our dog bit our son?

Question

we adopted this new addition to our family from the pound. everythings going well up to this point. we were playing in the yard and i stubled upon a knife that didnt belong to us so i was panicing and trying to put it away and stuff. at the mean time our dog was eating a bone and my son started kicking him or at least started swinging his legs towards his face. our dog bit his leg and the night before that our dog bit him in the face but just a warning. this time, my sons leg has a decent cut which is still bleeding. my question is its pretty obvious it was an accident. what do we do now to prevent that from happening?

Answer 1

First of all, do not allow your dog and your son to play together without being there, involved and supervised. Do not allow your dog to get carried away.

Frankly, your son sounds like he deserved to get bitten. I mean, no kid 'deserves' to get bitten, but if he's kicking the dog, well, what do you expect? Also, a warning bite to the face is something that alpha dogs do to warn other dogs that their behaviour is not acceptable, so your son was probably bugging or hurting the dog.

I do not think that you can handle both a child, and a dog, so try to find a new home for the dog. And once you have, teach your son to respect animals. If you want to keep the dog, then look into some training classes to correct this behaviour as soon as possible.

Answer 2

This is why our rescue does not adopt dogs to people with small children.
Dogs and kids are not a good mix. The dog pays for everything that happens regardless of what happens.
You are not going to get rid of the child but the will most likely go.
Your son is not old enough to be allowed around a dog unsupervised and does not know how to behave around a dog.
You need to learn to control your emotions and not to panic that alone makes everything worse. Clamly put the knife where no one could be hurt and stay in the line of sight of child and dog.
I strongly recommed you place the dog in a different home and wait afew years until your children are older and have more knowledge about animals before taking on a dog.
If your son has been bitten twice pretty soon he is going to learn to hate or fear dogs and you are not doing anyone any favors by allowing the situation to continue.

Answer 3

Firstly, I would say that depending on the age of the dog you may still be able to curb this behavior. Seek an obedience trainer.
Firstly, it is my opinion that those who say that it is the kids fault are idiots. let me explain..
Kids are kids, sometimes they are rough and need guidance in how to treat an animal but regardless, a properly raised and trained dog will never bite. The dog should try to get away from the child first and foremost. A bite should be the last resort. This dog has progressively gotten more and more severe in the reaction he gives.
I do not care what the dog is doing, any kid should be able to walk up and remove a bone or even a bowl of food from the dog with no reaction. I own a Pit and my kids can. There is no excuse. The blame is the dog. Curb his behavior or euthanize him. to pass on a potentially kid aggressive dog is more irresponsible then letting your kid kick him. even if he were to go to an adult home who's to say that he will not experience a kid eventually and bite or worse. Good Luck

Answer 4

Good question concerning an unfortunately all-too-common situation. You've received some good answers, but the ones I would take with a grain of salt are those that indicate it was the dog's fault. By nature, dogs like people and are generally protective of children. Like all creatures, they will defend their food and themselves if they perceive threats. Take it from one who has had dogs and children over the past 20 years, teach the kid not to ever kick the dog and to stay away from the dog when feeding. Until it is safe to do so, never leave the child alone with the dog. Lastly, try not to panic when you discover anything unexpected. Panic will rob you of your clear thinking when you need it the most. Good luck

Answer 5

You won't likely be able to keep this dog. And you won't likely be able to safely keep ANY dog until and unless you educate your son on proper behavior around animals.

It is up to YOU to keep both your child and your animal safe, plain and simple. You have to teach your son that animals are living, feeling creatures who can be hurt. You have to teach your animals that your son is just a short human, not a playmate or equal in the family.

Please, for the sake of your son and any new animal you might acquire, look into methods of teaching, ask friends and family how they taught their own kids and pets...somehow, someway, learn the proper interactions between children and pets.

And never, never, never leave a child under age 10 alone with a dog, not even for a few minutes. As you have learned, it only takes a few seconds for disasters to happen.

Answer 6

You have to control your child for the sake of your dog! Children MUST learn the proper treatment of animals... kicking in entirely inappropriate, even tho he didn't "make contact" it was still seen as a potential threat. You have to teach your child how to behave with your dog and you MUST constantly monitor them together. If you must leave a room, either the dog or the child go with you... never to be left alone together.

Your dog could develop a fear of children if this behavior continues and so for the sake of the dog, it is really important that you take charge now and make a change. Also, it would probably be best to put up anything your dog may be possesive of around your child, such as chew toys, raw hides, and bones and only allow them after your child is in bed for the nite or when your child isn't around at all.

Answer 7

Even if your son provoked the dog, any biting whatsoever is considered aggression. Aggression is serious, and if it's not stopped, it will escalate. The only way to solve such a problem is to get professional help. An expert dog behaviorist may be able to help you to stop the dog's aggression.

But it would also be a good idea to teach your son to respect the dog by being gentle with it and never hitting or kicking it. Always supervise them when they're together.

Answer 8

Teach your son to respect the space of any dog, it doesnt matter what kind of dog it is, Dont mess with its food! Dont hit kick or act like you want to hurt it unless the dog did do something wrong. The dog naturally wants to please you, some are no good but that is almost always a result of abuse or birth defect. I have a 100 pound dog, hes barked close to kids when they mess with him but as long as they dont violate his space while hes eating. Some dogs with play rough with kids if in a yard, they think they can play with them like they are a dog hence the rough stuff. But the most important thing is to teach the kid that if you dont respect the dog, you get your *** bit.

Answer 9

Your son may be to young to understand a dogs behavior. Either train your son or give the dog to someone who knows animals. Its better to wait until the boy is older to have a dog. Try a goldfish first than work up to a dog.

Answer 10

You did not state the age of the child, but I would highly recommend keeping him away from this dog until you can teach the child proper behavior around animals. If the child is too young, you would do all concerned a favor by turning the dog over to someone who can work with him to teach him his manners.