So mortified...my dog nipped someone :(

[ohbigdaddio]

Last night I was in the pub with my dog and he was lying on the floor, chilling out while I chatted to my friend.

The next thing l know there is a commotion - a woman shrieks, my dog yelps and she shouts "he bit me!" She rolls up her jeans and there's a little wound where one of his teeth caught her, but no massive bite mark, though he did draw blood. My dog was laid out on the floor and she must have not seen him and either stood on him full force or tripped over him. My dog wasn't snarling or growling, in fact he just went back to lying down.

l was so apologetic and the woman was furious and told me to get out of the pub. l felt truly awful and sick and left in tears saying I was so, so sorry.

My dog is a small/medium rescue with a lovely nature, very calm, placid and even a bit timid. It's ironic as l was planning to write a post about how amazing he is as I really feel he has saved me!

[anothernotherone]

Fishcakey her dog bit somebody without warning and drew blood. No pub needs that. There's no evidence the woman kicked the dog, more likely she tripped over him. If the woman reports the bite to the police the OP may no longer have a dog. Best not ignore the fact her dog bites strangers without warning as she clearly loves her dog and will be upset if a series of people reporting it biting them leads to her dog being confiscated and destroyed. Don't you think?

[aweedropofsancerre]

My dog does not like anyone touching him, he would definitely mouth anyone who caught him by surprise. I am very aware of what is going around him when we are out because he doesnt like that. He looks cute so people think its okay to approach. Difference between him and your dog is that he does a slow growl first when he doesn't like something...so there is a warning. My DM dog didnt bite anyone even with the grandkids sitting on him or accidentally landing on him. It doesn't matter whether the person stood or caught the dog, biting and drawing blood is very unusual. I have accidentally stood on my dogs paw in the garden and he whimpered....didnt bite... So i would defintely avoid taking him to the pub or if you do put him under the table out of the way

[RidgedPerfection]

The dog didn't growl and move away; it bit. No point minimising it.

A dog is deemed dangerously out of control even if "there are grounds for reasonable apprehension that it will injure any person or assistance dog, whether or not it actually does so", so delivering a bite itself certainly means that it meets the definition.

I'd hope that no one present reports the incident, especially as you're so genuinely upset and sorry OP but I wouldn't take your dog into environments like this again. Being tethered to a chair in an environment where the dog may well be feeling stressed and unable to escape it may have just been enough to push "stressed" over the edge into aggression. I had a dog that would react to stress by shutting down and lying or standing quietly - people used to tell me how "good" and "placid" he was but in fact he was the very opposite of that when he exhibited those behaviours.

Hard lesson to learn and I hope that you're feeling better today.

[perplexedagain]

Your dog did not nip someone - it bit them. You might have thought it was easy for the person to walk round your dog but sometimes dogs aren't easy to see if you aren't expecting them to be somewhere. Dogs can also get stressed if people get too close, or are in a loud, noisy atmosphere. This is why I hate dogs in cafes, pubs etc. its not fair on the dog or people

[Figure8]

Ah, thanks...

Your poor doggie....

[ferretface]

Also poopypants you misunderstand the meaning of a growl - a growl is better than a bite because a growl is the dog saying please don't do that/get away and a bite is a much more drastic expression of that.

christinecollinscaninebehaviour.com/2017/10/30/the-gift-of-a-growl/?fbclid=IwAR2yk24Qcln4xLr5rEvciGOy7FAOE0DGcDdg52svqAiCXppq4EDya33T1NU

[ferretface]

Personally I would be a bit worried that the dog went straight to bite without a growl, air snap or angry bark. I don't think that the dog is dangerous but I would not trust it in this scenario, it is a level 3 bite on the Dunbar scale.

www.usadogbehavior.com/blog/20141096-types-of-dog-bites

[adaline]

Your dog doesn't sound remotely aggressive.

As has been said, the law disagrees. A dog that bites is deemed to be dangerously out of control and could be put down if reported. Imagine if that was a child or a baby that got bitten?

Find a different pub and ignore the shreaky dog kicking woman

OP has no idea whether the dog was kicked or not - she wasn't paying attention! Dogs need to be under close control in public - that means you supervise them and don't put them in situations where they can be hurt or scared like that.

[Fishcakey]

If someone trod on me I would bite them! Your dog doesn't sound remotely aggressive. Find a different pub and ignore the shreaky dog kicking woman. Pubs need dogs.

[AbbyHammond]

You should have had your dog out of the way and been supervising. While you were turned away oblivious a child could have fallen over the dog or got in it's face with much more serious results.

[MarieG10]

I'm afraid I don't have any sympathy. I was out walking in a footpath and a dog owner walking along, dog in lead and then the dog starts running up to me, trying to jump up which I hate. Pushed it away and it proceeded to bite so it gets a massive kick to get it off me. The best bit is the dog owner starts shouting at me it's my own fault as I pushed the dog off and she was just being friendly

No dog is safe or totally predictable. They all have the potential to bite and injure. Dogs would be on a lead as the OP did, but her dog shouldn't have been in a pub like that. Must pubs should not be allowing dogs anyway if they serve food and the dogs are in the serving area.

Sorry but it is the OP responsibility and dog should be left at home and not imposed on others and free to attack them

[missbattenburg]

anothernotherone

I must be missing something because the OP says she was "so apologetic", was in tears and saying she was "so, so sorry" and doesn't mention saying to the victim is was just a nip or the dog was lovely?

[anothernotherone]

The dog should have been under the table, not where people would trip over him. It was your fault and using the word nip will massively piss off the person the dog has bitten hard enough to draw blood through jeans. You're lucky she didn't escalate it if your response was to minimise and tell her how lovely the dog that just bit her is , and that it's just a nip, instead of apologising profusely.

[Backwoodsgirl]

OP hope your dog is ok, sounds like she was startled/hurt and reacted accordingly. I would expect my dogs to react in the same way and they have done, I have been nipped and I know it was my fault.

[thesnapandfartisinfallible]

I'd bite someone who stepped on me too!

[adaline]

Er no, no one or thing was out of control.

Unfortunately that's not correct. The law states that a dog that bites a person is deemed to be "out of control", whether on a lead or not.

The reason behind this is obvious - if an owner can claim "my dog was scared/threatened" as a get-out-clause for having a dangerous dog, then people are going to be allowed to keep dogs that bite strangers.

Of course dogs under attacked will attack back - which is why people need to be super vigilant with their dogs in public. Lots of dogs don't do well in busy public spaces with people milling around - especially if they're on the floor and surrounded by big humans wandering around near their head and face!

Not all dogs who bite will show signs of aggression first.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I was travelling on a branch line train with my dog once after a day at the seaside. She plopped down to lie in the aisle and I went to pull her to under the table but the guard, who was walking down the aisle, said it was fine and I could leave her and he stepped over her. This happened about 6 or 7 times and then she bit him, having shown no sign of uneasiness. I can only assume she didn't like the flappy trouser leg passing her face. I, too, was mortified. He was quite put out (not surprisingly) but couldn't make too much of it as he had given permission for her to be there. I apologised profusely and put her under the table (there wasn't much room which is why, having had permission, I hadn't done it earlier). No blood was drawn, fortunately. Now, I always travel with a muzzle in case it gets busy and she has to be too close to people. I am taking no chances. In normal life, she is really affectionate and well behaved and does not bite people - I can only assume she was feeling tired and a bit stressed at the new surroundings (though has been on all public transport before) and his flappy trouser leg passing close to her nose every 10-15 minutes was the last straw.

[Fucksandflowers]

As the dog didn't lock on, snarl, growl or even move much, this was the least 'out of control'

Some dogs go straight for the attack, sometimes unprovoked, sometimes provoked.

They don’t growl, or bark, or snarl or anything, just bite.

If a dog bites it is by law ‘not under control’

[poopypants]

Hwory Your animal was out of control and attacked someone in public.

Er no, no one or thing was out of control. If you kick a calm dog in the head it might nip you to warn you off. As the dog didn't lock on, snarl, growl or even move much, this was the least 'out of control' imaginable. I doubt many dogs would just lie there being kicked in the head or stood upon without reacting at all. That's not normal behaviour for any mammal. Including humans. A dog who is under attack will react. Even a good dog. It's basic animal nature.

[Fucksandflowers]

People saying dogs shouldn't bite or react even if they've been stepped/kicked on need to grow up.Are you saying if you were injured or punched in the face you would just roll over and accept it?No of course not!

Thing is though, low to non existent defence drive and high submissiveness is repeatedly deliberately selected for when breeding family pets because people want biddable, wager to please tolerant pets that will accept a certain degree of manhandling so I don’t think it is too surprising that a lot of people actually would expect them to react non aggressively.

[adaline]

the fact this dog was immediately calm afterwards shows that it was not actually being aggressive

It means nothing of the sort. If a dog is fearful it can "shut down" due to the high levels of stress it's enduring.

Lots of fearful dogs are aggressive because they learn that growling/snapping/biting keeps people away from them - which is their end goal because they're scared.

[adaline]

OP - you say your dog is timid - that can often lead to fearful behaviour.

Most (not all) aggression happens through fear - dogs are scared and lash out. They growl and bark and hey presto - the person or other dog backs off. So in their head the behaviour is reinforced - they think "someone I don't like is approaching me - last time that happened, I growled and they left me alone so I'll do it again."

I don't think there's anything wrong with taking a dog out to the pub but you need to be watching them at all times - get her to sit right by your feet under the table next time, on a short lead so she can't wander when you're distracted. Or, get a corner table so she has her own space away from passers by.

Unfortunately dog bites are taken seriously and you need to think about managing the situation in the future. Most dog bites occur through human error - owners don't read the warning signs from their dog, or they're simply not paying enough attention and allow the dog to be put in stressful situations.

I hope you and your dog are okay

[ChesterDrawsDoesntExist]

I personally don't think a dog should be in a busy pub on the floor where it could potentially be stood on - which of course warrants the bite of self defence. It is a perfectly understandable reaction by the dog! But yeah, perhaps dog shouldn't have been put in that position. The woman should have looked where she was walking. It could easily have been someone's foot etc. Remember, pubs are where alcohol is served. Alcohol makes people tipsy and drunk. Tipsy or drunk people are clumsy and that increases your dog's chance of getting hurt.

[DinosaursWouldEatYou]

Is your dog ok? The woman isn't planning on reporting her to rspca or any kind of animal control? Did she ask for your details? I really hope that dog doesn't get put down!

People saying dogs shouldn't bite or react even if they've been stepped/kicked on need to grow up. Are you saying if you were injured or punched in the face you would just roll over and accept it? No of course not!

I don't agree with dogs in pubs but then again if it is a dog friendly public place (which I'm sure they put up notifocations about?) strangers should be aware of dogs/animals lurking.

Don't muzzle the poor dog but perhaps keep her at home and pay more attention to what mood she's in when out and about.

[PeoniesarePink]

Firstly, I'd take your dog to the vet to rule out anything that could be causing them pain if this isn't a normal reaction. If they are losing their sight or hearing, a sudden movement can really startle them.

Secondly, you don't actually know what happened. She could have startled or kicked your dog, and it reacted in shock. We used to have an old rescue who bit DDs ankle once when she kicked him by mistake.

Thirdly, if you are taking your dog out with you, you need to be a lot more vigilant than you were. We take ours everywhere we can with us, because they genuinely love being out and as long as they are with us, they are happy. But I don't take my eyes off them for a second.