A friend of mine has a small breed dog and she has a six month old son. The dog is usually quite sweet but it's apparent that she is scared of children (something I didn't know since she never told me).
My son was patting her gently on the back with my friends husband holding the dog. My son turned to look at me and the dog lunged at his face and bit him on the nose! I was shocked and my son started bawling his eyes out. The husband seemed shocked but my friend didn't seem to even care! She said "Oh she's scared of children and jealous when they get attention from us." The dog also has a habit of biting my friend and her husband and has bitten other children.
I am now terrified for her tiny son as he will be crawling soon and the dog gets scared when he cries and she is extremely jealous. I no longer take my children there as I'm afraid of this happening again and I gently suggested for her to maybe re-home the dog or get training as she might go for her son. But she and her husband treats the dog like a baby and they both deny she has a problem. She about 3 years old and has no health problems and they laugh off her viciousness.
I guess I'm just at loss to what to do and I fear she will only understand when the dogs bites her sons face. Should I report the dog to the RSPCA or just hope everything turns out okay? Thanks.
6 Replies
This is really common in certain small breed dogs - they seem to take issue with little kids far more often then most larger ones.
Not sure how long ago this happened or how badly injured your son was; but reporting to the local Council might be your best bet. Their child might not be in danger as the child has been a part of the "pack" for some time now but as he gets older and starts to assert himself the dog may start to feel threatened. Rehoming the dog might be the best bet, but that's only if they will listen to that advice... unfortunately I feel it may take an attack on their child to make them realise.
That's a tough one. They are lucky nobody has taken them to small claims court for damages (which would probably have the most effect on them).
I'm not sure what you can do. I'd report to the RSPCA but I'm not sure what they can actually do in this situation.
I would do something. Even report to the local council anonymously. RSPCA are useless. This is so dangerous for their child some people just don't realise animals are just that - animals. They aren't human and can suddenly turn. I hate to say it but if any of my 2 little dogs bit my children or my friends I would have them put down. I'm lucky they haven't they are very kid and people friendly never had a problem. i know that is harsh but it's just too dangerous.
You can ring your local ranger and report the dog as a dangerous dog. In which case ranger will go out to their house look at the dog and how it is handled ect if it is deemed dangerous then the owners will be given strict rules they must abid by to keep the dog if they don't abid by the rules then the dog is taken by the rangers. RSPCA won't do anything as they are more for the mistreatment of animals rather than this dog is just plain aggressive.
Sounds like they think it's harmless because it's a little dog. There's no way anyone would get away with that with a big dog breed. Responsible pet owners do not let dogs bite. They need to train that behaviour and put the dog outside while children are there if they are risk of biting. I think they need to be told firmly that it is not OK and you want it handled responsibly, but it sounds like their heads are up their a$$ on this one. I Know you can protect your own son, I'm really not sure what you can do to get them to change in order to protect their own son though.
If you're uncomfortable approaching her, get in touch with the council/rspca and make a report anonymously. I've had to recently make an extremely hard choice to rehome my beloved dog as she has become very jealous of my baby. Despite our best attempts to prevent this, I am no longer comfortable letting my dog have contact with my child. Even though she has not been overtly aggressive, her behaviour is not normal and it scares me. I will never be able to trust her now and so have to find her a new, loving home so she can be happy. It's a hard choice because my dogs are family to us, but my child's safety is my priority and you can't afford to take chances. I think the way you feel is correct, I would not be comfortable saying or doing nothing when this dog has shown these aggressive signs. You would never forgive yourself if something happened and you had not taken any steps to prevent it. Tough call but you are right to try