My 3yr old son was recently bitten by my mothers 12month old maltalier. Tommy(son) received 8 stitches to his?

Question

face. He had to have a general anesthetic. Now the problem is it is not dogs first offence it has nipped tommy several times prior. My mother fed the dog near where my son was playing(whilst in her care) and this is how attack happened. To me it is neither dog nor child at fault, but the adult supervising, however my mother say it is Tommy's. She has not guaranteed us safety for further visits and we remain at a stale mate. We would be foolish to visit her home or leave Tommy in her care again if she can not guarantee us his safety. How do we get through this issue without causing a family breakdown? I would have thought a grandmother would want to put her grandchilds wellbeing well in front of an animal? I don't want the dog put down but I do need my mother to take responsibility for her actions, not lay blame on a 3yr old. I have been educating my son as to how he should be around animals. I feel I failed as a parent for not instilling enough fear in Tommy toward animals.

Answer 1

Your mother is wrong. Sice she obviously knew that the dog was agressive towards your child she should have made every effort to keep the dog in an area where the child would not come in contact with it. It is neither the dog's fault nor your son's fault it is your mother's fault and if animal control finds out they will do all in their power to remove the dog from her and since he has a history of nipping and biting will more than likely have the dog put down, and your MOTHER will be to blame. She is an extremely poor pet owner and an even poorer grandmother.

Answer 2

You have a lot of good responses here, but I don't believe the dog needs to be put down...HOWEVER, your mother MUST re-train the dog, which is not as easy as training a younger puppy. The dog obviously feels he/she is the ALPHA (dominant being) in the house--hence, the food aggression and nipping and biting. If your mother does not do SUBMISSION training with the dog, this will happen again, and perhaps with someone else's child, who might not be as forgiving and understanding as you. She needs to not allow the dog on her bed, couch, or any other high place--the dog needs to be lower than everyone else.She needs to feed the dog and take the bowl away and give it back at her discretion. The same thing needs to be done with the dog's toys.The dog must also be TURNED ON his/her BACK and HELD THERE, several times a day--this is all dog behavior, animal cues that the dog will understand to mean he/she is not the alpha in the house and that he/she must submit to everyone else.If you go to a dog park and watch dogs playing, the dominant one will stand over the submissive one as the submissive one lays on his back or side.You must ALL be the dominant ones over the dog, otherwise your mom is in for an out of control dog.Tommy should not fear animals..its poor training and bad owners, not bad dogs that attack people (99% of the time.) "The dog whisperer" is a guy named Cesar Milan who has a show on the Discovery Channel that deals with a lot of this stuff-he also has a book. You CANNOT leave Tommy (or any other child) alone with the dog until re-training is done. Hope this helps. Good luck--you're a good mom!

Answer 3

If this has happened before then the dog is dangerous. I would tell my mum to do something about the dog or I will in the form of reporting her. If she refused then I would report her and the dog. She may only get a fine but the incident will be on record then and if it happens again the dog will go and your mother will have to face the facts and take responsibility. You should ask who is more important, the dog or her grandson? I would also give her the doctors bill and if she didn't pay up I would threaten her with a law suit, and I wouldn't feel guilty about possibly damaging my relationship with my mum, if she is choosing the dog over her grandson she is the one causing damage to the relationship.
My Grandmother had a poodle that she adored(we all hated it) and she treated that animal better than she treated her own family. But if that dog had ever bitten me or any of my brothers my dad(her son) would have killed it himself.

Answer 4

I know you don't want to break up your family but you have to protect your child and the decision to resolve this is in your mothers hands. I definitely agree with you when you say it is her fault for not supervising. If the dog has done this in the past it's a sign of aggression and she should know better than to leave a 3 year old anywhere near him. Don't feel as if you failed either, you trusted your mother and your son shouldn't go through life thinking all animals will attack him.

Answer 5

A good dog will never bite a child, even when eating.

Rehabilitated canines who have been rescued are trained to go back into the home setting before they can be adopted. If they do not pass the food test, they will be destroyed.

Your mother is a piece of work. Get a lawyer and get the dog destroyed and have your mother pay damages! You should be respected, if not by the love of family, then by the law!

Answer 6

You can't leave Tommy in your mother's care any more. You can't count on her taking responsibility. You can go with Tommy to her house if the dog is kept locked away from Tommy. Or she can come to your house.
If you have failed as a mother, it is in continuing to leave him there after previous dog bites.
You don't want him to be afraid of animals. Now you may have to go to extra effort to keep him from having inappropriate fear. Start socializing him with friendly dogs under close supervision.

Answer 7

Melissa, your son is only 3 years old..it is normal for him to love everything around him, including dogs. The one who needs to be educated is your mom. From what I read so far...you are being a great mother to your little boy. As for the family breakdown, Tommy's wellbeing should be your main priority and worry. Your mom was way out of line, and I would advice you not to leave your little guy with her. Care and protect your little guy always.

Answer 8

It would be irresponsible to leave your child with that dog and you should just explain that you can't take the chance that it will happen again. Do whatever it takes. If she wants to see him she will take the necessary precautions but it is up to her to do it not you. You just protect your child. DO NOT try to "instill fear" of animals! Teach respect for what they can do but not fear. If he is afraid of dogs he will be MORE likely to be bitten again. He just needs to learn when to approach and when to back down, never to run, and never to pet a growling, sleeping, or eating dog.

Personal opinion is that if a dog bites once it will bite again and once skin has been broken the dog should be put down.

I have 5 kids have had several dogs including 2 pit bulls and have never had one bite.

Answer 9

If a dog so much as growled at my daughter I would never allow her to be near that dog ever. If you have ever seen a dog attack you know that in a matter of milliseconds the dog can cause a lot of damage to whatever it's attacking. Your child is lucky he only needed eight stitches. Your child's safety is of the utmost importance to you and if you mother isn't willing remove the dog while your child visits then too bad for her. Remember your son's safety is number one.

Answer 10

my 9 yaer old boy was attacked by our dog - half of my son's upper lip was torn off to the corner and it required 13 stitches to repair, my point is sometimes good dogs do bad things no matter how well they are trained. Your mother doesn't seem to think there is a problem, but there is - you need to know that your child is safe in her care and she cant guarantee it. If the dog felt that he needed to attack him before, he'll do it again; dont bring your child back there it's not worth his safety