Dog bit toddler.

The marks to me look like he had the boy's face entirely in his mouth...and inhibited his bite to discipline the boy. This is the way a b*tch displines a puppy...whole head in the mouth...pressure only until a yelp comes...then quick release.

Many dogs do not like to be touched when they are laying down...and some pile up like my hounds. There is also the possibility that this dog, a herder...was in a position where he was defending his people from this interloper whom he does not like overmuch and has caused him to be displined in past.

Purely supposition on my part...but I do think the dog is going to be an issue, esp if the parents are not commited to setting boundaries for the boy and dog BOTH and having those respected. NILIF with the boy feeding and treating would maybe help but are they okay with that? Probably not.

I think if they are unwilling to consult a behaviorist or listen to your input and follow thru the dog should be rehomed into a home without kids.

ETA: In the meantime...unpopular tho it may be...a kennel set up outdoors, including shelter from the elements, is maybe safest for the interim. A secure place for the dog to be kept and given their walks and exercise at times when the child is elsewhere. This would be until a plan of action is formulated, OR to keep the dog til a home can be found. Not ideal for the dog...but if human interaction and stimulation were given? Alternatively a baby gate set up...but again...are they willing to do that?

I agree with everything Gina said.  BOTH need to learn boundaries.  I also agree (and noticed in the post before you mentioned it) that the dog gave no warning.  I'm not sure if that can be trained back, but yeah I did notice that as well.

When I was 3 I was bit in the face by a German Shepherd.  I leaned over him while he slept.  I had a circle of teeth punctures around one eye (worse than in the above pics).  Luckily, my parents were not concerned b/c I didn't freak out, and it was my uncle's dog (he is not known for his ability to control himself, let alone his pets) so the issue never came up again.  However, with the toddler being in the same household, they will need a plan to address this and should not assume it's a one-time incident. 

This is a baby and thank god it didn't turn out worse and his face really damaged.  it is up to the humans to keep this child safe, teach him what you want but don't trust this child to do the right thing, ever!! 

What ever she decides, management is key!  Obviously this was provoked over food, so resource guarding protocals should be learned and started.  But mangement and keeping the child and dog away from such contact especially with food is a must!

 PS:  What a beautiful child, thank godness he is not damaged.

 Shoot, Chelsea, I'm really sorry to hear about this. I'm glad they're both at least relatively okay - wish I had some magic cure to offer.

I don't know what her plan is. I guess she's pretty set on finding him a new home. She doesn't want to be, and dances around coming out and saying that, but I don't think she can deal with having a dog she doesn't trust, and she doesn't see how she can trust him again. I suggested a thorough vet exam and bloodwork, and she said something like "I really don't think it's a medical issue." I suggested a behaviorist, and she pooed that too saying she really doesn't think even after working with a behaviorist that she could ever trust him again. I suggested management, and she doesn't see how that's possible..so I guess it's pretty clear she just doesn't have it in her to keep him, and that's okay, I'm not positive I could keep the dog in her situation. I just don't know where to go from here. All-breed rescue? She wants to keep him if possible til he finds a new home. Think a rescue will let her "foster" him while they search for a home? Or maybe let me foster him? I could probably work that out... It's just so sad. He's such a nice, good dog. I can't imagine him going off and living with strangers. What if they get fed up with him and get rid of him? We can tell people all we want that they need to return him to us, but what if they don't?

Hey, any I-doggers want a good, nice, really pretty dog that apparently just can't have kids? Come on, look at his wittle face...and those freckles! How can you not love him??

Dogs with herding background sometimes do make multiple quick bites - I agree with Gina that this was likely an inhibited disciplinary bite, and I suspect that it was either over food or just the dog being uncomfy with the kid, who has probably been allowed to take liberties because mom "trusted him 100%", which is usually a bad idea.  Since she doesn't want to take the trouble to call a behaviorist, I'd say get the dog out of there before there's a real incident and try to get him into an adults only home.   He is probably a good dog that was just under-socialized with children.  If he is a resource guarder, even a mild one, probably he would do better where there are no little hands clutching quesadillas.  With the herders, don't assume they didn't warn either.  Sometimes they are more likely to do it with a curled lip or a hard stare, not an outright growl, and kids almost never notice the signals.  Neither do non dog savvy parents. 

So sad trying to re-home an older dog with baggage...makes me very sad, since this is usually so preventable.  

chelsea_b

I don't know what her plan is. I guess she's pretty set on finding him a new home. She doesn't want to be, and dances around coming out and saying that, but I don't think she can deal with having a dog she doesn't trust, and she doesn't see how she can trust him again. I suggested a thorough vet exam and bloodwork, and she said something like "I really don't think it's a medical issue." I suggested a behaviorist, and she pooed that too saying she really doesn't think even after working with a behaviorist that she could ever trust him again. I suggested management, and she doesn't see how that's possible..so I guess it's pretty clear she just doesn't have it in her to keep him, and that's okay, I'm not positive I could keep the dog in her situation. I just don't know where to go from here. All-breed rescue? She wants to keep him if possible til he finds a new home.

     IMHO, re homing the dog is the best possible plan for all involved, and in the meantime, I also agree w/ Gina's suggestion of keeping the dog kenneled until that time. A dog that size could have done unspeakable damage to that beautiful little child, so I do think he showed inhibition being that the bite was not much worse ... But good God, that kid's entire head must have been in the dog's mouth. I don't blame your sister for getting rid of him. If he bit again while they were attempting to train him, as a mother I don't think she'd ever forgive herself. He was an older dog when they adopted him, and if some dogs are not raised with kids, then they just never learn to tolerate them, no matter what.
     All breed rescue is a good idea - she needs to find a place that screens adopters & will make sure this dog will never be in a home with kids again. I wish her good luck in finding him a good home ...   

It's a shame the dog couldn't trust your sister 100% to protect him.  

I just get so sad.  All dogs will bite.  Thresholds differ, but no dog can be expected to be "100% safe."  Dogs communicate with teeth sometimes. 

Sasha has given my daughter a warning nip once.  I've always been really uptight about dog and child interactions, but one day at about 2 or 3 my daughter snuck into our room in the wee hours of the morning and leaned over Sasha while she slept.   Sasha has a good bite inhibition, so no damage was done except to my daughter's feelings. 

Lesson learned.  My daughter now takes us seriously when we talk about how to behave with dogs.  I have no problem with a dog like Sasha or Cowboy.  I know I'm on top of things 99% of the time, and that 1% is covered by bite inhibition and a strong dog-child bond.  (Don't think I'm blase about nips or bites.  I am seriously uptight about supervising kids and dogs.  My daughter was a wild child, and only ever got the best of me that one time. She had NEVER quietly gotten up out of bed before, let alone wake up and sneak straight to the dog's bed without waking me up)

Children should be protected from dogs, and dogs should be protected from children.  

Dog_ma's first and last sentence covers it for me. A dog is allowed one bite, since that is normally a defensive bite. After that dog must go.

Harsh? maybe but which of my 5 babies would I willingly allow to be injured?  Which of my 8 furkids would I want forever changed? A bite DOES forever change the dynamics. In the description of both the situation and the involved parties you have two choices, rehome the dog or the kid. Doubtful they will pick option 2.  I could get into a big rant about people who shouldn't own dogs.  This does not mean they are bad people, just that dogs are not a given, not a "right" ... If you can't commit fully why get the dog?  The offending boy is pretty and it's sad he will have to be removed from his home and kenneled , he won't understand and I seriously doubt the toddler is going to get worked up over it.  I really hope, since this family wants more kids,  that they avoid getting any more dogs for a while. 

 Respectfully,  I differentiate between a warning snap or nip and a bite.  A dog that bit my child would sadly be on his or or her way to a new home.  But a warning nip says to me "I have a dog with good bite inhibition who is not being properly protected."  At that point, I need to get my tush in gear and change how I'm doing things so that the dog is not put in a position to feel threatened.

Obviously, a dog that is snapping over this and that would not be a good idea around children.  But a dog who is selective and reasonably tolerant is not a bad family dog *if* the parents are willing to do the work required. 

A few years ago, some friends of mine adopted a dog through lab rescue.  They had a two year old girl, and had unreasonable expectations of the dog.  The little girl was allowed to hug and climb on the dog.  The dog was given no chance to retreat.  One day the mom came back from the laundry room to find the lab with the little girl's head in his mouth. (Child and dog were locked in together with baby gates!)  There were no marks on the girl at all.  My friends understandably freaked out, but after long conversations with lab rescue and other friends they decided to keep the dog and change THEIR behavior. He has been an excellent family dog.  He's friendly and well behaved and they've since had another child.  

A bite is not a bite is not a bite. 

Dog_ma

A bite is not a bite is not a bite

I agree with that. Circumstances are extremely important.

The fact is I would desperately try to Cowboy myself if I thought there was any chance Cherokee and Cowboy would get along (we're gonna test it this weekend, but there's pretty much no chance), even though my cousin's 4 year old daughter comes to my house 50 hours a week. But she and Noah are like different species when it comes to animals. Even when Alleen was Noah's age, she understood what a growl meant, and got away from the offending dog pronto. Noah thinks it's funny, or it doesn't faze him.

I still think Cowboy is fine with kids, and if it weren't totally irresponsible to place him in a home with kids, I would (and heck, if any i-doggers with kids want him, I'd do that too, because I trust you guys not to be idiots about it), because he honestly LOVES kids. He gets SUPER excited when there are other kids around. Gives them kisses, acts like he loves nothing more than a pat on the head from them. But Noah is just too much for him sometimes. Heck, I love that kid to death, but he's too much for me sometimes too. I don't know if it's nature or nurture, but there's just no point in me getting upset with my sister about this. The dog bit her child. I can't expect her to keep him, or chastise her about what she SHOULD have done, because she already knows and feels bad enough. She keeps saying "If I could just go back to five minutes before it happened..." But even that's totally pointless, because that wouldn't change anything. Even if she prevented that bite, if they didn't change THEIR behavior, Cowboy would most likely bite him some other time.

And the poor thing, she said that right when the bite happened, a third of her was thinking about her baby's face, a third about what to do about Cowboy, and a third was worrying about whether animal control was going to take him from her. She said she wouldn't even let her husband yell at Cowboy, because she said if there was ever a time to yell at a dog "I knew this wasn't it". I'm not even sure I agree with that, but she doesn't blame the dog at all, she blames herself.

They're not going to get another dog for a long long long time if they ever do. Colleen's been saying since she had Noah that she's just not cut out to have dogs and kids together, and she's not sure she'll ever have another dog. She would never be getting rid of Cowboy if this hadn't happened, and she won't be running out to "replace" him tomorrow, because I would strangle her. (No, that's not WHY, but it doesn't hurt.)

I think someone implied that Noah won't care when the dog's gone? I don't know where that came from, but this boy was standing at the gate Colleen put up sticking crackers through for Cowboy. He will be crushed when "Cowbee" is not around. And Cowboy will be crushed when Noah's not around (who'll feed him Goldfish crackers??). This whole situation SUCKS. Nobody's taking this lightly, nobody's blaming Cowboy, there's no chance of him ending up in a shelter, but the decision to keep Cowboy or not has to be theirs. Whether you or I would make the same one does not matter.

Aw, that's so sad.   Sorry if I seemed harsh about your sister.  Its obvious she loves the dog and means well, but is simply overwhelmed.  I understand that. 

Sasha got chubby when my daughter was 2.  The joy of feeding dogs!  

Cowboy sounds like Sasha a bit.  Sasha loves kids - LOVES them.  She is a happy dog with kids around.  She does not like being harassed or excessively bothered.  She knows if she feels uncomfortable with anything to come find me,  but her big weakness is being startled out of sleep.   

I hope Cowboy can find a good home.  I'm rooting for you, pup! 

Chelsea, it sounds to me like your sister is making a responsible decision for her and her family.  While many of us who are well educated and devoted dog people could make this work, it sounds like your sister understands her own limitations and is making her decision accordingly.  Thankfully it sounds like she will keep him until a suitable home can be found and will not be sending him to a shelter.  That is really the best option for Cowboy and will probably teach her son something important about responsibility to animals.  Hopefully she won't have any isssues keeping them separate or under her watchful eye until Cowboy is in his new (and hopefully loving) home.

That Cowboy is one cute dog!  I feel certain that with both of you looking for a good home, he will find one.   Your nephew deserves to feel safe in his home, your sister deserves to feel her children are safe, and Cowboy deserves a home where he gets excercise, lots of love and proper guidance.  Sounds like rehoming him is the best choice for all concerned.  I wish your sister and her family and Cowboy much luck and peace with the decision.

I happen to agree that in most families this would be an excellent family dog.  No dog should have to put up with abuse, however, and from the way you describe the child, he was allowed to abuse this dog in the sense that the dog was not being protected from activity that you describe as "over the top" even for humans.  My sense is that if your sister believed that she could control her child 100% of the time, she would keep the dog.  I think her current feelings are an admission that she cannot, or does not, have the time, will, patience, diligence, etc.  Many families that are more kid-focused and less dog-focused are like this, and nothing will probably change it.  Conversely, some dog-focused households keep dangerous dogs far too long.  If this dog needs remedial work, it isn't that much.  But, what I do think he needs is a home with an owner who will protect him so he doesn't have to do it himself.  JMHO, and from our OP's description of his usual M.O.