Dog bit my son, need advice.

clappyhappy

On Saturday my kids were invited to a birthday party. I sent the 2 older ones and kept my 2 and a half year old with me. That evening went to collect kids and brought my son to play for a few mins.
Neighbours have 2 dogs, we were all outside and my fellow was no more than 20 feet away from me, he was looking into the fish pond, suddenly he starts screaming, I look at him and see he is bleeding from the mouth. The dog "appeared" hadn't been tied up, and bit my son on the face. I got a serious fright, cleansed his face straight away, his skin was punctured on the corner of his mouth and there were 3 indentations on his cheek from the teeth. Thankfully they didn't pierce the skin. He is now ok, his cheek is bruised and the broken area is healing nicely, he won't have a scar thankfully!
Neighbours haven't visited since to check on him, which has annoyed me. Family are saying that dog needs to be reported and put down, another kid got a graze on the forehead from same dog on sat also.
I went over this evening to speak with them but they were out. Basically what should I say, don't want to cause problems with them, small rural area. But if another kid gets seriously bitten by same dog, I would feel very guilty. What should I say or do? They are eastern European so feel getting the right message across first time is important.
Little guy is fine, got him checked out, but I got an awful fright, hate to think what could have happened.

Kristopherus

Call to them in a friendly way, but bring the bills from the GP with you and ask them to pay.

RubyGirl

I think it should be reported and put down. Speak to the family involved and explain this to them. This time you son is ok but how would you feel if it happens to another child and you did'nt do anything.

For me anyway it's the reaponsible thing to do. Was the dog up to date on it's vaccines, did you son need a tetnus?

byhookorbycrook

Where did this happen?In their garden or out on a public area?

trishasaffron

Agree with previous poster. I cannot understand people having dogs around children like this. Time and again we hear, after the event, that the dog was a calm, reliable animal and that whatever has happened was a one off. Yes exactly - a one off - which is precisely why dogs need to be treated with great caution as you will never know when they will turn vicious.

If I was you I wouldn't be too concerned about the neighbours or your future relationship with them - write them off. Just report the dog to the dog warden/council and let them take action - let them give your name if needed. You and your child were the ones wronged here.

January

From Parenting

Bullseye1

Did you see the dog bite the child as it appears from your post that you saw your child with blood on their face and then the dog appeared?

Where the children supervised in the garden with dogs around? Have your children any experience around dogs and how to act around animals?

Lisha

IM sorry this happened to your son, its a dreadfull fright to get.
Bottom line the dog should not leave their property.
I would go the dog warden/garda route.
Im not sure if i would call with bills I d nearly bet they would not pay.
I have dogs myself and if the kids are outside then the dogs are inside and viceversa.
You cant trust any dog when kids are around, that is just a fact

January

The decision to put the dog down lies with the owners. You will have no say in it.

Lisha

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Did you see the dog bite the child as it appears from your post that you saw your child with blood on their face and then the dog appeared?

Where the children supervised in the garden with dogs around? Have your children any experience around dogs and how to act around animals?

THe neighbours dog should not be allowed to access the next door nieghbours garden. End of discussion IMHO

Bullseye1

Lisha wrote: »

IM sorry this happened to your son, its a dreadfull fright to get.
Bottom line the dog should not leave their property.
I would go the dog warden/garda route.
Im not sure if i would call with bills I d nearly bet they would not pay.
I have dogs myself and if the kids are outside then the dogs are inside and viceversa.
You cant trust any dog when kids are around, that is just a fact

Probably best practice to seperate kids from dogs if you cannot supervise. I would also add you cannot trust kids around dogs.

littleredspot

That's a shocking thing to have happen, glad to hear he's ok. Just to clarify did the party and bite take place in a neighbours house and garden, or was the party in one house and the biting incident in a neighbouring garden?

RubyGirl

January wrote: »

The decision to put the dog down lies with the owners. You will have no say in it.

Not necessarly, if this was reported to the dog warden or guards the decision would also be taken out of the owners hands also.

Bullseye1

Lisha wrote: »

THe neighbours dog should not be allowed to access the next door nieghbours garden. End of discussion IMHO

It's not clear from the OP if the dogs where in their property or not. Did the kids not visit this neighbour who owned these dogs?

clappyhappy

RubyGirl wrote: »

I think it should be reported and put down. Speak to the family involved and explain this to them. This time you son is ok but how would you feel if it happens to another child and you did'nt do anything.

For me anyway it's the reaponsible thing to do. Was the dog up to date on it's vaccines, did you son need a tetnus?

That is my worry what if it happens to another child who may come off as "lucky" as my son.
The dog was up to date with his vaccines, my son didn't get any tetnus as he was also up to date with his jabs. Dr cleaned the area checked for any infection and gave cream to apply three times daily.

Dilbert75

You gotta say that responsibility for the dog lies with the owners - so the dog should not be the one punished.

clappyhappy

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Where did this happen?In their garden or out on a public area?

It was in their garden, they had one dog tied up, and this dog was loose.

strandroad

Was the party in your neighbours' house (hence the dog was there) or was it a wandering dog of the birthday hosts' neighbours?
Edit: OK, this has been answered already!

Lisha

Bullseye1 wrote: »

It's not clear from the OP if the dogs where in their property or not. Did the kids not visit this neighbour who owned these dogs?

Fair enough, I read it that it was a neighbour's dog to the birthday party that bit the child.
From rereading I see that it is possible that it was birthday party people's dog. I 'll await clarification.

For what it is worth, if it was me then my dogs would be locked in when kids were around. Especially when a party is going on, with extra noises and so on.

I know kids need to know how to act around kids, but to be fair, the child would be at more risk of serious damage than the dog.
Which is why dogs and kids should never be left unsupervised

OK so I read it wrong apologies

clappyhappy

Bullseye1 wrote: »

Did you see the dog bite the child as it appears from your post that you saw your child with blood on their face and then the dog appeared?

Where the children supervised in the garden with dogs around? Have your children any experience around dogs and how to act around animals?

I heard my son cry, turned around saw him backing away from the dog but the dog was still approaching him. The owner had to grab the dog and take him away, this all happened in 10 seconds. My eldest saw it happen, Hugo was playing by the fish pond, dog jumped at him,and snapped at his face.
Kids would be very familiar with dogs but know not to trust them or go near them.

clappyhappy

littleredspot wrote: »

That's a shocking thing to have happen, glad to hear he's ok. Just to clarify did the party and bite take place in a neighbours house and garden, or was the party in one house and the biting incident in a neighbouring garden?

All happened at neighbours house, party and biting. I was collecting my older two.

leddpipe

the alternative to not pursuing this is possibly having a baby or toddler attacked with potentially more serious consequences!

WolfgangWeisen

"Call the warden and have it put down".

How Irish. With wardens of such remarkable quality as Mr.Frank Coote doing the rounds in Ireland, who can't even tell one breed from the other, I would never advise that anybody call these "experts" for advise on animals.

We have one child who quite clearly wasn't being watched with an animal about, the attack wasn't seen so lets not pretend the attention was just taken for a single, co-incidental moment. We have a dog who was let loose around a bunch of kids who were most likely prodding it, pulling at its ears and other aggravations, so we have completely irresponsible behaviour on the part of the owners too.

So why, out of everyone involved, should the dog be punished and lose its life? Especially when nobody appears to have even seen the events leading up to it? Who leaves a child alone, unwatched, beside a pond anyway?!

Your beef here is with the owners. Ask them for the medical bills and put in a claim against them if they refuse to. I would also warn them that in future, if you see their dog loose around children, you'll report them as they clearly aren't doing their jobs as owners.

Two irresponsible parties and a dog being a dog, yet the dog is the one people seek to punish and then the irresponsible humans get off scot free. How absolutely Irish.

poldebruin

I don't understand all the posts asking if the OP's children know how to act around dogs? The child is too young to understand this (not that I think it makes any difference - the dogs should not be loose at a child birthday party)

A dog bit a childs face! - the kid is lucky it did not catch him in the eye. The dog cannot be trusted around children and I would report this to the warden/gardai. The owners have only themselves to blame for not taking more care with the animal.

monkeysnapper

i have a 2.5yr little girl and have 2 westies , very friendly and i always supervise all of them because my little girl can get very rough at times, the dogs have very much got used to her over the last 2.5 yrs but at the very start they were very nervous around her, but would never trust a dog 100%, its a real tough one, you really dont want to start fighting with your neighbors in my opinion. And you didnt really see the dog biting your child, im not saying it didnt happen .

Tell us a little more of what happened after this incident happened, did they except responsibility , what did they say?

poldebruin

WolfgangWeisen wrote: »

"Call the warden and have it put down".

How Irish. With wardens of such remarkable quality as Mr.Frank Coote doing the rounds in Ireland, who can't even tell one breed from the other, I would never advise that anybody call these "experts" for advise on animals.

We have one child who quite clearly wasn't being watched with an animal about, the attack wasn't seen so lets not pretend the attention was just taken for a single, co-incidental moment. We have a dog who was let loose around a bunch of kids who were most likely prodding it, pulling at its ears and other aggravations, so we have completely irresponsible behaviour on the part of the owners too.

So why, out of everyone involved, should the dog be punished and lose its life? Especially when nobody appears to have even seen the events leading up to it? Who leaves a child alone, unwatched, beside a pond anyway?!

Your beef here is with the owners. Ask them for the medical bills and put in a claim against them if they refuse to. I would also warn them that in future, if you see their dog loose around children, you'll report them as they clearly aren't doing their jobs as owners.

Two irresponsible parties and a dog being a dog, yet the dog is the one people seek to punish and then the irresponsible humans get off scot free. How absolutely Irish.

Disagree with nearly everything posted here. Especially the "dog being a dog" part. Dog bit a childs face, if there's a chance of it happening again you have to take the cautious/safe route and put the dog down.

strandroad

poldebruin wrote: »

Disagree with nearly everything posted here. Especially the "dog being a dog" part. Dog bit a childs face, if there's a chance of it happening again you have to take the cautious/safe route and put the dog down.

When I was a child, we were told "leave the dog/cat alone" on a daily basis, and it worked. If our dog snapped at me or bit me, I'd be in trouble not her. Today you just put the dog down.

clappyhappy

WolfgangWeisen wrote: »

"Call the warden and have it put down".

How Irish. With wardens of such remarkable quality as Mr.Frank Coote doing the rounds in Ireland, who can't even tell one breed from the other, I would never advise that anybody call these "experts" for advise on animals.

We have one child who quite clearly wasn't being watched with an animal about, the attack wasn't seen so lets not pretend the attention was just taken for a single, co-incidental moment. We have a dog who was let loose around a bunch of kids who were most likely prodding it, pulling at its ears and other aggravations, so we have completely irresponsible behaviour on the part of the owners too.

So why, out of everyone involved, should the dog be punished and lose its life? Especially when nobody appears to have even seen the events leading up to it? Who leaves a child alone, unwatched, beside a pond anyway?!

Your beef here is with the owners. Ask them for the medical bills and put in a claim against them if they refuse to. I would also warn them that in future, if you see their dog loose around children, you'll report them as they clearly aren't doing their jobs as owners.

Two irresponsible parties and a dog being a dog, yet the dog is the one people seek to punish and then the irresponsible humans get off scot free. How absolutely Irish.

Don't know where you are going with your Irish remarks. Kids weren't unsupervised, I had just arrived did not know that they had a dog loose around the kids for the party,as I saw the other dog tied up. And the fish pond is a three ft diameter, about 6 inches deep for 2 fish in it. As also said I was no more that 20 ft from him.

monkeysnapper

poldebruin wrote: »

Disagree with nearly everything posted here. Especially the "dog being a dog" part. Dog bit a childs face, if there's a chance of it happening again you have to take the cautious/safe route and put the dog down.

i disagree with everything you have written, stupid, ,, hay lets just kill the dog, ok we dont know what happened but lets kill the dog anyway, what if someone came up to you with a pen and stuck it in your face, and your reflex was to push away, and lets say that person fell and banged their head, should you then be killed . jjeeez

goat2

clappyhappy wrote: »

On Saturday my kids were invited to a birthday party. I sent the 2 older ones and kept my 2 and a half year old with me. That evening went to collect kids and brought my son to play for a few mins.
Neighbours have 2 dogs, we were all outside and my fellow was no more than 20 feet away from me, he was looking into the fish pond, suddenly he starts screaming, I look at him and see he is bleeding from the mouth. The dog "appeared" hadn't been tied up, and bit my son on the face. I got a serious fright, cleansed his face straight away, his skin was punctured on the corner of his mouth and there were 3 indentations on his cheek from the teeth. Thankfully they didn't pierce the skin. He is now ok, his cheek is bruised and the broken area is healing nicely, he won't have a scar thankfully!
Neighbours haven't visited since to check on him, which has annoyed me. Family are saying that dog needs to be reported and put down, another kid got a graze on the forehead from same dog on sat also.
I went over this evening to speak with them but they were out. Basically what should I say, don't want to cause problems with them, small rural area. But if another kid gets seriously bitten by same dog, I would feel very guilty. What should I say or do? They are eastern European so feel getting the right message across first time is important.
Little guy is fine, got him checked out, but I got an awful fright, hate to think what could have happened.

had your younger child been invited to this party, and what age group was the party for,

ceegee

WolfgangWeisen wrote: »

"Call the warden and have it put down".

How Irish. With wardens of such remarkable quality as Mr.Frank Coote doing the rounds in Ireland, who can't even tell one breed from the other, I would never advise that anybody call these "experts" for advise on animals.

We have one child who quite clearly wasn't being watched with an animal about, the attack wasn't seen so lets not pretend the attention was just taken for a single, co-incidental moment. We have a dog who was let loose around a bunch of kids who were most likely prodding it, pulling at its ears and other aggravations, so we have completely irresponsible behaviour on the part of the owners too.

So why, out of everyone involved, should the dog be punished and lose its life? Especially when nobody appears to have even seen the events leading up to it? Who leaves a child alone, unwatched, beside a pond anyway?!

Your beef here is with the owners. Ask them for the medical bills and put in a claim against them if they refuse to. I would also warn them that in future, if you see their dog loose around children, you'll report them as they clearly aren't doing their jobs as owners.

Two irresponsible parties and a dog being a dog, yet the dog is the one people seek to punish and then the irresponsible humans get off scot free. How absolutely Irish.

Seems to be a lot of owners on this forum who can never admit a dog may be liable for its actions. Where exactly are you getting this prodding and ear pulling from? From what the op has said the child hadnt been interacting the dog prior to being attacked. Sometimes dogs attack without provocation, making s**t up to justify the dogs actions doesnt make it less guilty. The op believed both dogs were restrained, its possible they had been - why tie one up but not the other? Sometimes its not the victims fault, or the owners, its the dogs fault.