Another biting question

[martySQ]

Six months ago, I took in my sister's dog Tilly who was chewing on her Labxaustrailian shepherd's doggy sibling's ear(Shadow). I re-homed Tilly to my daughter in law who is finding Tilly has a bit of sheep sense even though she is a borderxchow cross...doesn't crouch, but still runs around the sheep like you would expect a herder to do. That is a good deal for Tilly.

Tilly's Brother(Shadow) now has bitten the toddler that lives in my sister's home. That was the entire reason we removed a dog from the household...so baby wouldn't be in the middle of dog spats.

My sister called me in tears ... she didn't take the dog in to euthanize yet, she didn't take the toddler to the emergency room as she is a nurse and decided it wouldn't need stitches, just butterfly band-aids. (yes, I told her toddler still needs antibiotics, and the doc will need to report the bite...)This dog has repeatedly tried to let everyone know it didn't care for babies or toddlers. The mother is far too self absorbed to watch the child close enough, grandma (my sister) is overworked, exhausted, and can't keep up with toddler due to her knees needing replacement.

Toddler's mom is working full time and is going to school full time.

Would it be safe to recommend the "crate and rotate" type treatment for the dog and toddler? meaning... dog in fenced back yard when toddler loose in home... dog in house when toddler in yard situation? Not sure about snowy winters as this is a house dog. I'm not sure crating the dog inside would keep it safe from toddler. I also told my sister to find out what the rules are in her town, as the next door town is an automatic euthanize for a bite type town.

What do you think is reasonable in this situation? Euthanize? Re-home? "crate and rotate"?

(My sister would like to re-home the toddler... but that won't happen until it's mama gets through school in another year ....)

[martySQ]

well...no one is giving their opinion, so I am thinking the consensus is PTS?

[rushdoggie]

well...no one is giving their opinion, so I am thinking the consensus is PTS?

 

Well, its hard to say...it really does sound like Mom is too busy to be as cautious as she should be. Is there anywhere that he could go where there were no little kids?

[Journey]

Bad situation that is not entirely the dogs fault...Can the toddler be rehomed How old is Shadow? Management has been on vacation from the sounds of it. Can your sister manage this? I think she needs to be on board with 100% management if he's to remain in the household and others that live their need to stay out of it and let her manage him.

[geonni banner]

I'm for re-homing the dog in a kid-less home. I wouldn't pair a dog that was even half Chow Chow with a family situation. The bite was very likely provoked, but then what amounts to provocation to a Chow mix might not even register on the radar with say, a Golden Retriever.

 

I've known nice Chows, but I never met one that would suffer fools gladly, and they have all been owner-centric dogs that really valued their personal space and weren't afraid to let you know it. Ditto Chow mixes.

[Journey]

Wait, I'm confused? It's a Chow mix? I thought it was a Lab x Aussie...if it's a chow that would change my thoughts.

[juliepoudrier]

Karen,

The dog in question is the lab x aussie. The first dog the OP's sister rehomed was the chow mix, named Tilly (who was removed for chewing on the lab x aussie's ear).

 

The dog who bit the child is the lab x aussie, named Shadow.

 

================

Without any information on why the bite took place, it's hard to say what should be done. If the bite occurred because the toddler did something to provoke it while no parent figure was around to manage things, then I'd say the dog deserves a chance and perhaps rehoming to a family without small children (and none planned for the future) is a reasonable option. If the bite was completely unprovoked (and we may never know the answer to that one if it occurred while no one was actually paying attention), then the dog probably should be euthanized.

 

So the question is: was the toddler aggravating the dog, taking something away from the dog, falling on the dog, pulling on or otherwise causing pain to the dog or did the dog just bite out of the blue (the more often than not, out of the blue isn't really out of the blue)? The answer would inform your decision on what to do with the dog. (The "rehome the toddler" comments lead me to wonder if the child isn't something of a terror and perhaps might have caused the bite to happen, even if inadvertently.)

 

No matter what, the dog probably needs to be removed from that home. In a case where you have a couple of adults who aren't likely to always be careful--one too busy to notice and the other too exhausted to manage--it's probably not wise to rely on "crate and rotate." Someone wil forget the rules somewhere along the line, and then the results could be disastrous.

 

J.

[geonni banner]

"Six months ago, I took in my sister's dog Tilly who was chewing on her Labxaustrailian shepherd's doggy sibling's ear(Shadow). I re-homed Tilly to my daughter in law who is finding Tilly has a bit of sheep sense even though she is a borderxchow cross...doesn't crouch, but still runs around the sheep like you would expect a herder to do. That is a good deal for Tilly.

Tilly's Brother(Shadow) now has bitten the toddler that lives in my sister's home. That was the entire reason we removed a dog from the household...so baby wouldn't be in the middle of dog spats.

My sister called me in tears ... she didn't take the dog in to euthanize yet, she didn't take the toddler to the emergency room as she is a nurse and decided it wouldn't need stitches, just butterfly band-aids. (yes, I told her toddler still needs antibiotics, and the doc will need to report the bite...)This dog has repeatedly tried to let everyone..."

 

Ok. I'm confused. I want to know how a border x chow can be the sibling of a lab x Australian? Not trying to be contentious here. Are they "siblings" because they were two dogs living in the same household?

[martySQ]

"Six months ago, I took in my sister's dog Tilly who was chewing on her Labxaustrailian shepherd's doggy sibling's ear(Shadow). I re-homed Tilly to my daughter in law who is finding Tilly has a bit of sheep sense even though she is a borderxchow cross...doesn't crouch, but still runs around the sheep like you would expect a herder to do. That is a good deal for Tilly.

Tilly's Brother(Shadow) now has bitten the toddler that lives in my sister's home. That was the entire reason we removed a dog from the household...so baby wouldn't be in the middle of dog spats.

My sister called me in tears ... she didn't take the dog in to euthanize yet, she didn't take the toddler to the emergency room as she is a nurse and decided it wouldn't need stitches, just butterfly band-aids. (yes, I told her toddler still needs antibiotics, and the doc will need to report the bite...)This dog has repeatedly tried to let everyone..."

 

Ok. I'm confused. I want to know how a border x chow can be the sibling of a lab x Australian? Not trying to be contentious here. Are they "siblings" because they were two dogs living in the same household?

 

 

They are not biologically related... they were in the same household.

And, the toddler provoked the dog. He has before and been snapped at, but never the skin broken and blood drawn. Classic case of dog stating... back off baby... BACK off Baby.... BACK OFF BABY!!! Baby is rather a busy boy and hard to keep up with... he hasn't much of an "off switch" yet.

 

Thank you for your thoughts. I don't know how old Shadow is... I think probably 5-7 age range. My sister is reading and taking in your information and opinions. Thank you.