My springer spaniel bit my daughter.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

yes, good luck hogeye

[jigging-matt]

Good luck, I hope it all works out for the best.

[icehousebob]

Good luck with it, Hogeye. I was spoiled by having the perfect dog when my kids were small. When I brought my last three sons home from the hospital, I laid them on the floor and unwrapped the blanket. My dog would sniff them and lick them and they were her kids. She slept under the crib and would come and get us if the baby woke up. Keep in mind that this was a Blue Tick coon hound that I had seen tear a coon to pieces in a fight. Her defence against too much poking and pinching was a ten inch long tongue. No kid could stand more than two face licks.

We did spend a lot of time with the kids trying to teach them to pet, rather than pull or pinch. No one says that parenting or dog owning is easy. But they're both worth the effort.

[setterguy]

I have to disagree with everyone saying the dog was defending itself. Unless the dog was tied up, the dog could have got up and left the situation. I'm sure a springer is much faster than a 3 year old. My fathers dog growled at my son once when he was about 2, now when we come over the dog simply leaves the room until the kids are gone. They can choose how to behave. I don't think anyone here lets their kids abuse the dogs but in the process of learning how to pet dogs my 1 year old has done all those pulling poking things. She is getting better and now "hugging" the dogs is her favorite thing to do. The dogs are not allowed to show any anger toward the kids, they can get up and leave. The dog did choose.

[Dave S]

HOGEYE,

it was a tough decision you had to make and often times it takes a little time to let it all sink in of what actually happened.

Thanks for the clarification of "it was only a nip". People hear of a dog bite and immediately think the dog ripped someone to shreds. It's a sign the dog didn't intend to hurt your daughter. However, this could be a progressive thing and get worse as time goes on, which you've recognized and are taking the appropriate action.

You made the right choice.