Who's to blame? - the dog or the child?

[tigwig]

My sister in law has a rottweiller (sorry spelling) and yesterday it bit her 8yr old daughter very badly on the cheek resulting in her needing 16 stitches. She is not very good with animals I have to say and has apparently being playing with the dog for over an hour before it had had enough and flipped. I personally feel that these kind of dogs have the nature to 'turn' at anytime and would never 100% trust them around a child but on the otherhand I know that most dogs are fine until they are pestered by kids. So mum felt she should have the dog put down but they haven't as the child begged her not to! What do other's think? What if the dog does it again? Are they completely safe with kids?

[RATTER15]

jeffchan73, I did actually make the distinction between breeders and puppy farms.

Puppy farms are a very different thing, and certainly frowned on by all serious breeders and puppy farm breeders will never legitimately get an accreditation as a breeder from the KC

[woofgang]

If the breeder or Rottie rescue won't help, try Many Tears.
http://manytearsrescue.webs.com/

[jules77]

I would say the owners are at fault if they left an 8 year old child alone with the dog, who knows what the child did to provoke the attack. Have to say that many moons ago, we had a dog that bit my son on the face, I was there at the time, but I was too late to stop him hitting the dog on the head with a wooden hammer while she was asleep. Border Collie Rescue did find me a home without children but I was fortunate enough to rehome her in the family.

[wildwood]

For goodness sakes, the solution is not rocket science. Give the child away and keep the dog!

[sherrardk]

Hi Tigwig - sorry, but the dog would have to go (and anyone taking it on would have to know that it had bitten someone). The parents' first repsonsibility has to be to their daughter. My children are not allowed to touch other people's dogs (even when they say 'go on, he/she loves children,' etc). Before we moved to this house, we had a big, black lab and he was never allowed to be with the children on their own - it wasn't fair on him or the kids.

[Avatar]

With woofgang 100% here.

[B00]

Sherradk- your children are not allowed to touch dogs? How very sad :-(

[sherrardk]

Hi boo - they can touch the dogs of people we know (as the ones we know who have dogs also have children) but not the dogs of strangers. Also, if they all tried to touch a strange dog at the same time the dog might get a bit frightened and you don't know how it would react. (A lot of people get a bit spooked when they see us all out and about so it would probably spook a dog too.)

[B00]

Oh i see, no i agree, very wise.

I thought you meant they weren't allowed to pet, touch, stroke any dog, full stop.

[sherrardk]

Hi Boo - no, they love animals and I am not a germ-freak or anything. We have had our own dog (but weren't allowed to bring him here with us - he is now re-homed in the countryside and having the time of his life). I think any dog would go a bit mental if five pairs of little hands started pawing at it all of a sudden!

[B00]

As would I sherradk, as would i!

Yea Gods, 5 kids...i've gone queazy at the thought.

[joeluke]

Young child 'playing' with rottweiler???

Dogs like that shouldn't be 'pets'

What next, they let her play with a lion or tiger?

[sherrardk]

Sorry Boo - thought you knew about all the sprogs (10, 6, 5 and 2 year old twins).

[society]

I haven't read the others posts so sorry if I've repeated what might be said.
Personally I'll get rid of the dog. Not a second chance for him. Children before dog.

[NoMercy]

I'm bound to offend someone here, but I don't really give a stuff. If the dog tolerated being teased for over an hour by a child before snapping, I'd say it has a high tolerance of children.

Dogs should be treated with respect too. However, cohabitance of the child and the dog for the prolonged future does not seem a good idea. The dog should be rehomed, not destroyed. Why should the poor creature pay with its life after being provoked to the point it retaliated?

[NazNomad]

Controversially, I'd say your Sister-in-law is to blame. Letting an 8 year old torment a large dog for an hour.

Rottweilers DO NOT have any more tendency to 'turn' than any other breed of dog.

[bibblebub]

Who is to blame? The parents for leaving an 8 yo playing with a Rottweiler for over an hour.

[RATTER15]

sherrardk, I think our dogs would soak up that much attention like sponge, they really love human attention, more than any other dog and probably far safer than any other dog, despite their size. The biggest problem with Wolfhounds is if they stand on your foot, it bloody hurts! and they could very easily knock you over if they were to get excited, both our boys are now over 10.5 stone but really gentle giants :-)

[sherrardk]

Hi Ratter - when I was a kid a boy I knew had a wolfhoud and he used to ride around on him, the dog seemed to love it.

[Prudie]

How irresponsible of your SIL to allow this to happen for an over an hour and the dog has to lose its home or even life as a consequence? Any dog could do this after an hour, even a poodle. Are we saying we cannot share our homes with animals unless they will put up with teasing at length without reacting? Sorry but your SIL is to blame.