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Child Dead, Mom Hurt-Doberman Attack

10K views 91 replies 23 participants last post by  Chip18 
#1 ·
#8 · (Edited)
either way it's always horrible when i child is killed. but i believe most cases are negligence of the owner. an adult doberman they just got is going to not have gained trust yet and is prolly nervous living in a new place. if they were outside with a 4 year old on the first day the dog should've been on a leash. or at least any kinda control measure that you would feel comfortable with at first.

whether the dog was spooked, the girl ran and triggered prey drive or if the little kid smacked it in the face we will never know. these details never seem to come out in cases like this. IMO they really should to help educate other parents educate themselves.
 
#10 ·
Another factor is, when adopting an grown dog from "someone", details about the dog are often not revealed. A shelter in our area cranks out dogs, transported from out of state, without temperament testing them. Great income for us trainers but bad for the public who have to deal with aggression cases galore.

With small children I would not ever adopt a dog with an unknown history, either from a shelter, rescue/hoarding group or from a private party.
Most likely the dog was trusted too much and people not enough experienced. The dog will probably be killed as well so everyone loses.
 
#16 ·
One of the ladies that I used to train with. Older ladies, deep into obedience, lots of experience, sisters. One had goldens the other Dobermans. Well, the Doberman lady, she had this young Dobe for 2 years and finally had to put him down. She was experienced with the breed, but the dog would come up and bite her arms, finally he attacked her. I guess they are prone to bad genes or inappropriate aggression issues.

Another Doberman owner that I trained with, said they used to use them in the military, but the dogs were too quick to bite, and would often bite their handlers. So they don't tend to use them in that venue much. Her dog is great now, but when he was younger, he was one I would pay attention to. A formidable dog.

Of course this dog should be put down. I really don't care about the extenuating circumstances, it killed a four year old child.

I couldn't watch the clip but read the story, and it sounds like friends of the family got the dog. But the mother and the child were killed. Where were the friends. Why weren't they transported to the hospital too? Yeah, we really do not have much information.

Terrible. Poor kid. Her poor family.
 
#18 ·
One of the ladies that I used to train with. Older ladies, deep into obedience, lots of experience, sisters. One had goldens the other Dobermans. Well, the Doberman lady, she had this young Dobe for 2 years and finally had to put him down. She was experienced with the breed, but the dog would come up and bite her arms, finally he attacked her. I guess they are prone to bad genes or inappropriate aggression issues.

Another Doberman owner that I trained with, said they used to use them in the military, but the dogs were too quick to bite, and would often bite their handlers. So they don't tend to use them in that venue much. Her dog is great now, but when he was younger, he was one I would pay attention to. A formidable dog.
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Aren't dobies one of the breeds susceptible to rage syndrome too?
 
#17 ·
This is exactly why we tell people that come on this board wanting to rehome their aggressive dog that it's irresponsible to do so and that not all dogs should be saved. It's why we recommend professional trainers when people have children and have an aggressive dog.

Somewhere out there, somebody KNEW this dog had potential to do serious damage. Somebody in the line of previous owners is responsible for this death.

This infuriates me. 100% preventable.
 
#21 ·
I don't know if the mother was killed. Sorry, but my post reads that way. I think I meant, the mother was hospitalized and the child, killed. Why weren't the owners hospitalized as well?

Yes, this is why we shouldn't save every dog. Dogs that do serious damage to children. Dogs that bite their owners, I mean, really, to do damage bite them. Dogs that are unpredictable. This kind of thing really hurts all dog owners, because people tend to group formidable dogs together. And, yes, this could have been a pit bull or it could have been a Rottweiler, or it could have been a German Shepherd dog.

I think many mistakes were made with regard to this dog, knowing nothing whatsoever about it. Yes, the reason it was in the shelter was probably because its owners could not handle aggression issues. They probably should have put the dog down. A shelter should do more than find an unsuspecting couple to take a dog home. The new owners should have taken the dog home and given it a little time to settle in, and for them to learn what the dog's temperament is, before putting it into a situation with a little kid -- this isn't a one-two day endeavor.

Yes, I think you can get an adult dog with kids. If you are experienced. If you are getting the dog from someone who is experienced. It depends on the dog. But, even so, this is rare.

Dog-bite fatalities are rare. Unfortunately dog bites are not all that rare, and this wouldn't be in the news today if the dog just bit the kid several times, scaring her face and her feelings about dogs -- wouldn't even make the paper.
 
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#22 ·
I live not too far from this area...we had a 'clear the shelter' event in all shelters in most MI cities. I was so relieved to see this was NOT a dog from that.

The owner of the dog was on the scene shortly after this happened, he may be charged.

I feel so bad for all involved, this must have happened in split seconds, and the neighbors were also traumatized trying to help the victims.
 
#23 ·
I'm sorry but I don't view this as a "Dobbie " gone wrong thing?? I view it as a this "dog" should not have been allowed around "Children" thing. Seriously this dog had a "problem with kids ... and was adopted out to "JQ Clueless???" And no one knew the dog had a "kid" issue???

Come on ... how freaking hard is it to figure out if you have a "No Kids" dog??? That symbol is on lots of rescue sties. I figured out my GSD had a "kid" problem and I don't have kids! It's not that hard, that "rescue" should be out of "business" or institute a no "real dogs policy!" This dog just "happened" to be a "Dobbie" but they could have exercised this same sort of ineptitude and lack of judgement with any "Breed."

Maybe they need a no working dog and nothing over 25 lbs policy???
 
#26 ·
I'm sorry but I don't view this as a "Dobbie " gone wrong thing?? I view it as a this "dog" should not have been allowed around "Children" thing. Seriously this dog had a "problem with kids ... and was adopted out to "JQ Clueless???" And no one knew the dog had a "kid" issue???

Come on ... how freaking hard is it to figure out if you have a "No Kids" dog??? That symbol is on lots of rescue sties. I figured out my GSD had a "kid" problem and I don't have kids! It's not that hard, that "rescue" should be out of "business" or institute a no "real dogs policy!" This dog just "happened" to be a "Dobbie" but they could have exercised this same sort of ineptitude and lack of judgement with any "Breed."

Maybe they need a no working dog and nothing over 25 lbs policy???
No kids, and will kill a kid are two different things. Any dog will bite if you drive it hard enough. Any dog. A golden. An English Setter. Any dog. You can't drive all dogs hard enough for them to kill, especially a human. A dog that kills a human needs to be put down. Something wrong with the dog, unless it is a total accident: i.e. the got up as 90 year old lady was stepping over the dog, and knocked the lady down, and she broke her very brittle hip, went into the hospital and died -- that is an accident, not an aggressive kill on the part of the dog.

This dog killed a small child. And it wasn't an accident. Dog needs to be put down, so some other parent is not grieving for their child because someone wouldn't do the right thing.
 
#25 ·
The mother was injured trying to fight off the dog and was hospitalized, but not killed.

Also, I just found some additional information. The family did not get the dog from a shelter, they bought it from an individual. The dog was only at their home for about 5 minutes before the attack occurred. The little girl was offering it a treat, the Doberman sniffed at it a couple of times, and then lunged and went for the child's throat.

When I said earlier that I wished there was more information, I did not mean to give the impression that there might have been extenuating circumstances. Killing a child to me means the dog must be put down, no question. I just wanted, I guess for my own education, to know what happened.
 
#30 ·
My heart breaks for this mother and the family. I've worked with a lot of Dobes in rescue and not one I ever worked with was a danger to children. I have a friend that's worked Dobes in Sch, yeah I know, and she often speaks of how hard it is to find a Dobe that will do the down the field attack work. Yes, I'm using the wrong terminology, sorry, I don't know the right wording. She said she'd spend several years training to only have it go down the drain in a dog that can't finish it's title.


That said, the Doberman is one of the breeds not allowed on a military post. And personally, I think Dobes overall are safer than most backyard bred GSDs.
 
#34 · (Edited)
The fundraising page gives insight from family versus media.


"They had gotten a dog that day and, as the old owner went to leave, the dog attacked Kiyana."

So did the dog try following it's owner and the little girl tried holding the dog back and the dog redirected? There is a picture of the girl holding the pup around the neck(probably moments before the attack). It's still not an excuse but it would explain the attack a little better then out of nowhere.

 
#40 ·
I read one account that said the owner tried giving CPR to the child and they stated that there has never been a warning or suggestion this dog would do anything like this.
 
#41 ·
When something tragic like this happenes, it's sometimes hard to get all the details straight. The neighbor right next door said the mother told her the child was trying to train the dog with a treat. The dog sniffed the treat twice and then the third time went right for the baby's throat.

Also, there seems to be some confusion about whether the owner was still there. The reports I read said that the owner had dropped the dog off and left, hadn't been gone but about 5 minutes when the attack took place. He was called while still on the road and came racing back. He told the neighbor that the dog had never "bothered" any child before. It has not been reported (as far as I have seen) how long he had owned the dog prior to this, where he got the dog or the reason he decided to sell.
 
#43 ·
So sad.

I wonder where the dog was from. There are some lines who are known (by experienced Dobe people, anyway) to produce dogs with seriously unsound temperaments, but the people who breed them manage to sell a crap ton of puppies to inexperienced people.
 
#50 ·
I don't know??? I just find it hard to belive that "whoever" was responsible for this first ... saw no hint of "anything" that did not seem "right???" We don't really know if the dog had a "problem with kids??" Or if it was a case of well .. he did not growl/snap at that kid ... so we must be good???

Dare I say that most reasonably intelligent individuals understand if they have a problem "dog??" I just have a problem with the "out of
nowhere this happened thing??? Most likely a "criminal level of stupid" is the casue but yeah ... I don't know.
 
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