Help - Dog Bite

[bgfish00]

Ok, I am in a tight spot here. IS there any time one should be able to forgive the dogging for biting the master. My dog had a foot injury the other night. I very calmly and re-assuringly came to him to check it out. I was talking with him and everything. He let me check out the front to paws, but when I went to the back one he bit me in the arm. Pretty good Bruise. Now I know that he seeemed injured and he was protecting, But is there any time that a dog should bite it's master.

The dog has had some aggression issues in the past, but not for a good 6 months. Training and re-direction has helped.

What should I do? Is it time to put him down? That would be a tough one.

[Eric Wettschreck]

bgfish00, you're in a tough spot. Please don't get the impression that I'm giving you advice, I'm just going to tell you what I would do. I'm no expert, this is just what I would do.

Knowing it isn't an easy thing to do, I'd put the dog down. The reason I say that is I have a zero tolerance towards biting and aggression. I know there are fellas out there that will disagree with this, and we're all entitled to our own opinion.

My opinion is that if a dog bites, it dies. Tough words, I know. I have kids, my neighbors kids are always in my back yard, a bunch of kids are always at my place. My back yard is the neighborhood kid magnet. I couldn't live with myself if I had a dog that bit one of them. Therefore, no matter what the circumstances, my dogs will absolutely no bite or be aggressive, never, no matter what, amen.

Once again, this is just my opinion. Master is master, the ultimate superior being, the grand-pooba. If a dog bites it's master, especially with a history of aggressive behavior, who is to know who or when it will bite next.

Good luck to you. You are in a tough situation and I don't envy you at all.

[LABS4ME]

I for one have almost zero tolerance too for an aggressive/biting dog... are there exceptions? the old saying goes "there's exceptions to every rule".

A dog that is definitley protecting it's family from an intruder... (not a guy walking up the front walk) an actual break in, threatening situation... I could live with that...

An injury, if it is a fairly accute injury (not a sand burr in the toes) but a gash, break, broken bone etc... I could also live with... Ask vets how many times they have to muzzle dogs with a zero history of biting when they come in with an injury. It is a defense mechanism, they are hurt and want to minimize more injury, so they ward off anything that "threatens" further injury/pain. A crippled goose or deer that otherwise would never consider attacking you or a dog will do the same.

Now... if a dog has a history of biting or being overly aggressive, you may not find room in the situation to give him a by. I don't know your dog, and I couldn't begin to evaluate the situation. If his past actions are those that he would be considered untrustworthy, no matter how good the last 6 months, you have some serious thinking to do. If his pain was of a magnitude that would cause him to go into a reflex defense mode, maybe it can be written off as warranted... I don't know... ask yourself what you honestly feel. Do you / would you trust him fully at all times with children? Especially unfamiliar children. Could you trust him if he was loose and a solicitor came up to the front door? Were his past actions such that you considered putting him down before? You probably already know the answer, good or bad... you're just looking to confirm what you already feel...

Good Luck!

Ken

[Bexter]

I had a lab that I had to put to sleep (two months ago today actually) - she was agressive - but never bit anyone. We had to put her down because she was 15 and had some bad tumors that had taken over her body. The day we brought her to the vet for her final appointment, the dog hopped from the bck seat to the front - her foot got caught in the popcan holder in the front of my car - she squealed and when I tried to pull her foot out of the popcan holder she bit me. This the ONLY time she had ever bitten me and it was becuase she was in pain - it was a reflex on her part. Had it been two years ago and this same scenario happened (except that we wouldnt' be taking her to the bet for her final appointment) - and her foot got caught in the popcan holder and she yelped and then bit me when I tried to help her - I would not have put her down.

Again - you are in a super tough situation - but if you think that the dog bit out of reflex I would not put the dog down - if the dog bit out of just plain old agression, and you've had this problem before - you may want to consider have the dog put down.

Keeping you in my thoughts - this is a tough decision to make!

[Beeman]

Biting is NEVER good. Any dog that bites weather its in pain or not is hard to deal with. I know its hard to tell what to do but in my opinion If a dog bites ever it may bite again. One can never tell who it will bite next and thats the problem. the other problem is do you judge the fate of the dog on one occurance. I don't know the answer but I would give the dog a chance with a very short leash. Make sure he or she doesn't come into contact with people that can not handle an agrissive dog and by no meens Kids. but you more than anyone know the dog. If you feel in your heart that the dog my bite again then you may want to think about putting him down.Sorry.

[cyberamish]

I JUST went through this (read "back to square one" post) with a dod we just adopted. She was incredibly sweet and smart but she had some hidden issues. At first she growled for no apparent reason and I thought "well, she just needs a firm hand" then the growling got worse and I thought "she needs professional training", then she nipped at me after she had thrown up on the floor and I was petting her. At that point I wanted to bring her back but allowed myself to be talked out of it by good meaning relatives. Then she bit my son when he reached for his yo-yo 6 ft away from her and she was put down yesterday. Not trying to tell you what to do, just give you my experience. It is an awful situation to be in!!! Good Luck.

[abens1078]

Sorry about that last post.

I had intended to remind you about our sue happy society. Your neighbor or his kids don't have to be responsible for their actions...........they could be doing chin-ups on your dog's tail and you would probably still lose in court if the dog defends himself.

I don't know your neighbors but something like a dog bite would not make you popular.

I side with Boilerguy on this one and I'm not the type of person to even think about sueing someone over a dog biting me.

[SCUMFROG]

The dog is in pain and will bite you in this case. My wife was a vet tech for many years and she has dealt with biting dogs before. Don't put him down for telling you, in his own why that "hey that hurts me, stop it." You would do the same thing if you were hurt and a doctor pulled on your broken leg. Think of it like that.

[bgfish00]

AT this point My wife and I are exploring all other options first before we resort to Putting him down. We believe he needs to be in a different environment and deserves to give that a go if possible. If anyone knows of any suggestions or options, I am listening....

Thanks for the Opinions and Concerns. It has helped us to take a step back and really think about how to proceed.

[SCUMFROG]

Keep the dog in your family. It's only a natural instinct for him to reacted like that. I would be worried if he didn't do some thing when you messed with his leg.

[Psychie]

You might want to try a sherrifs dept. or police. Depending on the breed and age they maybe able to train him for drugs or search and rescue/recovery. When my lab bit a kid that was harrasing him the cheif of police told me this information. Good Luck

[Granny]

bgfish00,

First off, I have very little experience with dogs. I just got my first lab about 8 months ago and I went throught a similar situation as you are going through now except my dog was not injured. My lab bit our neice and this was his second and last bite thanks to great info from life-long dog owners on this site.

You mentioned that your dog was aggressive but not in the last 6 months. Has it bit anyone before? Basically what I learned off of this site is that once a biter always a biter. I know your case is a little different with the dog being injured.

It was very tough to put our dog down but after a couple weeks or so things went back to normal. If our dog had got a hold of a child the pain for that child and us could have been long term. And as some have already mentioned, we couldn't live with the "what ifs".

Good luck on your decision.

Granny

[Billjr]

You say bruised does this mean he broke the skin and clamped down or just held your arm hard and bruised-big diffrence here. If he just held your arm tight and didn't clamp downn I wouldn't be upset however you did mention another issue not knowing what happened here it would be hard to judge on this one incident-but if he has any other history of biting put him down.

[Jay R]

Just a quick question and a little off the original topic. We have a 1yr old Chessie and he has not bitten anyone and the only time we see any aggressivnes / growling is when he is fed, like he is pertecting his food. This has only happened 3 times since we have had him. Any thoughts or comments with similar experiences. Thank you.

Jay R

[brittman]

Every dog varies and some breeds are certainly stronger willed than others.

I can hand my Brit a dog biscuit - let her eat half - then reach into her mouth and remove the other half without her reacting. Now if our cat comes within 5 feet of her bowl, watchout the chase is on.

I try never leave my kid's friends unattended with my bird dogs. Leave nothing to chance.

[SCUMFROG]

If he's doing that when you are near him, then take the food away. Give it back after a bit and if he does it again take it away. Your training him to be ok with some one around him when he's eatting or chewing on a bone. I can stick my face in my dogs dish when he's eatting and I get a big nasty kiss from him when I do that. YUCK.

[LABS4ME]

I agree with Scum frog... tell him NO! and take his food away! Give it back after 10 -15 minutes, if he growls again, repeat. Once you get to the point of no growling, start to bring your hand into the dish, once no growling then, begin to remove a little kibble from his dish. Eventually he'll understand that it is no big deal and it's not worth protecting his food.

This is one thing all people should work on when there dogs are pups. I'm a stickler on making sure every dog I have is raised to understand they cannot protect their food. My kids can literally put their faces in the bowls too and recieve a kiss. Do this when they are pups to program then into understanding that any aggressive behavior around the food plate will not be tolerated.

Good Luck!

Ken

[cyberamish]

Scumfrog's got it right! I did the samething with my dogs and it works like a charm. No issues with food anymore!

[koWALLEYEski]

I agree with everyone on the dog biting. If it has a history of biting and being overly agressive it should be put down. Its so hard to deal with though, because a dog is considered a part of my family. Its a tough decision. Like someone else said there are a lot of children around and I know that a biting dog would not be allowed around them. Thats my 2 cents. Hope for the best with your lab