Dog bite, extremely disappointed and need advice.

[Testarossa]

Hey, so I’ve posted about our one year old greyhound/Irish wolfhound mix Enzo we adopted three weeks ago.

Enzo has been generally great and calm since we got him. He has been sweet to the dozens of dogs he has met on our walks/at the park and loves strangers. He even has been letting me brush his teeth with a finger brush and also clean/lift his paws whenever we come in from outside. He isn’t food aggressive, I have literally taken food out of his bowl as he has been eating, and wasn’t toy aggressive with 5 previous toys. We take his toys away from him after 20 minutes or so and put them away.

We gave him a new toy yesterday that he was clearly in love with. This was a dog toy with a very high pitched squeaker that only dogs can hear, the first time he has ever had one. My boyfriend went to take it away and got bit on the forearm. He was off to the side of him when he grabbed it, not face to face. He drew blood and it was a small puncture wound. We’ve been doing training everyday since we got him (stay, lay down, wait, heel, etc) but haven’t worked on this because we thought there would be no need.

I talked to a trainer in my area over the phone and she gave me some ways to work on this: desensitizing him around toys (having him on a leash and not lunging at toys as they’re thrown around the house/walking around them etc). She also recommended hand feeding and making him do commands to work for his food. We are also not using this toy again and I will only be allowing him to have chew toys while they are used for “drop it” work in training time. Otherwise he can use mental stimulation toys (ball with holes and treats fall out when he moves it).

So we have a game plan but my boyfriend and I are just so disappointed and hurt. Any tips or advice is appreciated. Also it’s a small wound that is closed up but I’m worried about infection? Since he is our own dog and we have no children in the house can he go to urgent care/a Walgreens minute clinic and get treatment without us having to report the bite?

thanks for reading this 🙏

Edited July 12, 2020 by Testarossa

[ShebasMom]

I've been bitten by Sheba a few times over the years, some were puncture wounds that bled and also left bruising. I just clean the wound, apply Neosporin, put a bandaid on it, and done. Never got infected.

[Remolacha]

Please don’t take it personally! He is still very new to you and your household, so there will be some adjustments. It does not sound like the bite was serious, or really even aggressive, more like a startle reaction. You are doing a good job training him. I don’t see any need to report the bite to anyone. Just clean the wound (I expect you have already done this), put some antibiotic cream on it, and keep an eye on it for a few days, it will likely be fine.
Oh, and I would not give him that particular toy back. If he starts acting protective with his other toys, try trading up. It always worked well with my possessive boy

[Time4ANap]

If you go anywhere for treatment the medical provider is usually required by law to report the bite. 

Our boy Rocket bit several people over the years including me, and one of his sitters whom he absolutely adored.  In all cases, it was a reactive thing to something sudden, and he had space issues.  I think Rocket was more upset by it than we were.  Typically, if it gets reported, Animal Control will pay you a visit and gather the info surrounding the circumstances.  When the Warden showed up at out house for the sitter's bite, Rocket was shmoozing her and she realized quickly that the bite was an accident.  We had to quarantine him for two weeks in the house, which meant no walks and no outings. If caught walking him, they would remove him from us and he would serve the quarantine at their kennel. 

We had to institute a few rules including no petting unless he was standing up. That was the only way to know he was completely awake and wouldn't be startled when petting. 

Do some searching on this site for "trading up."  If an item is high value, trading up is the easiest way to take it away.  Usually there is some high value treat that he will trade the item for. 

[HeyRunDog]

Put it down to experience and don't blame him or your boyfriend. He was probably getting over excited and seeing your boyfriends arm suddenly appear into his line of vision didn't realise what it was just that it was out to deprive him of his new favourite toy.

[macoduck]

Ditto what Time4aNap said. I had to assist when a friend's greyhound bit a visiting child in their home. That child's parents took her immediately to the ER. It was not a severe bite by any means but did have to be reported. AC did just as Don described, home quarantine for 2 weeks and proof of a rabies vaccination.

The only thing I would suggest is that if your boyfriend does go for medical treatment that he bring a copy of the rabies vaccination with him.

[greysmom]

There's no need to take it personally because it wasn't.  He was resource guarding a particularly valuable item that your boyfriend was trying to take away.  OR he was startled by the sudden appearance of a strange arm and did what dogs do - bite.  It's a fairly minor bite - all in all - and it could *easily* have been much more serious.  He's been with you such a short time and there's not a level a trust built up yet.

Your trainer's advice is sound.  Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF) training can help if you have a particularly strong willed dog, or to help you connect with a new dog.  Do a search here about "trading up" as mentioned as it can save you some stress and bandaids.

I've never had a minor dog bite get infected.  If your dog is up on all his shots there shouldn't be any big risk.  Clean it, neosporin or other antibacterial cream, maybe a soak or two with a hot washcloth of it's ouchie.  He should be fine.