Help me with some important APB questions?

Jen D

Carla, I would be very afraid also and I am glade your little girl is OK. I also want to say I think what all I have seen that you have wrote is great! I am wondering if you were there at that time do you think the dog would of bit your daughter like it did? Was the dog food aggressive from the start? I have a young Grandson and I always have him say sit, have him give the dogs a treat and they are great with him. Now when they see him they go into a down or a sit, I just feel that they need to look at him as being above him in the pack order. I would just love to have more info from you because you certainly sound like you have lots of experience. Thanks, Jen

SFury

You obviously don't understand dog behavior. Dogs only bite for two reasons. Aggression or fear. If the dog attacked out of aggression the 6 year old would be dead. There is no doubt about that in my mind. A year old PB can do serious damage to small animals and children.

Fear biting is different. There are different types of fear biting. The scenario here is obviously a fear bite when the child is being too aggressive to the dog. The dog gives warning signs, and the child did not listen to them and was given a physical reminder that they need to stop. It did not escalate beyond that. The child caused the dog to bite them. I have seen this scenario too many times.

Dogs need to be taught manners, and so do kids. I played too rough with Rusty, a golden retriever, as a child. My father always seperated us if it looked like I was going too far. At least he did until I was five. I was playing with Rusty, cornered him and pulled on his tail. He bit me hard enough to leave indentations. My father was watching Rusty and myself the entire time. He talked to me about what happened and told me what I did wrong. I never did that again. My relationship after that was much better with Rusty, not too mention all other dogs, because I learned to respect him.

If the child in this case doesn't learn to respect dogs then they are not safe around any dog. All dogs will bite if they feel sufficiently threatened.

Dorygirl

I understand dog behavior. It's not rocket science.

In my opinion, the combination of this particular dog with a young child is potentially dangerous. A poorly bred pit, which this might be, may just have to learn manners. But it also might be a disaster waiting to happen. The child shouldn't be at risk in the meantime.

Your story about Rusty is sweet, but not applicable as an analogy for this situation. Maybe you were just lucky that you weren't bitten badly?
And there is a big difference between a Golden and a Pit. Especially one from an uncertain background.

Children do need to learn to respect dogs. Just not with a dog that has already bitten, whether from fear or aggression.

I'm just curious...do you have children? I find that people with kids are less patient with dogs that bite.

xoxluvablexox

Having a dog that has shown that he has no problem bighting a child is a scary thought. There's no way to know for sure if it will happen again or not but giving up a dog just because it's being a dog isn't something I would consider unless other options were tried before hand.
There's no BIG difference between a golden and a pit. They are both dogs with the potential to bite and even possibly kill a young child. There is a difference but not as huge as you make it out to be.

She's already said her child plays rough with the dog so that's enough proof that the child doesn't know how to act around a dog. Not saying that it's all the child fault but he needs to be taught how to respect dogs and the dog needs to be taught what is appropriate behaivor and what isn't. A behavoirist, that's not an option it's a must.

For the safety of o your child and dog please don't let them play together untill this is taken care of unless your in the room and close enough to stop anything that could possibly go wrong.

cshellenberger

I agree with you deep down. The safty of the child should ALWAYS come first. I personally wouldn't keep the dog in my house and would get him into a rescue BEFORE he has a bite record and can't be accepted.

No, I had left to go tp the Grocery store and my husband was at the house. I came home to my husband carrying my daughter out the front door heading to the hospital. I told him the dog was to be gone when I got home OR ELSE.

I don't know it this would have happened with me there or not, he had never shown food aggression to me. This was a rescue we had adopted, an 18 month old male Rottweiler, nuetered and fostered around kids. However, when I investigated further he had a bite history and was accepted into rescue anyhow and placed with kids. We were not told of the bite history or of coarse would have NEVER adopted him.

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Jen D

boy do I hear that often! people should be honest about something like that it could of saved your daughter from a bite like that. I know when I get a rescue in here I always keep it for atleastr two weeks so I can see haw it is with cats, other dogs, kids, and food aggression. Thanks for the info, Jen

SFury

I have no children. Children and dogs are a volatile mix where direct supervision is needed until any kids are at least 10 years old and have proven they can act responsibly around dogs.

My cousin's 4 year old daughter has spent some supervised time with my dogs, and there were no problems. Of course I knew what my dogs would do, and the risk was minimal. She was gentle with my dogs, and she received some puppy kisses in return.

The story about Rusty and myself does relate to this situation. I was once the aggressive kid. I was given a warning bite as well. If I didn't learn from the situation then I could have been attacked. The difference is my Father knew how Rusty would react, and wanted to teach me a lesson. I am my Father's son and have needed to learn some things in life the hard way. Amazingly enough that can be the fastest way to learn.

Goldens can inflict massive damage if they want to. They aren't as powerful as a PB, but they can be very dangerous. PBs may get provoked more easily than other breeds, but with an aggressive child any dog can be provoked.

The dog isn't a complete unknown either. Having an animal for six months means you should know its behavior fairly well. It sounds like the PB is just a timid dog. Still, an expert that can deal with people and fear aggressive dogs needs to be brought in. If an expert isn't going to be brought in, then the welfare of the child should be put first. However, the child still needs to be taught to be kind to dogs.

Most of the problems I have seen with dogs has been caused by those that own them. Most times the problems were caused unintentionally, but they are there. This includes children. Children can cause problems because they act, and don't think. If people don't learn how to deal with their pets properly early on, then problems can arise at any point in time. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Jen D

I agree with alot of what you posted but I feel that kids need to be around dogs and be tought at an early age the right way to approach an pa ta dog. My kid have had dogs since they were born but they like you said were never left alone with them. My Grandson will be two two yrs in July and knows not to hit the dog and how to treat an animal. The dogs were also tought when he came they were to keep space between them unless invited in. people just have to remember that kids move fast and like you had said don't know what their actions will result in if not tought the right way to treat a dog.

workingdog

Well just my two cents but i have been around pits for many, many years. The OP mentioned that she has lots of kids there all the time as many as 15 and there is only a problem with her 6 year old. So that leads me to beleive that the 6 year old is highly aggressive with this dog. Yes the dog is warning the child but there are just so many warnings .Now if the dog was growling and or biting the other kids, i would say you have a problem dog.Pits are very loving and allow kids to climb all over them, they adore kids, so i have to say it's your son.If you can't keep them apart untill your child learns the right way to treat dogs i would rehome the dog.

TrinityQuiet

You know, every dog I've been around that was submissive like that turned vicious =\ Hiding, then using you as their grounding rod of sorts, and maybe aggressive towards anything that might take you away from it? I'm sorry, I'm biased, but my brother brought home a red nosed pit. It ate a child (so he @#$%@!@!!! "RESCUED" it!), took it to a friend's house where it ate her fifteen year old cat, then took it to my mother's house where it ate my six month old kitten. Oh, it was the friendliest dog in the world. So happy to see you, so submissive. Just don't take your eyes off it around anything else alive. If you love your child, and if you insist on keeping that dog, please never, ever have that dog loose with the child =(

mater'smom

To everyone who replied to my questions,Thank-you.I've gotten lots of great advice.As of today my son and my dog are getting along alot better.I still won't leave them alone, but my son has started doing the new Do's and Don't around the dog. They haven't been left alone either, but I think my husband and I have decided to rehome Mater.I just can't leave it upto chance,I love my dog but I brought my son into this world with the purpose of not letting him suffer.I would never forgive myself if something happened because I didn't want to get rid of my dog.I can't take that chance,but I will keep my eye on them until I find the right person for Mater.

So thank-you again for all of your advise.I am very glad I joined this forum.

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