Whoa, there is usually a underlying reason......

That's so sad.  There could be a few reasons for this attack. 

I'm actually glad I know I've got an unpredictable dog.  The precautions are always taken so this sort of thing doesn't happen.

Isn't there spaniel rage?  Something like that?

I'm wondering what a complete blood panal and vet check would show?

Poor little girl....but stitches in a dog bite really, really scare me.

glenmar

Isn't there spaniel rage?  Something like that?

I'm wondering what a complete blood panal and vet check would show?

Poor little girl....but stitches in a dog bite really, really scare me.

Aha, I knew someone would offer a suggestion.

As with all bites you never know if thats the real casue but I always try and give the benefit of the doubt.

I trully 100% believe that its never a dog's fault. Even if you trace it back to abuse as a puppy

I've heard that Spaniel rage is quite rare though so probably wasn't that.  I wouldn't doubt the whistling was aggravating to the dog and for some reason he couldn't deal with it that night.  I know certain noises get Willow going.

 I'll lay bets there was some reason the dog bit her.  The biggest reason being overconfidence.  I hear the same words in articles after attacks everytime.  'I can't believe it!'  'Its so out of character!'  'He's never shown any signs of aggression before'   When in fact the dog has shown all the signs, the humans just never bothered to find out how to read them.  Tyler found this out the hard way.  He was so shocked when Crusher bit Kali and didn't have the slightest clue why I wasn't shocked.  Despite the million warnings I had already given him about letting her bug him.  And all of one person I know understands why I kept him.

I do agree that this dog should be rehomed though.  After I knew Kali would be alright, my single biggest fear was not being able to stand the sight of Crusher again.  It nearly broke my heart, and I cried when I found that I still loved him.  If these people can't love this dog anymore, it should go.

Does anyone else find it disturbing that they are trying to *rehome* a dog after something like this?  If you don't want to keep a dog after an incident I understand, but seriously, do the right thing and either call in a behaviorist and do a vet check or have the dog euthed, not pass your problem on to someone else!!! 

glenmar

Isn't there spaniel rage?  Something like that?

mhmm. I got attacked by my grandpas cocker when I was younger. It was totally random, and out of the blue. That dog was my best friend - we went everywhere together. We napped together, we played together, we even shared food. But one day - he just snapped and attacked my face. I ended up in the ER, with a bunch of stiched in my nose.

Needless to say - I'm leary of cockers, esp. with small children... I have met a few nice ones though. Not ALL are bad.....

ETA: do not feel this dog should be rehomed. I think the family either needs to see a vet and get a full blood panel done, contact a behaviorist, or have the dog put to rest. I think those are, honestly, the only fair choices for the dog - whos to say he wont do the same thing in a new home? How do we not know that that was the reason he ended up as a stray?

I seem to recall a rather lengthy discussion on the rage syndrome so while it's probably not terribly common, it does exist and as I recall, was pretty well documented.

Somehow I completely zoned on the rehoming of this dog.  Gosh, dog bites child, I wonder why none of the rescues will take him?  If the vet turns up something tangible, then maybe the dog could be rehomed.  But, there are so many possibilities, including that the child did something that triggered a repressed and horrid memory in this dog and since I'm sure she's pretty traumatized, it's not likely she'll remember what she did right before the attack.....doesn't look so great for the dog.

I hate to say this, but Mom seems to be feeding into the childs fears by locking the dog away while he's still in the home.  This poor little girl will probably grow up with a lifelong fear of dogs because of this incident.

There doesn't seem to be a way to answer this thread without the risk of offending someone.

Learned the hard way, dogs and small children should not be unsupervised, ever. Lori has a good point. With her dog's status of being a bit unpredictable, Lori's guard is never down, ever. Also, it is possible that the girl did something that she doesn't remember. It's also possible the dog was playing, mouthing even, as dogs might do with one another and the child, being a child, was too fragile for that kind of play.

In the end, it is the parent's liability. Is that unfair? Probably. Life is unfair, for humans and for dogs. I agree that the child should learn not to fear the dog or other dogs. I can also see where many rescues may not want to take the dog with a now official bite record. And, to be accurate and "fair," once a dog has bitten someone, never assume they will not bite another. But, to also be fair, don't assume a dog won't bite just because they haven't bitten, so far. Anything with fur and fangs can bite.

I can understand the pain that the family is going through, real and emotional. Personally, I don't think the dog needs to be euth'd. But that could happen, anyway. Life is unfair. When I was a kid, if one got bitten by or chased by a dog, usually the question asked was "what did you do?" Just as I was raised not to bother a dog wihle he is eating. So the temperment test of introducing a hand in the food bowl while the dog is eating has no connection to how I was raised. And rough interactions with dogs was part of the learning experience.

And to be fair to the family, the girl may have done this some times before and never a problem. Not being there, it's hard to discern the dog's intention, etc. All we have is the aftermath. And while, yes, the dog could live a long life with the right management, who is willing and able to do that? And what if the dog does it again or has an instability? What is the most humane thing to do?

I empathize with the family.

That's so sad, it's one of my worse nightmares since I have two kids.  At the same time I know these attacks are rare and aside from reasonable precautions I'm not going to live in fear. 

I have to believe that somewhere there must be a sign of aggression. I think if someone doesn't educate themselves they don't realize the subtle signs.  A lot of people think resource gaurding is just normal dog behavior.  I believe in the past a dog bite to kids was usually considered provoked by kids,  but a full out attack is something totally different. Could very well have been a medical condition, a dog in severe pain could probably attack if it felt the child was doing something to add to the pain. 

AuroraLove

So dog attacks are unfortunately a common story we hear on the news. Typically if you look hard enough you can find a reason, wether it be provoked or not. I've found a majority of attacks occur with male unaltered dogs. dogs who have health issues or jusr plain irresponsible owners but thsi story is pretty shocking.......

Although I agree that more often than not a 'reason' can be found for dog attacks I am also of the belief that dogs are animals and therefore are unpredictable by nature. Sometimes there is simply no explanation. To state that ALL dog attacks can be explained, suggests that we as humans have the ability to 100% understand how the dog brain works. Tragic story all round.

denise m

AuroraLove

So dog attacks are unfortunately a common story we hear on the news. Typically if you look hard enough you can find a reason, wether it be provoked or not. I've found a majority of attacks occur with male unaltered dogs. dogs who have health issues or jusr plain irresponsible owners but thsi story is pretty shocking.......

 

Although I agree that more often than not a 'reason' can be found for dog attacks I am also of the belief that dogs are animals and therefore are unpredictable by nature. Sometimes there is simply no explanation. To state that ALL dog attacks can be explained, suggests that we as humans have the ability to 100% understand how the dog brain works. Tragic story all round.

  My thoughts exactly.  We can not predict how a human that we know closely will react in any & all given situations, and we have the ability to communicate much better human to human.  The communications between humans & dogs are much more difficult, there may be signs that the family missed here, or that anyone might miss.  Treat all dogs as what they are, animals descendant from wolves,  and handle yourself accordingly.

Is it possible that if the dog has an ear infection or something that if the childs voice/whistle hit a certin pitch it caused him pain?  His way of stoping what was causing his pain was to stop the noise perhaps?

A woman I work with says the dog she rescued (not sure if from the SPCA or just a stray or what) "goes crazy when the phone rings".  I thought okay you've got a hyper dog or somthing...didn't really realize what she meant.   Nope, the dog goes NUTS.  When the phone rings I guess it's like Jeckyll and hyde with this dog.  Fine as long as the phone isn't ringing, but if it is, he actually tries to ATTACK aanything within biting distance.  One day it was her 19 year old daughter's foot.   Broke the skin, but wasn't horrible.  No stitches involved.   My response to her one day was, "I would be taking the dog to the vet, rule out anything medical, ear infection etc.  Change the ringer on the phone to something differnt to see if that changes anything.  And if still nothing changes a behavourist may need to be called as a last resort before re homing the dog or having him euthed.  I'd hate to see it happen that way, but if the dog is going after people when teh phone rings there is something wrong.