Im in total shock as of the last two days . Its been kind of hot and I've enjoyed my dogs company so they have been inside the last few days playing with my daughter who is 2 1/2 . I have two 2 year old german short hair girls and my female white boxer Valentine who is 5 years old. Its been nothing out of the ordnary everyone was having a good time . My daughter and The tree dogs were playing in the front room , I was a few feet from them and out of the blue my boxer jumped up and attacked my daughter. I was so shocked I didn't know what Happened , I thought she had just pushed her back . My daughter was so upset she had bit her lip and is now scared of the box. Well she did not draw blood but grabed my daughter chin and its swelled up to the size of a large grape. Swelling went down now its all pretty colors of purple and has a big scab. Im so upset I don't know what to do. Valentine is the sweetest girl in the world , would never hurt a fry she'd rather lick you to death then hurt anyone. I don't know what caused this behaviour . My daughter did not provoke her any way . She was actualy talking to me about her tennis balls at the time it happened. Im at my wits end. I love my dog she is like my daughter but I got to put my really daughter first . I don't want this to ever happen again , I would have perfered my dog attack me then my child. I just don't understand how this could have happened and now I feel if I don't get rid of the dog , I would be in neglect to my daughter if it happens again. It may be a one time thing and never happen again or its something could happen tomorrow I just don't know if I want to chance it . What do you think ?
Boxer trouble
- Thread starter BeccaP
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srennie
Super Boxer
I know that had to be very frightening for you and your daughter but take a deep breath and take a step back and try to take the emotion out of it for a moment. You called the incident an 'attack'....but then say it was a single snap that did not draw blood. You said they were all playing....was it excited play? It could be your boxer just got wrapped up in the moment and was inviting your daughter to play...like dogs do. My boston jumps and nips at my boxers face when he wants to get her attention. It could have been an instance of bad judgement on her part.
That said, how much interaction do the dogs have with your daughter on a daily basis? You said they have been inside the last few days...does that mean that they are normally not involved with what goes on inside on a daily basis?
I wasn't there so I can't say what happened but try to take a step back and look at it from the outside. Was it excitement, play, aggression? Did your daughter have food or a toy she may have wanted. Have you throuroughly socialized your dogs with your daughter and taught them what is and is not acceptable behavior around her? Can you manage the boxer inside with baby gates until you find someone to come in and help you evaluate the dynamic? If you do decide to get rid of her, please contact a boxer rescue and don't take her to the shelter!!
That said, how much interaction do the dogs have with your daughter on a daily basis? You said they have been inside the last few days...does that mean that they are normally not involved with what goes on inside on a daily basis?
I wasn't there so I can't say what happened but try to take a step back and look at it from the outside. Was it excitement, play, aggression? Did your daughter have food or a toy she may have wanted. Have you throuroughly socialized your dogs with your daughter and taught them what is and is not acceptable behavior around her? Can you manage the boxer inside with baby gates until you find someone to come in and help you evaluate the dynamic? If you do decide to get rid of her, please contact a boxer rescue and don't take her to the shelter!!
nalabear
Super Boxer
I know how you feel. I had an Akita who would never harm my children yet bit another girl in the face. I did chose to remove her from our home because I was terrified she would do that to my children someday and the girls parents wanted her gone put down period. I disagreed witht he put down part. But I really didn't know anything about dogs and considered this an aggressive attack from an unstable dog. I know now I was way off base :(
With this said if your boxer was really attacking your daughter it would not have stopped at a single snap. When dogs correct another dog they bite the muzzle of the offending dog to warn them off. Usually not hard enough to inflict injury but a bite none the less. Unfortunately our skin is not as strong as a dogs so we tend to come out worse the wear. As the above post said really take the emotion out of it and rehearse in your mind exactly what your daughter was doing at the time this incident occurd. And what your boxer was doing. Hire someone who can help you to understand what happened and help you to keep this from happening in the future.
I am so sorry this has happened and in the end your daughter's safety must be assessed. keep us posted.
With this said if your boxer was really attacking your daughter it would not have stopped at a single snap. When dogs correct another dog they bite the muzzle of the offending dog to warn them off. Usually not hard enough to inflict injury but a bite none the less. Unfortunately our skin is not as strong as a dogs so we tend to come out worse the wear. As the above post said really take the emotion out of it and rehearse in your mind exactly what your daughter was doing at the time this incident occurd. And what your boxer was doing. Hire someone who can help you to understand what happened and help you to keep this from happening in the future.
I am so sorry this has happened and in the end your daughter's safety must be assessed. keep us posted.
Thank you for info
My dogs all sleep inside at night , they have thier own room so to speak and we put a baby gate up at night . When the weather is really nice they are generaly outside during the day but we go out every evening and play ball with them for about an hour before they come in , in the evening . If the weather is icky or too hot and so on they come in and stay in for most the day. In the winter , they are in most the time unless its really nice out. They are great dogs all of them , my daughter is pretty much growing up with them. I think it was kind of a fluke thing , Val has never been like that in the whole 5 years she has been with me . My husband and I have been talking over because she hasn't done anything like this before , we are going to probaly take her to the vet and see if everthing is ok and go from there . We are probally going to keep her as of now and Im just going to keep things a little less stressful around Val when they are playing . After I thought about it abit , the only thing I could think of could have been that my daughter was getting alittle loud and screaming and squeeling around her which was making the dog whine a bit which makes me think she couldn't handle all the noise and excitiment . So when they are inside Im going to keep a much better eye out and If she seems at all Upset or acting odd , Im going to put her in her room . There is no second changes when it comes to my Child . I love my dog dearly , she is my hairy daughter but my blood daughter comes first . So if anything remotly happens like this again Im going to have to find her a new home. She seems to be fine as of the last few days , So we wil see what happens from here .Goodness thats horible :( I would feel the same way , Im having a hard time with this situation . On one hand , I think I should just get her out of the house now , On a another , I think it could have been a fluke thing and never happen again. I just don't know .
As I think about, I think that Val was getting alittle bit upset with all the noise and Screaming and squeeling my daughter was doing and starting to whine . I should have done something at that point and I didn't think about it at the time. My husband and I have been talking it over for a few days now and are going to wait it out . We are going to take the dog to the vet and make sure everythig is ok and Im just going to be far more careful. If my dog starts actting funny or if my daughter gets to Hyper around her Im just going to take my dog to another area away from my child. The dogs stay in at night and they have their own room , so to speak . The last few days she the same as she has always been . aIt could have just been a fluke thing that day . She isn't getting a second chance though, My daughter comes first , If she does anything remotly to what happened the other day Im going to have to get her a new home. I love my dog but my daughter comes first .
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