Dog bite

[superfun]

I have a dcb that stayed home most of last week. His dog bit him 10 days ago, they spent a long time in the emergency room waiting for stitches. He catches everything! So he has been really sick and hasn't been here much. He's good enough to come tomorrow, and his hand has healed really well. So here's my question. He hasn't opened his hand willingly since the stitches. We think it's a comfort thing? That's his dominant hand, he uses it for eating, etc. So he doesn't want to feed himself, etc. (He's almost two.) Would you gently work with him to open his hand more often, or would you ignore it and wait for him to start using it on his own?

[torontokids]

I would leave it until he opens in on his own and follow the Dr. directions. If it is still tender then he is being smart. The last thing you want is a torn stitch.

He may just forget about it and start using it tomorrow when the play do or whatever comes out.

[superfun]

Thanks! I was thinking the same thing, but I was doubting myself.

[superfun]

Well, he's using his fist for everything instead of opening his hand, and for the first time ever, he didn't want to paint. He's usually the first to the table when we paint. I feel bad for him. It must be quite sore for him to say no to that.

[Fun&care]

Poor thing. Kinda scary too...have the parents said anything about what they are going to do about the dog? I can't imagine how upset I would be if my dog did this to anyone to the point of needing stitches, she would be outta here.

[superfun]

I feel the same way. We had a small dog, and he never bit our kids, but he thought about it a few times. He would nip at them, and ultimately we decided he would be happier in a house without kids. Luckily for us, my brother in law really wanted a dog. They were a perfect match.
This family says it wasn't the dogs fault and they'll be more careful. I can see their side of it, but it's definitely not what I would do if that happened.

[mickyc]

I had a family whose dog bit him as well. They put the dog down immediately. It was on the boy's face too. Luckily the stiches have healed.

I would just leave him and let him do what is comfortable for him. Only he will know.

[Lee-Bee]

This is a hard one. Growing up we had a dog for 19yrs. He was a great dog, gentle, not aggressive at all. One year when I was about 7 on Christmas eve I decided to give him his present early. He got a new dog bone. Then I decided no, wait, he needs to wait till morning or I won't have a gift to give him. So, being my 7yr old self I got down on my hands and knees and decided to crawl up to him and pick the bone up with my teeth. Yep. Well, my dog was indeed a dog and dog's protect their food...especially brand new bones. So he bit me. I was indeed dumb enough to have put my face in front of his mouth so he happened to bite me on the lip, requiring stitches.

We spent Christmas eve in the emerge waiting for stitches. My dog never, ever acted aggressive towards anyone after this (or prior to this), and we had him another 12yrs or so. So, sometimes it really, truly isn't the dog's fault. Dogs are animals though, not children and they cannot be trusted to be left unsupervised with young children, because children do lack common sense!

[superfun]

I really hope that's the case with this dog. They seem pretty sure it was their fault and not the dogs. The way you described your incident with your dog does make sense. Sometimes the dog can't be blamed.

[bright sparks]

This is a hard one. Growing up we had a dog for 19yrs. He was a great dog, gentle, not aggressive at all. One year when I was about 7 on Christmas eve I decided to give him his present early. He got a new dog bone. Then I decided no, wait, he needs to wait till morning or I won't have a gift to give him. So, being my 7yr old self I got down on my hands and knees and decided to crawl up to him and pick the bone up with my teeth. Yep. Well, my dog was indeed a dog and dog's protect their food...especially brand new bones. So he bit me. I was indeed dumb enough to have put my face in front of his mouth so he happened to bite me on the lip, requiring stitches.

We spent Christmas eve in the emerge waiting for stitches. My dog never, ever acted aggressive towards anyone after this (or prior to this), and we had him another 12yrs or so. So, sometimes it really, truly isn't the dog's fault. Dogs are animals though, not children and they cannot be trusted to be left unsupervised with young children, because children do lack common sense!

I know someone locally who's child was bitten whilst in daycare! The dog still lives and they still take their child there!! I must be missing some specific details to that story because that's nuts, but I would never send my child to a provider with a dog in the first place. I too have had dogs for years and agree entirely with what you say Lee-Bee. It distress' me to hear of those who would immediately put a dog down for being simply that, a dog, an animal. These are the risks of having an animal in the household that should be taken seriously. This is essentially why when we moved overseas and we owned older dogs who would have likely not survived the trip or the climate change, we decided to refrain from getting any more dogs as the liability in a daycare setting is huge. We are all very excited now that it is such a short time till my doors will be closing, to be discussing the possibility of taking on another dog again...I don't miss the dust though lol

[Fun&care]

I understand sometimes maybe the dog can't be blamed but I can't imagine how stressed I would be on a daily basis if I had a dog in the house who had the potential to bite and cause that much harm. I guess it makes me very grateful to have an amazing dog. You can put your hands in her dog bowl while she is eating, she won't bite, nip or even growl. I have never ever seen her even come close to growling or showing any sort of aggressiveness towards my kids or daycare kids. I am such a safety nut that I know I wouldn't be able to stand it if she was anything but amazing with the kids.

[bright sparks]

I understand sometimes maybe the dog can't be blamed but I can't imagine how stressed I would be on a daily basis if I had a dog in the house who had the potential to bite and cause that much harm. I guess it makes me very grateful to have an amazing dog. You can put your hands in her dog bowl while she is eating, she won't bite, nip or even growl. I have never ever seen her even come close to growling or showing any sort of aggressiveness towards my kids or daycare kids. I am such a safety nut that I know I wouldn't be able to stand it if she was anything but amazing with the kids.

We had a long haired border collie who was so amazing with my kids when they were babies it was ridiculous. I have pictures of my daughter at age 18mths or so sat on him. She also dressed him in a yellow sweater and a baseball cap....friendliest dog ever. When he was about 13 and started to deteriorate he had a couple of fits. When he came out of the fits he was like a possessed wild dog. He lunged for anyone who dared make eye contact and charged around the house like a bull in a china shop. We learnt from the vet that if we locked him in the garage with copious amounts of water to drink in the dark, he would calm much safer for his own self and would obviously keep the kids safer. Two fits later, and a no guaranteed answer to the cause if we spent over £10K that's pounds not dollars so a lot more, on tests, we decided as he had lived a good age, and was temporarily extremely dangerous around anyone not just the kids, to have him put down. It was heart breaking to take a dog into the vets that day wagging his tail and so friendly to put him to sleep but it was for the best and saved him more suffering while keeping our family safe. I couldn't imagine having a dog in the company of someone else's children, the liability is to great in my mind. Perhaps it's just because it's been so long since we have had any dogs. Funnily enough, my husband is actually allergic to dogs. He grew up with a minimum of four dogs in his home at any given time as his mum worked and showed border collies. At one point there were additionally 3 German shepherds along with the border collies and 4 kids lol I can't imagine. It was only once we had no dogs and visited a pet store that he noticed the flare up. It limits our choice of dog now but he seems to be fine around short haired friends.

[bright sparks]

I understand sometimes maybe the dog can't be blamed but I can't imagine how stressed I would be on a daily basis if I had a dog in the house who had the potential to bite and cause that much harm. I guess it makes me very grateful to have an amazing dog. You can put your hands in her dog bowl while she is eating, she won't bite, nip or even growl. I have never ever seen her even come close to growling or showing any sort of aggressiveness towards my kids or daycare kids. I am such a safety nut that I know I wouldn't be able to stand it if she was anything but amazing with the kids.


I think every dog has the potential to nip or bite even those with an excellent nature, they are animals after all. It sounds like you have a great dog in your family whose very nature seems ideal, but when an animal ages, their nature can also change, having less patience, and/or if dementia sets in it can change the very nature of an animal, not to say at all that this will happen with your dog, but it only takes that one time for an animal to snap and no matter how great a pet is, the risk is always there in my opinion.

[Fun&care]

I agree there is always a risk which is why it should never just be a free for all...there should always be supervision and here there is limits and after a few minutes of petting we move on, we don't overwhelm Stella and we give her space etc etc which is why she is probably good natured, I don't let the kids bug her too much.

Sadly it is looking like we are probably going to have to put her down though,I imagine in the next few weeks. She started limping not long ago and it's serious. She is on pain meds for now but it's getting worse. We can't afford the 800$ for X-rays and not only that but vet said treatment would most likely mean major surgery and we for sure can't afford that either so not much of a point getting X-rays in the first place. Definitely keeping an eye out for changes in temperament but she's been great.

I have to say I've always been a bit surprised when clients sign up here considering she is a border collie so a fairly big girl. I know I probably wouldn't put my kids in a daycare with dogs so when I started up it was a bit of a dilemma wondering if I would even be able to get clients! I imagine after she is gone spots will probably be easier to fill though as I have definitely had parents say to my face they love the daycare but the dog not so much.

[mickyc]

We have border collies too. Our girls are outdoor dogs though. They are old and I know I cannot trust them. Shortly after finding out I was pregnant the dogs were put outdoors 100% of the time. When I started daycare we built them a pen attached to our huge shed. They are in there 100% of the time during daycare hours. We had cats in the house for about a year during daycare. I am pretty sure I lost a client because of them. They were kittens and liked to jump up on people. I could see it in the one mom's face when they did - she detested cats. OH well! Lol. After about a year they became 100% outdoor cats as well (we don't live in the city). I don't miss the cat hair. The kids love the cats when we are outside. I do agree that a pet free home is more idea for a daycare setting. For myself any pet that harmed a child for whatever reason who be put down. We know our dogs and know they cannot be trusted alone with our daughter so we don't put them or her in that position of having to make that decision.