New foster dog attacked my daughter!

I wonder if perhaps the dog saw the movement of clothing and reached out to nip at it. I think I'd try to re-enact the scene, but with myself on the swing and another adult spotting the dog on a leash, and see if I couldn't get a reaction from the dog. I would want to know whether it was a act of herding, or something else.

P.S. Excuse me if I'm repeating a suggestion. I didn't read all posts as it seemed to be going a little nuts there for a while.

Hope your daughter is healing well.

Just wanted to say that I comment you for the decision to work with Sarge.
 
I would do the same, without a doubt. I do not think he is ready to be written off.
 
I think he could have had a bad expierence with swings, or something like them. Do I think he is going to attack a stranger......no. I've volunteered for shelters for years and have personally dealt with dogs that are "fear biters" or have been claimed to be agressive and almost all bites are triggers by something and usually that one thing.
 
Plus his breed is not known to bite, or be agressive toward humans. Good luck and I hope your daughter is okay!
 
 

ORIGINAL: nyiceprincess

I am not sure how to interperate the bucket issue.Like i said,its his favorite toy.He plays with it rough all the time.He will even carry the darned thing in the house with him.He has been tossing it around since i put it out there.It was supposed to be a water bucket but it didnt turn out that way.Had to get a new water bucket.Should i take his bucket away?

Maybe it's a good thing that he has the bucket to relieve his anxiety (or whatever it is). My Aussie has similar behaviours. In the yard he will take his favorite stuffy, throw it in the air, shake it in his mouth, bark at it etc. This does not appear to be anything more than play as it is not triggered by any (obvious) stressor - seems totally random. However when particualr people come to the door (people he really likes) Kobi gets noticably excited. It's like he can't wait to interact but knows that charging, jumping etc. is unacceptable. He has learned to control himself by quickly searching the floor area and picking up a shoe or a toy. He wiggles, circles, whines, snorts, runs in and out of the room etc. with the object in this mouth but will not make any contact with the person. In my opinion he is using the object to help calm/control himself. To me it is a good thing, although maybe not ideal. I have tried the sit and treat method, but for a few visitors his excitement is just too engaged.

displaced aggression-- the dog is so worked up he can't control himself, and since he can't or won't attack the cause of his aggression he goes and attacks something else-- your dog was willing to attack your daughter, but not willing to attack you so the bucket and your DH got it instead.  The fact that he was able to control himself enough to not-go-for-you on the swing is, I think, a good sign? that he can be re-habbed.

ORIGINAL: badrap

ORIGINAL: clauzilla

I am reading this and I can't belive that for one minute you would keep a dog like this in the same house as your children. You say you keep them apart, but what happens if one day a friend comes over and doesn't know the dog is outside and walks out there, lawsuit waiting to happen, and are you ready for your child to be killed if the dog decides one day to break out of the crate. What happens if he turns on you when you are alone. There are too many nice dogs that needs homes, dangerous dogs like this are what is giving pitt bulls a bad name. The nicest thing to do is euthanize him before there are more problems. This may sound harsh but I work at a vet hosp and we see it in dogs adopted from the pound that a few months later decide to eat the humans, something happened to make the first family give him up, maybe they are not telling the truth.
Please do not allow your child to become a statistic just because you think you can cure him, and if he bit your husband that would tell me he is a biter, meaning he does not respect humans and could bite anyone, no insurance would let you have this dog in your house knowing this,

you're reading, but you're not understanding.  i think you are being really disrespectful to a well educated, experienced member of this forum who does a lot of great work with fostering dogs.  instead of evaluating the dog's behavior, you have attacked the person.

judge not, lest ye be judged, and don't you forget it.

and it is NOT dogs like this that give pits a bad name.  what gives pits a bad name are irresponsible handlers who encourage human aggression.  people who recognize a behavioral problem and try to fix it are NOT the problem, and neither is the dog.  and FOR THE RECORD, this is a PIT MIX.  pits are not ever supposed to attack humans.  they are supposed to attack other dogs.  so who's to say that it's not the "mix" part of the dog that has the problem?

I disagree with your opinion. I know quite a few dog trainers, and I don't think any of them would recommend keeping a dog in the house that has already assualted someone that lives in the house, especially a child.  That is just asking for trouble.  I wouldn't subject any child to a situation like that. It is like playing Russian Roulette with someone elses life. 

ORIGINAL: Bobsk8
I disagree with your opinion. I know quite a few dog trainers, and I don't think any of them would recommend keeping a dog in the house that has already assualted someone that lives in the house, especially a child.  That is just asking for trouble.  I wouldn't subject any child to a situation like that. It is like playing Russian Roulette with someone elses life. 

  I am not sure of this opinion.Without having seen the actual attack,it is tough to know if it was an attack or not..

  I may have not seen this in the other posts,but was the inscident witnessed by anyone else BESIDES the kid?

  These dogs,from my experience,are still young and full of puppy at 1.5 years old.Is it possible he could have been over stimulated by something and gone into full play mode?To a kid not ready for it,it may have seemed like an attack.

  I am not saying don't keep an eye on him 100% when you reintroduce him to the kid(s),because putting his mouth on anyone,when not asked to,is a big no no that he should learn.

 In the end,with all the advice given here,you know both the dog and the kid better than anyone,and will need to use your gut instinct.

In my opinion the first responsibility is to the children,,, plain and simple.