My neighbours dig bit my sons arm

cork_buoy

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this? His owners wife is a right mrs trunchbull and says its our sons own fault. I don't get why but she accepts no responsibility.

mcmoustache

In a public place, a dog must be kept under effective control by the owner/walker. I'm not sure about what you should do but I think the owner has to accept a lot of the responsibility here.

Cherry Blossom

1. Report it to the Gardai and the dog warden.
2. Teach your son not to approach strange dogs without the permission of both the person in charge of the dog and the person in charge of him (lesson probably already learned now though in fairness)

/Thread

wesf

there is only so much control you can have over your dog, if a stranger approaches a dog thats on a lead and gets close enough and gets injured, the injured party has to take some responsibility. its not like the dog was running loose. what breed was it and does it have a history of this sort of thing

ladypip

Call the guards and dog warden immediately
I'm assuming your son wasn't threatening the dog or its walker, a dog shouldn't bite someone for simply approaching it.
Has your son been seen by a doctor?

Cherry Blossom

wesf wrote: »

there is only so much control you can have over your dog, if a stranger approaches a dog thats on a lead and gets close enough and gets injured, the injured party has to take some responsibility. its not like the dog was running loose. what breed was it and does it have a history of this sort of thing

The law requires people to have effectual control of their dogs at all times. If it can bite someone then they clearly have no control at all. Control of a dog does not equal having it on a lead.

2qk4u

The dog and owner are not to blame, what did they do wrong ? I have 4 children and they were thought from as early as possible not to approach any animal, they have never been bitten. If you approach a dog weather on the lead or not they are automatically defensive unless they are still in puppy mode. It annoys me when people always want to punish the dog and owner when its the child that was out of control. I dont for one minute think your child deserved to be hurt before the do - gooders here launch their attack but no child should approach a dog they do not know.
The fairest thing to do is to just let it go.
And what difference does it make what breed it was ? a dog bite is a dog bite.

wesf

we don't know the whole story, what more can you do then if its already on a lead? he shouldn't have approached a strange dog. we don't know if he did something to the dog, if the dog was nervous etc

wesf

2qk4u wrote: »

The dog and owner are not to blame, what did they do wrong ? I have 4 children and they were thought from as early as possible not to approach any animal, they have never been bitten. If you approach a dog weather on the lead or not they are automatically defensive unless they are still in puppy mode. It annoys me when people always want to punish the dog and owner when its the child that was out of control. I dont for one minute think your child deserved to be hurt before the do - gooders here launch their attack but no child should approach a dog they do not know.
The fairest thing to do is to just let it go.
And what difference does it make what breed it was ? a dog bite is a dog bite.

some dogs require muzzles in public, thats what difference the breed makes

2qk4u

wesf wrote: »

some dogs require muzzles in public, thats what difference the breed makes

Fair point, but as you know most owners dont put muzzles on their dogs.

wesf

2qk4u wrote: »

Fair point, but as you know most owners dont put muzzles on their dogs.

i agree with you that the young fella should not have went up to the dog, so he's at least half to blame.
just if it was a breed that was supposed to be muzzled the op would have a reason for complaint if it wasn't.
but it boils down to the fact the dog wasn't loose, the young fella approached a strange dog which he shouldn't have. just put it down a bad experience

The Sweeper

I would be *furious* if a kid came up to me and reached out to pat my dog without my express permission. If my dog's on leash he's on leash, but how the fcuk am I supposed to suppress the movement of his head and neck if he takes extreme objection to someone invading his space and he snaps at them?

As it stands, my dog is at most likely to subject them to a damn good licking, but I still want to be able to control the situation - and having him on-leash is as far as that goes if there's a squealing kid in his space. I can try to remove him from the situation and walk away, but I have had pretty persistent kids in the past who want to 'pet the doggy'.

When they go in to pat they ALWAYS go in for the top of the head, and he dances upwards to try and meet their hand, and they get a fright and move their hand higher, and the next thing the dog's on his back legs with his front paws waving around their ears. Children who've asked me, I've said to them please keep your hand low and let him sniff your hand first, so they put their hands out low and they end up giggling as the dog wags and licks their hands delightedly. If they came up and went to put their hands on him without asking me or offering him a greeting either, I'd love to believe they wouldn't be snapped at, but at the least they'd probably get bounced to the ground.

micheleabc

ladypip wrote: »

I'm assuming your son wasn't threatening the dog or its walker,

This misunderstanding is exactly the problem. The kid approaching the dog has been assumed (by the dog) to have an aggressive posture. From the point of view of the dog it was clearly acting in self defense (and not defending the owner). The vast majority of dogs' bites happens because the dog bites out of fear, cases of real aggressive dogs are few and far between.
If the kid likes dogs and likes to approach them and pet them he should have being taught how to do it in a proper and safer manner. The dog should have been better socialized not to grow afraid of stranger, especially kids, so not to have defensive reactions. The dog owner should have been aware of this limitation of his/her own dog and should warn people who's trying to approach the dog.
I say that you share the blame. Thanks God the damage to the kid was minor.
You should learn from your mistakes and get over it.

Ellis Dee

cork_buoy wrote: »

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this? His owners wife is a right mrs trunchbull and says its our sons own fault. I don't get why but she accepts no responsibility.

Did you or your son first ask permission to pet the dog?

One huge difference that I have noticed between the dog cultures of Finland and Ireland (apart from the appalling cruelty and neglect that are far too common in one of the countries - guess which one) is that either children or their parents ALWAYS ask "saako silittää?" (can I stroke?) before they get too close to a dog, which is always on a lead outdoors in the city.

That gives time for the owner to tell the dog to be nice or else say he doesn't like kids/strangers. In addition, the parents always seem to take great care to make sure the kid moves slowly and moves his hand upwards rather than threateningly downwards. My dog loves children and enjoys it when they pat him on the head. :cool:

However, a dog running around loose in any suburban area in Finland is against the law. And, another peculiarity of this country compared with Ireland, laws are almost always enforced.;)

carrieflem

.

mattjack

cork_buoy wrote: »

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this? His owners wife is a right mrs trunchbull and says its our sons own fault. I don't get why but she accepts no responsibility.

I'm just looking at this opening post and imaging the terror that child experienced especially if it took two adult males to get the dog away from the child.
One can could only imagine the result if only one adult were present or indeed if the dog owners wife was walking the dog.
Its sounds like that dog is a large dog that the owner has little control over yet we've come to the conclusion that the child is in some way responsible.
Of course we are responsible for teaching our kids about risks and dangers in life , but kids are not mentally or emotionally mature enough to make the correct decision all the time and to assume so is wrong.
If that dog were to bite another child would the second child be at fault again and the owner in the right ?

barbiegirl

The dog held onto the arm, but didn't cause much damage, hence was not an attack, was a warning. Kids should not approach a dog without asking full stop. Parents MUST teach kids from a very early age how to approach a dog, most don't seem to bother.
The dog should not have bitten, and the kid should not have approached. Equal responsibility to owner and kid (and his parents).

DamagedTrax

people really need to learn the difference between a defensive soft bite and an actual aggressive attack

a dog bite that results in bruising was never meant to harm the victim. in these cases the dog was reacting to a situation where it felt it needed to protect itself.

an aggressive attack results in a lot more damage, even from the smallest dogs.

in a situation like this the lessons that should be learned (in my opinion) are as follows:

child: always ask before approaching a dog.
parent: never let your kid go running up to pet a strange dog (no matter how cute it is)
dog owner: always be vigilant of any one approaching your dog. be ready to pull the dog to a short leash just in case.
dog: the dog should immediatly be scolded. whether or not it's instinctual behaviour, the dog needs to know that its in no way acceptable.


im not being unsympathetic at all. im sure everyone involved got an awful fright and its only human for calls for the dog to be PTS. i was attacked by the local mutt myself when i was young, luckily it wasnt severe and more an over excited dog out on a field with kids playing football. my parents were rightly pissed off with the owner but they knew the dog wasnt aggressive and could see why the incident happened.

but when the smoke clears on situations like these, understanding the dogs behaviour can result in a dogs life not being wasted and everyone involved being a little more clued in so it doesnt happen again.


EDIT: wanted to add this. dog owners also need to recognise if they have a dog thats human aggresive, denying that you have a human aggressive dog does nobody any good. personally i wouldnt keep one but anyone choosing to do so needs to take strong measures to insure an attack never happens. if those of us with RB dogs can keep them on a lead (yet we know they're big softies) then thats the VERY LEAST that a HA dog owner can do.

kylith

Rare is the child who asks permission to pet a dog, and I've had a couple of near misses with children running up to try touch mine, which is when I get aggressive.

The child has learned now that not all dogs are friendly, but should have had it impressed on them before to never touch a dog without the owner's permission. The owners should have had the dog muzzled if they knew it was likely to bite, but it may be that the dog is not generally disposed to bite, but that your son unwittingly scared or hurt it. If the skin wasn't broken then the dog didn't intend to seriously hurt or attack your son, but to get him to back off; a dog can break skin with practically no effort.

iguana

Sorry OP, but the main fault here lies with your son and ultimately you for not teaching him to not approach dogs without getting the owner's permission first. The main thing you need to do here is to use this as an opportunity to teach your son to never, ever, ever approach any dog without first asking the owner if it's ok and then to only approach as the owner specifies.

Threads like this remind me of when I was about 3-4, I was on a walk with my parents I saw a dog wandering up the street and I went to give it a hug. (It was the 80s so roaming dogs were very common.) My parents told me not to, but I ran from them insisting that all dogs were my friends, tried to hug the dog and got bit. Instead of the expected sympathy (after they checked that I wasn't seriously injured) I got told that it was my own fault for approaching a dog I didn't know. After a few weeks the bruises healed but the lesson I learned will stay with me forever.

**Vai**

cork_buoy wrote: »

My son was playing in the green area of our estate. A neighbours dog was being walked on a lead. My son loves animals, he approached the dog to pet the dog. The dog latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. It took two grown men to separate the dogs grip from his arm leaving him with a wound. He was very shaken up but luckily the wound isn't too bad. How should I deal with this?

By keeping an eye on your son in future. Dog was on a lead but obviously the dog owner is at fault too for allowing it to happen. Fact is, your son shouldnt be petting strange dogs. He's a lucky boy because if the dog had wanted to really hurt him, it could have, very easily.

What is with the recent influx of my dog/the neighbours dog bit me/my child?

Its getting ridiculous at this point.

paddymcgowan

delted

metaoblivia

I'm sympathize OP, but I do agree with the other posters. A child should not approach a dog unless he asks for permission first. Dogs do not attack unless provoked. A few months back, I was walking my dog and a little boy came toward us on a bike with his mother and grandmother behind him, and before I could say anything, he jumped off the bike and put his face right in my dog's face. Now, my dog has never bitten anyone and didn't here either, but I could tell it scared him because it happened so quickly and without warning. It could have very easily turned into a bad situation.

I also had to give up a dog when I was little because a neighborhood kid decided it was okay to open up our gate and walk into our garden when no one was around and pet our cocker spaniel. Our spaniel bit him on the arm and didn't do any serious damage, but we had to give him up because the neighborhood had a 'no bite' policy. I'm sorry the kid got bit, but he shouldn't have been in our garden without permission, and he shouldn't have approached our dog with no one around to monitor.

Children need to be taught to always ask permission first and have the owner present before petting or coming close to an unfamiliar dog, the same way we teach them to check both sides of the road before crossing and not get into cars with strangers.

mathepac

wesf wrote: »

... what more can you do then if its already on a lead? ...

Shorten the lead, put a muzzle on the dog, instruct the dog to "heel" when approached, place yourself between child and dog and tell the child the dog doesn't know him and not to approach as dog may be nervous - it's called effective control. Dog on lead is not = effective control.

DamagedTrax

+1 mathepac

a dog jumping about on lead is not a dog under effective control, its just a dog jumping about on a lead.

mathepac

mattjack wrote: »

...
Its sounds like that dog is a large dog that the owner has little control over yet we've come to the conclusion that the child is in some way responsible.
...

+1 I have long advocated licensing owners rather than pets, particularly the owners of large dangerous pets.

For anyone to attribute blame to an innocent child injured and terrified in these circumstances abrogates any claim to adulthood or supervision rights over a potentially dangerous animal.

GarIT

If I stood an inch from your face in the most aggressive way I could and called you every name I could think of but then you hit me it would be your fault. Therefore if an animal bites a person unless it was physically attacked first it is the animals fault, if the owner can't control the dog and the dog cant control itself it should be put down.

DamagedTrax

GarIT wrote: »

If I stood an inch from your face in the most aggressive way I could and called you every name I could think of but then you hit me it would be your fault. Therefore if an animal bites a person unless it was physically attacked first it is the animals fault, if the owner can't control the dog and the dog cant control itself it should be put down.

thankfully the law disagrees with you.

what a dog perceives as aggression is completely different to what humans perceive as aggression.

GarIT

DamagedTrax wrote: »

thankfully the law disagrees with you.

what a dog perceives as aggression is completely different to what humans perceive as aggression.

All I can say is thats unfortunate, I don't think there is any excuse for an animal attacking a person ever.

artyeva

GarIT wrote: »

All I can say is thats unfortunate, I don't think there is any excuse for an animal attacking a person ever.

i've been quietly reading a few of these threads on here the past few days and the above attitude/opinion never ceases to amaze me. if you're the type of person who cannot differentiate between animal and human behaviour and understand their differences then i hope you don't ever own one.

GarIT

artyeva wrote: »

i've been quietly reading a few of these threads on here the past few days and the above attitude/opinion never ceases to amaze me. if you're the type of person who cannot differentiate between animal and human behaviour and understand their differences then i hope you don't ever own one.

I know animals don't behave or think rationally like people. They still shouldn't get special treatment, they should never get the chance to hurt anyone and if they do something should be done about it. I would never own an animal I think they are disgusting and belong in the wild not in a city.

The animals life is worth nothing, its known to have bitten people so it should be stopped from repeating itself. Also its the owners fault for not controling the dog and the pwner should be fined and banned from having pets.

SpyderCats

to be fair its not just children that can pet or touch dogs without the owners permission I've seen grown men and women do the same.

I personally think its unfair to blame either the child or the dog, its the owners fault IMO. Children and dogs have a lot in common as they both act on impulse. Even if they have been warned not to pet strange dogs ( children that is )

However if I was walking down the road with my child and suddenly a neighbours child ran out to say hello to my child but my child got a fright and punched the neighbours child in the nose whose fault would it be? It would be my fault and my responsibility, same goes for the owner of the dog.

ppink

GarIT wrote: »

I would never own an animal I think they are disgusting and belong in the wild not in a city.

I think you have strayed into the wrong forum so:)

GarIT

ppink wrote: »

I think you have strayed into the wrong forum so:)

Its a forum for discussing issues with animals, not a forum for animal lovers, I'm in the right place.

artyeva

GarIT wrote: »

.

coming into an animals and pet issues forum and spouting what you're spouting - trolltastic

GarIT

artyeva wrote: »

coming into an animals and pet issues forum and spouting what you're spouting - trolltastic

I came to the animal and pe issues forum to discuss an issue with a pet, what is the problem with that. If you dont want to discuss the topic and are going to dodge answering why are you here?

From the Charter:

This board is intended for the discussion of;
- the ownership of all pets (ie feeding,care etc.),*
- help with locating pets of all kinds*
- general discussion about pets and animals, their general welfare and animal-related topics.

This in an discussion about pets, particularly one pet. If there is a problem report me, if there is not stop whinging because someone doesn't love animals like you and discuss the topic at hand, I dont see why an animal should get the chance to hurt a human because I think humans are more important than any animal and I dont see why it should get away with it when it does hurt someone, you appear to disagree so explain why?

You can't just accuse someone of being a troll because you dont like what they are saying. I'm not troling im stating my genuine opnion.

DamagedTrax

GarIT wrote: »

All I can say is thats unfortunate

ah well..

i was gonna reply properly and then i remembered you posting this a few weeks back - "IMO nobody should be allowed keep a dog as a pet but that's another days work."

you sir, are an idiot

Hellrazer

GarIT wrote: »

Its a forum for discussing issues with animals, not a forum for animal lovers, I'm in the right place.

No you are trolling.And if youre not youre posting to stir things up.
Consider this a warning.

LucyBliss

SpyderCats wrote: »

to be fair its not just children that can pet or touch dogs without the owners permission I've seen grown men and women do the same.

This is very true. On many occasions, adults have stooped in front of my dog Rosie to pet her as we are walking past them. So the first few times I didn't have a chance to pull her closer, even though she wasn't that far from me to begin with - I don't let either dog I'm walking on a long lead when walking on footpaths where people are passing.
Rosie is small and she is cute and it is very fortunate that she is receptive to being petted and isn't as reactive as Meg, who would be on my other side. Meg wouldn't bite but she would back away - she doesn't care to be approached by strangers until she is sure of them, even in the house.

So now I pull Rosie away and say to the person 'please don't. You shouldn't do that to a dog you don't know as it could be dangerous'. I mean, what if Rosie had hurt herself unbeknowst to me or suddenly started feeling unwell and decided to tell the person to F off in her own way.
Last month, I was walking the dogs through NUIG, minding my own business. These two guys were walking towards us, one decided to bark at the dogs and the other leaned in to Rosie. I pulled her away, told him don't do that, blah blah, and he called me a stuck up bitch and said he hoped me and dogs got hit by a car. So I told him to go f**k himself and we kept walking. Because I'm classy when I'm annoyed and someone is bothering my dogs.

Frankly, I'm surprised more people aren't bitten because it seems the majority of people out there do not know how to approach a strange dog.

Hellrazer

DamagedTrax wrote: »

ah well..

i was gonna reply properly and then i remembered you posting this a few weeks back - "IMO nobody should be allowed keep a dog as a pet but that's another days work."

you sir, are an idiot

Damaged trax-No need for the personal attack.Id already warned the user before you edited your post.

DamagedTrax

yea sorry but he was at the same lark a few weeks back so i just felt like expressing my opinion

Cherry Blossom

LucyBliss wrote: »

Meg wouldn't bite but she would back away - she doesn't care to be approached by strangers until she is sure of them, even in the house.

This is the reaction my pup has to being approached by strangers, so I approach people randomly - ask them to give my dog a treat, then to pat him on the head, then give him another treat. It is already making a massive difference. People are freely acknowledging here that this is common so why are people not desensitising their dogs in a controlled manner to strangers approaching them and trying to pat them on the head? Everytime you hand out the riot list to someone who does this you have missed both an opportunity to work on desensitising the dog and to socialise that dog with another person. You also reinforce the dogs train of thought that he has reason to fear being approached in this manner. A dog can be desensitised to pretty much anything if you go about it correctly and if it's something that may at some stage pose a problem, why would you carry on reinforcing to the dog that there is good reason to act in this way by stopping interaction with the person approaching. While you are carrying out this task explain to the person that your dog is nervous of being approached in this manner which could eventually led to someone being bit, so you are carrying out this process so he/she learns that being approached by a stranger like this means good things are about to happen. You can also explain that actually pretty much all dogs feel threatened to be approached like this by a stranger and most dog owners do not train them out of it so it's always better to ask first than get bitten first.

GarIT

Hellrazer wrote: »

No you are trolling.And if youre not youre posting to stir things up.
Consider this a warning.

I'm just giving my opnion like everyone is welcome to. Its my opnion that people should not be allowed keep animals, there are too many risks involved and it causes problems. Just like the case here.

SpyderCats

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

This is the reaction my pup has to being approached by strangers, so I approach people randomly - ask them to give my dog a treat, then to pat him on the head, then give him another treat. It is already making a massive difference. People are freely acknowledging here that this is common so why are people not desensitising their dogs in a controlled manner to strangers approaching them and trying to pat them on the head? Everytime you hand out the riot list to someone who does this you have missed both an opportunity to work on desensitising the dog and to socialise that dog with another person. You also reinforce the dogs train of thought that he has reason to fear being approached in this manner. A dog can be desensitised to pretty much anything if you go about it correctly and if it's something that may at some stage pose a problem, why would you carry on reinforcing to the dog that there is good reason to act in this way by stopping interaction with the person approaching. While you are carrying out this task explain to the person that your dog is nervous of being approached in this manner which could eventually led to someone being bit, so you are carrying out this process so he/she learns that being approached by a stranger like this means good things are about to happen. You can also explain that actually pretty much all dogs feel threatened to be approached like this by a stranger and most dog owners do not train them out of it so it's always better to ask first than get bitten first.

That's a really good idea great advice!

DamagedTrax

GarIT wrote: »

I'm just giving my opnion like everyone is welcome to. Its my opnion that people should not be allowed keep animals, there are too many risks involved and it causes problems. Just like the case here.

should people be allowed have cars?

should people be allowed cycle?

should people be allowed play sport?

should people be allowed drink?

should people be allowed cross the street?

there are more injuries and deaths related to any of the above than those related to animals.

you clearly dont like animals and are expressing a view based on that dislike rather than one based on logic or any kind of facts. infact if we were to apply your logic to everyday life we would have to shun all human interaction and lock ourselves inside a padded room.

red sean

GarIT wrote: »

I'm just giving my opnion like everyone is welcome to. Its my opnion that people should not be allowed keep animals, there are too many risks involved and it causes problems. Just like the case here.

This is a very extremist view. Walking down the street is dangerous but we all do , sometimes unnecessarily as well!
If the old people who were robbed and beaten in Limerick and Galway recently had pets to protect them, I doubt very much if they would have been subjected to such savagery. And that was carried out by humans not dogs.

However back on topic, did the dog owner at any time warn the child not to touch the dog? This is probably the first thing a Garda would ask.

Cherry Blossom

GarIT, if you want a discussion on how disgusting, worthless, pointless etc. animals are then go and start a thread on the topic, preferably in AH where the responses such a thread would deserve will more permissible. It you continue with your attempts to bait posters in this forum you'll find yourself banned from it . . . not that you'll care much.

Can everyone else please stay on topic, Thanks.

cork_buoy

red sean wrote: »

However back on topic, did the dog owner at any time warn the child not to touch the dog? This is probably the first thing a Garda would ask.

No... the owner of the dog did not warn my son. They have never seen the dog act like this before apparently. I agree that the child was not blameless in this situation and neither am I for that matter. It was naive of him to approach a strange dog. I have not educated my son as to the dangers of dogs. I am sure there are many parents who have not. My questions have been answered. Thank you all for your feedback.

DamagedTrax

cork_buoy wrote: »

I have not educated my son as to the dangers of dogs. I am sure there are many parents who have not. My questions have been answered. Thank you all for your feedback.

i wouldnt educate him as to the 'dangers of dogs', he's already had a fright and doing so may scare him off completely.

it would be best to educate him as to the correct way to approach a dog. im sure you would prefer your son regain his confidence in them and be able to happily stroke a dog in the future rather than look at them as something dangerous that should be avoided if at all possible?

LucyBliss

AJ, that is great advice and it's certainly something that I would bear in mind if another pup enters the house at some point. But I'd just like to say that I never read anyone the riot act. I ask them politely. I'm don't go looking for confrontations, but those guys that day started it (I know. What am I, ten years old?!) as they started barking at the dogs as they approached and the last time someone did that, they made a kick at the dogs so I was already pissed off.
But I don't care for people just swooping down towards my dogs without asking first. That's just how I am.

Rosie doesn't have a problem with being petted by anyone. She's quite happy to be attended to. The only danger with petting Rosie is that she give you the sad eyes if you stop and next thing you know, it's three hours later and you've gotten nothing done.

Meg doesn't like being approached by strangers until she gets to know them, even in the house, like I said. But, and in hindsight I should have added this, is that if you ignore her and pay her no heed, she will come right over to you in three minutes (less if she sees you petting Rosie and Jack) and next thing you know, she's your new BFF. Meg is a good dog, obedient and companionable to a fault, but if you introduce her to a situation she does not feel comfortable in, she just sits down and refuses to move. She is incredibly tenacious when she wants to be. I brought her to puppy classes. She wouldn't do a thing, not for different types of treats, not for encouragement, she just sat there and looked at me blankly. But I persevered and she did everything once we were in our own garden or out on our walks. Even though the person running the classes gave out yards to me because she reckoned that I wasn't taking the classes seriously and made me feel like a real twit in front of everyone, we kept going until the end of the classes that term.

I'm not using that as an excuse for not bringing her over to strangers but she marches to her own drum and some things that work for my other dogs, they just don't work for her. Having said that, on the occasions that we're out and I meet people I know that she hasn't met before, she's quite happy to sit beside me and then sniff them when they're not paying any attention to her. So I'm not really reinforcing anything in the dogs. I'm just asking people not to pet my dogs, which I'm perfectly entitled to do.

But like I said, that is great advice you gave and certainly something I would take on board with a different dog. So thank you for that.

JustAThought

I was very sorry to read that your child was bitten by a dog : he must have got a really big fright. As a dogowner I am always shocked by how many parents let their kids run up to my ( big & hyper) dog to pet or try to hug it: and equally how often they let them do it with food in their hands, or from the dogs blind side. I like that parents encourage their kids not to be afraid but I ALWAYS tell the kids to ask permission from their parents & use this to make the dog sit & bribe her to be good.

It's a really good idea to impress this on kids ; thou your poor child will hardly be running up to let them I'm guessing after his experience.

However; what someone has touched on here is that there is a list if restricted breed dogs which are supposed to be kept muzzled when out in public at all times. This also goes for dogs ( as
Far as I know) are Crosses of these breeds. If
This dog is a restricted breed dog and was not muzzled then you should be talking to the owners and impressing on them that they were in breach of the law & insist that the dog be muzzled when out in future . You will have some comeback & clout with this; unpopular thou this may make me.

However I think it would be extremely unfair on the dog if it was put to sleep because it was approached while out with owners and on a lead & permission not asked; it really would be unfair.

My dog had stitches in her ear this past week and a few times in horror when out walking her on the lead I saw people reaching to pet her which usually also means stroking her silky ears. You really never know what's going on. It's a hard way to learn a lesson but believe me, dogs are very strong & that had a dog wanted to do damage it would have.

I hope your boy gets over his fright and bad experience quickly.