Potential Disaster Advice

[Kisa]

Right now I have 2 dogs: a one year old German Shepherd and a 6 year old Bichon Frise/Beagle mix recently inherited. The past few times my mom walked the dogs, a 4 or so year old kid will run out of his house, top speed, to attack my Shepherd. I say "attack" because he won't walk over and gently pet him. He will race over, grab his head, and press my dog's face into his face. My dog is well trained and very gentle, so I'm sure he won't fear bite, but it still spooks my dog to have a little brat he doesn't know run at him and maul his face. The mother it totally clueless. She will half-heartedly call out to her som from inside the house to slow down, come back inside. She will say nothing to us and says nothing to her son about not touching stange dogs.

My dog is a bit skittish, but would never bite. However, other dogs aren't so friendly. I would like to get this to stop so (1) he will stop harassing my dog who I am trying to train to relax on walks and (2) so he won't try this with a less docile dog and get his face ripped off. I'm not sure who to complain to though. I'm not convinced talking to the mother will do anything; I think she will either shrug it off or get defensive; but I don't think it's serious enough to call the cops or child protective services about. If this happens while I'm walking the dogs, which it hasn't yet, I will physically place myself in front of my dog and tell this kid "do NOT touch my dog"!!! Besides that, I don;t know what else I can do.

[csquared]

Did you see the news clip of the Argentine Mastiff that rescued from a pond? The news reporter put her face up to the dog and the dog took a chuck out of her cheek. It doesn't matter how well trained your dog is. It can happen. You are right to be concerned.

You and your mother both need to stop this. Yell, scream, what ever it takes, stop him. Also, send a letter to the house. Let them know the actions you will be taking and that this WILL stop.

You may also want to consider taking a different route when walking the dogs. Maybe the other side of the street?

Here is the clip.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Did you see the news clip of the Argentine Mastiff that rescued from a pond?

News Bimbo: You're gorgeous.

Dog: I WILL BITE YOU IF YOU KEEP GRABBING ME LIKE THAT

News Bimbo: *keeps grabbing

Dog: NOM

I never did find out what happened to the dog, but it would suck if it had to be put down because the news bimbo is a dumbass.

[kpzra]

Any dog can snap out of the blue. Our first GSD decided to nip at my daughter (2 weeks old and sleeping in her swing) after years of being a good dog towards kids. Talk to the mother without the dogs with you. If your dog bites him, no matter what he was doing, it's your ass. A different route would be the best choice in all honesty. It's up to you to prevent anything happening as you will be responsible for any consequences if your dog bites anyone.

[MoonCat]

I totally agree that you might want to try taking a different route, if possible. Any dog will bite if provoked enough, and it sounds like this kid is completely uncontrollable. And of course if that should happen, you know the mother would blame you. It sucks and it's unfair, and you can try talking to the mother without your dog present, but honestly it seems like she's completely clueless and you'd be better off taking other steps to keep out of that kid's way.

[Squeaksmyalias]

Even the best train dogs will fear bite unfortunately, I have a skiddish dog, she is sweet, loving and well trained, but if she felt she had to defend herself, she would. If you are in a situation where there is a chance that the dog might feel it needs to defend its self (like it being grabbed by a child, kids have sharp nails, or the dog might think the kid is going to bite it. Keep in mind if the dog is stressed by the child doing this they might want to flee, getting away sometimes means nipping, biting, shoving or scratching.) you either get it out of that situation asap (normally the best idea), or you protect the dog by body blocking, yelling or another method.

Best choice if you don't want to talk to the Mom (which could be considered a covering your butt idea), take different route.

Before I say anything else, you want to keep your dog out of a situation that could put it into harms way, along with yourself and the other dog. Naturally dogs (even well trained nice dogs) will do things to protect the pack and themselves, if your dog feels like it needs to protect itself, you or a weaker pack member it WILL try to do so, I'm not saying attack, but be a barrier between you and the possible threat. Also a fear reaction is instinctive, I've had a wonderful gentle dog bite me out of fear, then realize he knew me and was guilt ridden for weeks after. I've also had great dog when he first met me try to protect the owner's child and the elderly dog in the house, by body blocking and barking to prevent me from going near either of them.

If you can't or don't want to do avoid the area where the kid is. The first thing you do is you collect the dogs closer to you and on the opposite side of where the kid comes from as you walk past the house, more control, easier for you to get between the child and the dogs. Basically you are becoming the boss of the situation, you are showing the dog you are in charge and the one doing the protecting and they have no need to step in as the protector.

The second the child comes out its just like you would say to a dog who you wanted to stay, you say " NO! Stay there." To the child, if the child responds good, praise them "good job, you stay there" repeat as needed, continue on your walk or turn around and leave the area. Mom has an issue with you doing that, too bad, these are your dogs, you don't want the kid handling them, it is your right to tell the kid to get the heck away from them, be firm. The other option is as soon as you see the kid and they haven't noticed you yet, turn right away and walk away, tugging the dogs if needed, it's similar to if you saw a loose dog near by, you are getting the dogs out of a situation you don't want them to be in.

You are not obligated to be nice, these are your dogs, you are in control of what happens to them, you choose who handles them and if someone can't do it the way you want you can tell them now. It is far better to say "NO get away from my dog" and seem like a mean person, (to the human, your dog will love you for it,) then to have the dog accidentally hurt the kid, even if its just running over them to get away. Remember that, repeat it to yourself if necessary. You can PM me if you have any questions or want me to clarify anything since it's late and god knows if I've made any sense.

[Seshat]

For your protection and that of your dogs, send a MAILED letter, hardcopy, to the police, child services and animal protection, informing them of the situation and requesting advice.

Keep a copy. Also keep a copy of what their responses are. And if they offer advice, take it.

If there is such a thing where you are, train your dogs and get a Canine Good Citizen certificate or equivalent.

This way, if things do go south, you - and your dog - have evidence that you have done what is humanly possible to get assistance in the situation. And the CGC certificate shows that your dog is unlikely to have bitten without provocation.


Other than that, the only advice I would have is stuff people have already said: different walking paths, confronting the parent (noun) and asking her to parent (verb) her child, or treating the child the way you'd treat a disobedient dog.

[Maria]

For your protection and that of your dogs, send a MAILED letter, hardcopy, to the police, child services and animal protection, informing them of the situation and requesting advice.

Keep a copy. Also keep a copy of what their responses are. And if they offer advice, take it.

You've got some good advice here, but I wanted to highlight this in particular because it may sound like overkill, but it is REALLY good advice. You can also contact your local humane organizations for further advice. They'll be able to point you to resources in your local area, for solving the immediate problem and for helping your dog learn good sucky-human-coping skills in general (and they'll probably have some good tips for helping a skittish dog come out of his shell, if that might be useful to you).

And please don't believe that your dog would never bite. I get what you're saying, because my first dog was one of those "perfect dogs" who would never, ever bite. But my 7-year-old brother did exactly what you describe, just one time too many, and that dog DID haul off and bite my brother on the cheekbone, hard enough to give him a black eye. My brother learned some healthy respect for animals that day, so I'm actually kind of glad my dog gave the kid a good, relatively harmless beat-down. But you can imagine how badly that would have gone if it had been someone else's kid, and it seriously sucked to have it happen at all, so please, learn from my mistaken belief, there.

[Kisa]

And please don't believe that your dog would never bite. I get what you're saying, because my first dog was one of those "perfect dogs" who would never, ever bite. But my 7-year-old brother did exactly what you describe, just one time too many, and that dog DID haul off and bite my brother on the cheekbone, hard enough to give him a black eye.

Don't worry, I don't believe that. Not for a second. Any animal, if it feels threatened, can and will lash out to protect itself. I've felt the power of his jaws when he play bites and when he accidentally nips my fingers when I give him a treat. It hurts. It doesn't break the skin, but it hurts. If a gentle, accidental bite hurts like that, I can't imagine what would happen if he bit to do damage. I probably should have said "he's unlikely to bite" instead of "he won't bite".