ridiculous, in my opinion, but then I'm not a dog lover) tendency to anthropomorphise dogs. This thread is full of it: "it's not the the dog's fault", "he doesn't deserve it" etc. But notions like fault and desert are human ones; it's not appropriate to discuss this situation in those terms.

The dog is an animal and, as such, reacted like one in a stressful situation. The question is whether, knowing that can be its reaction, you feel it is a suitable animal to be a family pet. Can you be sure you can police it around children? What if one of your kids has a friend round who isn't experienced with dogs? If it bit again and caused serious damage to another child, what would be the consequences (especially given that this first bite is now "on record")? I can just imagine how that sort of scenario would get written up in the press; could you live with that? What if it caused damage to one of your own children? You certainly couldn't claim that you hadn't been warned.....

People have a (ridiculous, in my opinion, but then I'm not a dog lover) tendency to anthropomorphise dogs. This thread is full of it: "it's not the the dog's fault", "he doesn't deserve it" etc. But notions like fault and desert are human ones; it's not appropriate to discuss this situation in those terms.

And yet there are also animal behaviourists and vets on this thread who say this dog should not be killed and offer actual advice on how to deal with this situation and who are ignored by the many demanding that the dog immediately be killed without any further investigation. I personally am baffled that so many would so swiftly move to demand the end to another living being's life after it has been explained that the dd shocked the dog awake by blowing in its ear.

And it isn't the dogs fault and it doesn't deserve to die over this with no further thought. Th nothing to do with attributing human emotion to an animal, that's just being a decent human being myself.

I really hate when it when animals are punished (re-homed or PTS) for having totally normal reactions to situations.

The dog wasn't doing anything, and he got hassled and lashed out in fright. That's a normal reaction to being surprised. He's an elderly dog and therefore he won't be as tolerant as a puppy. Someone made him jump and he did what was natural to him which is to, essentially, tell OP's DD to bugger off!

Some dogs give a warning growl but not all do. And it's a big reason why you should never punish your dog for growling because they're doing it to warn you they've had enough.

The dog nipped her for fuck sake, he could have done far more damage, and yes fault is important and appropriate to discuss because a dog nipping with no provocation and a dog nipping with clear provocation are very different situations which should be treated differently.

Poor thing, 13 years old and having his family debate ending his life because a teenager blew his ears.

FWIW addressing the “can you guarantee no provocation ever again!” I grew up in a house of 4 children and we always had dogs; nobody ever provoked the the (all rescue) dogs, is it really that hard and that much to expect that children not be assholes to animals?

Obviously she shouldn’t have done it, but he is too sensitive to be a family pet.

Why do people think family pets should be bomb-proof? They're animals and shouldn't have to tolerate being poked, prodded, blown on and pulled around!

He's an animal. He can't lash out with words so he uses his mouth to warn people to stop. If he'd wanted to do serious damage, he would have done! He gave a warning nip and got her on the face - entirely her fault for sticking her face near the dogs ears and blowing on him!

So many people expect dogs to just lie down and accept being hassled by children with no consequence. OP's DD is 13 years old and should have known better.

Dog was reacting like a dog does. In an ideal world she should have growled but some dogs (unfortunately) have that trained out of them which I think is one of the most dangerous things you can do. Dogs growl because they're unhappy or in pain and it's normally the warning sign they give before they snap and bite.

One lesson to be learned here - don't stick your face near the dogs face and wind him up!

How awful for you and your daughter. Must be a horrible situation OP. I think personally I wouldn’t want the risk or the possibility of your daughter feeling nervous and anxious in her own home no matter how silly she was. I’d personally advice rehoming somewhere without children. Best of luck to you whatever the decision.

I do expect family pets to be as close to bomb proof as it is possible to be. I would certainly not expect a bite after a very mild provocation. A bark or a growl - but not a bite.

So sad to see how many people deem an animals life less worthy, shame on you!

"So sad to see how many people deem an animals life less worthy, shame on you!"
What on earth do you mean?

Once a dog has tasted blood he might attack again are you willing to risk that. We also had a rescue dog before we had our children, when our son was learning to crawl I was the opposite side of the living room for him to crawl to me and before I knew the dog ran and grabbed him around the head. Fortunately I was in the room and shouted and ran quickly, the dog dropped our son. This attack left only teeth marks which soon healed. We had no choice but to put the dog to sleep. We are dog lovers and went on to have another dog when our children were older, these were all puppies so we could train them properly. You have no history of a rescue dog and when children are involved can you take the risk.

We had a rescue dog when i was a child who never liked to be disturbed when he was asleep and we were very respectful of that. My mum decided to stroke him once when he was asleep and she got bitten on the lip. We didn't have him put to sleep! He was a very good family dog and we lost him 2 years ago sadly. Many dogs have their limits and you need to respect them.

You need to get rid of the dog. You have more than one child in the house. It sounds like a nasty bite to her face that may scar and it could have been much worse. I’d feel very on edge about the children being around him no matter how silly your dd was to do it.

But the dog should never have been provoked @BertrandRussell. Why do people expect a sleeping dog to be happy with someone sticking their face up towards them and blowing in their ear?

Dogs ears are sensitive and if this dog is older, he's probably losing his hearing and was possibly completely unaware that anyone was even approaching him.

Of course a growl would be ideal but lots of dogs get trained not to growl because people think it's bad behaviour. Growls are a warning sign and should never be punished.

If the dog had wanted to hurt OP's DD she would have done.

A dog does not attack again once it has 'tasted blood' wtaf

A friends rescue dog bit me a few years ago. I'd leaned across him without thinking. He'd had a horrible life before coming to them. I accept that it was my fault, not the poor dog.

I cannot get my head round why a 13 year old would deliberately provoke a sleeping dog by blowing in its ear?!?

We will be keeping my dog. No rescue or PTS.

I understand dogs and children is a highly emotive subject and some will disagree with our decision. Ultimately my dog nipped my child because she blew in his ear when he was dozing.

When anyone gets a dog, they run the risk of that dog one day doing harm. The best of trained, socialised, well handled dog can nip or bite when exposed to something they really cannot tolerate.

We will, however, have my dog stay in the kitchen and backyard with no access to the rest of the house in future. The children will be instructed to leave him alone and let him enjoy the last year or so left in him, in peace.

My daughter is fine today. The two cuts this morning are very slight and she feels fine. She stroked my dog earlier and I heard her saying sorry to him, bless her.

My parents have a dog. If she bit my one year old after being provoked she would most likely have to be put to sleep. If I was stupid enough to provoke her it's my own fault. You daughter is old enough to know that you don't do that to a dog and has managed fine for the past 3 years not to provoke him. The dog should not be put to sleep because your daughter was annoying him. If she is not seriously hurt and just shaken up, everyone needs time to cool off and then talk about it calmly. I can understand your husbands knee jerk reaction but he may calm down over the course of the day.