[Inga]

I have been hearing more and more stories about people that have been bit by their own dogs. Some people have been bit by dogs they owned in the past or dogs that they have worked with either in training or foster etc...
I am just curious how many people have been bit by their own dogs? What were the circumstances leading up to it? How old was the dog? Did the dog have any health issues? How long did you own the dog before this happened? How did you handle it when it did happen? How many times did it happen? What was the dogs general temperament under normal circumstances?

How many of you would keep a dog that bites you? Oh, and How bad was the bite? Has the dog ever bit anyone else?

 

[Darkmoon]

I was bit by Carter, luckily I had on my leather coat and leather gloves when it happened, so it only left a bruise.

I was out on a normal walk with Carter and we were passing a fenced in yard with a VERY aggressive Black Lab in it (this lab scares me). Carter was always leash aggressive so when this dog came at the fence, Carter wanted to fight. He never backed down from a challenge. That day we were walking and I would do my normal "leave it" followed by a good yank on his leash trying to keep him under control. This day he redirected his anger onto me and let me have it good.

I ended up having to pin him to the ground to protect myself. Thank god I could overpower him until he came back from the "zone" he was in. Once he was back in a normal state of mind you could tell how freaked out he was that he just bit me. He kissed me like I was dieing and he would never see me again.

Carter was about 3 1/2 then, I had had him for about 6 months and was working on his aggression on leash when it happened. It happened 3 times before enough was enough. I would have kept him forever even with the redirecting aggression because I know it could have been overcome with time. But between all of his issues it was better to him to be put down. And as far as I knew he was healthy, just not mentally.

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

I was bit by my Miniature Dachshund, Jonas, but only once. He bit me in the face, sent me to the hospital, caused a lot of damage, and a permanent scar. I could post pictures of the damage and you could see just how bad it was two weeks after the bite. He was 3, and we had had him only a few weeks. He was health issue free, but he came with a lot of baggage. He was a stud dog for a breeder and kept in a kennel with no socialization his entire life, and was dumped in two different shelters until I found him. The bite was entirely my fault. I was kissing the belly of a dog. Absolutely stupid, and even more stupid because even though he was mine and attached to me immediately, I did not know this dog and I knew he came from a bad life. He bolted the second after it happened and hid under the couch. The only reason he chose fight over flight was because he felt trapped. I left him (obviously to head to the hospital) and when I came home he was very apprehensive in approaching me.

Stupid, stupid, STUPID lesson learned, and he's never so much as bit me again. I know his thresholds and recognize I made a ridiculous error and am lucky it was not a bigger dog. He has never bitten anyone else, but he is skittish and I don't allow strangers to approach him. My parents begged me to get rid of him, but this clearly was not an aggression issue and Jonas should have had the choice to get rid of ME for that idiocy.

 

[ACampbell]

Smokey bit me once the first day he was home. He was 6 years old at the time. He was really thin and I thought giving him a nice chewy bone would be nice, he laid by my feet and chewed it but when I got up and stepped over him he snatched me up by my pant leg. He also bit my husband in the head for playing too rough about 3 days after we got him. He didn't break skin on either bite and was "guilty dog" for the rest of both those days even though he wasn't reprimanded for the action.

After that, he never bit again once he was used to the family and was great with strangers, and obviously we kept him. If he had been unpredictable in a long term sense I don't think we would have though, not with having 3 kids in the house.

He's been the first and only dog I've ever had that actually bit me. All other bites were someone elses dog.

Now I have a friend with about a 4-5 year old pitbull mix that obviously has a mental problem. He has bitten the guys wife, the guy that owns him (bad enough it needed stitches), me, and a few other people I know. He has drawn blood on his owner, me, and a friend of ours, but the guy still keeps him and makes excuses for the behavior.
It's unprovoked aggression too. When he bit me, he was laying beside me and I was petting him. I stopped for a second, then went to do it again and he cornered me.

 

[3212]

I guess I have technically been bit by Bridgette once, but it was 100 percent my fault.

A year and a half ago Bridgette was attacked by a much bigger Husky mix. I say attacked and not 'got into fight' because Bridgette was immediately on her back peeing all over the place while the husky tore into her leg. (my poor baby!). The huskies owner got their dog away and as I went to grab her leash and pull her back towards my house their other dog took a step towards her. That's when she decided to defend herself and turned to snap. She barely touched my arm and one little tooth pierced the skin. I will literally never forget the look on her face when she saw it was me and not the dog she had snapped at!

That being said, I wouldn't (and neither did the cop who had to come meet her - she licked his face ) consider it her actually biting me in the way you mean.

I think it would have to depend entirely on the situation as to what I would do if my dog actually bit me in a non-accidental situation.

 

[Nargle]

I've never been bitten by one of my own dogs, but on a couple of very rare occassions I've been bit by others'. One was a little 4ish month old Pomeranian puppy, who was severely out of control o.o

Sasha does have a habit of sniffing my face, and when she gets close, she sometimes suddenly lurches forwards and bops me on the nose, lol! One time it felt like someone had punched me in the nose, so I put my head in my hands and curled up face down on the couch. You would have though I was dying by the way she started jumping and whining and licking me, trying to pry my face away from my hands to see if I was okay! XD

 

[3212]

One time it felt like someone had punched me in the nose, so I put my head in my hands and curled up face down on the couch. You would have though I was dying by the way she started jumping and whining and licking me, trying to pry my face away from my hands to see if I was okay! XD

Bridgette does that too! If I ever cry or hurt myself like that she freaks out and thinks I'm dying. I suppose it works too because I am usually laughing when she tries desperately to lick my face and make sure I'm okay

 

[Nargle]

Bridgette does that too! If I ever cry or hurt myself like that she freaks out and thinks I'm dying. I suppose it works too because I am usually laughing when she tries desperately to lick my face and make sure I'm okay

Lol, they obviously know what they're doing when they try to cheer us up! Seriously, we could throw out all forms of anti-depressant drugs and the like and replace them with dogs XD

 

[aprilpixie]

My puppy bites me all of the time, it hurts pretty badly too. She doesn't mean to hurt me, she is just playing. We're working on it though! By the way, she is nine weeks and I've had her for two.

Does anyone happen to have any advice? It would be appreciated!

 

[Mac'N'Roe]

When I had Gabi, during the last fight that Roe and Gabi had...I was trying to break it up. I wasn't very smart about it...and was just doing whatever I could to get between them...which meant arms. There was a brief 'break' in action and I reached out to body block, Gabi got back up, and Roe reacted...putting her mouth around my forearm. She DID NOT bite down and didn't break the skin. The moment stopped in time and I saw her eyes grow WIDE and scared...as she realized it was me.

I did get a bite on my ring fingernail that was so hard that the bruise didn't surface for months. Didn't break the skin, but it was numb for weeks. I'm not really sure who got that one in. I blame myself and don't fault the dog(s) for this.

 

[silverphoenix69]

It was my fault really...

Max (my Border Collie X Lab that passed away in September) needed blood taken for a recheck for his T4. Because of him being 14 (almost 15) and he didn't do well in cars, and couldn't do the hour walk there I brought the stuff I needed home with me and tried to do it myself.

So I went to take the blood, he got mad and snaped at me, my brother not being used to holding a dog for blood let go and he bit my hand. He was just scared, and I tried to help him by not taking him back to the vet. I got the blood but I felt bad. It wasn't bad, he just broke the skin slightly.

He would also snap at me when I would brush him, but never actually got me. But other then that he was a very loveable dog and loved to cuddle.

Don't no if this counts but I also got bit by the dog that I was watching for a while. He was eating some paper and I tried to get him away from it, he was fine then all of a sudden turned around and attacked my hand. Only part of me he got was my hand and the worst was my index finger, the next day it swelled up so much I couldn't bend it.

Also I would keep a dog that has bit me. Though if the dog has gone out of control and wont stop attacking me, my other pets or people (and I mean crazy attacking) then I might see about rehoming. But it wouldn't be something I would to lightly or as a solver to my problems

 

[Mdawn]

Eddie and Uallis have never bitten me seriously. However, a long time ago they got into a fight over a toy or some such. I stupidly got in the middle and almost had my thigh gashed open. Instead, I got lucky with just getting my pants leg slashed. I don't know which one did it with everything that was going on at the time but I was very lucky. If that bite would have hit my skin it would have been a pretty serious gash judging by the damage done to my pants leg. I chalked it up to a lesson learned and didn't blame them. It was my stupid mistake.

Also, Uallis once tried to nip me in the face. Once again it was my mistake because I did something that I knew would annoy him. Uallis is very tolerant but I learned a good lesson. Even tolerant dogs will only take so much and I learned to treat him with a little more respect...which I should have been doing all along. I felt really bad after that and a little ashamed of myself because I knew better. After that, I've made it a point to be a little less juvenile rolleyes in terms of doing something that I know my dogs really dislike. I try to treat them with a little more respect.

Other than that...they have never bitten me, unless I count all the times Eddie nipped me when he was a pup...

 

[Inga]

unless I count all the times Eddie nipped me when he was a pup...

No fair counting puppy nips. That is a given when getting a puppy. :d

 

[jfinner1]

I've never been bitten by my own dog, but my step-grandpa owned a dog that had a habit of biting me, him, and my grandma. But, I don't think it was the dog's fault. I could be wrong, because I was pretty young at the time, but here's what would happen.
Burgus was an older (12+ years) GSD, ex-police attack dog. He would usually bite as an automatic response if he was startled when he was sleeping. Every time he bit me it was because he was asleep and I stepped on him. Like I said, I was really young, and not all that careful around him. He usually went for my ankle, and although he drew blood a few times, it wasn't a long attack. He'd turn, bite, release, and start whining. He bit my grandma's hand a few times if she pet him when he was asleep, same thing. Other then this he was a really sweet dog. I don't remember if he got reprimanded or not.

 

[FilleBelle]

My last dog, Cameo, was a little less than a year when she came home from the shelter she'd been born into. I suspect she'd never properly learned to socialize with other dogs, let alone people. She simply didn't know how to do anything BUT bite. I don't mean puppy nips. I mean I was eleven years old and a prisoner in my house because she would break the skin if I even so much as stepped foot in the backyard. My mother, who took on the bulk of training responsibilities, and my father, who loved the dog a lot even though she was evil, had gashes down their arms for months. Not scratches, not punctures, gashes.

I'd have a better idea of how to help this dog now than any of us did then. But we eventually taught her to express herself in other ways and she became a good dog in many ways.

 

[Binkalette]

I've never been bitten by a dog.. but CATS.. Oh boy. My parents have a big black tabby cat, Tofer.. and one day, when I was in fourth grade, I had him outside on his little red leash, exploring the yard. He had one of those collars with the elastic on it, so if they get stuck on something it breaks, instead of choking them. He was never a really friendly cat to anybody outside of the family, other animals included.. so anyway, as we are standing out in the front yard, my neighbors cat comes LEAPING out of the bushes and races up and swats at Tofer.. and then races off. Well.. this made him ..angry.. so he took off as fast as he could after the neighbors cat, and me, being a fourth grader, was afraid that the collar was going to break, so instead of trying to stop him.. I just ran with him.

After a few laps around the neighbor hood, he got her cornered under a trailer, and as he's sitting there growling and hissing his head off at her.. I decide I'm going to pick him up and take him home. BAD IDEA. I reached down and my hand had barely grazed his back before he flipped around and tore into my hand. I don't remember it hurting at first.. Just that I was shocked that he bit me.. He was IMMEDIATELY sorry for what he did.. he just flattened out on the ground doing the "I was a bad kitty" face, forgot about the other cat, and let me pick him up and take him home.

Imagine my mothers surprise when her daughter comes inside with a cat and arm all covered in blood.. It was a pretty bad bite.. but it stopped bleeding on it's own. I remember all the skin between the four punch holes turned white and died :-/ It got infected too, obviously.. since cat bites pretty much always do that. So I had to go to the doctor and get some antibiotics and stuff. I was actually pretty proud of my bite. I had a really cool story to tell all my friends We kept the cat, obviously, because it wasn't his fault...


He bit me one other time when I came home from a week in Florida in high school, and I had my hair up in french braids and I suppose I smelled different. He followed me around the house for a while, acting differently, and then I reached out to pet him and he freaked. This stranger just tried to attack him! So he bit.. that one wasn't as bad as the first.. just one little punch hole, didn't get infected or anything.. He didn't start treating me normally again until I took my hair down.

 

[3212]

EXACTLY what Binkalette said!

Despite working with aggressive and fearful dogs at work I can usually read dog behavior and am very careful not to get bitten. I have never been bitten by a dog at work, although I've come close.

Cats though! I have been bitten a couple times and scratched countless times! Don't get me wrong, I have 2 cats who I like very much, but in general cats are so much harder to deal with I think the biggest problem I have is that they are often "allowed" to act that way. I always think "if a dog acted like this it would be labeled vicious!" There have been some cats that were so aggressive if they had been a dog I think they'd have been put so sleep by authorities they were so bad!

 

[MrsJohnnyG]

Good question - I was puzzled by that too. I've never been bitten by an adult dog to the point that an injury happened, but I can see how it might happen with a rescue dog who had either been abused or never had proper bite inhibition training.

Lol, they obviously know what they're doing when they try to cheer us up! Seriously, we could throw out all forms of anti-depressant drugs and the like and replace them with dogs XD

Isn't that the truth!!!!

 

[Xeph]

Strauss has bitten me. When we started in agility he had NO control over his drive and thus I had NO control over him. He would get extremely frustrated and not only would he over vocalize, but he'd bite.

My first reaction was to crack him a good one, simply because it hurt and that was my immediate response to pain. With a dog like Strauss though, that only revs him up and he gets very "C'mon! Give it to me!"

Instead I ended up using deprivation. If he didn't do what was asked, he was removed from it. When he did do what was asked, he was rewarded with a send to a tunnel or some tug of war.

 

[KBLover]

Wally bit me out of sheer frustration one night - not surprised in this case because my mother had been gone for three days and Wally was getting progressively more "acting out" with each day. He was running around the backyard at night after coming back from a "walk" where he just refused just about any cue.

I was going to settle him down and he clamped on my wrist. It didn't hurt (it was funny because he was trying to put pressure and it barely felt like pin pricks), and after I give him "the look" he let go and started whimpering.

That was the first and last time he bit me (unless you count playful nipping and such). He's not even come close to biting anyone else (even playfully).

I would keep a dog that bit me (obviously, I still have Wally ), and I would work with him/her if at all possible.