Sad & mad at my boxer!

[akmbeatty]

It has been almost three months since the worst day of my life. My Boxer of 6 1/2 years visiously attcked my two year old son & put him in the hospital for a week. My son suffered a lot of scarring to his face, and had several muscles detached in his shoulder. Besides the scars, he is doing wonderfully. My husband and I have been sick over the whole ordeal. We obviously put our dog to sleep - but he was soo much more than our dog - it was like we lost a member of our family. Our boxer never even growled at our children & we were soo absolutely shocked & sickened. We trusted him completely. We are hurt, sad & mad that he did such a thing. And everytime I start to miss him, I almost feel guilty. I saw this website only after this happened & I wished I saw it before. To everyone who reads this - please be careful when your dogs are around small children. I think we trusted our dog too much, we didn't give him enough "alone time" & we let him eat around the children. I wish someone would have told us because it might not have happened. Boxers are such strong and beautiful dogs - but that strength is what caused soo much damage to our baby. If we wouldn't have been in the room at the time - I know for a fact that we would have lost our child - it was that violent. I think we forget that they truly are just animals and instinct plays a large role in their behavior. Our dog was never trained to be mean, never abused, was spolied to high-heaven & still snapped. In his mind, he probably thought he was superior because he was larger than our son. I will end with saying that I know in my heart that our dog loved my children and loved being a part of our family. Up until this incident, he was the best dog & best friend anyone could hope for. We miss him and we forgive him because we know we are somewhat to blame. I envy all of you who still have your boxers to go home to each and every day. I wish I could pet him, hold him and smell him one more time.....I wish I could look into those big, brown, loving eyes one more time....I will miss cleaning all those spit marks off the walls & off of my car windows.....please cherish every minute, because they won't be with you forever....

 

[Gretchen B]

Seeing your post, it looks like you are new to Boxerworld. I would like to welcome you and say that I am so sorry for what happened to your son and the difficult decision you had to make in putting your dog down. It is such a heartbreaking story. I will say a little prayer for your son, your dog and your family. Please know that you are in a great place here at BW to discuss your grief, your memories, anything Boxer related and then some. Please keep us posted on how your son is doing.

 

[Rlr.Giraffe]

What a terrible situation, I am so sorry that happened to you all, and your whole family is in my thoughts.

 

[AParker]

I am so sorry to hear of what happened but I want to say thanks for sharing. I think we all want to believe that our dogs will forever be gentle with those we love but like you said, they are animals. My fur "kids" are well socialized with all ages of children but I have sensed a frustration from my male when he has had enough and he seems to get short tempered, my female on the other hand doesn't seem to have a care in the world!
This is a good eye opening lesson for everyone, you can never be to careful!
I hope the best for your son and family, please let us know how he is doing.

 

[lafsalot]

Terrible situation that could happen to any one of us - as much as we think of them as family members, they are still animals that can act unpredictably. So glad to hear that our son is on the mend. Please do keep us posted - Cathy

 

[Kbryant]

Oh, this is such a heartbreaking story! I'm so sad for your loss, for your son's pain and for what you have to feel right now to get through all this. I"m so sorry, wish I had some answers. I can't imagine what you are going through. I wish your son all the best in his recovery and hope that you can somehow get through this and that the pain will lessen over time. My thoughts are with you. Karen

 

[Pudge]

Thank you for posting this story. It is a good story for us all to hear. We all adore our pets and could never imagine anything like that happening, but it can. I am glad that your son is okay physically, but how about mentally? It must have been so difficult for you to put your dog to sleep, but you had no choice. Dogs, like people, can snap at any time. This could have happened to any one of us. All that you can do when these terrible things happen in life is to deal with them the best way you can and I know that you did the right thing. How about you, how are you feeling? I think it is totally normal to miss your dog and wish that this didn’t happen, he was a big part of your life and you have lots of good memories with him. At one time he was a good, sweet dog and that is who you miss. My heart goes out to you, what a heartbreak. Take care.

Robyn

 

[Madison's Mom]

Even though you are hurting from your loss and the injuries done to your son I wanted to thank you for posting. Your post points out some big truths and I do appreciate you sharing. Even though I love both my boxers with all my heart I know that I must be the responsible one and watch them around children at all times because this can happen to anyone of us. Don't feel quilty, you did what you had to do.

I'm sorry that you had to put your dog down and I'm sorry that your son has had to suffer..... I hope your son is well on his way to recovery.

Tammy

 

[TazzysMom]

I can't even find the words so I will include you in my prayers for you and your entire family. I hope your son heals quickly.

 

[Boxer_21]

I'm sorry to hear about what happened between your son and your dog. I'm sure it was a very difficult time for you and your entire family.

From a different point of view, it is possible that the dog isn't completely to blame. There have been several stories shared here in which a great dog suddenly attacks due to a hidden injury or illness. This obviously isn't the case 100% of the time, but it is a possibility.

- Mandy