please help.....

momma · Member Joined: 20 Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Location: B.C. Canada

today was the worse day of my life. My daughter who is 2 and a half was bitten by my good friends dog. He bite her in the face on her cheeck were she recived 3 stiches there is 3 holes in her face; she only got stiches in one of the holes. I tell you if no one has ever seen a dog bite some one before that is a sure scary thing to see happen. My daughter is doing alright her face is very sore but she is ok.
The problem i have is; is if this was not my friends dog i would be doing every thing to have that dog put to sleep. But this is a good friend of mine and his 2 dogs are like his kids and i dont know what to do or say to him.

Please any info to help would be great, im so confused right now. The dogs are large they are rottey/shepperd, and the one that bit has showen signs of aggrestion before. But never like this.

nern · Moderator Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 5042 Location: NY

Im really sorry to hear about your daughter...Im glad she is okay.
I really don't have any advice to give but have you discussed this with your friend at all since the indicent happened? Was there anything that happened beforehand they might have provoked the dog? When the dog has shown signs of aggression before who was it towards...children, adults or both?

nern · Moderator Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 5042 Location: NY

BTW, you can also post this on the dog forum if you want....you may get more advice there.

moose · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 1:03 am Post subject:

glad your daughter will be fine. my advice to you is to keep your daughter away from these dogs. if she's not there, they can't bite her.

what was the nature of the bite? as in, what was happening before the bite occurred?

you should talk to your friend about his dogs. if he's letting them run loose, you need to tell him that's not safe for other people or his dogs.

can't really comment any more than that since i don't know the situation or why the bite occurred.

kyles101 · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 3:12 am Post subject:

moose brought up a good point, what happened leading up to the bite? also, was it just one bite or did it try to attack?

momma · Member Joined: 20 Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Location: B.C. Canada

You know the scary thing is that he dog bit her for no reason. She walked by him and he snapped at her face.

The dog also has showen signs towards other children; not bitting but nipping. Both times tho the dog didnt know the kids and they came up to him to quickly.

My daughter has been around both dogs for about 2 years.

mazyku · Member Joined: 02 Apr 2004 Posts: 47 Location: New Jersey

I hope your daughter will be okay. As a previous dog owner of a large dog, I would make sure that my dog was put in another room when small children were around. Nither the animal or the child knows any better and as adults who own them, we should do everything to protect both. My dog was very nice to kids and adults and we had her since she was 5 weeks old but she developed a strange reaction to blonde little girls that would enter our home. These children never did anything to her. We never figured it out but always when I knew they were coming she would be placed either outside or in my bedroom. So, my advise to you, would be to talk with the owners and ask them to place the dogs in another room when you come over both for their protection and your childs. Good luck to your daughter. I hope something like this does not make her afraid of dogs.

moose · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 4:01 am Post subject:

i know you think the dog bit her for no reason, but this isn't really true. something, whether noticeable to you or not, set the dog off. you said before that the dog has nipped at kids who approached too quickly? is this what happened with your daughter?

anyway, now that there's a history of this dog being aggressive towards your daughter, i would either A) not bring your daughter with you when this dog is going to be around or B) ask your friend to keep the dog restrained in another room or crate or something while your daughter is around.

Mary_NH · Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 1:29 pm Post subject:

I'm surprised the physician at the hospital where your daughter got her stitches didn't take action - I thought they were supposed to report any dog bites to the authorities

Samsintentions · Moderator Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 4351 Location: Texas

Me too.... Here if you get bit by a dog. It has to be quarentined for a period of time. They have to have vet papers stating the dog has had all of its shots, and vaccinations.

IF I were you. I'd ask your "friend" to take the dog to the vet and have it checked out. Sometimes dogs act out in agression when they are in pain, ill, or something is bothering the dog neurologically.

Seeing as how it has previously been agressive to children approaching quickly. The dog could be having vision problems. IF your child was just walking by and the dog had....HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING,. tunnel vision. He could have just seen her and it startled him. That would make scence to why he nipped at the other children approaching him as well.

I would just suggest he have the dog checked out physically and mentally.

Good luck, and give the little one an extra dose of Ice cream. Great medicine for children!!!

momma · Member Joined: 20 Mar 2004 Posts: 22 Location: B.C. Canada

Thank you all so much for your comments. Actually the "bad Vision" does sound like a explanation. The other dog he has does have cateracts in his eyes. And they are older dogs.

As for the authoritys ( calling the police or the spca) i think that would have to be done by me and because it was a friends dog..... well i was going to leave the decision up to him. We are very good friends and i wanted to have as much information to sit and talk with him as possible. In a calm manner. Sometimes situations like this can bring out harsh talk so i wanted to calm down abit before we talked.

Thank you all again.

honeybears · Super Senior Member Plus Joined: 19 Mar 2004 Posts: 3637

I had a scary situation last week-end with my dog Jake who wouldnt hurt a fly. We had company over for dinner, they have been over many times over the last few years and diner was late so the Mom gave threir 5 year old daughter a piece of french bread, Jake loves french bread even more then meat. Well she was running around with it in her hand, now her and Jake are the roughly the same height. next thing I heard screaming, she fell down and Jake tried to take her bread and luckily she didnt get hurt or bit but that was a scare, that was a wake up call make sure no kids are eating unless they are at a table. But I think what if something did happen. it sure scared me

Now many dogs are scared of young kids for various reasons- even though your daughter has been around these dogs, she may have spooked it somehow. Like wanting to pet it, but it cant see good so maybe it thought it is going to get hit or was startled.

I babysat this same girl a few weeks ago and she was pesterig my cat. My cat did try to bite her because she was pulling its tail etc. but she was provoking the cat. I am not saying your daughter provoked or did anything wrong but again any suddens gestuers with an older dog may provoke something.

I would just keep them seperated when she is aournd the dogs.

honeybear