My neighbours dig bit my sons arm

cork_buoy

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this? His owners wife is a right mrs trunchbull and says its our sons own fault. I don't get why but she accepts no responsibility.

mcmoustache

In a public place, a dog must be kept under effective control by the owner/walker. I'm not sure about what you should do but I think the owner has to accept a lot of the responsibility here.

Cherry Blossom

1. Report it to the Gardai and the dog warden.
2. Teach your son not to approach strange dogs without the permission of both the person in charge of the dog and the person in charge of him (lesson probably already learned now though in fairness)

/Thread

wesf

there is only so much control you can have over your dog, if a stranger approaches a dog thats on a lead and gets close enough and gets injured, the injured party has to take some responsibility. its not like the dog was running loose. what breed was it and does it have a history of this sort of thing

ladypip

Call the guards and dog warden immediately
I'm assuming your son wasn't threatening the dog or its walker, a dog shouldn't bite someone for simply approaching it.
Has your son been seen by a doctor?

Cherry Blossom

wesf wrote: »

there is only so much control you can have over your dog, if a stranger approaches a dog thats on a lead and gets close enough and gets injured, the injured party has to take some responsibility. its not like the dog was running loose. what breed was it and does it have a history of this sort of thing

The law requires people to have effectual control of their dogs at all times. If it can bite someone then they clearly have no control at all. Control of a dog does not equal having it on a lead.

2qk4u

The dog and owner are not to blame, what did they do wrong ? I have 4 children and they were thought from as early as possible not to approach any animal, they have never been bitten. If you approach a dog weather on the lead or not they are automatically defensive unless they are still in puppy mode. It annoys me when people always want to punish the dog and owner when its the child that was out of control. I dont for one minute think your child deserved to be hurt before the do - gooders here launch their attack but no child should approach a dog they do not know.
The fairest thing to do is to just let it go.
And what difference does it make what breed it was ? a dog bite is a dog bite.

wesf

we don't know the whole story, what more can you do then if its already on a lead? he shouldn't have approached a strange dog. we don't know if he did something to the dog, if the dog was nervous etc

wesf

2qk4u wrote: »

The dog and owner are not to blame, what did they do wrong ? I have 4 children and they were thought from as early as possible not to approach any animal, they have never been bitten. If you approach a dog weather on the lead or not they are automatically defensive unless they are still in puppy mode. It annoys me when people always want to punish the dog and owner when its the child that was out of control. I dont for one minute think your child deserved to be hurt before the do - gooders here launch their attack but no child should approach a dog they do not know.
The fairest thing to do is to just let it go.
And what difference does it make what breed it was ? a dog bite is a dog bite.

some dogs require muzzles in public, thats what difference the breed makes

2qk4u

wesf wrote: »

some dogs require muzzles in public, thats what difference the breed makes

Fair point, but as you know most owners dont put muzzles on their dogs.

wesf

2qk4u wrote: »

Fair point, but as you know most owners dont put muzzles on their dogs.

i agree with you that the young fella should not have went up to the dog, so he's at least half to blame.
just if it was a breed that was supposed to be muzzled the op would have a reason for complaint if it wasn't.
but it boils down to the fact the dog wasn't loose, the young fella approached a strange dog which he shouldn't have. just put it down a bad experience

The Sweeper

I would be *furious* if a kid came up to me and reached out to pat my dog without my express permission. If my dog's on leash he's on leash, but how the fcuk am I supposed to suppress the movement of his head and neck if he takes extreme objection to someone invading his space and he snaps at them?

As it stands, my dog is at most likely to subject them to a damn good licking, but I still want to be able to control the situation - and having him on-leash is as far as that goes if there's a squealing kid in his space. I can try to remove him from the situation and walk away, but I have had pretty persistent kids in the past who want to 'pet the doggy'.

When they go in to pat they ALWAYS go in for the top of the head, and he dances upwards to try and meet their hand, and they get a fright and move their hand higher, and the next thing the dog's on his back legs with his front paws waving around their ears. Children who've asked me, I've said to them please keep your hand low and let him sniff your hand first, so they put their hands out low and they end up giggling as the dog wags and licks their hands delightedly. If they came up and went to put their hands on him without asking me or offering him a greeting either, I'd love to believe they wouldn't be snapped at, but at the least they'd probably get bounced to the ground.

micheleabc

ladypip wrote: »

I'm assuming your son wasn't threatening the dog or its walker,

This misunderstanding is exactly the problem. The kid approaching the dog has been assumed (by the dog) to have an aggressive posture. From the point of view of the dog it was clearly acting in self defense (and not defending the owner). The vast majority of dogs' bites happens because the dog bites out of fear, cases of real aggressive dogs are few and far between.
If the kid likes dogs and likes to approach them and pet them he should have being taught how to do it in a proper and safer manner. The dog should have been better socialized not to grow afraid of stranger, especially kids, so not to have defensive reactions. The dog owner should have been aware of this limitation of his/her own dog and should warn people who's trying to approach the dog.
I say that you share the blame. Thanks God the damage to the kid was minor.
You should learn from your mistakes and get over it.

Ellis Dee

cork_buoy wrote: »

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this? His owners wife is a right mrs trunchbull and says its our sons own fault. I don't get why but she accepts no responsibility.

Did you or your son first ask permission to pet the dog?

One huge difference that I have noticed between the dog cultures of Finland and Ireland (apart from the appalling cruelty and neglect that are far too common in one of the countries - guess which one) is that either children or their parents ALWAYS ask "saako silittää?" (can I stroke?) before they get too close to a dog, which is always on a lead outdoors in the city.

That gives time for the owner to tell the dog to be nice or else say he doesn't like kids/strangers. In addition, the parents always seem to take great care to make sure the kid moves slowly and moves his hand upwards rather than threateningly downwards. My dog loves children and enjoys it when they pat him on the head. :cool:

However, a dog running around loose in any suburban area in Finland is against the law. And, another peculiarity of this country compared with Ireland, laws are almost always enforced.;)

carrieflem

.

mattjack

cork_buoy wrote: »

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this? His owners wife is a right mrs trunchbull and says its our sons own fault. I don't get why but she accepts no responsibility.

I'm just looking at this opening post and imaging the terror that child experienced especially if it took two adult males to get the dog away from the child.
One can could only imagine the result if only one adult were present or indeed if the dog owners wife was walking the dog.
Its sounds like that dog is a large dog that the owner has little control over yet we've come to the conclusion that the child is in some way responsible.
Of course we are responsible for teaching our kids about risks and dangers in life , but kids are not mentally or emotionally mature enough to make the correct decision all the time and to assume so is wrong.
If that dog were to bite another child would the second child be at fault again and the owner in the right ?

barbiegirl

The dog held onto the arm, but didn't cause much damage, hence was not an attack, was a warning. Kids should not approach a dog without asking full stop. Parents MUST teach kids from a very early age how to approach a dog, most don't seem to bother.
The dog should not have bitten, and the kid should not have approached. Equal responsibility to owner and kid (and his parents).

DamagedTrax

people really need to learn the difference between a defensive soft bite and an actual aggressive attack

a dog bite that results in bruising was never meant to harm the victim. in these cases the dog was reacting to a situation where it felt it needed to protect itself.

an aggressive attack results in a lot more damage, even from the smallest dogs.

in a situation like this the lessons that should be learned (in my opinion) are as follows:

child: always ask before approaching a dog.
parent: never let your kid go running up to pet a strange dog (no matter how cute it is)
dog owner: always be vigilant of any one approaching your dog. be ready to pull the dog to a short leash just in case.
dog: the dog should immediatly be scolded. whether or not it's instinctual behaviour, the dog needs to know that its in no way acceptable.


im not being unsympathetic at all. im sure everyone involved got an awful fright and its only human for calls for the dog to be PTS. i was attacked by the local mutt myself when i was young, luckily it wasnt severe and more an over excited dog out on a field with kids playing football. my parents were rightly pissed off with the owner but they knew the dog wasnt aggressive and could see why the incident happened.

but when the smoke clears on situations like these, understanding the dogs behaviour can result in a dogs life not being wasted and everyone involved being a little more clued in so it doesnt happen again.


EDIT: wanted to add this. dog owners also need to recognise if they have a dog thats human aggresive, denying that you have a human aggressive dog does nobody any good. personally i wouldnt keep one but anyone choosing to do so needs to take strong measures to insure an attack never happens. if those of us with RB dogs can keep them on a lead (yet we know they're big softies) then thats the VERY LEAST that a HA dog owner can do.

kylith

Rare is the child who asks permission to pet a dog, and I've had a couple of near misses with children running up to try touch mine, which is when I get aggressive.

The child has learned now that not all dogs are friendly, but should have had it impressed on them before to never touch a dog without the owner's permission. The owners should have had the dog muzzled if they knew it was likely to bite, but it may be that the dog is not generally disposed to bite, but that your son unwittingly scared or hurt it. If the skin wasn't broken then the dog didn't intend to seriously hurt or attack your son, but to get him to back off; a dog can break skin with practically no effort.

iguana

Sorry OP, but the main fault here lies with your son and ultimately you for not teaching him to not approach dogs without getting the owner's permission first. The main thing you need to do here is to use this as an opportunity to teach your son to never, ever, ever approach any dog without first asking the owner if it's ok and then to only approach as the owner specifies.

Threads like this remind me of when I was about 3-4, I was on a walk with my parents I saw a dog wandering up the street and I went to give it a hug. (It was the 80s so roaming dogs were very common.) My parents told me not to, but I ran from them insisting that all dogs were my friends, tried to hug the dog and got bit. Instead of the expected sympathy (after they checked that I wasn't seriously injured) I got told that it was my own fault for approaching a dog I didn't know. After a few weeks the bruises healed but the lesson I learned will stay with me forever.

**Vai**

cork_buoy wrote: »

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this?

By keeping an eye on your son in future. Dog was on a lead but obviously the dog owner is at fault too for allowing it to happen. Fact is, your son shouldnt be petting strange dogs. He's a lucky boy because if the dog had wanted to really hurt him, it could have, very easily.

What is with the recent influx of my dog/the neighbours dog bit me/my child?

Its getting ridiculous at this point.

paddymcgowan

delted

metaoblivia

I'm sympathize OP, but I do agree with the other posters. A child should not approach a dog unless he asks for permission first. Dogs do not attack unless provoked. A few months back, I was walking my dog and a little boy came toward us on a bike with his mother and grandmother behind him, and before I could say anything, he jumped off the bike and put his face right in my dog's face. Now, my dog has never bitten anyone and didn't here either, but I could tell it scared him because it happened so quickly and without warning. It could have very easily turned into a bad situation.

I also had to give up a dog when I was little because a neighborhood kid decided it was okay to open up our gate and walk into our garden when no one was around and pet our cocker spaniel. Our spaniel bit him on the arm and didn't do any serious damage, but we had to give him up because the neighborhood had a 'no bite' policy. I'm sorry the kid got bit, but he shouldn't have been in our garden without permission, and he shouldn't have approached our dog with no one around to monitor.

Children need to be taught to always ask permission first and have the owner present before petting or coming close to an unfamiliar dog, the same way we teach them to check both sides of the road before crossing and not get into cars with strangers.

mathepac

wesf wrote: »

... what more can you do then if its already on a lead? ...

Shorten the lead, put a muzzle on the dog, instruct the dog to "heel" when approached, place yourself between child and dog and tell the child the dog doesn't know him and not to approach as dog may be nervous - it's called effective control. Dog on lead is not = effective control.

DamagedTrax

+1 mathepac

a dog jumping about on lead is not a dog under effective control, its just a dog jumping about on a lead.

mathepac

mattjack wrote: »

...
Its sounds like that dog is a large dog that the owner has little control over yet we've come to the conclusion that the child is in some way responsible.
...

+1 I have long advocated licensing owners rather than pets, particularly the owners of large dangerous pets.

For anyone to attribute blame to an innocent child injured and terrified in these circumstances abrogates any claim to adulthood or supervision rights over a potentially dangerous animal.

GarIT

If I stood an inch from your face in the most aggressive way I could and called you every name I could think of but then you hit me it would be your fault. Therefore if an animal bites a person unless it was physically attacked first it is the animals fault, if the owner can't control the dog and the dog cant control itself it should be put down.

DamagedTrax

GarIT wrote: »

If I stood an inch from your face in the most aggressive way I could and called you every name I could think of but then you hit me it would be your fault. Therefore if an animal bites a person unless it was physically attacked first it is the animals fault, if the owner can't control the dog and the dog cant control itself it should be put down.

thankfully the law disagrees with you.

what a dog perceives as aggression is completely different to what humans perceive as aggression.

GarIT

DamagedTrax wrote: »

thankfully the law disagrees with you.

what a dog perceives as aggression is completely different to what humans perceive as aggression.

All I can say is thats unfortunate, I don't think there is any excuse for an animal attacking a person ever.

artyeva

GarIT wrote: »

All I can say is thats unfortunate, I don't think there is any excuse for an animal attacking a person ever.

i've been quietly reading a few of these threads on here the past few days and the above attitude/opinion never ceases to amaze me. if you're the type of person who cannot differentiate between animal and human behaviour and understand their differences then i hope you don't ever own one.

GarIT

artyeva wrote: »

i've been quietly reading a few of these threads on here the past few days and the above attitude/opinion never ceases to amaze me. if you're the type of person who cannot differentiate between animal and human behaviour and understand their differences then i hope you don't ever own one.

I know animals don't behave or think rationally like people. They still shouldn't get special treatment, they should never get the chance to hurt anyone and if they do something should be done about it. I would never own an animal I think they are disgusting and belong in the wild not in a city.

The animals life is worth nothing, its known to have bitten people so it should be stopped from repeating itself. Also its the owners fault for not controling the dog and the pwner should be fined and banned from having pets.