My friends dog might have to be put to sleep :-(.

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I was babysitting for family friends on Saturday night. They moved to a new house in June last year and got a dog in august. The dog was a boxer mix and seemed very sweet with their children. They have a 20 month old, 5 year old and 9 year old daughters. The baby would hit the dog and she would not react. I had just put the middle child to bed and i went to sit next to the oldest who was watching tv on the sofa. The dog was curled up sleeping next to her. I went to the side of the sofa where the dog was to go to the middle of the sofa. Just as i was in front of the dog she lunges up and bites me on the leg. I immediatly(sp?) jump back in shock and fear. I tell the girl in a firm voice to please put the dog outside. She does and i then go into the bathroom to look at my leg. I have two large marks on my upper thigh. It is still bleeding tonight. I call my mom and she tells me that she will come over and i then called the parents. As soon as they heard they said we are coming home.

They got home about 20 minutes later. The father is a DR so i showed him my leg. He assured me that i was not going to get a disease since the dog is immunized but i was very shaken. I went home with my mom wondering what was going to happen next.

Fast forward to today, I get a phone call tonight from the mother of the family. She told me that the dog bite her arm on sunday when she was just standing next to her. The same thing like with me, broken the skin bruise etc. The dog then bite the 5 year old about 2 hours later on the ear! They immediatly put the dog outside and called the vet. They brought the dog to the vet which is where it is right now. The vet said that they can not bring the dog home. Maybe one bite is a fluke or something but 3 is not a fluke, the dog is dangerous, esp around children.

I feel so bad for them! The mom said that the 9 year old is a basket case, on top of having seen the dog bite me the dog bit her mom and sister!

They are actively looking for a new dog now. The dog is young (aprox 1 1/2) and they got her from the vet who found her i believe, they do not know her full history.

If you got this far thanks for listening!

Ilana

[julieakc]

How scary for you (and the 9 YO who witnessed all the bites). Hope your leg is feeling better.

I am a HUGE animal lover, and although I certianly understand that a dog that bites can't be around children, the situation seems very odd to me. When I was reading my first thought that perhaps the dog was trying to protect the kids when it bite you; misinterpreted you as a threat. But when I continued reading and saw that the dog also bit the mother and one of the kids....in such a short time frame, it seems like maybe the dog has some health issue. It is unusual for a dog, who was previously friendly to change all of a sudden for no reason. I hope that the vet does a thorough exam; I would hate for an animal to be put to sleep for agression when in fact the cause was a health issue.

[Saartje]

My mental alarm bells are ringing on this. That dog needs to be put through some serious medical testing, because that sounds like the behavior of an animal who is in serious pain.

[manda7_23]

I am so sorry! I have seen it happen before i must say, although it is horrible. We have a couple of dear friends who had their dog attack their baby for no apparent reason. The DH had the dog since it was a puppy, the DD slapped, jumped on, and everything else you could think of and the dog never cared. But, the dog had snapped at the DW before, but they didn't think too much of it. One night the dog just snapped, it grabbed the baby by the face and was shaking it like a rag doll. An ambulance had to be called and the baby had to have plastic sugery to put it's face back together.

I know it seems harsh, but in this type of situation it really is best to put the dog down humanely. If it snapped at you, and especially other family members, it will eventually bite the children.

Amanda

[Saartje]

A pattern of occasionally snapping at people is a very different thing from a dog that suddenly bites with little or no provocation. The former is a dog that may act like the one you describe; the latter is very likely to be a dog in a lot of pain from a medical problem they don't know about yet. Dogs in that much pain will snap or bite when they normally never would. Even if they don't feel safe having the dog back in their home, if it's sufferiung from a medical condition that could be treated, they might be able to re-home it.

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I was not saying that since the dog did this is will be put to sleep. It is at the vet and has been there since sunday. In the preliminary examination the vet did not find anything wrong but they are going to do a full workup. I do not think even if they find something wrong and fix it that they will be bringing the dog home. I hope that there is something that they could do to help this dog find a good home and the reason that it did this. If the vet finds nothing wrong with the dog i believe it will be put to sleep.


Ilana

[Saartje]

Ilana, I wasn't addressing you with that last comment, I was addressing this remark of Amanda's:

>I know it seems harsh, but in this type of situation it really is best >to put the dog down humanely.

That is not necessarily true; the situation you've described and the situation Amanda described are not the same. It sounds like your friends are doing the right things, though, both for their family and for the dog. I'm sorry they have to deal with this, and I'm sorry the dog bit you.

[Aunt to sweet baby boy]

I figured that you were not speaking to me but i wanted to clarify because i was not sure if i was completely clear.

I went to the DR today and she gave me a tetnus(sp?) shot. I last got one in 99 and she said if anything happens when it has been over 5 years they give you another shot.

I have not spoken to the family today but if i hear anything i will post over here.

Thanks for the support!

Ilana