What to Do with Our Dog - Since It Bit Our Son?

I agree with those who think there may be an underlying problem. If the dog has never been agressive before this, something has to be causing the short temper. I would definitely take him to the vet for an evaluation. Plus the vet should be able to help you decide what to do.

I am sorry you have to deal with such a heart-wrenching problem. Best of luck to you,

L.

Dear S.: I am a canine behaviorist and thought I should respond
the best I can to your post. The first thing your whole family should know is NEVER RUN from a dog.
The dog will then chase you and bite, especially if he is in pain.
You don't know, but the dog's tail may have been fractured or
otherwise severely hurting him. Dogs react to pain with
aggression in most cases.

you don't mention the age of the dog or the breed. But 30 stitches is a lot. I would not expect your children to want to be around this dog again either. If you want to give the dog a second chance, you will need to have behavioral evaluations and
training sessions to see what the nature of this dog's temperament
truly is.

I don't blame you for not trusting him but also consider
that he reacted from pain. Especially since this had never
happened before. Reasonably, the humane society is not
going to be able to place an older dog who has done this
kind of damage, even to a home with no children. Morally, ethically, to just give this dog away to someone would be wrong
unless the new owner knows exactly what the dog did.

If you would like to talk more about his, drop me an email
at ____@____.com

Good luck
B. McNinch

I too have a dog that bites-nips. He old and gets grouchy and all the kids are getting to the point that they are afaid of him. He is a real pain and has a lot of health issues. He is old-11 and I am not sure what to do either. He has 2 bites that have been reported to the State of illinois and they have done nothing (I was hoping that they would make the decision for me). He is so cute-small and sometimes wonderful but if he desides that he doesn't want to do something watch out. My vet will not even discuss putting him down because even though he has health issues he is on med's and not life threating. I am not sure what I or you are suppose to do. I also think my 4 kids love the dog and never forgive me if I got rid of him. So I am sympathic but also have no anwers.

I am sorry that this happened to you. I have never had this experience but if normally the dog is friendly and has never done this before have you talked to the vet to see if there may be an underlying problem. Maybe the dog is in pain somewhere and this just set him off. I don't know if it will make a difference but I would at least give it a try. Good Luck!

Our dog nipped my son in the face (right around they eye) on 2 different occasions. Both times were when our dog was chewing a bone. I think she thought he was going to take it. It was the hardest thing I had to do but we brought her to animal welfare. She was normally the sweetest dog in the world. But 2 times near the eye (even though there was hardly a mark)was enough for me. I made a list of all her issues to insure that someone was well aware of her problems.
If it was a small nip after getting his tail caught I would say give him a chance but with all that he did I say its time to give him up or see if any friends or family will take him. You can call around to see if there are any openings at some of the no-kill shelters.

Good Luck!!

I am sorry for your situation but as a dog lover and a mother, I think you should put the dog down. I had a neighbor who dog did the same thing to two of her children, one ended up with over 40 stitches. The vet told her that once dogs taste blood, they are never the same and can't be trusted again, especially around children. I would want this dog to go to another couple and have them walking her in the park or such and have a child walk up and want to pet it- it could happen that the dog bites that child. It is best that the dog be put down. You don't want this to happen to another family or child. It really can't mess with a child, my neighbors child crys when she sees dogs now. Good luck.

You already know that you can't keep the dog, and of course you are upset. The kids will be upset too--it's perfectly normal and okay. Over time, you will get over it, but just allow your family to grieve a little. you are losing a member of the family. that being said, be prepared to put the dog down. A lot of shelters will not accept an animal that has bitten a person, let alone two. I just took my cat that I've had for 10 years to anti-cruelty to put her down because she really bit my leg hard for no reason. They said the City of Chicago has an ordinance that the only people allowed to handle animals that bite is the City pound--even to put her down. I also know a 9 year old neighbor who was wrestling with a friend outside, fell on a neighbor's dog and had his ear bitten. the dog was immediately put down because the dog was traumatized and can't trust people. It is a very hard thing for your family to go through, but do it quickly so your family can start the healing process. Maybe it will help to get a memorial for the dog. I bought a marble tile etched with a picture for my sister's dog when it died last year--I actually bought it on ebay. It's in her back yard and we go "visit" with him still. Just a thought. again, my condolences to you and your family.

We gave our dog to the Keeshond rescue after she started growling at our daughter when she started toddling, 18 months. Then, we gave our Shih Tzu to the Shih Tzu rescue after he bit our daughter in the nose when she was 3. He didn't draw blood but he had the opportunity to get away and he chose not to. We had both of these dogs before our daughter and they were loved very much. Really, they were serrogates before having a child. However, she is more important and it would be devastating if she were scared for life because we didn't get rid of a dog. It is very hard. I cried terribly with both dogs. Good luck.

As a kid, we went thru this. Yes, you will need to get rid of the dog. You now have a serious liability situation. Be sure to report this to your homeowners insurance agent - your neice and son's injuries should be covered under that policy. Your insurance company may not cover any future bites after this one. When this happened to us, we gave the dog up to a shelter. It's a very hard thing to do, but sometimes the right decision is the hardest one to go thru with. I hope your neice and son heal and get thru this.

Sherrie,
That's a tough call. Like a previous poster said it wasn't just your child, but an adult too.

I would definatley call the vet and see what they have to say.

As a dog lover and dog owner, if my dog did that, I wouldn't know what to do either. My family comes first though, too.
I am sorry you and your family is having to go through this.
B.

I love dogs too and I can certainly empathize with you in having to make this difficult decision. But I just want to point out that giving your dog to a shelter and specifying that he shouldn't be adopted by a family with children does not guarantee he won't ever come into contact with kids again. God forbid, he gets out of the house while children are nearby. And your 19-year old niece who needed 30 stitches is hardly a child. It sounds like your dog has some serious behaviorial issues that need to be addressed.

I am so sorry this is such a tough situation. I have never een in a situation like this myself. I am allergic to dogs, so . . . But my brother had a German Shepard that was always an extremely well-behaved and good natured dog and one day he snapped at his girlfriend (they all lived together so the dog and she knew each other well). I don't remember what the diagnosis was but the vet said that the dog was sick and should be put down. I remember this being so hard for my brother, and I feel for you. But perhaps you should take the dog to the vet and get it checked out.

S.... what a scary experience!!! If the dog has never snapped at the kids before, something else is wrong! I agree with the poster that said dogs react to pain, but I don't know if it's just b/c his tail got caught in the door... maybe something is wrong you didn't know about. But, with 4 children, I understand your hesitancy to keep him. My 80lb lab mix snapped at my daughter when she was 8 months old. He is normally very outgoing and friendly, but she had just started crawling and it made him very nervous when she started to crawl on him (and I didn't recognize the signs that he wasn't ready for her to be that close). Luckily, it was just a small puncture mark at the corner of her eye, and we went to the ER to make sure it was cleaned out properly. Anyway, my point is... we kept the dog away from her for 5 days and brought in a behaviorist to help work with him (and us!). They have been fine since and we are much better about recognizing when he needs his space! Good luck... I know this is a hard situation no matter what you do!

I am so sorry to hear about what happened to your family.
The same thing happened to my cousin. Their dog was so sweet and very smart. However one day my cousin's daughter, who was about 12 at the time, went to kiss the dog on the nose while it was sleeping. I think she had done it before however this time the dog immediately bit her and of course since she was trying to kiss the dog at the time, the bite was to her face. She had to have many stitches and repair to a muscle in face. My cousin said that afterward you could tell the dog felt bad about it, but what was done was done.
Even though they loved the dog my cousin could not keep it knowing what it did to her daughter. It is when things like this happen that we remember that a dog is in fact an "animal".
I think they decided to put the dog down.
I would suggest that if you don't put him down that you find an animal rescue society that can take him, or a no-kill shelter.
Any dog has a potential to harm people. I know of kids who just screamed at a certain pitch and the dog lashed out.
If you get another dog at some point I'd suggest you work with someone to make sure you crate train the dog. As I would always explain to my family (we had a dog who nipped at my son) that it ends up being more of a protection of the dog from the kids than the kids from the dog. Plus when using a crate it makes the dog feel like there is somewhere safe they can go.
Good luck and I hope as time goes by the family starts to feel better.
M. P.

Hi S.-

This is more a message of support than anything. I am so sorry for you and your family! I am also a dog owner and lover (I have a 7 1/2 yo pit-bull/lab mix). I love my dog dearly but she's getting older and I worry that something could happen. You just never know. I would be beside myself making the decisions you're having to make. Best of luck to you. Whatever you decide is the best decision you could make for your family and the dog.

D.

I know it's hard. My son was bite by a friends dog. This was his 3rd time biting someone so they did put him to sleep. we had a Akita and he became mean after we had him neutred. The vet said either do classes which might not work or give him to someone without kids. we gave him to the shelter and they found him a family.

Have you taken him to the vet? Could something be wrong with him? I know it's very sad but I suggest putting him to sleep it's not painful and if you give him to somone else it doesn't mean He won't see kids and could hurt someone badly.