# Biting Incident



## swildt (Jan 23, 2013)

Hi all,

So, my tale is probably not unusual, but I'm a little freaked out so perhaps I could get some advice.

We have a 6 month old Golden male named Barley. He is very sweet and affectionate, loves everyone, and is not a dominant dog. He acts confident but submissive to most humans other than my 4 year old, who I'm pretty sure he thinks is a litter mate. We also have a smaller Golden mix who he acts submissive to. We've worked with him to not nip at the 4 year old and chase him, and he's gotten much better. He rarely nips at anyone now. He's never shown any aggression. He always acts like he LOVES the kids, especially the 4 year old who he follows around everywhere.

Today I had walked back into my bedroom for a few minutes, and I heard my 4 year old suddenly screaming "OWIE OWIE!" I ran into the living room and my 8 year old said that Barley had bit my 4 year old.

Apparently my 4 year old had been poking at him with a plastic sword (which he never does usually.. he knows to respect pets!) and Barley bit his arm. He didn't break the skin and there is just a little bruise there. Barley sometimes will try to grab things when you are waving them around and I wondered if he was thinking the 4 year old was playing, went for the sword and accidentally got his arm instead. My 8 year old kept saying he was being "aggressive" though. I didn't see it, but it scared me to death.

Obviously I won't ever leave the 4 year old in the room with the dog alone again so I can supervise, however, I'm still nervous. Barley doesn't have an aggressive personality but he's young, and I worry a dog that big could kill a kid if they suddenly got unpredictable.

Any advice for worried Mom?

:doh:


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Since you weren't there to witness the incident it's pretty hard to do know what to do. I understand that it scared you (would have done same to me). Best advice I can offer is to NEVER leave them alone again and to watch their interactions like a hawk. I trained my girl to be good around dogs too but I know she wouldn't have been trustworthy enough to not poke a puppy when she was four--there are limits to how much compliance you can expect. Same with a 6 month pup. I would say 99.9% the puppy wasn't "aggressive"--probably gave a warning that the child didn't pick up on and then corrected him (in his dog mind) or as you said thought he was playing and chomped on the wrong thing. 

Hang in there. No criticism from me on this. I suspect you are beating yourself up all by yourself! Glad everyone is Ok even if shaken up. Be sure to explain and train your children again, and talk to them so they are cautious but not afraid of the dog.

Came back to add--if Barley had wanted or intended to hurt your child, he would have. Don't think you should leave the 8 year old alone with any dog ever, either. Take Barley with you when you leave the room.


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## swildt (Jan 23, 2013)

Thanks! I do feel awful. I guess I got too trusting because Barley and my 4 year old are pretty inseparable and I didn't think he would ever bite, nor that my 4 year old would poke at him.

I'll definitely watch them both closely and not leave the room alone even for a minute!


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Knowing how impulsive both a 6 month old pup and a 4 year old child can be...
and given no other incidence AND no other gut feelings that there could be trouble brewing...
I would chalk it up to a draw....
Live and Learn....


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

swildt said:


> Apparently my 4 year old had been poking at him with a plastic sword (which he never does usually.. he knows to respect pets!) and Barley bit his arm. He didn't break the skin and there is just a little bruise there.



I saw this blog a while ago and I think it's worth a read:

Good Dogs Don’t Bite Children, Do They? | Dogs and Babies

4 years old is too young, IMO, to be left alone unsupervised with a dog. Ever. Period. Kids aren't able to "read" dog body language - Barley likely gave some signs that he was not enjoying the poking prior to biting. He may have tried to walk away, started licking his lips, maybe even snarled or growled all to try in the nicest way possible to tell your son to knock it off. Biting is usually a last resort. 

Additionally, what your son does to your dog, he will likely do to other dogs, and next time, he might not be so lucky. 

I'm sorry this happened, I know it is stressful. One of my springers snapped at my nephew several years ago. He was a toddler at the time. My back was turned and I was cooking, but my in-laws and sis-in-law were in the room "watching" him. Apparently they allowed him to climb on top of her (!!??) I learned my lesson that day about being my dog's advocate and never ever again allowed her to be in a situation where she felt she needed to resort to biting. She was a classic case of "good dog" syndrome mentioned in the article above, and my nephew had not learned how to properly interact with dogs because he was allowed to climb all over the labs that lived at his house.

ETA: I can tell you're much more conscientious than my sis-in-law, so I share what happened with my springer as a way to demonstrate that even good dogs can't be 100% trusted around kiddos, and I can tell you're not the type of person who would allow kids to pester a dog intentionally  I just reread that and wanted to make sure you knew it wasn't meant as a personal jab...


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

At 6 months (for the dog) and 4 years for the child, I think we can not predict that either of them will become violent in the years to come. :crossfing

I'm guessing that the pup got scared or over-reacted. Just as I suspect the 4 year old did. 

The skin wasn't broken, the pup wasn't damaged. You're right to keep an eye on the situation for some time, both for the pup and the child.

Little ones simply don't understand when they are hurting another being. That goes for both dogs and people.

I'm guessing all will be well. Sorry that it happened though. I can understand being distressed.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Two thoughts: the general rule of thumb is that no child under age five is left alone with A dog. And ALL dogs bite, it is a question of when...


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