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What to do after an attack...

17K views 126 replies 45 participants last post by  chancey 
#1 ·
Hi. I had an 18 mo. old male GSD that attacked my 3 year old yesterday. Did sever damage to his ear and face. He was unprovoked and this is the 3rd time he showed aggression towards my 3 year old. He did not show any aggression towards my 5 year old or myself or husband. I am unsure as to what would cause him to do this. He was very well tempered until we were not around (in a different room) and then he just seemed to have it out for my 3 year old. The first 2 times he showed aggression towards our son we just thought he was playing rough. This time he actually attacked him and literally caused so much damage that he needed to have his ear surgically reattached. We are ask unsure as to what to do with the dog. I signed a release to allow him to be given back to the previous owner (at this point he is still up at animal control). The previous owner is a cop and said that he would do whatever we decided was best (put him down or not). The dog has been around other kids and was raised around this man's grandchildren. Our 3 year old son was not provoking him and was playing in the yard with our 5 year old son. He has never been anything but loving to the dog. So does anyone have any suggestions as to what would of caused him to do this?
 
#4 ·
How awful for your son:(,

The dog needs to go, return him to his previous owner and let them deal with it since he offered.

Why he would do it? Only the dog knows:(

But I wouldn't bring the dog back into your house
 
#8 ·
No I did not. I was at school. My husband and 5 year old were there though. The kids were playing together, the dogs were across the yard and my husband stepped inside the house for less then 2 minutes and our 5 year old came running inside screaming that Zeus wouldn't stop bitting our other son's face. My husband went outside and Zeus was snarling and dragging our son by the face and shaking him.
 
#12 ·
He is okay, he is just thinks the dogs are all bad now. We also have an English Bulldog, who was hiding under the porch during all this. So we are just keeping the bulldog outside or in another room for now, until they are a little more relaxed and can start being reintroduced to him without being fearful.
 
#11 ·
I think that both boys will need for you to very consciously and carefully socialize them to a very, very stable dog after this, and then other dogs as well. I am afraid that both boys may become terrified of dogs, and that will make them even more likely to have a bad experience with a dog.

I am really sorry this happened. I hope your little one recovers quickly.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Oh my gosh! This is my worst nightmare about getting a new dog. I am so sorry for your family.

My only though is either put him down or give him to a rescue that will make sure that he doesnt live with children or be around them.

I hope your son is ok, he and your family will be in my prayers.
 
#17 ·
My only though is either put him down or give him to a rescue that will make sure that he doesnt live with children or be around them.
Euthanizing the dog is the best option at this point. However, to send the dog off to rescue is extremely unfair to the dog as well as the rescue and is potentially very dangerous. Many rescues will not accept a dog like this for the potential liability. This would not be a good police dog because police dogs should not be attacking children. That is like an adult dog trying to kill a puppy and that's just "not quite right," to put it too mildly.

It is one thing for a dog to bite a child's hand. It is another to go for the face and also to attack multiple times. Send the dog to rest, and take care of your family. May your kids both recover from all scars, mental and physical.
 
#15 ·
I really appreciate the words of encouragement and sympathy. The agreement with the previous owner is that after his 10-day quarantine, we will reevaluate with clear heads and make a decision. We do not want to do anything out of anger, and we still do not know or understand why he would attack my boy over all the other kids he has been around. One thing already agreed upon is that if we do chose to not put him to sleep he will not be allowed around kids at all, under any circumstances.
 
#31 ·
I really appreciate the words of encouragement and sympathy. The agreement with the previous owner is that after his 10-day quarantine, we will reevaluate with clear heads and make a decision. We do not want to do anything out of anger, and we still do not know or understand why he would attack my boy over all the other kids he has been around. One thing already agreed upon is that if we do chose
to not put him to sleep he will not be allowed
around kids at all, under any circumstances.
I'm so sorry for your precious little son, and I'm sorry that the other little one had to witness such terror as well, I agree with Selzer, your little boys will need to be slowly brought back to not having a fear of dogs, bless their little hearts, I hope they can spend time with nice dogs to help them overcome their fear, and hopefully some nice , stable German Shepherds so they know they are not all like that, as for Zeus, he really needs to be euthanized, that type of aggression is unsafe for ANYONE to be exsposed to, their are simply lots of wonderful dogs in shelters through no fault of their own to justify keeping this dog around and risking him killing some other child or adult, just my opinion.
 
#21 ·
We had him just over a week. He was a friend of ours before we got him. A family I have known since kindergarten, and now I'm 28. He was trained to be the previous owners next narcotic dog, however did not have the drive to work. He is 18 mos. and has been around the previous owners grandchildren since birth. His grandchildren are all between less than a year old to 8 years old. We are so baffled because this dog was so obedient and has not shown aggression towards anyone other then my 3 year old.
 
#18 ·
i've worked in rescue a very long time. done some pretty unorthodox things in working w/aggression of all kinds. in all this time i've put down only one dog for aggression issues. the dog was a sheltie and the aggression was targeting small children in the face and neck unprovoked. she was fine with everyone and anyone that was on their feet steadily, anyone over the age of 5yrs. but anyone that was not steady or tended to crawl she was an instant terror. there was no breaking it. she was euthanized.

when this type of predatory behavior creeps up and then becomes normalized, there is no changing it. they are not playing, they are not feeding, they are not bringing anyone anything, or mistaken protection, anything like that...they are on a mission to damage and kill the target. this gsd has an issue w/small creatures that seem weak, unprotected or damaged in some way.

do not pass on this dog for someone else deal w/the problem. rescue will say he's been rehabbed, and there's no rehabbing this behavior he'd done it 3x it's only a matter of time before he does it again, do him a favor and euthanize him now before he becomes a statistic and creates more bad news for the breed.

dw~
 
#24 ·
This is what I was wondering, if anyone else had ever seen this from another dog. I just couldn't understand why Zeus would of targeted him. He's only going back to the previous owner because we did not want him here. I do not want this to happen to anyone else, but I was unsure only because I didn't know why the dog would of targeted him. After reading the personal accounts of the others on here I am very positive that after the 10-day quarantine he will be put down. The previous owner is being completely supportive and said that he will put him to sleep if thats what we want. I just do not want this happening to anyone else.
 
#19 ·
I never thought I would be saying this.

Going to another can be based on agreed conditions..... BUT anything can still happen and the dog be in the vicinity of a child. With this dog already proving he is more then ready to attack a child, the safest thing to do is pts. You just don't want to take a chance of passing that on to another owner.
 
#26 ·
Agreed. As a mother, going through this and seeing what has happened to my child I could not live with it if something happened and this dog hurt another child or adult for that matter. I just didn't want to put him down straight out of anger, without getting a little leverage on the situation, a clear head and some advice from other GSD owners, etc.
 
#20 ·
The first 2 times he showed aggression towards our son we just thought he was playing rough. This time he actually attacked him and literally caused so much damage that he needed to have his ear surgically reattached. We are ask unsure as to what to do with the dog.
:eek: You are... Unsure???

I'm so sorry this happened, but oh, my gosh, for the THIRD time!?! Honestly, as much as I love my dog, if she ever attacked a child, it would be the last thing she ever did; she'd not live to do it again, let alone a third time. IMO, the only responsible thing to do is euthanize the dog. I hope your son is okay!
 
#29 ·
Yes I know! I told the previous owner that I would not stud him until he had all the appropriate tests, etc. done to make sure e took the proper precautions. So it would been at least another 6 months before anything would of been moved forward on. Im very glad that I had looked on here for advice about studding chose to wait... b/c if I had not looked to people on here first, I may have just went ahead and bred him and then there would of been a larger situation at hand.
 
#28 ·
It's a horrible situation for you to deal with. Your poor little boy. The previous owner will take care of the dog, you just need to take care of your family. The people on this forum do not give advice to put a dog down lightly. This situation calls for it. I am so sorry...
 
#35 ·
we didn't b/c the first time it really did look like he was just playing with him. Our 3 yr old was laying on the couch and our 5 yr old was sitting in a recliner and they called the dog into the room, and a few moments later they both started screaming. Well my husband went in and Zeus was trying to pull the blanket off the couch that our 3 yr old was wrapped up in. So we thought he was just playing and accidentally bit him through the blanket. Being a younger dog, we knew he would want to play. I remember one of my dogs growing up liking to chase our hands when we out them under the blanket, so thats what it seemed like to me, he saw something wiggling under the blanket and went for it. The second time, we weren't sure what had happened. My 3 yr old had marks on the back on his neck and shoulder and we asked our 5 yr old and he said the bulldog did it. Our bulldog is just a truck and plows both the boys over and licks them like crazy. So we didn't think anything about that, until I asked the 3 yr old later if it was from the bulldog and he said no it was Zeus. Since we didn't see what happened and he didn't tell us right away, we once again assumed that he was just playing too rough with him.
 
#34 ·
I am sorry your son is going through this, and your whole family will be dealing with this for a long time to come.
My husbands nephew lost his nose and upper lip to a Dalmation attack... He was 7 at the time and ten plus years later he will not go near another dog, big or small.
This dog has nowhere else to go but to a visit with the needle.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
 
#36 ·
Thank you again everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it. I am going to talk to him tomorrow and let him know that after the 10-day quarantine and the animal control gives the thumbs up, that he needs to be put down. he said himself that if it had happened to one of his grandkids the dog would of been killed on spot, so I think we both already know what needs to be done.
 
#38 ·
I think that is the best decision you can make, the right decision. This is not about revenge on the dog. It is just an animal, living amongst people. But as someone mentioned before, you really cannot ensure that this dog will never encounter a small child again, and we have to protect children. The vet can do this so that it is quick and painless, and the dog will be freed of his demons.

I really am sorry that you are going through this.
 
#37 ·
I also think that the dog should be put down. He is unstable to seriously injure a toddler like that without provocation.

I know that someone will say, and many have already said there is no excuse. Well I heard of one that I would forgive the dog for, even to the point of reattaching the ear. A friend told me about a dog that bit the 2 year old. They were horrified. The took the dog to the vet and it was on the table. The vet was preparing to inject the dog with the good bye juice. And he happened to look in the dog's ear. The dog had a full-sized pencil all the way down his ear.

In my opinion, that would probably justify a bite, even to a toddler.

Nothing like that happened in this case. It does sound like prey drive. Little kids run and scream. Little kids walk funny, sound funny, smell funny. And the dog was not in the home very long. But, really, none of that makes it acceptable for the dog to attack like that.
 
#39 ·
Yes, if he had just been bitten for picking on the dog, that would of been a completely different case. My 5 year old is the one who has had to be disciplined for being mean to our other dog, and he got nipped in the hand for it. My son is the one who got in trouble, not the dog.
 
#41 ·
I'm very sorry about what happened to your son and for your older son to have to witness this. I hope your youngest heals from the physical wounds and they both heal emotionally.

I would have only one outcome from this and it would be a visit to the Vet.

I have to say this for educational purposes and not for any kind of blame towards the OP. Please whenever you have a dog NEVER leave them unattended with children, not even for a second, that is all it takes for serious damage to be done.
 
#45 ·
I have to say this for educational purposes and not for any kind of blame towards the OP. Please whenever you have a dog NEVER leave them unattended with children, not even for a second, that is all it takes for serious damage to be done.
I totally understand this, and I am not trying to blame my husband in any way, but each time it was when I was not home and he was with them. He would leave the room or in this situation, go inside for a minute, and something would happen. I had asked him repeatedly to not leave them alone with the dogs. I know he blames himself for it, and I hate that he feels like it's his fault but I do feel that he will be more mindful that next time I tell him something like this, it's not that I'm being a naggy, bossy wife, I just knew that they should of never been left alone with the dogs in the first place. I think he didn't think about it and thought "Oh well they will be fine for a minute." I told him not to blame himself, but it is a very hard lesson learned.
 
#42 ·
i also think it is worth mentioning...although i'm not trying to sound preachy...just saying...that your children and your dogs should never be left unattended together. there have been many horror stories about children being killed by the family dog but nobody was in the room to stop it. i'm so thankful that your son was not in this situation...i just thought that i read a few times through out the thread that these things have happened when the kids have been alone with the dog. to me, it doesn't matter how long they are alone...they shouldn't be alone at all. even if it is the best dog, like the story that was shared about the dog with the pencil in its ear ...you just NEVER know what can happen so prevention is key.
 
#43 ·
How can you not ensure that the dog will never encounter a small child again? If it were me, I would have the previous owner find a home without children for the dog. It's really easy to make sure your dog is away from children if you don't have children. I would never pts a dog due to aggression issues. There is always another option.
 
#46 ·
Would you really feel ok about taking that risk? This dog seriously attacked and could've killed a 3 year old child. This isn't a minor aggression issue...

And what if the next owner lives with this dog for years, trusts him, doesn't see any aggression, decides that the story was probably exaggerated and lets him around children again. What if he kills a child next time?
 
#55 ·
It's very sad that your little boy was attacked. It is made worse that no one knows what happened prior to the bite, and this was a dog that was raised with children. The outcome would likely be the same in terms of the consequence to the dog, but this information might be helpful in prevention of future bites.

I do find it worrisome that the 5 year old has been bitten as well for pushing it with another dog.

I also don't think that climbing all over dogs is a good thing for children to learn to do as not all dogs find that acceptable, and better to just not do it than to be at someone else's house and learn not to do it the hard way. I am sure this is a message that will be coming through loud and clear now.

I would be looking at getting some materials to review on appropriate dog-child interaction and turn the boys into the best canine good citizens ever.

For right now, it's closing the barn door after the horses get out, but if you can prevent this from ever happening again to your children, or their friends, please do consider really working on this.

Young, unsupervised children most at risk for dog bites, study shows; Dogs often target a child's face and eyes

Safety Around Dogs // Dog Bite Prevention Program - Dog Bite Statistics

Why do dogs bite children? | Dog Star Daily

Dog Bite Prevention

Bite Prevention Tips for Parents, Kids and Dog Owners

ASPCA | Dog Bite Prevention

There's tons more. Very sad. Very scary.
 
#119 ·
It's very sad that your little boy was attacked. It is made worse that no one knows what happened prior to the bite, and this was a dog that was raised with children. The outcome would likely be the same in terms of the consequence to the dog, but this information might be helpful in prevention of future bites.

I do find it worrisome that the 5 year old has been bitten as well for pushing it with another dog.

I also don't think that climbing all over dogs is a good thing for children to learn to do as not all dogs find that acceptable, and better to just not do it than to be at someone else's house and learn not to do it the hard way. I am sure this is a message that will be coming through loud and clear now.

I would be looking at getting some materials to review on appropriate dog-child interaction and turn the boys into the best canine good citizens ever.


For right now, it's closing the barn door after the horses get out, but if you can prevent this from ever happening again to your children, or their friends, please do consider really working on this.

Young, unsupervised children most at risk for dog bites, study shows; Dogs often target a child's face and eyes

Safety Around Dogs // Dog Bite Prevention Program - Dog Bite Statistics

Why do dogs bite children? | Dog Star Daily

Dog Bite Prevention

Bite Prevention Tips for Parents, Kids and Dog Owners

ASPCA | Dog Bite Prevention

There's tons more. Very sad. Very scary.
This bears repeating. I'm sorry for the whole situation. And I have a dog that I cannot ever have around young children. I don't trust her whatsoever with young kids(she's never bitten) and won't set her up to fail. She's fine with 10 and over, but the baby/toddler pre-schooler, never ever ever.
 
#56 ·
Blame your husband. Go ahead. Vent, you deserve to say everything you think about him leaving the dogs and the kids in the yard. I probably would not say it to him, but that feeling has to be there. Your boy looks like he has serious bruising on his face and puncture wounds, and all. My nieces are 5, 5, 2 and 1. I cannot imagine how awful it would be to have one of them be attacked like that.

Even my pencil down the ear story, the dog might nip or bite and then retreat if the kid is actively hurting him and stops when nipped or bitten. This was not even like that.

Being mad at the dog really doesn't do anything good. Just put the dog down, he isn't right. There are many, many GSD in shelters and pounds that rescues cannot save, just too many, perfectly fine dogs, put down because of no home, no space. Whoever might take this dog, can take one of those. This dog has shown us what he will do to a small child. This dog needs to be euthanized.
 
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