have you ever...

but seimens, it does make me wonder why you hit a dog with a stick, none of my sibling or i have ever done anything like that. but then again, we were goody two shoes. but still,

mrose..my mother and i have had this discussion more then once..she thinks Hyia is too ruff and that there is something not right in her "character" because she doesn't know better without being monitored all the time. She says that i was never like that as a child..and i wasn't, but that doens't mean a thing. It is actually a fact that most children under the age of 5 (i personally think 7 or 8) do not have empathy towards creatures..they see them as toys and do not realize that the animal has the same feelings emotionally and physically that we do. EVen when told it doesn't exactly sink in the first time..compassion and empathy are the parent's responsibility to be taught to children..and that means keeping an eye on them the whole time. Aaron wasn't exactly the gentlest child in the world..and now he is so tender with all creatures. For some of us it came naturally but that makes us no better or worse then those that learned to be gentle by example and reprimand.

When I was five, I was visiting my great aunt and uncle, my cousin was out on their front porch harassing their dog, not sure what he was a mix of something, he was just an old mutt. So anyhow, my cousin was messing with him and I knelt down and put my arm around his shoulders, he growled, and before I could move away, he latched onto my face and punctured my cheek and lower jaw. As soon as he bit me, he let go and ran off, I ran into the house screaming, my aunt took me to the hospital, 27 stitches later, I went home. My Uncle Jack wanted to put Amos(the doggy) down, but I refused and so did my father. Even though I was 5, and 23 now, I still remember that day crystal clear. I definetly learned my lesson about putting your face down near a dog who is quite agitated and growling. Will never do that again!!!!

I do believe that young children should be supervised around animals. My nephew, Gabe, is two, and his parents have nine large dogs. They teach him to respect animals (such as petting them gently), and they teach the animals to respect him as well and realize that he is above them.

Nine! I bet he has to duck those tails right and left...he's be relieved when he gets a bit taller...Aaron use to see our lab coming and make a run for his highchair ("house") it is so hard to be two.

Yup, nine, all larger than him. They're animal nuts, they rescue a bunch of animals all the time. They're pointer, Cyrus was terrified of babies before Gabe was born. Gabe and he are good friends now. At two-years-old, Gabe even has his own dog, Dingo...animal nuts.

He's gotten good at maneuvering around animals, and getting them to behave. When he was here, he walked nicely with my three wandering around by him. When they started barking, he'd rush over and point his finger, saying, "NO! BAD DOG!"

Eh-hem....I am an owner of a Doberman, had a Lab who died a few months ago, have also had GSDs and mixed breed larger dogs. And I am the owner of two Chihuahuas. So, where do you suppose I fit into this scheme of irresposible vs. responsible?

BTW, as a side note....my Chihuahuas are outgoing, friendly, like everyone they meet, never ever have shown any aggression what so ever to anyone. They're confident and excellent hikers. They're my "mountain" dogs here in north Idaho. LOL.

My Doberman is also extremely gentlemanly around strangers and while not outgoing in the first 10-15 minutes or so of meeting someone, (has to size them up first) he soon becomes a wiggling, wagging, playful, kissy pest. He also has never been aggressive to anyone, except for when someone came into the house in the middle of the night, uninvited. He still didn't lunge or bite, but threatened.

A few years ago, I stopped to help a dog who was caught on top of a fence she tried to jump over. The fence was up in her "groin" area and she was hopelessly stuck. Her head and most of her body was over the other side and I figured I could just hoist up her leg and toss her over the rest of the way. Well, much to my suprise, she was able to use her abs and get back and on top of the fence and she tore into my face. I knew better than to help an injured or trapped animal, but my reflexes made me do it. Grrrrr. Anyhow, I got hold of her collar and tried to rip her from my face, whereby she got a big hunk out of my chin, many puncture wounds and bites on my throat and neck. Then I got her down on the ground...off of the fence and she got my wrists and forearms and hands...puncture wounds. She then ran off and I stumbled back to my car. I had trouble shifting the gears as I had to hold a newspaper on my chin, it was bleeding so much. I got to my friend's and she took me to the hospital where I had a plastic surgeon put me back together. The puncture wounds hurt like the dickens....so deep they were. Some needed stiches and my chin was a mess. It still has a smallish scar, but it is definitely noticeable. The car looked like there had been an axe murder, there was sooooo much blood.

Anyhow, the animal control officer who had her quaranteened went to check on her and came to visit me. He said that the dog tried to attack him as well, so he didn't think it was all on account of my helping the trapped animal. I did tell her I was coming when I approached the fence. This was some kind of Lab/terrier mix I think...not very big at all, maybe the size of a Beagle....a little bigger. So, it doesn't take a big dog to do some damage.

Then I was selling newspapers door to door at night. I approached someone's door and they had lots of shubbery around the front. I heard some big growly barks and I thought, "Oh great...here we go again." This big, huge, black Rottweiler came busting out of the bushes. I said in a squeaky, friendly voice, "hellllllooooo doggie." That dog came closer and I could see it's little stubby tail going full throttle. Then she came up and started licking my hands. Whew....I was relieved, to say the least. I met a few more Rotties later on while selling newspapers and they were all sweeties.

This was all before I had my Doberman and I still had a little bit of that feeling about certain breeds. I still do. I am watchful of some more than others. They were bred for a certain thing and that's all there is to it. If I see a Doberman coming toward me, I watch it's body language more carefully than I do if I see a Lab coming toward me even though I know it depends on all kinds of things. They were still an aggressive dog, more so in their beginnings and they have an extremely strong drive to protect. (all general, of course) And if they're not handled properly, they can darn well cause extreme damage, much worse than what I sustained from that smaller dog, which was bad enough. And there are lots of people who do not handle their protection dogs properly. And they can be a loaded gun if they're mistreated, mistrained or untrained.

But it really didn't make me afraid of dogs, just a tad more cautious than I use to be.

(sorry this is so dang long)

Wow, that would definitely make you think twice about going up to strange dogs.

My Neighbor's then 5 year old grandson used to visit all the time and toment their very nice Lab/collie mix, Schirocco. He would hit her, pinch her, grab her unexpectedly. His parents and grandparents tried and tried to get him to stop it, but he just seemed to "get it". She took it and took it and took it, until one day she growled at him and he hit her again. She nailed him right below his right eye and he had to have stitches, and still has a scar there, but it's not bad. He never touched her roughly again, and was very gentle to my dog. He got instant respect after she bit him.

He's pushing 20 now and has a dog of his own in his house he rents where he's going to college.

a little girl came to our house once and would follow sophie around and hit her and poke her face and pull her ears, and sophie just took it and took it. I saw her doing it one day and i just grabbed her arm and told her to stop it, very gruff though. And she cried, but didnt do it again. I know sophie probably wouldnt do anything but i have heard her just crush bones stronger than my arm and this was a two year old or soemmthing.

Rather her be doing that to sophie rather than buster though, because Buster might have bitten her.

Buster nothing! I might have bitten her! And her parents for not teaching her better manners . . .

I've been attacked by a dog once, when I was 9 years old (we had just moved to a new state and neighbourhood).

My sister and I were out walking Harley when we were approached by a stray dog (it was a fairly big dog, probably had some Kelpie in him). The dog was following my sister, Harley and I up the street and it wanted to say hello to us and Harley. It actually seemed really friendly, and wasn't aggresive towards Harley at all. We continued to walk away, but because the stray dog was still following us I went to slowly show it my hand and attempt to pat it. This was a huge mistake, but I don't think anyone could have guessed what was going to happen next. It was like the dog's personality changed in a snap! What happened next was very frightning.

The dog let me pat him, then all of a sudden the dog lept up on me, dug it's claws into my arms and was about to bite me on the face!! I was SO terrified.. I was trying with all my strength to push the dog off me, but he was so heavy and wouldn't get off, and it's claws were digging into my arms so hard. I was crying so much and shouting at the dog, and my sister couldn't do anything to help me, Harley was standing there barking and whimpering really loudly while all of this was going on. I seriously thought I was going to die.

Then, all of a sudden Harley lashed forwards, toward the dog, and bit the dog on his ankle! The dog then jumped off me and ran a few strides away, but then turned around and started chasing my sister and I.. We were really terrified at this point. We both ran as fast as we could towards our house (luckily this happened at the end of our street), but we didn't have time to close our gate. We got inside the house just in time. The dog ran up to our front door and waited out there for 2 hours!! It was like the dog was so intent on killing us.

I didn't know how bad my injuries were, but my sleave was torn in one place. My sister rang my mum straight away, and I looked at my arm and it was all bruised and bloody. It was where the dog's claw had cut my arm. It has been 9 years and I STILL have a scar from it. That's one day I will *never* forget, and I have learnt a serious lesson. NEVER pat a (stray) dog when the owner isn't around, or without the owner's permission! Even if it looks and acts friendly. I don't know what would have happened if Harley wasn't with us... He was my life saver.

Anyway, it turns out that the owner of the dog just let his dog wonder around the neighbourhood, and there had been a few accounts of this dog attacking other dogs quite visioucly (in particular, one little dog in our street). This man (the owner) had been reported to the police many times but there was nothing they could really do about it!

After that I was quite wary of bigger dogs, especially when they would approach me.

Once by a Rottweiler(sp) It was my dads friends, i was 10 or 11.And I was leaving to go back inside(it was winter).Then she whimpered so I came back pet her a bit then went to leave then she started growling and chased me.Then maneged to push me down and bit me,Luckily I had my winter coat on and it didn't go thru.I had to hide in a frozen ditch to hide from her.

and I was almost attacked by a pitbull but then wanted to be friends with Blue and jsut sat their looking at Blue.

I was attacked by a Border Collie once. She was scared of men and hated having her butt touched. Well, we did not heed to the rules very well when my fiance was bringing something out to me that I needed while grooming her. She saw him and went nuts. So, I was just gonna take her out and let her walk off her nervousness, well her leash escaped from my hand and all I could grab of her was her tail. Poor baby was terrified and turned around and latched down onto my thumb. I wasn't mad at her... But that danged nail still won't grow right!!

Far as I can remember, I'm bite free.
Worked in a kennel for 11 years....many tried...all failed. I don't count it as a bite unless they break the skin.
Once my manager was walking Bogie (an unstable Boxer) past me on the way to his kennel. For no reason whatsoever, he suddenly lunged at me. It happened so fast...I can remember his paws hitting my chest and then the manager yanked him off me. Biggest close call I ever had.
Then once, this teeny tiny yorkie that was scared of everyone (but I had befriended her) nipped me as I handed her to the groomer. She only did it because she was afraid of the groomer so I didn't take it personally.
Also, I vividly remember being terrorized by a Chihuahua when I was a kid. This little thing would chase me all the way to my house!
The most wonderful thing that ever happened to me at the kennel was befriending a golden retreiver named Jack. Jack wasn't your typical golden. He terrorized me from day one. He would just throw himself at the gate, teeth flashing...just wanted to kill me. It took me 9 months to even be able to touch him. I worked really hard with him and he became my favorite dog ever. He absolutely loved me, and I, him. He showed his terrible side to others, but not me. I was heartbroken when he died of cancer way before his time. I didn't even get to say goodbye.
Then there was Chewy...a black and tan GSD who was a product of shutzhund (sp) training gone bad. Totally unapproachable; fear biter...so stressed at being kenneled that his eyes would turn red. I worked hard with him also and was so thrilled when he became my friend. He never was a "normal" dog but he trusted me enough to let me sit in his kennel with him and pet him...something he would not let others do. I think the owners had him put down. I miss him to this day.
I know this is off the subject....I got lost in my memories of my old friends.
To any of you kennel workers here.....isn't it just the greatest feeling on earth to gain the trust of dogs like that? It's just the best reward there is.
I so miss my kennel dogs.....

Pam

Never been attacked...but I remember once when I was younger I had a run-in with a maniacal westie. I was outside making a snowman with my sister. Somebody across the street let their dog out. It saw us and sprinted towards us, barking. We ran for the door. Unfortunately, my sister was faster than I was and she made it in first. She got so scared, that she shut the door and locked me out. I started banging on the door, but she wouldnt open it. The little cretan ran up the stairs and started barking at me. Then, it started jumping up and trying to bite me. At which point, my mom heard me and let me in....and thats all I remember of that day.

Yep, twice.

When i was 13, by my best friends Dalmation. It was a "pen" dog. They always kept it in it's pen. One day we were outside messin around and let her out. We did this all the time. I was playing with her and petting her for awhile. I was playing basketball, i went over to her to pet her, i bent down to pet her and as soon as i did, she bit me in the face. It was totally out of the blue since i had been petting her all day before that. She had to be put to sleep. It was probably since i bent down over her and she wasn't socialized very well, but she still knew me.

the second time, i was 19, buy my friends pit bull. I had this friend who i hung out with all the time. stayed at his house numerous times. He had 3 dogs, a pitt bull a Rott and a big huge mutt. I'd say i was at his house 5 of 7 days a week. One day i came over and the pitt bull just attacked me while we were talking in the yard. went right after my foot. I got away and ran inside. We went to tell his mom, but before we could get it out, the pitt went around to the side doggie door and came inside and started attacking me again. The Rott was right next to me just watching like, "what are you doing"? He went after my foot again, this time got a puncture. I had to kick him off and run outside. I didnt' do anything about it because he had been a great dog, had no idea where that came from. He used to lay up on me while i was sitting on thier couch. Really wierd. I was much closer to this dog than the other one. Even when i was leaving, he ran back outside and was gnarling and barking at me through the fence. I still dont' get it. After that i've just never been really comfortable around pitts. I know everyone says they're great, but after that, i just don't know. I mean, me and that dog were pals. His name was Sarge. But, I still love dogs. Just have to be cautious around some. I guess that's why i have a big dog. To make sure he is always a big loving sweetie!

What makes a family dog though? Half these stories on here are about 'family dogs'. And it doesn't matter how much the kids think they know how to handle them, they aren't as adept at reading body language as an older person would be and that's where most of the bites come from.

But simply by virtue of having those larger, potentially more damaging dogs, you make sure that you socialize and teach your small dogs manners. I totally agree with the above statement about the majority of small dog owners being irresponsible. I have to deal with their dogs every day. They get carried everywhere so they don't know how to walk on a leash and get quite snappy about it. They are praised/laughed at when they growl, snap or show teeth because "wittle Poopsie tinks he's such a big boy!"

When Daniel was taking Guinness to the vet the day we got her, some lady was letting her hyper small dog run totally free and then freaked out when it ran over to Guinness, who was leaning on her lead because she wanted to say hi and has no leash manners yet. The lady ran over, scooped up her dog and said "Oh baby, that big mean dog was going to eat you, you shouldn't go over there!" Put your d*mn dog on a leash then! Especially at a vet's.

I was 'bit' (didn't break skin) by a small poodle-looking thing today when I went to take off the leash. I was also repeatedly and quite meanly snapped at by a min pin when trying to both put on and take off it's leash. Both times I was moving slowly, calmly and as nicely as possible while still trying to do my job.



Ok, my 'bite' stories: Neighbors had a GSD that didn't like me for some reason and they would let it run off leash in the mornings while we (and their kids) were waiting for the bus. I can't count on one hand the number of times I had to shinny up the street sign post to avoid getting bit. I got a good number of pant cuffs with teeth marks in them though. Two Maltese tried to bite me (seperate) when I went to pick them up because they didn't want to walk on the leash and I didn't want to drag them all the way across the kennel. Then the two dogs I mentioned above. And there was one little terrier mix at my old house that never really got me, but drew blood when it went after my best friend's ankle the second it was let outside (off leash of course). We couldn't go outside when that dog was out.