Dog bite, advice needed please …

[Skittles456]

Today my 18 month old dog has bitten my teenage daughter on the face. The bite mark is superficial but a bite to the face nonetheless.

Our dog had taken its bone into the living room, and had fallen asleep with bone tucked behind them, our teenage has come along, the dog had woken up, our teenager has sat beside the dog to stroke them and then when they’ve gone to stroke the dog a second time they have nipped at our teenaged face. Puncturing the skin.

For background when we had the dog as a puppy it did display some signs of food aggression which we thought we had dealt with as we haven’t see any signs of this for a very long time.

It’s a collie cross breed and generally a very affectionate and friendly dog. The only explanation we have is that it was being protective over the bone.

We never give big treats that they’ve had opportunity to become possessive or protective over before but a visiting family member brought it last week as a gift for the dog.

We have told the dog off immediately after the bite and put them in the safe space we use when we go out.

What I’d like to know is if anyone has experience of keeping their dog after it’s bitten and there being a successful outcome , where the dog hasn’t bitten again?

Really??

I don’t own a dog, but do sympathise with the OP.

We have owned dogs. Some were unsuitable. One in particular was amazing. Anyone could put their hand in a tasty bowl of its food and he would either lick the hand or walk away. Same with a bone. I have had to retrieve something untoward from his mouth and he just let me. Not all dogs are like this. Some are suitable for the family some are not.

My dogs do not bite but I do not give them high value, long lasting items. I learned that lesson years ago, when I gave them each an antler horn. They all had one, but everyone wanted everyone else’s and WW3 erupted!! I got bitten in the process of separating them, they bit each other, it was carnage! I did not anticipate it because they all eat together quite happily, but apparently really high value treats changed the dynamic. No real damage was done, antler horns went straight in the bloody bin and I learned my lesson. Treats are small, one bite things only! And no, none of them have ever done it again, over anything at all for the 10+ years since and no it’s not “in their psyche” and yes they are “suitable” for family life 😳 I just needed to not be so stupid.

I had a feeling the teen would be blamed.

Personally I think a family pet should be able to be stroked without biting.

Sorry no advice re dog but if the skin has been pierced she needs a tetanus shot.

I think you need to reinforce, let sleeping dogs lie. Speak with your DC about boundaries with the dog. The dog will come to you when it wants to play. Respect the dog’s personal space. We rehomed an older dog that had lived with an elderly woman so coming into our home with two teenagers was a culture shock for the old girl. DS wasn’t bitten but snapped at when he tried to hug the dog like he was used to doing with dogs we’d had since pups. Once we explained the rehomed dog’s boundaries we didn’t have any problems at all with snapping. She was much happier and still playful.

My 4 year old dog is resource guards his food if the cats are around. I still give him high value treats / bones but he eats them in a separate room in his crate,

Twice he's gotten human food and growled at me / one of my children when we've tried to retrieve it ( separate occasions ) but both times was a panic as a pasta dish with lots of garlic in it and the other was a full Easter egg 😅

Apart from those two incidents, If he ever has somthing I don't want him to take I just ask him to move to another area in the room whilst I take it, - I never try to directly take off him and I don't approach him if he has food or a high value treat

Both my kids know ( since growling incidents years ago ) to never ever approach him if he has food, even if it's somthing he shouldn't have ) and have always known not to get in his face or space. Mines a big boy though so I've always been extra cautious

My 4 year old dog is resource guards his food if the cats are around. I still give him high value treats / bones but he eats them in a separate room in his crate,

Twice he's gotten human food and growled at me / one of my children when we've tried to retrieve it ( separate occasions ) but both times was a panic as a pasta dish with lots of garlic in it and the other was a full Easter egg 😅

Apart from those two incidents, If he ever has somthing I don't want him to take I just ask him to move to another area in the room whilst I take it, - I never try to directly take off him and I don't approach him if he has food or a high value treat

Both my kids know ( since growling incidents years ago ) to never ever approach him if he has food, even if it's somthing he shouldn't have ) and have always known not to get in his face or space. Mines a big boy though so I've always been extra cautious

Dog is in his own bed to eat high value treats. We don't let our dogs on the sofa at all. They have their own very comfortable beds in the lounge. We have our sofa. They would either be tied up outside with a bone so the mess of it stays outside or eat chews etc in their own beds.

agree With the following.

never have a bone or high value treat in the house again
get everybody to watch videos of dog behaviour/warning signs so they will notice them in the future
train your dog to go to a mat/bed on command

I have a dog that if it has a pigs ear will bite my other dog. We now don’t have pigs ears in the house and they’ve always been fine without that trigger.

This is why you need to speak about your dog's behaviour with a vet. They are the experts on these issues.

My dog did this exact same thing over a ball with DD (dog is ball obsessed, ball got tucked in his bed, he dozed off, dd approached, he nipped her face).
He has never had a ball in the house since, balls are for outside only.
He is also not allowed any long lasting treats (bones, chews), just in case.
It's not just about them having a safe space, if they have one, have it removed/ finish it then fall asleep having forgotten that it's gone the risk is still there.

My dog bit a delivery driver on the hand when he was giving me a parcel. She was two at the time. She was extremely territorial about the door but once people were in the house she was not bothered about them at all. It was about eight years ago and she’s never done anything like that since.

Please don’t feed your dog bones this is an ex lap waiting to happen

We have a food aggressive collie and had to remove all "could be food" items that aren't eaten immediately, ie bones and he (and the other dog we had at the time, for her safety) only gets "fake" ones, eg nylabones. Fine with those.

He has bitten me (small bite and I'm not overly concerned because if he wanted to properly bite me it would have been much worse, he has big teeth) when I've got in his space.

Need v careful handling, if I had a young child we couldn't keep him but mine was well into teenage years when we got him.

Same as @Needmotivationnnnn but tbh if anything falls on the floor its his, only option is to offer better treat v quickly.

I hope the deliver driver was adequately compensated. This probably affected him for a very long time and I hope you also paid for his counselling as well as his injuries. No dog bite is minor in any way at all, even if it is a small dog. We should all be safe going about out normal daily life, including delivery drivers, postman etc.

I wouldnt give away the dog over this. You just have to be more careful, dont leave him be with special treats. And teach the kids to not approach him when he has food.
Our dog wouldnt let our kids take a bone from her. Shes fine when I do it or DH, but if the kids approach her or try and touch her when she has a special treat, then she growls at them.
Im guessing the dog didnt really ecpect your child and was startled as well as ressource guarding. If he had seen your child coming, he might have growled and as a warning first.

I also dont think it needs to be trained. Dogs dont need to let kids take things from them. My kids complain too when the other snatches stuff.
This is an easy situation to avoid in the future.

I agree just never allow the dog to have this kind of treat again

That’s not true. Our dog nipped someone once 8 years ago and has never done it since.

DDog when young snapped at 13 year old DD when DD hugged her while DDog was snoozing.

I would have been very worried if DD was younger. Instead I put in place strict rules for DD about leaving DDog alone if sleeping. Six years on, it's never happened again. She's the most submissive, affectionate dog - she was just startled and reacted in self defense.

A bite is more serious. But same principle.

No more high value treats for DDog. No more interruptions by DD. Speak to vet and behaviourist, of course. But it sounds as if you have a clear way of avoiding another incident.

As they are a teenager not a small child they can learn how to keep themselves and the dog safe, as it seems food aggression is an issue. If you want the dog on your life you need to pay a qualified behaviorist, there is nothing else to do. If not for active training then certainly a long term management plan. There's nothing else to do here. You need to take it seriously. If you don't want to do this then you need to look at rehoming your dog to someone who can support them, but know that this isn't isn't fair on the dog.

Do you want the dog to keep living with you, or are you no longer wanting to continue to have them live with you?

Well it didn’t affect him for a long time. It was years ago and he is still psychologically sound.

I didn’t say it was ‘minor’.

I didn’t pay for his counselling. How can I ‘pay for his injuries’?

How do you know it didn't affect him?

How do you know it did? I was bitten as a small child to the point of needing stitches. I’m fine and I absolutely love dogs.