Saw dog bite girl today.

[95XL883]

I hate to be a kill-joy but how do any of the last posts help the little girl. I値l try to help a different way.
From my experience with trauma, it will be a slow process. It will take longer if those around her have no idea why she may suddenly be withdrawn, combative, crying, oppositional, defensive, or angry. If she gets that way, my personal experience is lecturing, yelling, ordering, physically touching will be counter-productive. What works is gentle re-assurance, giving her options(absolutely no directives unless necessary for her physical safety), loving parents, a great therapist (most are so-so). In my instance, anything that triggered the trauma got me flailing trying to get some control back. Anything that makes her feel safe and that she has some control will most likely help.
I致e got more but it takes more space than one post can give.
The trauma affects the parents as well. Mom is getting some control right now because she is the physical caretaker. Once mom loses that feeling of helping she may have some anxiety and worry to deal with. Dad痴 method of getting control right now is to shoot every stray that comes on their property. (God help the boy who takes her on her first date.)
One technique that works for me is to recognize I知 anxious and replace that with happy memories, a favorite activity, strenuous exercises, just changing whatever situation I知 in at that moment.
I better get back to work now. Hope she continues to heal. RSKY, feel free to share my experience as just a suggestion for something that might help, especially when no one can understand suddenly unexpected behavior.

 

[95XL883]

One other thing than I need to get back to work.
I can not believe I am saying this but the dog is not the problem( Sig is right on that.). The problem is stupid, careless, reckless or irresponsible owners who do not train, exercise, teach and give affection to their dogs. Dogs, especially big dogs, need training, exercise, attention and gentle discipline. Crappy owners are the problem. But I have few ideas how to improve those owners. At this point, this is very little help to the young girl. Hopefully in time she will blame the idiot owners and not the dog. I would still put it down in a heartbeat. (I知 not defending the dog. I don稚 like pitbulls but Sig is right. In proper hands, they can be managed and enjoyed. And banning them is somewhat like banning AR痴. There are just too many idiots that have them and other large breeds.)

 

[atsah]

One other thing than I need to get back to work.
I can not believe I am saying this but the dog is not the problem( Sig is right on that.). The problem is stupid, careless, reckless or irresponsible owners who do not train, exercise, teach and give affection to their dogs. Dogs, especially big dogs, need training, exercise, attention and gentle discipline. Crappy owners are the problem. But I have few ideas how to improve those owners. At this point, this is very little help to the young girl. Hopefully in time she will blame the idiot owners and not the dog. I would still put it down in a heartbeat. (I知 not defending the dog. I don稚 like pitbulls but Sig is right. In proper hands, they can be managed and enjoyed. And banning them is somewhat like banning AR痴. There are just too many idiots that have them and other large breeds.)

"I hate to be a kill-joy but how does this post help the little girl"

Fixed it for you..

 

[Industrial Toys]

I will never, ever forget the day as a child of maybe ten, we were visiting friends, the adults were in the house, and I was outside for a while then decided to enter the home. Their Doberman (who didn't know me from Adam shot up the stairs toward the door I had opened. I don't remember what happened. Obviously they manage to call their dog off in time, but it's stuff like that, that scare me. A gun, in your hand, you know when you are going to pull the trigger. What may trigger your dog, is another matter.

 

[YanmarFever]

I had 2 pit bulls dig under our chain link fence a week ago at 3:30 am, my 2 rat terries went on the alert barking at them until we hustled them in the garage.
The sheriff came out with animal control to round them up as they had killed the other neighbors 2 dogs and another neighbors chickens.
Im glad they did not hurt or attack my 2 rat terriers or me or I would of put them down.

By the way, last week a friends Shepherd bit my right hand almost all the way thru, no provoking and no warning, just a fast snap and blood everywhere.

I hope the little girl that was attacked can get past this and it wont effect her down the road..

 

[wheelbuilder]

Where I live in upstate NY, my county and the neighboring ones all have leash laws. Dog is supposed to be on a leash if it isn't in a fenced in yard. It's pretty rural, but I see daily loose dogs that will run up to me and my dog, or give chase to slow moving cars and bikes. Talking to the owner, they just don't care or get it. The dog wardens are employed by towns, and won't do anything unless you are bitten, and only sometimes if your dog is. A law without enforcement is pointless. It burns me to no end, we usually have very large dogs and follow the rules. I'm pretty sure if one of my 150-250 pound dogs went running up to them while I yell 'he's friendly' it would be another story. My last 2 have been therapy dogs and have small children read to them at the library.
Be responsible folks, everyone appreciates it, and some depend on it.

 

[turnkey4099]

Just an example of instant Karma.

I was county dispatch for awhile. Previous shift had a case of 2 dogs harrassing a neighbors LLamas, killed one Kria. Owner shot both. Deputy responded, talked to owners and explaine the facts of life "loose dogs are open season here especially when harrassin animals. I come on duty and the dog's owner calls and asked if it is possible to talk the the shooter. "Ma'am, you already did. That deputy was the owner". She was a very good shot on the range, small, just did meet minimum height requirements.

 

[Sigarms]

Come home and a dog that isn't ours is waiting for me at the door.



Just glad I don't live in the wild west with dogs where everyone has guns ablazing at any stray that looks mean. Going on 15 years without ever having to shoot a dog. Some people are lucky.

That said, it goes without saying that if some child is attacked by a dog without provocation, the dog generally should be put down without question. The issue is the concern doesn't become the person being attacked, but the dog breed.

 

[jjp8182]

In the thirty minutes or so since I last posted I realized something. The local Sheriff's office busted a meth house about a mile from where the family lives. I would bet that is where the attacking dog came from. On the road you would have to make three turns to get there but in a straight line it might be less than a mile. You can usually spot one of the country meth houses by the traffic, smell, or dozens of pit bulls running around.

Hmmmm?.

Wonder if somebody else thinks the same and just maybe reported suspicious activity.

Just rambling, no evidence.

RSKY

Always helps to pay attention to the surroundings (and know the neighbors) as most problems (to include dog attacks) usually aren't spontaneous events that occurred with no reason or without some other associated precursor activity. I wouldn't be at all surprised if part of the reason this dog didn't have identifying information on a collar was because the owner was aware the dog was aggressive (or was intentionally being made so).

 

[Molalla1]

Come home and a dog that isn't ours is waiting for me at the door.

View attachment 617073

Just glad I don't live in the wild west with dogs where everyone has guns ablazing at any stray that looks mean. Going on 15 years without ever having to shoot a dog. Some people are lucky.

That said, it goes without saying that if some child is attacked by a dog without provocation, the dog generally should be put down without question. The issue is the concern doesn't become the person being attacked, but the dog breed.

Sig . . . no person out in the wild, wild (well at least who I know) . . . will shoot a stray dog outright, unless it is doing outright harm to livestock, and yes if such happen with a child . . . there is no question.