My Doberman might attack someone again and it wont be his fault NEED ADVICE?

Question

My 5 year old Doberman Nitro attacked a 3 year old child ..This child ran up with out warning and started pulling on My son(Nitro) tail and Nitro defended him self and bit the kid causing 25 stitches and my dog was put in quarantine for 10 days and was then released to me.now i am being harassed to put my dog down I WILL NEVER LET THAT HAPPEN Even if the authorities forced me to i would put him in hiding........ thank god that isn't the case..because my dog only bit one time ...Dogs are allowed three strikes.... but most stupid dog owners who had a dog that bit usually volunteer to put their dog down right after the 10 day quarantine HOW DISGUSTING
ANYWAY>>>>
How can i get these stupid people to stop harassing me
...........My dog wants to attack them .....Help

Answer 1

I respect your decicion. I have grown a great bond with my dog too. I will never let anything happen to him or his younger brother( their not related, but they are considers as part o f the family). I would jump in front of a bus before I would let any one take them from me. No matter what they did.

Answer 2

Its a shame for both the child and nitro that they were in that position. The child should have been taught respect for animals and likewise although im sure nirto bit out of shock and self protection not down right evilness its a shame he didnt run rather than swing around.
My advice, as i have been around dobermanns for 21 years, is that if you are worried you should keep nitro in a muzzle while he is around people, just incase, that way kids can see that he might just nip them if they start pulling him etc and that way he will also get some peace! maybe that will also satisfy the people harrasing you, as they can see you have taken some proventative measures. As for nitro wanting to attack them, if they are acting aggressively to you then he will feel the need to protect you and himself, just as most dogs would. In that case I would try and walk away if you can, to remove him from that situation, if be becomes nasty that will only make them worse!
Dobermanns have a reputation for being agressive although I must say my experiences are that they are kind, gentle and loving animals but as they are often used as guard dogs, look mean and when they do bite they normally cause quite a bit of damage this has put a lot of people off. At the end of the day any dog regardless of the breed can be nasty, or nice, just the same as people.

Answer 3

Your right on one thing..its not the dogs fault..it is yours!

A 3 yr old cannot be expected to know not to run up onto someones dog. Even if the parents have taught the child "dog safety" the kid is 3..in one ear, out the other.
Where were you when this happened and how was the kid able to run up and grab the dog? What did YOU do to prevent the attack? If your dog was well socialized and under control at the time..this probably would not have happened.

You say some owners are stupid for having a dog put down after one bite? No..those are the smart ones. They do not want that to ever happen again, and are not willing to take a chance at another LAWSUIT!! I bet you will be hit with tons of medical bills..hospital bills, reconstructive surgery, therapy, etc etc! Maybe that will change your tune. After you pay out the azz for this attack, I don't think you will want to do it again.

Your dog really needs to be put down. What if it was your kid who was attacked by the neighbor hood dog? I bet you would have a totally different attitude. Your dog has already bitten your b/f and now has scarred a 3 yr old child for life. That poor kid will now have to grow up fearful of dogs no doubt and will have a permanant reminder of what your animal has done to him/her. And you don't feel the least bit responsible for any of this? I'd be harrassing you to put the dog down too. And I would be sure that it was carried out..even if I had to shoot the thing myself.

You are the kind of people who should not be allowed to own a dog.

Answer 4

What a mixture of answers!
"Have your dog put down" "Your not at fault"
The first thing my mother taught me was not to pat strangers dogs, now if this child did run up to out of no-where and your dog bit the kid, the law will always be on the child's side, which isn't always right. Dogs attack when threatened or scared, it's a natural insict they have. Was your dog off the lead when this attack happened? Unfortunitly Dobermans in the past have grown to have a bad rep, they are a wonderful dog, yet people used them as a "body guard" and you hear off all these attacks and the dog having to be put down. You need to take strong control of your dog, and when walking him (he needs the exercise) have a mussle on him for your protection, then if some kid comes running up again and the parents report your dog to have bitten their child, you can show them that you've taken precaustions. When I see a mussled dog, I dont think its danagerous, I think the owner is loving and protecting their dog.
I once pulled a cats tail and was swiped across the face when I was about 5, didn't do it again and I like cats. There's a lesson to be learned here.

Answer 5

I'm so sorry to hear your story. I used to have a Dobermann (he died at the ripe old age of 13). He would never hurt a fly, but I was always paranoid of being in your position when he may retaliate in a situation not of his doing. The child should have been taught to treat animals with respect. I would suggest muzzling him in public situations (a shame I agree). Also those people would see you have taken some positive action and may lay off and stop criticising you. It would be nice if you could take your dog out in the car to the countryside or beach or whereever, well away from anyone and let him run free for a good hour or more once a week. That would let off his and your steam and give you some quality time together. I do hope it works out for you and Nitro. As a last resort you could consider rehoming him. He may take to security work very well. I wish you all the best.

Answer 6

First off ,
Where do you come up with ...Dogs are allowed three strikes....
You are responsible for your dogs actions at all times....
regardless if the kid provoked the attack.
you should keep the dog in a fenced in area so people or kids cant walk right up to the animal...
I feel for your situation as I have 2 rottweilers they are allowed to run free in a fenced backyard , out in public they are leashed
and kept under control at all times and I dont allow people to just walk up to them. As someone else suggested watch the dog whisperer on national geographic channel you may learn some important things on dog behaviors.
your other comment about: but most stupid dog owners who had a dog that bit usually volunteer to put their dog down right after the 10 day quarantine HOW DISGUSTING
No they are not stupid they had the smarts to realize a major lawsuit or the common sense to identify a serious behavior
that could not be corrected and they knew would happen again.
You need to put some serious thought into this as your dog could end up killing an innocent kid , yes parents are responsible for the kids actions but dog owners are responsible for the dogs actions..............

Answer 7

hey there i have a dobe too and would be devoed if anything like this happened....but do you feel comfortable knowing what your dog did?i know, i know, kids should know that you must respect dogs at all times, but the sames goes with your dog. was it well socialised as a pup with other kids? has your dog showed any aggression before this? if so, you have a serious problem....don't let this happen again. muzzle him if you have to. and an old dog CAN learn new tricks so get training him. if your dog attacked my son, i wouldn't care what your excuses were. i also know how much you love your dog as i do mine but i this is really bad.other dog owners who put their dog down in these circumstances aren't stupid/disgusting they are simply frightened of the consequences and the dog.if my dobe bit another child how could i possibly keep her around my son?it wont be the case though cos she has been brought up with him and they respect each other.my son knows the boundaries when it comes to my dog. good luck anyway and hope all works out but heed my advice cos your dog will be euthanized if it happens again.

Answer 8

I'm sorry but i have to agree with 90percent of answer to you i love dogs but when a dog bites a child it should be put down if your dog bites or kills a child as it could well do then you will be to blame you should not of let that dog any where near a child again it should be muzzled at all times some owners of doberman are good owners and train the dogs as they should be and owners like you should not have a dog like that if you cant control it and train it i hope to god for your sake that the next child it attacks or even kills is not your own child dogs are not allowed three strikes where the hell did you get that load of **** from lets just hope that it doesn't turn on you as it well could but there again you say you would never have him put down but if the law said that you would have to then you would so don't talk a load of crap you are putting your dogs life before your child you are not fit to have kids I'm sorry but you are out of order putting a dog before a child's life they are not stupid people they are thinking of there kids as you should be get that dog muzzled or put to sleep he has attacked once he will do it again and why do you say your dog wants to attack again get a life he will only do what you allow him to do you are so irresponsible

Answer 9

It's always hard putting down an animal but the risks of your dog attacking someone else sounds awfully great and next time, you could be sued for damages. How horrible that it was a 3 year old child!!!!

Do you have a fenced yard? You REALLY need a privacy fence with having an aggressive dog if you want to keep him. Chainlink isn't good because he has too much lead way to jump it if he gets that upset or kids can put their hands through the links. Privacy fence will keep him out of sight and I'm sure would put your neighbors at a peace of mind that at least he's more "hidden".

Personally I don't blame your neighbors, that would worry me too. My sister has pit bulls and rottweilers and they would never do that and yes they have had kids pull on them and a neighborhood kid even hit one...nothing. I would worry about the aggressiveness! You're lucky you have the 3 strike rule, here it depends on the viciousness of the attack and age of victim.

Answer 10

Well Marco, you have to be responsible and keep Nitro on a lead at all times. It would not be a bad idea to put a light muzzle on him also.

If he does bite again he could be in serious trouble. I am surprised they let him out to be honest as 25 stitches on a kid would normally warrant destroying the animal. I imagine they assess the animal and if they decide it is not dangerous they let them out, so Nitro must have passed with flying colours.

Unfortunately some people are idiots and just let their children run riot- if you want to keep Nitro alive keep him away from them.

Answer 11

Firstly I guess you are not in the UK as I see your dog has cropped ears so may be your dog attack laws are different, but in the UK dogs are NOT allowed 3 strikes, if that happened over here you wouldn't be given a choice he would have been pts and rightly so! I can fully understand that it was a provoked attack but IT WAS A BABY! it didn't know what it was doing, you have admitted that your dog will attack again so you are in point of fact admitting that he is dangerous, your dog may NEVER be safe around children again, much as I love all my dogs and I do, I wouldn't be able to trust them again, not even with the assistance of a behaviourist, I would never be able to enjoy a walk with them again, so when your dog kills a child, even if it's just the second attack would you still want to keep him???!!!