My Dog Bit a Child

I agree with you to a point. However, I feel that the owner owes it to the dog to have it evaluated and if the case isn't that bad to work with it.

I owned an AST/APBT that wanted to eat children, however, she never bit a child and was handled with care and consistency till the day she died. She was never allowed to have a chance to bite a child after she muzzle punched one, no teeth were used, it was a warning. She was the best dog I ever owned and I miss her everyday. I got a lot of flack and hell from certain people for keeping her alive, but I don't regret it and would do it all over again for her. That said, I don't know that I would want to work through another dog with issues like hers, I have to say that euthanasia is much easier than working through the issues.

This is an OWNED dog and the OWNER should STEP UP and take care of things properly, giving the dog an evaluation and then making a decision is the only FAIR thing to do IMHO.

"If the case isn't that bad?"

I'd say that case is pretty effing bad. "Because I love him" isn't a good justification to keep a dangerous dog alive, particularly when the owner has already clearly demonstrated that they're not responsible enough to have the dog.

If zeekee is not willing to put safety measures in place to absolutely ensure the dog will not get loose and not hurt people, then absolutely the dog should be put to sleep. Zeekee, obviously you now know what happens if he gets loose. Perhaps he needs to be shut out of the world until you can find a behaviorist and work on managing his behavior. If it's not possible to keep him secure and safe NOW, then it is probably best to consider euthanasia.

I had an APDT mix. He started snapping at people and dogs right off the bat when I got him at about 4-5months and continued despite socialization, management, and working with trainers. I had a few dog-knowledgeable people take a look at him, and I wouldn't call myself a novice. He was about a year old, and we moved across the street from a school. I found another trainer, brought him for an eval, and when she was walking by us (he was in a sit-stay), he was looking at me when he turned, jumped, and grabbed her by the arm. That was it. Toward the end he never warned before he bit either..he was very well behaved and obedience trained. I probably trained out his warning mechanism.

Honestly, it depends on your situation and what you can manage. At that (and this) point...I live with my mom, brother, and sister. God forbid a gate was left open, or he got out the front door, or he figured out how to jump the fence. Or someone forgets to put him away when someone is visiting. It just isn't worth someone getting mauled, and isn't worth yet another news story against yet another APBT. If I lived in a more rural area, it was just me and no kids, a nice high fence..I doubt I would have been inclined to put him to sleep.
I'm not saying I don't halfway regret that decision everyday, or that it was an easy or quick decision. Everything replays in your head about things you should have done differently, and the what ifs (see, I'm tearing up now). I LOVED that dog, he was awesome with me. It just isn't worth a child getting killed.

I will stand by my beliefs. You can NOT diagnose the dog over the internet. We ONLY know what the OP has told us. UNTIL a PROFESSIONAL has evaluated the dog, I will withhold opinion on whether it needs PTS or not. The dog needs evaluated.

I will say that the OP sounds irresponsible and lax about the dog in general. He needs a wake up call and needs to realize that it isn't all fun and games owning a dog. Unless he is willing to commit to the dog's training needs and step up his management plan then I feel the dog would be better off elsewhere.

I agree that the dog needs to see a professional - the OP owes it to the dog to give him a very fair and unbiased evaluation. I am one of the first people to say that an aggressive dog in the shelter or rescue should be put down because of risk and the use of resources to 'fix' or manage them. However, this is an owned dog, and if the OP wants to invest money into making their yard un-escapable, is willing to only take the dog out with a basket muzzle forever or until he drastically improves from training and accepts that he must do a *ton* more work than people with safe dogs... Than I think he can consider working on this dog's issue.

We don't know what is causing this aggression, and what is triggering his behaviour. If you want to save this dog and live with an animal you will always have to be cautious with, explore your options. See a vet to rule out any and all health problems. Hire a reputable behaviourist. And in the meantime, contain your dog. No going out of the house without a basket muzzle and without being securely attached to a strong leash and collar (that he can't slip out of). What happened with this kid, CAN NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. If that means intensely managing this dog for his entire life, so be it. If it means euthanasia, so be it.

You cannot let an incident like this happen again.

Does anyone else smell Spam/Troll? I have seen another thread where the OP posted about her dog not eating, didnt answer questions, and just have answers that stirred the pot. Something about this smells fishy to me... IDK Just this is a thread that would be a guarentee to stir things up here, hasnt come back, isnt answering questions, the way the post was written, etc...

What's wrong with rehoming a dog with a bite history, given that it was caused by a stupid owner and the dog could go on to live a fulfilling and happy life in the hands of someone who would know how to properly manage and train him?

If the temperament is genetically caused, by all means, put the dog down. But if it were caused by stupid humans with poor training techniques....I don't see the problem with rehoming the dog, as long as the rehome knew what they were dealing with.

Who's going to take the dog? The dog has bite history and is apparently DA. The people you find that are responsible and willing to take on a dog with HA (which are going to be extremely few and far between), generally (and probably should) already have dogs. Especially a pit mix...there are a million happy and healthy pits available all over the place. Why this dog over a stable dog that doesn't bite kids for fun?

I was NOT saying rehome the dog if he can't work with it. If he can't work with the dog then it will need euthanized. And that is what I meant.

Teal -I give you **** for DUMPING dogs which is an entirely different thread and situation!!! FYI.

But, wouldn't killing all possibly badly trained pit-looking dogs also fuel the sensationalism? As far as, oh, all pitbulls who attack anyone are unstable and need to be eliminated immediately? As in, there is no possible way that this or that person is just inherently stupid and will ruin ANY dog that might cross into their ownership? And then doesn't that just cycle into the whole, "ALL PITS ARE EVIL" problem? And that any dog, anywhere, is going to attack anyone at any moment?

Why not blame the owner, who screwed the dog in the first place? Blame bad ownership and training, and you have people who are going to take a breed and proper training more seriously. Blame the dog, everyone will continue to blame the breed.

But what if the dog IS a happy, healthy pit? With a screwed up owner?

Like I said before, if it is poor breeding....put the dog down. If it is poor training, eliminate the REAL problem, the owner/training technique. Otherwise, you're just paving a road for more screwed up dogs, aren't you?

Also, I'm not speaking of this dog in particular, simply because I do believe this is probably a troll and we cannot actually diagnose a dog over the internet.

And I DO recognize that dogs can be ruined beyond repair. By all means, put them down, too. I've had to do it.

No, because any Pit Bull who attacks IS unstable and DOES need to be eliminated immediately.

Pit Bulls are not able to be ruined by bad ownership. Lack of training/socialization will NOT make a SOUND Pit Bull bite someone.



Because it's not "all in how you raise them", which is probably one of THE worst stereotypes put on the breed because when a dog does bite someone, everything thinks it was "raised wrong" and just needs to be "rehabilitated" when really, it needs to be culled.



I said it before in this post, but it bears repeating - This is simply not possible. A happy, healthy Pit Bull doesn't bite someone because of an incompetent owner.

If the dog ran up and knocked the kid down out of excitement and the kid had to go to the hospital, fine. If the dog ran up and bit hard enough to break skin and sent the kid to the hospital, that dog should absolutely NOT be rehomed. OP should work with the dog themself (with serious professional help) or the dog should be euthed. It would be one thing IMO if the dog was scared and cornered and bit out of last resort. But a dog that chases a kid down the street and bites is not a dog that belongs in an uneducated home that obviously isn't equipped to deal with it.

Frodo bit someone. Was that someone being rude and did I fail at my job of protecting him? Yes. Would I EVER rehome him? Absolutely not. If there ever came a time where I could not keep him he would absolutely be PTS before I ever thought about rehoming. And it's not like corgis are on the forefront of BSL.

I'm not saying it's all in the raising. Bad temperaments are bad temperaments, not even going to try and debate that.

But I do think it is possible for people to ruin dogs, and I don't see a reason to blame the dog for that. I guess, if the world was perfect, dogs wouldn't be the animals that they are and that they wouldn't have any defensive, predatory, or animalistic instincts, but I do believe they are still animals. I think nature/nurture both have their places. Breed the dog right, raise the dog right. No in-between.

Unless a dog has been bred to have the temperament of a stuffed toy, with no drive or no instinct what-so-ever, I think any dog *can* bite, if set up for failure.

If ANY dog is HONESTLY dangerous, put it down. I'm not arguing that, either.

I sure do!

I think that is a pretty big big blanket statement. A dog with sound genetics can absolutely be driven to bite if the training and socialization are not there. We have domesticated dogs for a very, very, VERY long time, but that does not mean that they don't need training and socialization and can still turn out to have a solid temperament and be trustworthy. At the end of the day they are still animals.

All dogs can bite. Even the most temperamentally sound dogs have a limit, and it is foolish (imo) to claim that some dogs won't ever bite.

I agree with this post.

Of course it's not foolish, they are Pit Bulls first, dogs second!

Yah... That's why I stayed out of the thread after the first page Troll.