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Our puppy "bit" our daughter

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lisars

Member
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? PA

Yesterday,while playing with our almost seven month old Newfoundland, my daughter was bitten. I use the term loosely, because while the injury WAS caused by a tooth in his mouth, it was not a bite. They were playing fetch, she went to throw his toy, and the dog jumped up to get it. She threw the toy as his mouth opened to get it from her. End result, she had a half centimeter laceration that I chose (ER doc said it was up to me whether or not to suture as it was not very big or deep) to have sutured (one stitch) as it was near her lip. She is a very active child and I didn't want to take a chance that while roughhousing with her brother it would open back up.

Last night she called her father, my ex husband, to tell him about her "cool blue stitch". His response was that we need to get rid of the puppy because he's obviously dangerous. He has always had an irrational fear of dogs and has tried to project on the kids. My question then, is there anything he can do legally that would cause us to have to give the puppy away? Newfoundlands while huge, are known to be a gentle, passive breed. This was, to us, just a puppy being a puppy, and an accident. If he presses the issue, what could possibly be the end result? The kids would be devastated if if we had to give him away.
 


dogbitevic

Junior Member
Dog Bite...Don't let it happen again!

You might label me like you did your ex as having an irrational fear of dogs, but I have my reasons just as he probably has his. My 3 year daughter was bit in the face in May by my uncle's shetland sheepdog (as relatively small dog). The attack was completely unprovoked. My daughter was simply standing near the dog while an adult played with it. It lunged at her face and bit her mouth/lips. She had around 18 stitches. Come to find out that the dog bit another little girl in the face last summer. My uncle & his wife made excuses for the dog's 1st bite. If they weren't in denial that they have a vicious dog and had gotten rid of it like responsible dog owners, my daughter wouldn't have 2 permanent scars on her face. We are suing their homeowners insurance for medical bills which are already over $4000 and future bills for scar revisions and for pain & suffering. It sounds like your daughter was lucky THIS TIME...hopefully the 1 stitch 1/2 centimeter wound won't leave much of a visible scar. You need to ask yourself if it is really worth it though to keep this dog. If your dog bites someone other than your immediately family members, you are 100% liable. Especially since the hospital probably filed a report with Animal Control as they did in my daughter's case. You already have 1 strike against you. If you have small children & this is a BIG dog, something like this could happen again. Even if it was "unintentional" on the dog's part...are you willing to put your kids' faces at risk for more permanent scars? Why would your dog go after your daughter's face to fetch the toy...why wouldn't he go after her hand holding the toy? I would give anything to have my daughter's perfect face back. No amount of $ she is awarded in a settlement will ever bring back her perfect skin/face/smile. I am heartbroken. If your husband had a bad experience with a dog the way I have, he may not drop the issue. I know I wouldn't. You might want to post this in the Family Law section. It might come down to a judge deciding for you. BTW...my uncle still is keeping his dog b/c he doesn't want to "traumatize" his son by getting rid of it. Maybe when it bites a 3rd person or maybe when his insurance company drops him he'll change his mind.
 

lisars

Member
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's attack. And I don't see your fear as being irrational. Irrational by definition means not endowed with reason. You (and your little girl) certainly do have good reason. An unprovoked attack, however, is different from what our case is though. They were playing and she pulled the toy back to throw it and he jumped for it at the same time. I don't know how much you know about different dog breeds, but our Newfoundland puppy who will be 7 months old in 4 days can almost put his paws on my shoulders when standing on his hind legs. I am 5'2". My daughter is 9 and probably around 4'. He did not "go after her face" at all. When jumping, his face and mouth are almost at my eye level. (Yes, we are working on the jumping issue. Can't wait for the puppy exuberance to calm down.) An unfortunate accident.

My ex's fear is irrational. Or perhaps I should have said his fear of other people's dogs is irrational. He had a Chow while we were dating that was his baby. He's never had a bad experience with a dog. Just is VERY uncomfortable with anyone or thing that is unfamiliar. He refused to come up onto our porch the day we brought our Newf home because "it might bite or scratch me". This is an 8 week old ball of fur.

Meanwhile my daughter with the stitch in her face reassures him that this was an accident and says to him why should she be afraid of her own dog? If anyone has reason to be nervous it's her. Not to trivialize this by any means, but does this mean I should get rid of my older daughter and son too? My son, who does need to be taught to calm down some, has bloodied her lip countless times while wrestling or throwing a football around. My older daughter was goofing around with her jumping off of her bed last winter and she (the nine year old) ended up with a fractured arm. Stuff unfortunately happens and they end up in the ER sometimes. Scar or not her face will always be perfection to me. She actually didn't want the stitch because it would then possibly leave a small scar and then she'd have "a cool story to tell when school starts again". If there was any viciousness on the dog's part in what happened, I would certainly have to reevaluate my thinking, but there was not. At this point I truly believe that she has more to worry about with her brother and sister. I would never allow any of my kids to be around any animal I perceive as a threat.

Dept. of Health called this morning to talk because of hospital's report. They did not seem overly concerned. Mostly checking when his Rabies vaccination was. And letting me know that if the puppy died at any time in the next ten days, to call them and our vet so that they could perform an autopsy. If he didn't die, the case would be closed.

Again, I am very sorry for the pain your little girl has been through and will continue to go through with future surgeries. In time you will not see any scars she has, they'll be just a part of her. It won't always be a constant reminder of what's happened. My son is the only of my three kids without a big vertical scar down the center of his chest from open heart surgery, to me he's the oddball. LOL. Good luck to your family, Lisa
 

bononos

Senior Member
Tell your ex to shove it and PROVE this dog is violent.
Just the size alone proves that if this dog wanted to attack someone, the so called bite would be alot more substantial.
I too am a fan of the big dogs, St. Bernard is what we have, quite similar to the Newfoundland. She's actually either too lazy or too smart to play fetch, I haven't decided yet.
I know the damage that dog can do to a bone in 2.2 seconds, to actually bite someone??? They'd be short an appendage or two. Not getting 1 stitch.
 

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