Our boxer attacked our child

[Darbysmom1]

You know when I was a teenager I was baby sitting a child of a friend of the families and they had a mix dog who was 6 years old and they had raised the dog from a puppy very sweet dog not alpha at all. Well the dog for no reason woke up out of sleep and attacked the child. Animal control did an MRI and found out the dog had a brain tumor that caused the attack. Of course the dog was put to sleep but he may have a problem? I am not a vet but you never know. It seems so weird he would do that. With this dog he did the same thing lunging I had to have stitches on my hands from trying to pull the baby from him. The vet said he could have had it for years and never had a problem. Just a thought. Also work with a rescue and I know we would not be able to take him even placing him in a childless home if the dog ever attacked in the future the rescue could be liable. But it doesnt hurt I guess the talk to the local rescue. See what they are willing to risk.

 

[Brynn1508]

Our son is doing better- he's still shaken and saying things like "bad dog pain" and barking but I really hope he's not terrified of dogs after this. He's really swollen esp around one eye and has a toothmark bruise right on the bone on the corner of his eye- that one scares me b/c it means his eye was missed by less than a cm But thank God b/c it could have been much worse.

Not sure if this will put you mind at ease for your boy- but as a child I was attacked by my aunt’s dog. (I however provoked by hanging on the dog when he was done playing. I was 5 so I thought he was my "toy" and by no means was I playing to rough he just had enough kid time...) any way he bit me right on the face and to this day I have a small scar under my one eye. Less then a cm away from the eye - so I realize how scary that is. I am now a boxer lover through and through and besides being nervous for a year or two (according to my mom) I got over it completely.
I would also not "blame" the dog in front of your boy. I think this will feed into his fear. My mom would tell me.. "the doggie was tired and did not want to play anymore- he did not mean to hurt you." I think this helped me realize all dogs have limits and sometimes you cannot help what they do (like this case) but you should not be afraid of all dogs. Good luck and I hope your son is doing better.

 

[MyJoy]

So sorry...

This is so sad that you have to go through this, I just wanted to send you some nice thoughts, it must be completely heartbreaking for you...
All the best...
Jen and Joy

 

[harvey-bup]

This is a horrific state of affairs and I can appreciate how you feel but I would do all I could to: A. find the reason this happened,like Lola's mum suggested is your mum sure there was no provocation,as Zeus was so well loved maybe she did'nt pay full attention to what was going on between him and your son (this is not meant as a crititism of your mum but it can happen) B. check out fully his neurological health i.e MRI etc this could give you reasons for this unexpected behaviour.I agree with you that chances can not be taken but Zeus is still part of your family.I truly hope you can sort out the problem for both your sake and Zeus.I pray your young lad is recovering and hope he can share the love a dog can bring if not Zeus then another dog sometime.Best wishes to you ,your son and to Zeus.

 

[Shakira's Ma]

I mean this dog put up with ear tugging, eye poking, you name it... well, today, that all changed.

First off I am very sorry that this happened to your son. I agree that a vet appointment would be in order for Zeus, especially if he has always been the greatest dog around children, something could be out of whack in his brain as far as a tumor and you did mention head tremors. I am also going to bring something else up that no one else has thus far. In what I just copied here in your quote, it sounds like your child has not been properly taught how to handle an animal. Dogs and any animal as far as that goes need respect just like children. I would never allow a child to do these things to an animal, every living creature has its breaking point. I know to bite is not acceptable, but if Zeus really wanted to hurt your child he would have and he would have broken skin and there would have been bleeding. I am not dismissing anything here as far as the severity of the biting, but I do think that children should be taught how to interact with an animal and not ear tugging, eye poking and you name it. JMO, dogs deserve to be handled with love. Now you say your child is only two, you can still tell him "Easy" or "Nice" they learn the proper way to handle an animal at a very early age. After a vets visit proves that Zeus is 100%, then I would work on training the child. I had a child once in my daycare that was two and he used to bite their dog and make it bleed, the parents would just say "What can I do about it it's his dog" ARGGGGG, I can't tell you how mad that made me, the child is no longer in my daycare as I will not tolerate him treating my dogs that way.

 

[Cami]

Just out of curiosity.....
How does a full grown Boxer "attack" a 2 year old child and not draw blood?

 

[jaimie]

Sorry this happened!

Unfortunately you may have to just put him down. In the rescue I work with dogs that have bitten regardless of drawing blood are denied. Period! Who's to say who may be next? An adult? Other children playing outside? That is the thing that is the scariest. Are you sure there wasn't SOMETHING that provoked him? A toy? A treat/bone? My neighbors had a boxer mix that was sleeping outside, their neighbor kid walked into the garage & past him..he was suddenly bitten by the dog-in the face. They were told by the rescues, shelters, AC, Humane Society that they were better off putting him down, that they had non biting dogs they were putting down for lack of room and a biting dog would just be put down, regardless of who it bit.

I am sorry, I feel for you, your child & Zeus it is such a sad thing to have to deal with.

 

[Abbey's Mom]

So sorry to hear about your situation

Like Brynn1508, I too was bitten in the face by a dog as a child. I had a scar on my face for years but it eventually went away. I don't recall the exact circumstances (I think I surprised her), but I don't like Cocker Spaniels (ours was a mix) to this day. We didn't get rid of the dog, she didn't bite me (or anyone) again and I wasn't afraid of her or other dogs, but I did garner a healthy dose of respect for them.

It has always been my experience that animals do not attack "for no reason". Whether it's a health issue, an environmental issue or some other treatment issue, clearly there is a reason you have not been able to identify. Personally, this incident isn't enough to make me surrender a member of my family. I respect that it is for you, but we obviously come from a different perspective.

If you're still considering options for Zeus, I would love to take a chance on him. Abbey could use a playmate that is more her size and his history doesn't scare me one bit (no pun intended).

 

[Shakira's Ma]

Just out of curiosity.....
How does a full grown Boxer "attack" a 2 year old child and not draw blood?

Exactly.....

 

[Maniago]

Not sure if this will put you mind at ease for your boy- but as a child I was attacked by my aunt’s dog. (I however provoked by hanging on the dog when he was done playing.

Along the same note, when my daughter was three she tried to take a towel that a fully grown pit bull was laying on. Leigha, the pit had be rescued from a monster that had fought her on two occasions. Leighs accidentally scratched my daughter when jumping up to get away. While having butterfly stitches and a ER visit was terrifying for a three year old she now loves dogs. Children rebound quicker than you think. This was not an attack, but an accident and not the same as your child experienced. The dog lived a long happy life, but she was my aunts who had no small children.