What to do in the event of an accidental dog bite.

[xavierandrea]

OK Lets say that you are playing around with your dog and he accidentally nips you. Like you are bending down to kiss him and he is coming up to lick you. Do you consider that an accident? Or do you consider that an actual dog bite?

[cheekymunkee]

xavierandrea napisał(a):

OK Lets say that you are playing around with your dog and he accidentally nips you. Like you are bending down to kiss him and he is coming up to lick you. Do you consider that an accident? Or do you consider that an actual dog bite?

Accident. I get nipped alot playing with mine. I play pretty rough with them & at times I will get a nip as they are trying to grab the tug, it had NEVER happened in anger or fear, just play & it's an accident. I also play a "bitey face" game with them & Munkee has gotten my nose on accident a time or two. It hurts HIM more than it does me. When he feels a tooth on my skin he DROPS to the floor with this " I hurt my mommie" look on his face. Justice isn't quite THAT dramatic but it still bothers her when it happens. Ollie could give a poop.

Debby

[katetsai]

Accident. Been there, done that!

[xavierandrea]

Ok. What if you needed to receive stiches?

[katetsai]

Stiches :o .. Ouch! I've not get anything more than scratches. I would still say it's an accident, since you know you were playing with the dog. Be careful next time, and maybe avoid playing the sort of the game which caused you to get stiches.

[cheekymunkee]

Still an accident. Did the dog act aggressively or fearful? Are you (or whoever it happend to) OK?

Justice grabbed the water hose out of my hand a few weeks ago & got my forefinger & thumb as well. It hurt all the way to my ELBOW!! I could not move my hand for a few minutes it hurt so bad BUT she didn't mean to hurt me, she just got excited about the hose. She LOVES playing in water & when she sees the hose turned on she grabs it & runs around watering my yard for me! There were a couple of punctures on my hand but like I said, she just got excited.

Debby

[xavierandrea]

Sorry for beating around the bush but I feel terrible and I just wanted a few more dog owners opinion before I say........

This weekend Xavier my son was playing with Asim. Asim has this one toy that he sleeps with and brings it everywhere he goes. Xavier and Asim where playing hide and seek with the toy. X would put it under his leg, then under his shirt, in between the couch cousions (sp). Asim would come an look for it and X would show it to him then hide it again. Well we were all in the living room and it happened so fast... Xavier put the toy behind his back and Asim came again to look for it. X went toward Asim the same time Asim came to him. X normally gives the dogs a kiss and that is what he was going for. Asim was mouth opened tongue hanging out and then...... I heard X go Asim what a wet kissey. X got up to clean what he thought was drool but it was blood. Asim went running and hid in his crate and I took X to the ER. He got 3 stiches under his bottom lip. The ER DR looked at me as if I was crazy! I explaind what happened but they kept asking my son are you sure this was an accident and are you sure you are not trying to defend your doggy? Hello I'm the parent here ask me. While I was filling out paperwork I saw a nurse go up to him and ask questions. Well after being there for an hour the DR finally asked what type of dog do you have? I stated a Rottweiler. I thought he was gonna fall of his chair. I just fell terrible. Could I have prevented this? They were playing. Asim now will not go near X and runs everytime X enters the room. X is fine he keeps asking why is Asim running from him? Anyways the Drs made me feel terrible but everyone I talk to says it was an accident. ( oh X is Xavier's nickname )

[__crazy_canine__]

You have to keep in mind those Drs werent dog lovers and hear things about "dangerous" dog breeds. Rotties have a bad rap and uneducated people assume the worst about them. It was an accident, dont worry about it.

Youll have to get Asim and X to be buddies again though. Poor Asim probably feels horrible about it and X must be sad his dog wont come near him. :( I feel bad for them both and you too for your guilty feeling because of those stupid Drs! :evil:

[katetsai]

If a person does not know the situation or the dog, then it will sound horriable to them. but you are the parent and knows best about the whole situation and how things develop. Your child did not even blame the dog, and he knows it just an accident. I see this sort of same as 2 kids playing and one accidentally got the other hurt. no one questions the possiblity of it being an accident, but because the other party is a dog, they assume the worse. I don't see how you could prevent situation like this, becuase this is an accident. Sounds like the Asim know he did something bad, and feel horriable about it. Hopefully he'll get back to his oldself again soon.

[izzy]

I go for accident, i've been there, but never nedded stiches, i can see the guilty look in the dog's eyes right after the accident happen, looks exactly like when they had another kind of accident on the carpet.

[cheekymunkee]

Could I have prevented this?

I don't think so, short of not letting them play anymore & that;s not fair to anyone. It's possible that your dogs TOOTH bumped his mouth & cause the cut. Who knows? The way your dog acted AFTER the accident says everything to me.


Thanks for defending your dog also. ALOT of times people just PTS the dog & insist he attacked.

Debby

[__crazy_canine__]

Oh and another thing, big dogs sometimes forget just how big they are and use full strength when it isnt neccesary. Asim most likely was over exited about playing and forgot to watch about his size. tHe same thing happened to me with a great dane. We were playing outside and we got really rough and he was biting on my arms, then he bit too hard. They definately know they made a mistake and stay away for a while but just have X bribe him with treats to get them to be buddies again. Thats what I did, except with ice cubes because theyre the great danes favorite thing. lol Very messy though.

[Guest Anonymous]

I would agree that it is an accident.... forget abouth those doctors, they were not there, and have no right to speculated as to what exactly happened.

I have also been bit by Taurus ( 2 x :oops: actually). Both times were accidents, and both times, he was so upset after it happened, but dogs use their mouths for alot of things.... and sometimes I think they forget they are interacting with humans, and not another animal. When Taurus and Jada play, they have their mouths open the entire time, and sometimes they get too rough for each other also, but never on purpose.

[xavierandrea]

Thanks guys. I know Asim didn't mean it and those darn Drs just made me feel really bad. I guess I just needed other dog lovers to confide in. (sp) Thanks alot.. Big hugs to everyone!

[Cairn6]

I know you feel bad about the doctors but they don't know you and have to be sure they are just trying to protect your son.

This might sound odd but when my niece Samantha was 5 she had a bit of a fear of the public toilets because they were so loud so when she flushed the toilet she would jump up really quick. Well we were at Mcdonalds and she flushed the toilet but didn't notice that the changing table was down right across from the toilet. So when she jumped up she rammed her face right into it and it left a big bruise right under her eye. We went to the emergency room and the questions they were asking her and us were very difficult because I got the impression they were fishing around to see if we actually hit her to make that bruise. It's very humiliating but after it was over I realized they just want to make sure Samantha is alright.

[Guest Anonymous]

The skin on the face is very easy to break , especially in children. It also tends to bleed pretty profusely. I had a dog bite me on the cheek, in this case it was aggressive, but he barely got me and I was gushing blood. Sounds like an accident, but only you know your dog.

[Guest Anonymous]

I agree it was an accident. Don't let the docs get you down on yourself, Asim or X. They don't know the whole situation and may not be dog people. I agree with everyone that the thing to do know is get Asim to understand it's alright and that he and X can be friends again. I think the treat method Crazy Canine suggested is a wonderful idea!

[courtnek]

accident. the dogs reaction says it all. He KNEW he did something "bad" when he bit. He didnt intend to, it just happened. A dog can bite 5 times faster than we can get out of the way. THEY dont know that. they assume we can play as rough with them as they can play with each other. having bit X, Asim realized something "bad" had happened, from all the commotion afterwards, and now he's afraid to play anymore. the treats are a good idea, let Asim know its ok to play with X. Maybe change the game a little. ball, instead of hide and seek. hide and seek hypes a dog up. A dog that intended to bite, really meant it, wont feel bad about it afterwards.

ignore the docs. They have a half dozen reports to fill out now, and they just want to make sure the dog isnt a threat to the child. I dont blame them for that.

[Horsefeathers!]

To be honest, I'm sure the doctors are just trying to cover their ass(et)s. :wink: They probably mean well enough, but they are people, too. Even they can succumb to that "vicious Rottweiler" stereotype. Still, some municipalities are taking dog bites more seriously, just kind of lumping them into a general category without as much regard to circumstances as we would like sometimes. I once was very upset with a doctor who pretty much came right out and called me abusive toward a little boy I was fostering at the time. He was about 3 years old and we were living in a town that had been flooded. We had to be evacuated and were given vouchers for a motel room. Our room was on the second floor and you had to climb stairs to it (no elevator). It was late, we were exhausted, and I had a shoulder bag on one arm and my little boy's hand in the other. Toward the top, he missed a step and fell. I instinctively grabbed his hand that I was holding and snatched him up. He never made a sound, didn't complain at all, but the next day he couldn't move his arm. I took him to the doctor and his elbow was dislocated :-? . I told the doctor what happened and he yelled at me that you couldn't handle children that way. He took the boy into another room and was contemplating calling the police and having him removed and me hauled off. I NEVER meant to hurt that baby. It was just an instant reaction to keep him from falling to the pavement below. I felt awful enough. I was VERY angry with that doctor, but in hindsight, I can see what they're up against and believe *mutter* he meant well enough. Think of all the stories we read of child abuse (or animal abuse for that matter) where several red flags were raised, but no one got involved until it was too late. I think many people have become super sensitive to "possible" scenarios.

Anyway, my whole long drawn out point is that, looking at it objectively, I can see where the doctors are coming from. WE all know that accidents like that happen. Some doctors just think a dog bite is a dog bite is a dog bite.

My personal accidental dog bite story... I was playing with Perry with a toy when he lunged to grab it. I bobbed when he weaved and he grabbed my hand... HARD. Not only did he grab it, he held on and shook before he realized it was my hand. We'd been playing tug of war, only now it was my hand. He had me in such a way that I couldn't even scream. It took my breath. Boy, did that hurt. :-?

I hope that X can shake this off and he and Asim can be buds again. :angel:

[Cairn6]

Toward the top, he missed a step and fell. I instinctively grabbed his hand that I was holding and snatched him up. He never made a sound, didn't complain at all, but the next day he couldn't move his arm. I took him to the doctor and his elbow was dislocated .

Oh for heavens sake I think that stopping him from falling on the what I imagine were concrete stairs was a better choice. What a dip. My brother was 4 when he broke his arm and didn't complain about it until the next day. My mom couldn't believe he had a broken arm for a whole day without even crying. Kids are something.

[courtnek]

good grief, I agree with Cairn. Had he fallen down the stairs he could have BROKEN his arm, or his NECK. people instinctively grab someone who starts to fall, especially a child. dislocated elbow is a small price to pay instead of what could have happened if you hadnt grabbed him...

when Kyle was little we had a wooden electric garage door. There was something about the noise that door made while it was opening that bothered me. I didnt know it at the time, but it was rotten clear through.
I went out there one day and saw him playing in the doorway of the garage, and something just said "get him OUT of there". the door was making "squeaky" sounds....I grabbed him by the arm and physically YANKED him out of the doorway, just as the door came crashing down. It was so rotted it exploded into wood chips when it hit the driveway. mom's intuition? who knows? it would have killed him had it fallen on him. His arm was sore for days, although no major damage was done. the doctor was like yours. "So, HOW did this happen?" like 12 times. Like he expected the story to change. then "how come you didnt know the door was rotten?"
because it was freshly painted before I bought the house. You couldnt see where the holes had been plugged....

I understand why they have to do that, but it IS aggravating, so I empathize with you HF.

I couldnt even collect the damages for the door from the previous owner, because I "didnt inspect carefully enough" How do you inspect through paint?

[bk_blue]

[quote name='Cairn6']

Toward the top, he missed a step and fell. I instinctively grabbed his hand that I was holding and snatched him up. He never made a sound, didn't complain at all, but the next day he couldn't move his arm. I took him to the doctor and his elbow was dislocated .

Oh for heavens sake I think that stopping him from falling on the what I imagine were concrete stairs was a better choice. What a dip. My brother was 4 when he broke his arm and didn't complain about it until the next day. My mom couldn't believe he had a broken arm for a whole day without even crying. Kids are something.

I think the doctor did the RIGHT THING. Maybe not to abuse HF but to assume the worst. Child abuse is horrifically not uncommon and it really puts doctors, teachers and other people who work with children in awkward positions (especially in my state where we have mandatory reporting). Who knows how many cases they have missed because they assumed people were telling them the truth about children's injuries, or how many cases they picked up because they were more probing than considered polite.
BK has collided with my face quite a few times (I bend down, he jumps up) and he's caused me to bleed once (tooth punctured my lip a few yrs ago) but he doesn't have a nasty bone in his body and anyone who knows him knows that. :)

[courtnek]

and I agree with that BK - better to probe than let possible abusers go unreported. It's just aggravating when YOU are the "considered abuser" and you KNOW you didnt do it. It's a two way street, I know.

:roll: :roll:

[Cairn6]

[quote name='bk_blue'][quote name='Cairn6']

Toward the top, he missed a step and fell. I instinctively grabbed his hand that I was holding and snatched him up. He never made a sound, didn't complain at all, but the next day he couldn't move his arm. I took him to the doctor and his elbow was dislocated .

Oh for heavens sake I think that stopping him from falling on the what I imagine were concrete stairs was a better choice. What a dip. My brother was 4 when he broke his arm and didn't complain about it until the next day. My mom couldn't believe he had a broken arm for a whole day without even crying. Kids are something.

I think the doctor did the RIGHT THING. Maybe not to abuse HF but to assume the worst. Child abuse is horrifically not uncommon and it really puts doctors, teachers and other people who work with children in awkward positions (especially in my state where we have mandatory reporting). Who knows how many cases they have missed because they assumed people were telling them the truth about children's injuries, or how many cases they picked up because they were more probing than considered polite.
BK has collided with my face quite a few times (I bend down, he jumps up) and he's caused me to bleed once (tooth punctured my lip a few yrs ago) but he doesn't have a nasty bone in his body and anyone who knows him knows that. :)
Well I know that it's the response when she said she was keeping him from falling and he says "you never treat a child like that" as if what she said was so terrible. Whether he believed her or not is a different story.

[Horsefeathers!]

That's actually true. The doctor never did imply that he didn't believe me... just yelled (literally) that I should not have grabbed him like that whether it was to prevent a fall or not. His exact words were, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE A CHILD LIKE THAT!!" Even still, I try to believe the doctor was well intentioned. I live in what was listed as THE worst state in the US for child welfare. It's common to see children slip through the cracks here when there were red flags all around. My state's solution to child endangerment is to throw more money and resources to those unfit to care for them, but not otherwise become involved (a totally separate rant).

To add insult to injury, this poor kid made more than one appearance at the local emergency room. He did sometimes fall square onto his forehead, leaving a nasty bump and bruise always in the same place. What was weird about him was that he'd throw his hands away from him and let his head catch the fall. It was as if he didn't want to injure his hands :-? . I knew that if he fell down those steps, he wouldn't do anything to break his fall... experience had told me that. I'm so glad this kid was able to speak for himself.

An interesting fact... this doctor was later arrested and imprisoned for trading drugs to women patients in exchange for sex. That kind of dampened my desire to believe he was a concerned doctor as much as he was just covering his butt.

Back on topic... I'm wondering how the relationship is going between X and Asim?