Help! My Dog Bit My 10 Year Old Son

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Hello,

My son was bitten on the neck Sunday night after trying to take a rawhide bone from our Akita. It’s a 5 yr. old dog that we adopted only a few months ago in September. The second Akita I’ve owned. Wounds to the neck include bruising, scrapes and 4 puncture wounds, one being an inch long that could have been serious.

Other relevant information is that my son was on his stomach and knees about 2 feet from the reclining dog when he took the rawhide bone that was in between them. The dog rose up quickly, barked loudly and horribly, and pinned my son to the ground with his mouth, and held him there briefly. My son screamed, and the dog released him. I ran into the room only after hearing all this and being told by my son that the dog bit him, I saw a significant amount of blood and an oval gash on my son’s neck. I was in total shock, and I admit to striking the dog. I could understand the bite would be normal behavior between two dogs, which probably wouldn’t cause any injury, but I’d hoped and believed my dog would be smart enough to understand that my son was a boy and not a sibling dog. I’m not sure at all if my violent reaction would instill something in the dog’s mind as to never doing that again.

Prior to this they’ve gotten along very well, the best of friends, except the dog would occasionally growl when my son overdid it by being too physical, playing, wrestling, running, pushing, riding, etc.. Unfortunately, my son didn’t listen very well when I told him to back off if the dog growled and that he should respect that growl, that it meant he should stop. The only other time the dog might growl was when someone tried to shoo him out of a bathroom.

Aside from getting rid of the rawhide bone, any help with understanding how to correct or reduce the risk of this behavior would be appreciated. Bite training? See, I’ve gone from almost wanting to shoot the dog on the night that it happened to trying to understand why I shouldn’t to what can I realistically do now. I worry how I could ever deal with an unpredictable dog. No, the dog has not been neutered. It’s difficult to evaluate the level of risk, not knowing what difference it would make in the same kind of circumstances if he had been or gets neutered. Adoption or euthanasia are the other options I’m sadly having to consider.

Others are pressuring me to do something immediately. For example, my mother said, “You must get rid of the dog, Roger. I don’t even know why you are hesitating to do so. You are doing your son an injustice if you keep this animal. How can a person value a dog over a child!!!! ”

Update. My son did see the dog again today for the first time after the bite. The Akita was his usual very playful self, running around in circles out in the backyard and was being very goofy, licking my son Kenny on the hand. As if nothing happened, being the happy dog we thought he would always be like under every circumstance. And My son was able to overcome the fear a little, and he actually liked seeing the dog again, but the trust certainly isn’t the same. He’d been quite terrified to come out of the house to interact with the dog, initially.

Thank you,

MY RESPONSE

This is a hard one because some of this is the dog and some of this is your fault. I believe an experienced dog owner would have not had this unfortunate event, so this all depends upon your point of reference. I’m going to try and take this apart for you so you understand what is going on.

**My son was bitten on the neck Sunday night after trying to take a rawhide bone from our Akita. It’s a 5 yr. old dog that we adopted only a few months ago in September. The second Akita I’ve owned. Wounds to the neck include bruising, scrapes and 4 puncture wounds, one being an inch long that could have been serious.**

As a general rule, dogs should be more forgiving of young children than adolescent children. Your son is approaching puberty, or is already there, so your dog is going to challenge him more than if he was younger. That being said, this biting incident is a bit of a gray area, in terms of what is to be expected. On the other hand, we expect that a dog shouldn’t be doing this to a kid or any family member.

Akitas don’t have a good reputation with being trustworthy with kids. Whether this dog has problems, or is just poorly managed, I don’t know. The dog would have to be evaluated in person, not over the internet.

This bite was out of defense of prey, which is one type of aggression. Dogs will guard prey items from other dogs, and some dogs will guard prey items from family members.

The bite wasn’t that bad, so it was more of a warning than one with a great deal of intent to harm. This dog has been warning for quite a while, and your family hasn’t respected those warnings enough. Human skin is soft, compared to a dogs skin. Dogs are programmed by nature on how to bite other dogs, not on how to bite other people.

Your supervision has been poor, and your son does not listen. That is a major family issue that needs addressing among all of you, that goes beyond this incident.

**Other relevant information is that my son was on his stomach and knees about 2 feet from the reclining dog when he took the rawhide bone that was in between them. The dog rose up quickly, “barked” loudly and horribly, and pinned my son to the ground with his mouth, and held him there briefly. My son screamed, and the dog released him. **

To the dog, your son’s posture was one that would indicate that he was going to compete with the dog for the toy.

Dogs are more likely to guard things that resemble real food than they guard fake toys (plastic, rubber, etc.). Dogs give off warning signs when they are guarding a bone or a toy. They stand or lay over the top of it, they stiffen, they grumble or growl, and if pushed, they snarl and chop, chop, chop, bite. Your son showed signs of submission, and the dog stopped.

**I ran into the room only after hearing all this and being told by my son that the dog bit him, I saw a significant amount of blood and an oval gash on my son’s neck. I was in total shock, and I admit to striking the dog. **

Since the issue was between the dog and your son, your reaction of hitting the dog won’t prevent a future incident.

It is never wise to leave kids and dogs alone together when a dog is chewing on a rawhide or other real type of toy, or with a food bowl. Especially when you were having issues with your son listening to you about his handling of the dog. You had a family problem here that was part of the set up of this bite.

It is also never wise to bother or tease a dog that is feeding. Some things are programmed into animals, and one of those things is the struggle for survival (read Darwin). To the dog, this is an issue of survival, and even though it seems like just a toy to you, it digs deeper than that for a dog.

**I could understand the bite would be normal behavior between two dogs, which probably wouldn’t cause any injury, but I’d hoped and believed my dog would be smart enough to understand that my son was a boy and not a sibling dog. I’m not sure at all if my violent reaction would instill something in the dog’s mind as to never doing that again.**

A dog will act like a dog. It thinks you are a dog, and will treat you like you are a dog. Dogs aren’t “smart enough” about anything. They are dogs. They are programmed to do dog things. And certain breeds have different propensities than other breeds.

**Prior to this they’ve gotten along very well, the best of friends, except the dog would occasionally growl when my son overdid it by being too physical, playing, wrestling, running, pushing, riding, etc.. Unfortunately, my son didn’t listen very well when I told him to back off if the dog growled, and that he should respect that growl, that it meant he should stop.**

You and your son have had plenty of warnings, which have been ignored. Your son’s relationship with the dog is too competitive = too physical, playing, wrestling, running, pushing, riding, etc. You just don’t do that stuff to a dog, especially a dog that you don’t yet know very well, have only had for 4 months, that has been grumbling and warning you that it doesn’t like the treatment you are dishing out. Maybe this was a tipping point.

**The only other time the dog might growl was when someone tried to shoo him out of a bathroom.**

This also needs to be investigated and worked out.

**Aside from getting rid of the rawhide bone, any help with understanding how to correct or reduce the risk of this behavior would be appreciated.**

If you keep the dog, you need to obedience train the dog, supervise and correct your son appropriately, and respect this dog as a dog.

**Bite training?**

No. That would not be advised here.

**See, I’ve gone from almost wanting to shoot the dog on the night that it happened to trying to understand why I shouldn’t to what can I realistically do now.**

All understandable reactions after something like this.

**I worry how I could ever deal with an unpredictable dog.**

I’m not sure this was unpredictable. You said you had warned your son, that the dog was giving warnings too, and that you knew that dogs would do these kinds of things with other dogs. You had the tools to prevent this, but didn’t connect the dots.

**No, the dog has not been neutered.**

This won’t fix this problem.

**It’s difficult to evaluate the level of risk, not knowing what difference it would make in the same kind of circumstances if he had been or gets neutered. Adoption or euthanasia are the other options I’m sadly having to consider.**

An experienced dog person would probably not have had this incident. On the other hand, no one has done a professional evaluation of this dog’s temperament, so I don’t know if this dog is unpredictable/ wacky.

**Others are pressuring me to do something immediately. For example, my mother said, “You must get rid of the dog, Roger. I don’t even know why you are hesitating to do so. You are doing your son an injustice if you keep this animal. How can a person value a dog over a child!!!!” **

What if this had been a pig/ sow in a barn? You had warned your son not to climb in the pen with the sow and its piglets, and eventually the sow had charged and bitten your son. Would you blame the sow or your son or yourself? Just like sows guard their piglets, dogs guard bones/ rawhides. And just like you can’t keep pestering me before I tell you to cut it out, you can’t keep pestering a dog an expect it to just take all you dish out.

On the other hand, you are dealing with a specific Akita, which might not be trustworthy, something that hasn’t yet been ascertained.

**Update. My son did see the dog again today for the first time after the bite. The Akita was his usual very playful self, running around in circles out in the backyard and was being very goofy, licking my son Kenny on the hand. As if nothing happened, being the happy dog we thought he would always be like under every circumstance. And My son was able to overcome the fear a little, and he actually liked seeing the dog again, but the trust certainly isn’t the same. He’d been quite terrified to come out of the house to interact with the dog, initially.**

Well, a lesson has been learned. By all of you. But, if you get another dog, and do the same things you have with this dog, you might end up with the same situation all over again, regardless of the breed. It is hard to know what the dog is like. This dog needs an in person evaluation, too. But on the people side, you need to make some changes: don’t get a dog and not train it, don’t pester a dog, don’t mess with a dog and its prey objects, don’t hit a dog, don’t leave a dog unsupervised with a kid and prey object, listen to the warnings you get and respect them, learn more about dog behavior, and learn more about the breeds you select. On the dog side, you need someone to evaluate this dog.

From a non-emotional standpoint, it is too soon to decide what the right course is. You need to implement changes, and you need to get the dog evaluated by someone qualified. If the dog seems ok, then you and the dog need some serious training and a change in how you relate to one another.

In other words, I am not going to recommend euthanasia at this juncture without knowing more. If you can’t or won’t make changes to the way you deal with the dog, and no one else will take the dog, then put the dog down. If the dog is wacky, then put the dog down.

These incidents are probably preventable.

I hope this helps.

I’m sorry this happened to your family.

Sam Basso