Biting Dog - Page 2

[Mama2Jesse]

Originally Posted by lactatinggirl

Thank you all for your advice. I would really like to avoid getting rid of my dog if at all possible. I'm having a one-on-one trainer come to my house.

I don't think she's jealous, though she might be territorial. She never snaps at people outside of our house. Mostly when Peanut goes near her, she just walks away. Peanut likes to follow her though. Sometimes she growls and we correct her. The times that she has snapped at her have been once when Peanut cornered her, once when they were both on the bed and Peanut got too close to her (she was awake, just for some reason she didn't go away that time), and once when my husband had food he was giving to Peanut and the dog thought she should have it (she didn't actually get her that time). The times that she has bitten her, she hasn't actually broken skin. Though she has recently bitten me and broken my skin (I was trying to take off her sweater).

Just saw this.

Ho-LEE crap. Red flag, huge big waving in your face. Doggy needs to go. TBH, one snap or growl here and the dog would have been PTS that day.

Mama, I say this all out of genuine concern. Why are you waiting until your baby is hurt? When will it be bad enough that you will step in an accept this is not okay?

This dog has issues. They may be correctable, but this is not something you have the luxury of working with. You have a child now. You dog is threatening to do real harm to your child. Respond accordingly.

[freestyler]

I am ITA with Mom2Jesse. You must protect your child. A dog is just a dog, and, well, can be replaced later. your child cannot be replaced and you MUST protect her and keep her from being maimed or worse. Why is there even a question??

[Dabble]

Another vote for get rid of the dog. I hope that doesn't sound flip lacking compassion, but the dog can no longer be considered safe in your home.

Find the dog a new home WITHOUT children, or have her put to sleep. I know that's a hard pill to swallow, but it's the only way you can keep your daughter safe, and that of course is where your priorities lie.

Hugs for you mama. It really stinks to be in such a situation, and I know first-hand the agony of having to make a decision like this. I can guarantee that this dog will bite your baby again, training or not. Please don't let that happen.

[PlayaMama]

Originally Posted by freestyler

I am ITA with Mom2Jesse. You must protect your child. A dog is just a dog, and, well, can be replaced later. your child cannot be replaced and you MUST protect her and keep her from being maimed or worse. Why is there even a question??

in my experience it's attitudes like the bolded that lead to large amounts of animals showing up at the animal shelter and being killed. a dog can NOT be _replaced_ any more than your child can and i feel really sad that there are people out there that think that individual creatures are interchangeable.

to the OP, i am really glad that you are seeing a trainer but i really don't think that keeping your dog will be an option. do you have any family or friends without children that would be willing to adopt her so that you could still keep in contact? what about the breeder? most breeders have a 100% return policy if anything happens in your life and you must get rid of the dog. when we were breeding we re-homed two of our puppies (out of a total of 14) due to conflicts, one of those was at six years old.

i'm so sorry you are in this situation, it really is very hard.

[indie]

Perhaps you're not thinking clearly because you are emotionally attached to the dog, but you have to find a new home for him. This dog has bit your BABY multiple times. I'm only guessing here, but I think CPS would consider removing your child if they knew that the baby was repeatedly bit and you did not remove the dog from the home. Dogs have seriously injured and even killed children. Its just not worth the risk.

[Kirsten]

The dog has bitten your baby MULTIPLE TIMES. Whether or not the baby bled doesn't change the fact. IMO you have two options - the dog becomes a strictly outside dog or you find it another home. I can appreciate that it is a hard decision to rehome a beloved pet, but your baby's safety is more important.

Really, what it boils down to for me is do you want to rehome the dog before your child is seriously injured or after?

[babeak]

I have never begged anything, but I am going to right now. Please remove the dog. I had no idea that she had already snapped at Peanut. Paying a ton of money will not make this dog bite-proof. Think about your Peanut losing an eye or part of a lip. Is it worth it? I know that it is hard. On the way to the emergency room I said that the dog has to go. DH argued to keep the dog. OUR dog had NEVER EVER BIT ANYONE.

Please don't think that it won't happen to you. I could never ever have dreamed in a million years that it would happen to us. I just don't want it be a real bite that makes you reconsider.

Here is some more info:
Getting bitten by a dog is the fifth most frequent cause of visits to emergency rooms caused by activities common among children. (See Weiss HB, Friedman DI, Coben JH. Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments, JAMA 1998;279:53; also see US Consumer Product Safety Commission


If you still have some questions in your mind... enter in children and dog bites into a Goolge image search. It is not pretty. I know that you would not want to see any of that happening to Peanut.


Hope that you can either keep them apart or re-home the dog for awhile (maybe Peanut's grandparents will help you out with that). I KNOW how hard that is as I had a LOT of personal time investing with training our dog in addition to being our family who flew on airplanes and went EVERYWHERE with us. He even rode in a backpack on my back while I rode the bike. It was a hard decision in some ways, but ultimately once DH finally put DD safety and my sanity as priority #1, it was much easier. I seriously do miss the dog, but I do NOT miss the anxiety.

I commend you for getting a trainer, but it may not be enough. I hope that you have a good one who has extensive experience and who will be honest with you about your dog's capacities.

Best wishes.

[lactatinggirl]

I understand you all think that I'm a horrible parent, but enough with the begging me to get rid of my dog. My dog is a part of my family. No, she is not more important than my daughter. No, she is not less important then a couch.

That said, I am trying to remedy the problem. I am having a one-on-one trainer come and help us with her. I realize that getting rid of her is an option that I have to consider, but I'm not so willing to just give up on someone I love. But if the training doesn't work, I will look into that option.

Also, I'm not trying to justify her biting but I need you all to realize that I am talking about a 20 pound dog. I know that small dogs can still do damage, but I'm thinking it's highly unlikely that my daughter is going to get seriously injured. I know that any risk is an unreasonable risk, but the situation would be different if my dog was larger.

So please stop trying to make me feel guilty. It's so easy to look at this from an outside perspective and say that I should just get rid of my dog and I'm a horrible parent if I don't (btw, how dare you threaten me with my daughter being taken away from me indie), but you can only see this objectively when this is so clearly a subjective matter.

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by Kirsten

The dog has bitten your baby MULTIPLE TIMES. Whether or not the baby bled doesn't change the fact. IMO you have two options - the dog becomes a strictly outside dog or you find it another home. I can appreciate that it is a hard decision to rehome a beloved pet, but your baby's safety is more important.

Really, what it boils down to for me is do you want to rehome the dog before your child is seriously injured or after?

This, absolutely this!

20lb dogs can and do seriously injure small children, btw.

You don't seem to want this input, but I think the dog should go, like most PPs. I lived in terror around kindergarten age b/c of a cocker spaniel my father loved and didn't think would really hurt me that nipped me, chased me and finally bit my leg deeply. I still remember it vividly!

[Eclipsepearl]

The size of the dog is actually not a factor. Small dogs can do a lot of damage and also, they're quick and right at the same level. Big dogs are often mellower and less often threatened by babies but that's OT.

Sorry you are faced with this dilemma. You can't have them together. This is too much of a risk.

Do you have a garage where you can keep the dog?

[Roxswood]

The choice is between finding your dog another loving home and risking your child being seriously injured. I'm with everyone else. The pp was not threatening you with having your child taken away (if that was so she'd be saying that SHE was going to call CPS) but pointing out that this is a secondary risk to keeping the dog.

I can understand that you wouldn't want to have the dog put down over this, but that is also what you are risking by keeping this dog. You can rehome it now, before anyone has been seriously bitten, into a family with no small children and let it live a happy life or you can risk having a seriously injured child (small dogs could very easily damage an eye to the point of blindness or cause permanent scarring on the child's face with even a not very serious attack) and then also being forced to put your dog to sleep. In my opinion you are not trying to make the right choice for either the dog or child here, simply for your own emotions over it all.

[Bubblette]

Originally Posted by lactatinggirl

Thank you all for your advice. I would really like to avoid getting rid of my dog if at all possible. I'm having a one-on-one trainer come to my house.

I don't think she's jealous, though she might be territorial. She never snaps at people outside of our house. Mostly when Peanut goes near her, she just walks away. Peanut likes to follow her though. Sometimes she growls and we correct her. The times that she has snapped at her have been once when Peanut cornered her, once when they were both on the bed and Peanut got too close to her (she was awake, just for some reason she didn't go away that time), and once when my husband had food he was giving to Peanut and the dog thought she should have it (she didn't actually get her that time). The times that she has bitten her, she hasn't actually broken skin. Though she has recently bitten me and broken my skin (I was trying to take off her sweater).

Babies should not be allowed to toddle after dogs. Personally, I don't think children and dogs belong on the same beds (in general, though there are some exceptions of course). In those two instances I don't think the dog was "wrong" I think the dog was being a dog. All they have to communicate with is their bodies, they growl to warn you "I DON'T LIKE THAT" they bite when growling, walking away etc does not work. Your dog does not like your child invading her space. Again this is personally, but I don't reprimand for growling, I see it as a sign something is amiss that I must address. If you suppress growling you can push a dog into biting without warning. Your pup is giving you warning now.

All of the above it not to say I think keeping your pup is the best option. I don't think I could handle having a child and a dog in that type of situation. I would probably seek to re-home my dog in your situation. A one on one behaviorist/trainer is indeed what you need if you are insistent on keeping your dog. That being said you NEED NEED NEED to put up gates, keep your baby from molesting your dog, and keep them AWAY from each-other.

A 20 pound dog can kill a child.

[JBaxter]

Originally Posted by lactatinggirl

I understand you all think that I'm a horrible parent, but enough with the begging me to get rid of my dog. My dog is a part of my family. No, she is not more important than my daughter. No, she is not less important then a couch.

That said, I am trying to remedy the problem. I am having a one-on-one trainer come and help us with her. I realize that getting rid of her is an option that I have to consider, but I'm not so willing to just give up on someone I love. But if the training doesn't work, I will look into that option.

Also, I'm not trying to justify her biting but I need you all to realize that I am talking about a 20 pound dog. I know that small dogs can still do damage, but I'm thinking it's highly unlikely that my daughter is going to get seriously injured. I know that any risk is an unreasonable risk, but the situation would be different if my dog was larger.

So please stop trying to make me feel guilty. It's so easy to look at this from an outside perspective and say that I should just get rid of my dog and I'm a horrible parent if I don't (btw, how dare you threaten me with my daughter being taken away from me indie), but you can only see this objectively when this is so clearly a subjective matter.

There should be not MAKING your feel guilty you KNOW the dog is a danger to your baby. Babies TRUMP PETS. The multilple bits that didnt break skin are just precursors to what will happen once the toddler phase kicks in well. Yes social services HAVE taken children from parents who had pets that caused injury to the child and the parents KEPT the pets. Your dog needs to be kept in a room gated off from your baby and?or crated till you get the dog rehomed. I cant believe you are actually willing to wait till your baby has a serious injury before you get rid of the dog.

Sorry this post is harsh but Im a dog lover and have 2 very close friends who run rescues ( which I help with) Its not like I'm a non dog lover. Some pets should not be around babies.

[choosewisdom]

I work in pediatric ICU. I recently cared for a child that was attacked by a beloved family pet. The dog had given the child a "warning bite" once before and not "broken the skin". The family hired a behavioral specialist to work with the dog, and had kept the two separated, but one day a slip of a visiting neighbor and the gate was left ajar. The dog did so much damage that the little one will never again close her left eye, post two plastic surgeries.

She had multiple blood transfusions in order to save her life, and after required some infusions of clotting factors. She stayed with us for over three weeks, and is now still in the hospital but on another floor. They had pictures of her on the wall, and I would never have thought it was the same child.

These people loved this dog, and they wanted so much to keep the dog, but now the dog is going to be put to sleep. Both situations could have been avoided if the family had chosen to let the dog go into foster care with a family that did not have any small children.

Please, do not allow this situation to happen to your child. ONE BITE is TOO MANY!!! Even if it didn't "break the skin".

PS the dog that hospitalized the baby was only a twenty pound dog!!!!!!!!!!!

[Veronika01]

Babies are soft and squishy. A dog's teeth and jaws are not and your 20lb dog is stronger than you imagine. Even if it doesn't kill your baby, the soft tissue damage it can do in just a couple of seconds is immense. You posted here and asked for advice. You've gotten an abundance of it and now you're scoffing it off. It really does seem like a no-brainer to me. And I'm one of those people who saw my dogs as my "babies" before I had children.

[Mama2Jesse]

Originally Posted by lactatinggirl

I understand you all think that I'm a horrible parent, but enough with the begging me to get rid of my dog. My dog is a part of my family. No, she is not more important than my daughter. No, she is not less important then a couch.

That said, I am trying to remedy the problem. I am having a one-on-one trainer come and help us with her. I realize that getting rid of her is an option that I have to consider, but I'm not so willing to just give up on someone I love. But if the training doesn't work, I will look into that option.

Also, I'm not trying to justify her biting but I need you all to realize that I am talking about a 20 pound dog. I know that small dogs can still do damage, but I'm thinking it's highly unlikely that my daughter is going to get seriously injured. I know that any risk is an unreasonable risk, but the situation would be different if my dog was larger.

So please stop trying to make me feel guilty. It's so easy to look at this from an outside perspective and say that I should just get rid of my dog and I'm a horrible parent if I don't (btw, how dare you threaten me with my daughter being taken away from me indie), but you can only see this objectively when this is so clearly a subjective matter.

Nobody is threatening you or trying to make you feel guilty. People are frightened for your child being kept in the same home as an aggressive dog.

Listen, please. I, too, am begging you. *Nothing* trumps baby's safety. Not a cat, not a dog, not a husband. You know this.

Twenty pound dogs can and do kill. Do you know what will happen if your dog has enough? She will either slash at her face, or grab your baby by the face or neck and she will shake. I'm sorry to be so graphic, but mama, this is your baby, your flesh and blood! And innocent child who needs to be protected! I have seen children with horrible scars, held little siblings after the fact as they cried in fear. I've seen children missing ears. We've all seen the sobbing mother on the news, because "Fido was a great dog, I don't know what happened".

You wouldn't put her in the car sans carseat. You wouldn't leave her outside alone. You wouldn't let her play in a room full of exposed wiring. But, please mama, realize... you are letting her live in a home with an aggressive animal.

So what should a mother do if her child is threatened? Allow the aggressor of harm (against an infant!) to continue to breathe, let alone live in the same house? No, mama. You know this.

I know it's hard. We put down a dog we'd had from a puppy when we had our baby. I sobbed. Hardest thing to do.

But still alot easier than seeing scars on my precious child that *I* could have prevented. Or worse, losing my baby.

[the_lissa]

Your dog has bitten your *infant* several times and you are not getting rid of her? That is unbelievable.

[moaningminny]

The size of the dog doesn't matter. Your child deserves to be safe. Please find the dog a more suitable home.

[DandeCobb]

I just want to be the tenth person to tell you that is not okay. I'm sorry you are going to lose your dog but it needs to go

[churndash]

My sister has two cockers and they went through a period of fighting with each other - sister got bitten so badly trying to separate them that she had to go to the ER and get stitches.

Don't kid yourself that a 20lb dog can't do any real damage. Especially not to a completely defenseless baby!

If you are determined to keep the dog, you must take responsibility for keeping dog and baby separate at all times. Never, never leave them alone, do not have them on the bed together (personally I think dogs should never be on the bed, it makes them think they rank equally with the humans in the family pack). Get baby gates and use them to keep dog and baby in separate rooms, at all times, always. Crate the dog if you cannot use gates.

Sorry if you feel guilty, but maybe that's your inner voice telling you something you need to listen to.