lefty's random dog thread.

Originally Posted by lefty

Click to expand...

Yes, when your dog is in distress you call a taxi or a friend and get her home. The dog is your responsibility and a dog that shuts down on a very hot day during a run is suffering.

You were lucky.

lefty

This +1

The dog shut down enough that she needed to lay in the water for 30 minutes and then you decided the best way to get her home was by running her home? The responsible way would have been to walk her with frequent breaks in the shade.

Say what you will but you're very lucky you didn't lose your dog that day.

Originally Posted by BP348

Click to expand...

The responsible way would have been to walk her with frequent breaks in the shade.
I did just this.

Way to ruin my picture post with your story.

So let me ask the SF dog folks to chime in on a situation. My 10 year old boy and a friend of his were playing in a park near our house. It's a big mostly undeveloped park with a few clear trails and benches but mostly it's just trees. On top is a rope swing and we had all walked up together with the our dog. Me and the SO left to go home and they stayed on for a few.

While playing a dog attacked them. My kid was on the swing and it was jumping at him and bit his ass, it did not break skin, but it bit him hard enough that he has a good bruise on his ass. The other kid was also snapped at but was not actually bit. The owner was nearish and was calling his dog but was not too serious about it. He did not stop and see if everything was alright.

I'm pretty sure the dog was somewhat drawn in by the swing and the rope that was dangling down. I had also seen the dog before; my pup was trying to play with it. The other dog was a bit standoffish but did not seem vicious.

The kicker is that it was a pit.

Now in general I would not care, pits can be fine dogs. But it seems to me that if you have a dog- any dog- you need to be sure it won't be biting anyone. If you have a pit you have a double duty to be sure of your dog's temperament before letting it roam free.

Mostly I'm just pissed. When it happened I was going to go back up there and have some words but the boys said he had loaded up into his car and drove off. If I see him around I will exchange a few choice words I'm sure.

But should I report the guy? My gut says no, as much as this guy is not doing his job as a dog owner, and as much as I'm pissed off I don't really want his dog killed and I have a feeling if I report a pit as a biter that dog's days will be numbered.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by NorCal

Click to expand...

Now in general I would not care, pits can be fine dogs. But it seems to me that if you have a dog- any dog- you need to be sure it won't be biting anyone. If you have a pit you have a double duty to be sure of your dog's temperament before letting it roam free.

I agree with all of this.

Originally Posted by NorCal

Click to expand...

But should I report the guy? My gut says no, as much as this guy is not doing his job as a dog owner, and as much as I'm pissed off I don't really want his dog killed and I have a feeling if I report a pit as a biter that dog's days will be numbered.

Thoughts?

Report him.

Who do you report that type of thing to? You'd have to have some sort of address wouldn't you?

I would have went up to the guy and socked him in the gut myself. Especially if my kid got hurt and he didn't even say he was sorry.

Originally Posted by Rambo

Click to expand...

Who do you report that type of thing to? You'd have to have some sort of address wouldn't you?

I would have went up to the guy and socked him in the gut myself. Especially if my kid got hurt and he didn't even say he was sorry.

The police or animal control. I live in a small town in the middle of a city so I would get a lot of action on this. I don't know his address but I would recognize the guy and can give a good description of him, his car, and his dog.

Socking him was on my mind but he was gone and if I did something like that now I would be in some ****. I will try to keep my cool if I ever see him again.

Tough call. It could be that the dog was playing with the swing as you said and your son's ass got in the way.

On the other hand, a bite is a bite whether the skin was broken or bruised.

Talk to him and see if he's reasonable and responsible - he apologises and ensures you that his dog will be on a lead for now on. If he does so chalk it up to a learning experience for your son. If not, report him and let him deal with the possibility of having his dog taken away.

lefty

Originally Posted by lefty

Click to expand...

Tough call. It could be that the dog was playing with the swing as you said and your son's ass got in the way.

On the other hand, a bite is a bite whether the skin was broken or bruised.

Talk to him and see if he's reasonable and responsible - he apologises and ensures you that his dog will be on a lead for now on. If he does so chalk it up to a learning experience for your son. If not, report him and let him deal with the possibility of having his dog taken away.

lefty

Yeah, I don't think it was just the swing - although it might have been what caught the dog's eye- as the other boy was gone after as well. Being as he was more mobile he avoided being bit, my kid did not.

I'll wait a few days. Maybe see if I can find the guy.

Originally Posted by NorCal

Click to expand...

So let me ask the SF dog folks to chime in on a situation. My 10 year old boy and a friend of his were playing in a park near our house. It's a big mostly undeveloped park with a few clear trails and benches but mostly it's just trees. On top is a rope swing and we had all walked up together with the our dog. Me and the SO left to go home and they stayed on for a few.

While playing a dog attacked them. My kid was on the swing and it was jumping at him and bit his ass, it did not break skin, but it bit him hard enough that he has a good bruise on his ass. The other kid was also snapped at but was not actually bit. The owner was nearish and was calling his dog but was not too serious about it. He did not stop and see if everything was alright.

I'm pretty sure the dog was somewhat drawn in by the swing and the rope that was dangling down. I had also seen the dog before; my pup was trying to play with it. The other dog was a bit standoffish but did not seem vicious.

The kicker is that it was a pit.

Now in general I would not care, pits can be fine dogs. But it seems to me that if you have a dog- any dog- you need to be sure it won't be biting anyone. If you have a pit you have a double duty to be sure of your dog's temperament before letting it roam free.

Mostly I'm just pissed. When it happened I was going to go back up there and have some words but the boys said he had loaded up into his car and drove off. If I see him around I will exchange a few choice words I'm sure.

But should I report the guy? My gut says no, as much as this guy is not doing his job as a dog owner, and as much as I'm pissed off I don't really want his dog killed and I have a feeling if I report a pit as a biter that dog's days will be numbered.

Thoughts?

You need to report the incident. If he was bitten, at a minimum, the guy needs to be placed on notice that his dog has had a "free" bite, and he will likely be a little more vigilant about letting his dog bite children. I very seriously doubt they will take the dog or destroy it, but again, it should incent the guy to be a bit more responsible with his dog. I've been bitten by dogs more times than I can count, and believe me, it's not fun. It's totally changed my outlook on running, from what used to be a pleasurable way to relax, into an almost constant monitoring of yards, looking behind me from time to time, and anxiety anytime I see a dog running loose.

Sounds like the dog might have been "play" biting, especially if it is a young one.

A bite from any sizable dog is a serious matter, and I would expect a serious bite from a fair-size pit to do a lot more damage than just bruise the kid's butt!

Originally Posted by JLibourel

Click to expand...

Sounds like the dog might have been "play" biting, especially if it is a young one. A bite from any sizable dog is a serious matter, and I would expect a serious bite from a fair-size pit to do a lot more damage than just bruise the kid's butt!
I was bitten on my face when ~3 years old by an older labrador. Took almost 20 stitches to close it up. The scar moved down under my chin as I grew up, but it's pretty big. A few inches either way and I could have lost an eye or an ear. People need to be careful with barely trained dogs around children - it can get ugly fast. Hell our bulldog was playing with one of our nephews when she was a puppy and got too excited and knocked him down, jumping around him play biting. Scared the **** out of him, and us, because we thought she had really hurt him. It happened in the blink of an eye.

Originally Posted by JLibourel

Click to expand...

Sounds like the dog might have been "play" biting, especially if it is a young one. A bite from any sizable dog is a serious matter, and I would expect a serious bite from a fair-size pit to do a lot more damage than just bruise the kid's butt!
It was not "play" biting. While the dog was not trying with all its ability to kill my kid, it bit him hard enough to leave a rather meaningful bruise. I know dogs have sharp teeth, but this was through jeans and the rope swing with oak branch handle might have taken some of the force so I'm not surprised it did not leave a gash. He was also kicking at the dog and trying to climb up onto the swing so the dog did not have a perfect shot at his ass. Also the dog was not huge, maybe 40 pounds. I have a Dale and they are known to get a bit nipsy, my kid knows the difference between play and real biting. Anyway this is all details. If your dog gets off leash and bites my kid hard enough to leave a significant bruise I'm well within my rights to put my foot in your ass, literally or metaphorically.] edit: after reading this again and due to the general lack of ability to detect tone on the internet I can see how this might sound like I'm looking to kick his ass or some such or that I'm really broken up and worried about the incident. I'm really not. No ITG here, and I think my kid dealt with it well. He's not traumatized. More than anything I want this dude to handle his business better and will tell him so if I ever run into him again. I might find out if this dog has had other incidents and if his owner has been informed and go from there.

Originally Posted by NorCal

Click to expand...

Anyway this is all details. If your dog gets off leash and bites my kid hard enough to leave a significant bruise I'm well within my rights to put my foot in your ass, literally or metaphorically.

+1000000 I don't think a jury in the world would convict you of anything.

Originally Posted by KJT

Click to expand...

+1000000 I don't think a jury in the world would convict you of anything.

assault and battery with a shod foot

contact the local animal officer and/or police. A bruise is a clear indication of an attack.. doesn't need to "break skin" or "draw blood" to constitute an offense. The owner of the dog has to be made to realize that responsible dog ownership involves a lot more than just letting a dog roam "off-leash' and letting them do what they want. What if this happens again to some other child and with more serious wounds? I'm certain you'd be saying .. "damn, I should have reported it..."