Baby Attacked By Family Terrier While Crawling On Floor Of Home

[Fanuilos]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/...x-1225909015174

Baby attacked by family terrier while crawling on floor of home

Anthony Dowsley From: Herald Sun August 23, 2010 4:43PM

A BABY is in hospital after a savage attack by a small family dog.

The 11-month-old boy was crawling on the floor of a house in Bentleigh just after midday when the terrier set upon him, leaving cuts to his mouth, eyebrow and nose.

Paramedics arrived about 12.30pm to find the child being cared for by his mother and a neighbour.

"We did our best to calm him, before cleaning the wounds that were still bleeding,'' paramedic Mike Ray said.

"The cut to his upper lip was the worst as it was quit deep. The other wounds were puncture marks or more superficial.

"Thankfully the little boy’s eyes weren't affected.''

He was transported to the Monash Medical Centre for treatment.

[~Shepherd~]

poor little love

[raineth]

oh no, poor little baby

[Guest]

I was bitten on the mouth by a dog when I was about 4, and had to have stitches, was not nice, but it was my fault as I had gone up to a dog that was eating a bone, back then dogs were allowed to roam the streets, and it was a dog that I didnt know.

I feel sorry for the poor little baby, but people who own dogs should never leave babies or young children alone with them as far as I'm concerned no matter what the breed.

I also had a couple of dogs try to attack me one day when I went to open our back gates, and they were coming in the yard I went to shoo them off and they came at me, a very terrifying experience I can tell you.if it wasn't for my hubby hearing me scream and coming out with the broom, I'm sure I would have been injured.

I never saw the dogs again so don't know where they came from.

lablove

[Adza]

I was bitten on the mouth by a dog when I was about 4, and had to have stitches, was not nice, but it was my fault as I had gone up to a dog that was eating a bone, back then dogs were allowed to roam the streets, and it was a dog that I didnt know.

I feel sorry for the poor little baby, but people who own dogs should never leave babies or young children alone with them as far as I'm concerned no matter what the breed.

I also had a couple of dogs try to attack me one day when I went to open our back gates, and they were coming in the yard I went to shoo them off and they came at me, a very terrifying experience I can tell you.if it wasn't for my hubby hearing me scream and coming out with the broom, I'm sure I would have been injured.

I never saw the dogs again so don't know where they came from.

lablove

I agree, should never leave kids alone with dogs, I learnt my lesson too being bitten on the nose and it wasn't nice either, but you just can't trust it regardless. Poor kid though, sounds like nasty injuries.

[Souff]

And this is one of the reasons WHY we should NOT treat dogs as children, or replacements for children.

When a baby or toddler comes into "the territory" of a dog who thinks he/she is the ONLY love of the owners life, trouble is never far away.

When dogs like this have attack in mind, they give very little or no warning and the parents can be in the same room with the child.

They will not be fast enough to stop an attack happening, 9 times out of 10.

Message to everyone ..... TREAT YOUR DOG AS A DOG .... DO NOT TREAT YOUR DOG AS YOUR CHILD.

A puppy or a dog is NOT your baby, never was, and never will be.

I see way too many humans fostering this "baby" attitude - there is scarcely a day where I don't here a pet owner referring to "her baby" or "her kids" and it is an attitude that is rife thoughout the pet industry.

The idea of treating dogs as children is a ticking time bomb, and it WILL and DOES go off, with disastrous results for both children and parents.

The dog gets jealous of the child, and bang! Children can be physically and mentally scarred forever as a result.

Give your dog RESPECT as a DOG, but always, always, always let them know that their place is in a different space to that of the humans.

Big humans and little humans are on the top rung of the ladder .... ALWAYS!

Dogs and other animals are always a bit further down the ladder.

Always.

Be fair to babies and little children. Love your dog as a dog, NOT as a child. In doing so you are keeping your dog safe from serious consequences.

If you have a spoiled dog (like one of mine) and little children are going to be visiting, arrange for your dog to be somewhere else for that day.

You can then relax, the children are safe, and you are not going to be labelled as the owner of a child biting dog that "should be put down because it cant be trusted with children".

Souff

[Nekhbet]

actually that sounds like one or two good F off nips from a terrier, not a mauling at all.

[Souff]

actually that sounds like one or two good F off nips from a terrier, not a mauling at all.

Possibly so, but it is still treated in the same way as any other dog attack in the eyes of the law.

If the child or their parents are not fond of dogs, it can mean that we end up with more dog-hating people in the world, or another child frightened of dogs.

Too sad.

Souff

[persephone]

Poor little kid - tho I would have thought if it was 'a savage attack' there would be a nose or something missing

Wonder what the terrier was?

perhaps the baby was crawling,making baby noises, and 'playing' with the dog....terrier runs in and nips , as terriers are wont to do ...

Doesn't take much of a nip to break soft baby skin...and the article said 'cuts' , not gaping wounds, or punctures.

Just wondering...

Agree tho-

kids+dogs = RESPONSIBLE ADULT SUPERVISION, always.

[casowner]

Another completely preventable dog bite and the victims (the baby & dog) suffer due to the complacency and irresponsibility of the parents. What will it take for people to realise that their inaction can have such devastating physical and emotional detriment to people and animals alike? To me parents should be charged with negligence if they are not adequately supervising animal/children interactions and an incident occurs.

I still get angered when I recall being criticised for insisting on supervising my children with our large dog

[Dory the Doted One]

3 examples of active stupidity for the week....

1. Dog can't/won't walk on a lead. Drops to the floor, spreadeagle and won't budge. Owners say...he never goes anywhere doesn't matter. He gets plenty of exercise outside with the kids, he loves the kids. She trusts him with her kids. And as a result, Owner can't understand why her neighbour goes stupid about leaving her (neighbour) kids outside alone and unsupervised with the dog. Owner...totally puzzled and actually gets a bit heated about her overprotective neighbour. (Personally, if I was the neighbour, I wouldn't be letting my kids go back over there).

2. Old dog, young children. 4 bites so far. Upset owner, what can she do, she is getting pressure from the family to do something. The question is asked, are you prepared to change things around to MANAGE this problem. Owners response, isn't there anything else I can do.

I'm stunned that the dog managed to have 4 separate bite incidents and nothing was done before. In fact, the dog has never liked children...ever. And nothing was put into place when the children started to arrive.

3. He's a good dog, great with kids. He only bites when you try to do anything around his head.

So where are we failing to educate?

It just goes to show how tolerant dogs generally are, I'm amazed we don't hear of more biting incidents in the media.

[persephone]

So where are we failing to educate?

praps showing my age/rural upbringing...but

I believe where dogs are being let down is that many humans do NOT realise that dogs are animals, with sharp teeth, and an intricate set of warning signals.

So many dogs are cute, and pampered, and not allowed to bark/roll in stuff/roam/hunt/playfight... mess up teh house..as a result, their animal side is overlooked, and not dealt with.

When we grew up 50 years ago, and longer- dogs were dogs. They growled at and/or BIT you if you teased them/chased them/hurt them/went near their food/pups/bones.

Simple.

If the dog didn't bite us, we were often yelled at or walloped , just to make the point :p if we got bitten- it was entirely our fault. No one was ever 'attacked' , or bitten enough to warrant medical attention ..but we were snapped at/nipped...and we did what we were supposed to do -we backed off.

babies/toddlers were never allowed near the dogs unless supervised.

I had a heeler X who i did horrible things to - he never once complained..but he did bite grandparents or anyone who came near me That was his job.

sigh*

things were simpler then...

poor dogs

So - we learnt to NOT do things which would stress the dogs, and we also learned to 'read' the dogs - so we knew just where we were.

[TsarsMum]

i think there is a lot of jumping to conclusions here. we dont know the real or the full story and unless someone knows these people we will never hear it.

what a horrible thing to happen and i dont think the mum and dad need to be blamed anymore im sure they are bashing themselfs enough allready.

and i agree i think alot of the problems these days are dogs are not treated like dogs. then the bub comes and they are and then the owners wonder why there pooch is acting up.

my daughter was nipped by a family dog, she was being supervised. all she did was walk past said dog. never touched him just wondered past to get to the kitchen. i was soooo angery at my mother inlaw attidude well we keep them apart. never happened i told my hubby if it happened again or even i suspected it might she was never never allowed over again til the dog was gone.

i just hope the bub a speedy recovery and mum and dad not to beet themselfs up too much

[poodlefan]

i just hope the bub a speedy recovery and mum and dad not to beet themselfs up too much

If they left a crawling child unsupervised with the family dog, they should beat themselves up plenty. The result of their lack of supervision will be a child with probable facial scars for life and no doubt a dog on a one way trip to the vet.

All TOTALLY preventable.

[Lucy's mama]

Who says the child was not supervised? Things happen when parents are RIGHT THERE. A dog can give several short sharp bites in the time it takes to cross the room can't they?

[TsarsMum]

Who says the child was not supervised? Things happen when parents are RIGHT THERE. A dog can give several short sharp bites in the time it takes to cross the room can't they?

thats my point lots of jumping to conculions

[Dory the Doted One]

I didn't think anyone was being overly critical...I actually thought everyone was finding a nice balance of compassion for kid and dog. But anyways...

Most dogs usually give plenty of signals of their discomfort prior to an 'attack'. Even if those signals were from several visits ago. If we are vigilant and knowledgable we would notice our dogs discomfort and act before it ever escalated to a biting incident.

Had a dog once. Did not feel very comfortable with this person who was very hands on. Used to zero in on me and the dog everytime he saw us. On the first incident my dog stiffened and then relaxed slightly. I thought to myself..."Well, he don't like that Guy". But as I thought this was likely a one off, I never said anything.

Second encounter with this person...dog again stiffens and remains stiffened. I say to the Guy, "Look I don't think my dog likes you very much. I don't mind talking to you, but can you leave the dog alone".

Guy didn't listen.

Third Encounter. Dog stiffens and growls. I TELL this guy...do NOT touch my dog. He backed off after the growl. And I thought he had got the message as he seemed to realise that perhaps he wasn't my dogs best mate.

Final encounter.....MANY MANY months later.

Guy starts to walk over...he isn't more than 10m away and my dog is stiffened and growling. I tell him, DO NOT come near my dog. He is really not happy with your presence. Guy slows, but still approaches thinking he can "make friends". I insist he not do so. So he stops and starts to talk from a 'safe' distance. My dog relaxes and stops growling and 'appears' to be no longer watching this guy. Although I know he is still checking on where this guy is at periodically. He seems to be very relaxed (the dog) and no longer a concern, although I'm still aware of what is happening.

The guy finishes his chat with me, and starts to walk off past me, but still at a reasonable difference. The lunge came as quite a surprise as the dog gave no warning he was about to lunge. No growling, didn't stiffen...just lunged. I'm glad I had good reflexes and was watching. And the guy got to keep his man bits, which is where the dog was aiming for.

Does this mean it was an unprovoked or 'sudden' attack. Does this mean he gave NO warning. Far from it, this dog had given plenty of warning on the day and on the previous encounters. He just didn't give it directly preceding the actual lunge.

It should never have got to that point anyway, but what do you do when you have no where to go and a determined idiot.

My point...as I eventually get there...we should always be vigilant and make note of our dogs behaviours around any situation we take them into or they encounter. Not be paranoid, but definately be AWARE.

[Souff]

Another completely preventable dog bite and the victims (the baby & dog) suffer due to the complacency and irresponsibility of the parents. What will it take for people to realise that their inaction can have such devastating physical and emotional detriment to people and animals alike? To me parents should be charged with negligence if they are not adequately supervising animal/children interactions and an incident occurs.

I still get angered when I recall being criticised for insisting on supervising my children with our large dog

Complacency? Definitely. And very often denial - a lot of people simply think that their dog would never do this!

I am here to tell them differently.

Many people also dont seem to realise that a small dog can do a lot of damage to a small face with soft skin.

The PSI (the pressure that can be exerted) from a tiny angry canine can be massive!

Ask anyone who has had a small canine hanging off their toughened adult finger and the puncture wound has gone almost through their finger!!!

It can take many months for nerves to re-grow if they have been severed by the little darling.

In a child's face, nerve damage can be major damage.

You were absolutely right to supervise your children - with EVERY sized dog.

Souff

[Souff]

I didn't think anyone was being overly critical...I actually thought everyone was finding a nice balance of compassion for kid and dog. But anyways...

Most dogs usually give plenty of signals of their discomfort prior to an 'attack'. Even if those signals were from several visits ago. If we are vigilant and knowledgable we would notice our dogs discomfort and act before it ever escalated to a biting incident.

Had a dog once. Did not feel very comfortable with this person who was very hands on. Used to zero in on me and the dog everytime he saw us. On the first incident my dog stiffened and then relaxed slightly. I thought to myself..."Well, he don't like that Guy". But as I thought this was likely a one off, I never said anything.

Second encounter with this person...dog again stiffens and remains stiffened. I say to the Guy, "Look I don't think my dog likes you very much. I don't mind talking to you, but can you leave the dog alone".

Guy didn't listen.

Third Encounter. Dog stiffens and growls. I TELL this guy...do NOT touch my dog. He backed off after the growl. And I thought he had got the message as he seemed to realise that perhaps he wasn't my dogs best mate.

Final encounter.....MANY MANY months later.

Guy starts to walk over...he isn't more than 10m away and my dog is stiffened and growling. I tell him, DO NOT come near my dog. He is really not happy with your presence. Guy slows, but still approaches thinking he can "make friends". I insist he not do so. So he stops and starts to talk from a 'safe' distance. My dog relaxes and stops growling and 'appears' to be no longer watching this guy. Although I know he is still checking on where this guy is at periodically. He seems to be very relaxed (the dog) and no longer a concern, although I'm still aware of what is happening.

The guy finishes his chat with me, and starts to walk off past me, but still at a reasonable difference. The lunge came as quite a surprise as the dog gave no warning he was about to lunge. No growling, didn't stiffen...just lunged. I'm glad I had good reflexes and was watching. And the guy got to keep his man bits, which is where the dog was aiming for.

Does this mean it was an unprovoked or 'sudden' attack. Does this mean he gave NO warning. Far from it, this dog had given plenty of warning on the day and on the previous encounters. He just didn't give it directly preceding the actual lunge.

It should never have got to that point anyway, but what do you do when you have no where to go and a determined idiot.

My point...as I eventually get there...we should always be vigilant and make note of our dogs behaviours around any situation we take them into or they encounter. Not be paranoid, but definately be AWARE.

Many dogs do give out plenty of signals before attacking and these signals should always be heeded.

However, other dogs do not necessarily do this.

There are many experienced dog people who have seen attacks happen without warning.

The dogs get to be known by their reputation, not by any warning signals.

If children and dogs are together, why take the risk?

Souff

[Bilbo Baggins]

i just hope the bub a speedy recovery and mum and dad not to beet themselfs up too much

If they left a crawling child unsupervised with the family dog, they should beat themselves up plenty. The result of their lack of supervision will be a child with probable facial scars for life and no doubt a dog on a one way trip to the vet.

All TOTALLY preventable.

Agree totally poodlefan, a crawling child and a terrier is and event waiting to happen.