Greyhound Bit Child When She Fell On The Ground

[Guest Bwe243]

Hi All,

 

This is my first post--but not my first greyhound. We recently adopted a red fawn male Jasper (aka Utalkingtome) about one month ago and had an issue tonight. When my daughter, who is 6, was eating at the table (some carrots and peanut butter). The dog was trying to get her food. She put it down and grabbed him by his collar leading him towards his bed. He is usually okay with her (and us) doing that. When he got on his bed, she turned around and in doing so tripped on the corner of it. When she fell and landed (somewhat of a curled position) he bit her three time. Once on the shoulder, elbow, and upper thigh. There was no growl or warning. He did bark while the bites were happening. He did not draw blood, but left bruising and welts.

 

My wife shrieked and he stopped immediately. My daughter jumped up onto the arm of the couch. Japer was immediately put into his crate, with a very stern No! We tell the children to not bother him while he is lying down. He has also snapped at my two year old. He has shown some aggressiveness on the couch and we get him off (with a No!) and put him on his bed or crate. He also pees in his crate. Id say two- three times a week. I had him evaluated medically and he had worms, but no other issues.

 

Talking it over (as a family) my daughter doesn't want to get rid of him--but our main concern is she would be afraid of him. We also decided he needs more crate time, including eating meals in there, and even putting his muzzle on when he is out. Is this the right approach or is this a situation where he needs to be returned? We requested a dog that would be good with (behaved) small children.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.--Eric

 

[NeylasMom]

Where are you located?

[NeylasMom]

Double post

Edited January 18, 2018 by NeylasMom

[Guest Bwe243]

Springfield, VA

[greysmom]

It's a scary situation and I'm glad your daughter wasn't hurt. It's not much comfort right now, but if your dog had wanted to seriously hurt your daughter, he easily could have. He was probably frightened by the situation too.

 

Neylasmom is a trainer and can hopefully recommend someone in your area to come and work with you and your family on this issue. This is way beyond the ability of anyone to help very much on the internet.

 

Contact your adoption group and ask them for help, as well. At the very least, they need to know this dog may not be as OK as they thought with younger kids.

 

In the meantime, please make sure everyone stays safe using the remedies you outlined.

 

Good luck and please keep us updated.

[seeh2o]

It's a scary situation and I'm glad your daughter wasn't hurt. It's not much comfort right now, but if your dog had wanted to seriously hurt your daughter, he easily could have. He was probably frightened by the situation too.

 

Neylasmom is a trainer and can hopefully recommend someone in your area to come and work with you and your family on this issue. This is way beyond the ability of anyone to help very much on the internet.

 

Contact your adoption group and ask them for help, as well. At the very least, they need to know this dog may not be as OK as they thought with younger kids.

 

In the meantime, please make sure everyone stays safe using the remedies you outlined.

 

Good luck and please keep us updated.

I totally agree with all of this.

[JohnF]

I think I would talk to my adoption group and discuss sending the dog back for rehoming to a family without little kids.

 

Neither the dog nor your family dynamic appear to be compatible at the moment. Can you safely say you could train your kids to leave the dog alone?

[MaryJane]

This is unfortunate - I hope your daughter is OK.

 

Having said that, your 6-year old daughter should not be in a position to have to be push a dog away when she is eating, the adults in the room should be doing that. It's that same with a young child taking the dog by the collar and leading it to the bed, an adult should do that. The dog is also a recent addition to the house and as such, close contact with children (and adults) should still be closely watched for a few months.

 

There is never a guarantee that a dog will be good with children and because of that, some adoption groups (all breeds) will not adopt out dogs to homes that have young children in the home. Some make an exception if the parents make a commitment that ALL interactions between the dog and child will be closely monitored. Keeping this in mind, if you are willing to monitor ALL interactions, then maybe contact the rescue group and find get the names of trainers. If not, then maybe this is not a good time to add a dog to the family and maybe waiting a few years would provide a safer environment for everyone.

[GeorgeofNE]

Please return the dog.

 

You will NEVER trust him after this.

 

I don't have kids, so I can't pretend to understand, but I do know you have to put your kid first. And six year old children should not be put in the position of decision maker on this topic.

 

My dog is terrified of children. Works out well as I don't have any, and never will.

 

There are PLENTY of homes that don't have six year olds in them. Please let this dog go live in one. Find yourself a nice "bomb proof" older hound if you insist on having a greyhound. Or better still, wait a bit and then get yourself a nice dog whose entire joy in life is living with children--a retriever of some sort.

 

I'm so sorry your little girl was bitten and I hope she is fine.

 

Best of luck--

[racindog]

A couple of comments. #1: When your daughter suddenly fell near him he thought he was under attack and responded as he did to protect himself. The incident was totally not the dogs fault. Not sure a 6yoa should be interacting with a large dog by attempting to lead it away from a situation where it was trying to get the kids food. And #2: You now KNOW for certain that you have a VERY SAFE dog that is highly unlikely to seriously injure the child(or anybody else) even if it is pushed to the point of biting as yours was. The fact that the skin was not broken is a yet another remarkable example of a dog that is exercising perfect bite inhibition. If the dog would have wanted to, or even if it had not wanted to but still had no bite inhibition, there would have been significant and probably serious injury to the child. But Jasper stopped short of harming the child or even breaking the skin- despite the fact he was pushed way over his bite threshold. He learned this as a puppy. It is why nature gave puppies sharp teeth. Some dogs do NOT have it for various reasons and they are dangerous-particularly around children. You now know know that even if Jasper is pushed to the point of biting, for whatever reason, he is highly unlikely to actually harm your child. You should thank your lucky stars he is like this. If you get rid of him and get another dog-the next dog may not exercise bite inhibition and the results of any mishap with a child could be far more serious. And until that something happens you won't know just how much a new dog could be trusted. Clearly Jasper has proven himself to be a very safe dog to have around kids. IMO you should value him a lot more and give him the respect that he deserves by taking control of child/dog interactions. This will protect him and the child. This is a very brief explanation but please don't just discount it. Jasper is a good dog! Give the boy some respect. BTW, I served as an ACO in a large metropolitan city and answered many dog bite/child calls. I counseled many people as above when it was appropriate. It saved many of the dogs' lives because the parents were ready to put their beloved pet down because they feared it was a "bad" dog after the incident and would harm their child. After I explained bite inhibition to them and they decided to keep the dog and give it another chance I never once received another call about any more incidents with that child or that dog. BTW, do not correct him if he growls. That is how he warns you he is uncomfortable about something and you need to DO something now. If you correct him for growling you can make him stop growling and just go straight to the bite without any warning (as you would have unwittingly trained him to do by correcting the growl). They DID give you a dog that is safe with small children but you need to remember that he is still a dog, and a new one at that, and you should more closely supervise child/dog interactions. He doesn't need more crate time. Just needs his peeps to understand he is a dog and kids can create havoc even with great dogs. Go ahead and use his muzzle if you want. That won't hurt a thing; he really won't mind it; and it will protect him as much as the child.

Edited January 18, 2018 by racindog

[sarabz]

Susan, you and I will always disagree about having greyhounds in homes with young children - we have two greys and a 4 year old child and no issues. We had one grey that was not compatible with our family and so we returned him - he was happily rehomed two weeks later to a child-free home and is much happier.

 

Having children is NOT a reason to return a dog. Having a dog who cannot live with the noise and unpredictability IS a reason. I strongly agree with MaryJane that your daughter should not be in the position of pushing the dog away from her food. Agree that the dog was likely startled and feeling perhaps a little territorial about the bed - it's the dog's space. Some dogs are much more forgiving about this kind of thing than others - both of ours are, the hound we rehomed absolutely was not. We returned him after he showed that being around a young child was making him uncomfortable but before there was a more serious incident that limited his options.

 

Would definitely talk to your group about options. You may not want to return him but it might be kinder before there is a more serious incident that leaves him with nowhere to go.

 

And please listen to Greysmom - This is way beyond the ability of anyone to help very much on the internet.

[Batmom]

Please call your adoption group today so you can discuss swapping the dog for one who is easier going and more tolerant of children.

 

 

It is possible that you would be able to work with a trainer to keep this dog. But I have to say, there are dogs (including greyhounds) out there who are much more tolerant of small kids and their foibles. I've had a couple of them. That is the kind of dog you want. Jasper isn't that dog right now -- he's probably a very good dog, and he might become that dog, but he isn't that dog now.

 

 

More crate time would be of use only in the very short term (days), for moments when you can't keep a close eye on dog + kids. The dog doesn't learn anything while in the crate; it's just a parking/napping spot.

 

 

Best luck to you.

[Guest Bwe243]

Thanks for all the advice. I reached out to my adoption coordinator and to a dog trainer she recommended I consult with, and the decision was to let him go back to the adoption group. I do have my own theories of what happened and they have more to do with being startled, while at the same time still trying to figure out right and wrongs in the pack/family. He did give my son (a 2 year old) a low growl when he approached this morning, while I was petting Jasper. That was the final straw.

 

I do not have animosity towards the adoption group (but we cannot use them again). I do not have animosity towards the dog. I asked my daughter if she felt like it was her fault (even if he was to go away) and she doesn't. Nor does she say she has a fear of dogs now. She wanted to keep him and work on things--i.e. more crate time, letting her feed him, etc. If anything this was a lessons learned period for us. My daughter says she still would like to have another greyhound. So we will try this again. Albeit maybe give everyone a chance to breathe for a bit.

 

And if anyone knows of a dog in a foster situation that may be a good fit, send me a PM. Lets have a discussion to see if there could be a possibility for a match.

[Batmom]

Sounds like your daughter is a remarkably wise individual. I'm sorry this pup didn't seem to be the right one for your family right now. Best wishes to you, and to Jasper as well, going forward.

[Roo]

Thanks for all the advice. I reached out to my adoption coordinator and to a dog trainer she recommended I consult with, and the decision was to let him go back to the adoption group. I do have my own theories of what happened and they have more to do with being startled, while at the same time still trying to figure out right and wrongs in the pack/family. He did give my son (a 2 year old) a low growl when he approached this morning, while I was petting Jasper. That was the final straw.

 

I do not have animosity towards the adoption group (but we cannot use them again). I do not have animosity towards the dog. I asked my daughter if she felt like it was her fault (even if he was to go away) and she doesn't. Nor does she say she has a fear of dogs now. She wanted to keep him and work on things--i.e. more crate time, letting her feed him, etc. If anything this was a lessons learned period for us. My daughter says she still would like to have another greyhound. So we will try this again. Albeit maybe give everyone a chance to breathe for a bit.

 

And if anyone knows of a dog in a foster situation that may be a good fit, send me a PM. Lets have a discussion to see if there could be a possibility for a match.

 

Your best bet may be to tell your group you're looking for a bounce who has lived with small kids before (and done well!). That way, the grey will have experience with children and with living in a home, and should make for a fairly easy transition. Our first greyhound was a double bounce - he had two homes before us - one good and one not good. I assume he lived with kids at one point, because when he saw me at the kennel he came running up and glued himself to my side for the rest of the time we were there. I was terrified of dogs at the time, but this gentle giant changed my mind. He only ever growled at me once, and it was when I snuck up behind him - taught me not to sneak up on dogs! He was the most patient dog and let me do almost anything - dress him up, play "agility" with him, use him as an extra in stupid little movies I filmed... Greyhounds who love kids and are great with kids definitely exist!

 

I'm curious about why you can't use the group again?

[NeylasMom]

Thanks for all the advice. I reached out to my adoption coordinator and to a dog trainer she recommended I consult with, and the decision was to let him go back to the adoption group. I do have my own theories of what happened and they have more to do with being startled, while at the same time still trying to figure out right and wrongs in the pack/family. He did give my son (a 2 year old) a low growl when he approached this morning, while I was petting Jasper. That was the final straw.

 

I do not have animosity towards the adoption group (but we cannot use them again). I do not have animosity towards the dog. I asked my daughter if she felt like it was her fault (even if he was to go away) and she doesn't. Nor does she say she has a fear of dogs now. She wanted to keep him and work on things--i.e. more crate time, letting her feed him, etc. If anything this was a lessons learned period for us. My daughter says she still would like to have another greyhound. So we will try this again. Albeit maybe give everyone a chance to breathe for a bit.

 

And if anyone knows of a dog in a foster situation that may be a good fit, send me a PM. Lets have a discussion to see if there could be a possibility for a match.

Not sure who you adopted from but Greyhound Welfare is in this area and fosters all if their dogs so would have some sense of the dog. They have an age cutoff for kids, but I think its 6 so they should place to you. Sorry this didnt work out, but I think it was a good choice.

[Guest Bwe243]

Neylasmon, interestingly our last grey was with greyhound welfare. We had great luck and she was fostered. I just went with a different group. I think we will go back.

[NeylasMom]

Neylasmon, interestingly our last grey was with greyhound welfare. We had great luck and she was fostered. I just went with a different group. I think we will go back.

Who did you adopt from them? I volunteered with them for over 10 years, I might know you and/or him/her.

[sobesmom]

Thanks for all the advice. I reached out to my adoption coordinator and to a dog trainer she recommended I consult with, and the decision was to let him go back to the adoption group. I do have my own theories of what happened and they have more to do with being startled, while at the same time still trying to figure out right and wrongs in the pack/family. He did give my son (a 2 year old) a low growl when he approached this morning, while I was petting Jasper. That was the final straw.

 

I do not have animosity towards the adoption group (but we cannot use them again). I do not have animosity towards the dog. I asked my daughter if she felt like it was her fault (even if he was to go away) and she doesn't. Nor does she say she has a fear of dogs now. She wanted to keep him and work on things--i.e. more crate time, letting her feed him, etc. If anything this was a lessons learned period for us. My daughter says she still would like to have another greyhound. So we will try this again. Albeit maybe give everyone a chance to breathe for a bit.

 

And if anyone knows of a dog in a foster situation that may be a good fit, send me a PM. Lets have a discussion to see if there could be a possibility for a match.

It looks like you made a thoughtful decision, that was in the best interest of everyone. Good for you. I could've advised either way in the situation. I'm not hardline go or stay, but I really appreciate that you thought it through, and didn't just knee-jerk. No real harm done (I understand it was scary for sure). Not every dog is perfect for every home.