SDV
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I would think an event earlier occurred with the dog that would cause alarm and was either ignored or shrugged off as an isolated incident. It's hard to believe there was never any warning sign that something like this could happen.
Ive had a dog bite a guests kid at our home a few years ago. My dog had no prior propensities to bite someone and was 17 years old Thankfully it was not that bad of a bite and we had homeowners insurance just in case.
As a lawyer, I see and handle dog bite cases all the time. Make sure when you have a dog, try to keep them put up when guests come over. Also, make sure you have homeowners insurance just in case. You may trust your dog completely but they are an animal and can bite anytime they feel threatened, regardless of the breed.
There could have been warnings, I don't know. I don't live with them. I'm not claiming there were not warnings. But according to the Center For Disease Control there are 4.5 million dog bites in the US each year. Why is it hard to believe out of that many bites that some come with no previous warning? In fact, the sheer numbers make it patently ridiculous to think they all came after a previous warning.
I would trust my lab/german Shepard with a newborn. My dog was raised from 8 weeks and socialized with various other pets and humans. She will protect her pack with her life.
Rescue dog over 3 months old? Not a chance.
With any newborn? Or just in your family?
I actually agree a lot with the pack idea though. Dogs are smart. My dog follows my wife and I around the house constantly. My dogs that I had growing up did the same. They were all beagles, and you could tell they were very social animals that loved being around the people that showed them love their whole lives. But aside from one, all five of the dogs I grew up with at various stages were extremely wary of every outsider which I actually thought showed a lot of intelligence. The only one that was friendly to every single person was easily the stupidest beagle (but I still loved him) I grew up with overall.
fyp with another example just as valid
Without any context of said bites, that number is kind of useless. It's like saying guns are dangerous and citing gunshot victim raw numbers and not giving context of how they happened.
Also 4.5 million bites sounds like a lot, but when you factor in there are about 90 million dogs in the United States and 323 million people, it's really not.
For every video of a dog protecting a child there is a video like this. Neither of them proves how any individual dog will react
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DLHhr99RLY
Using your number of 90 million dogs, that means 1 of every 20 dogs bites someone each year. That sounds like a high ratio to me, but it's subjective and I'm sure some others would disagree with me.
I can't give you context on the bites. But do you believe that in ALL cases of dog bites or attacks there is a previous indication of aggressiveness? Or do you believe like I do that it is likely that in SOME cases the bite or attack is the first indication?
So if a child bites another child, can we euthanize the biter?
All cases? No, but we've already established taking ALL bites into consideration with no context that about 5% of dogs bite. There is no way all 5% are all bites with zero previous indications so that makes it even smaller that would be completely out of the blue bites.
So again we're talking your scenario being pretty rare; that's not an opinion, that's the numbers. You probably have a better chance of being electrocuted by your toaster.
Am I typing too fast? Or am I in the Twi-light zone? I haven't claimed that any specific percentage of dog bites are the first indication of aggressiveness in a dog. I haven't denied that there may often be previous signs of aggressiveness before a dog bites or attacks. I asked another poster why it was hard to believe that at least SOME bites out of 4.5 million were the first indication of aggressiveness and you seem to take that personally. You say it's rare and that it's not opinion-yet you cite no study-so it seems it IS your opinion-which for all I know is correct and I haven't denied BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW THE PERCENTAGE.
I guess I can't really understand what it is you are arguing?
Let me summarize. A child was attacked by a Lab and seriously injured. I wasn't there. I don't know exactly what caused it because nobody in the family wants to pry right now and upset these people while they are dealing with this.We prefer to let them tell specifics if and when they choose. I don't know if the dog had shown previous signs of aggression or not. I do not think all dogs or dog owners are minions of satan. I do not think many dogs attack children in the home. I do think a very tiny percentage do. It is my personal opinion that people should consider carefully the size of dog they get depending on the age of children they have. It is my opinion that a Pocket Beagle could not have done what this Lab did, even were it so inclined. It is my opinion that a home is safer for a toddler with no dog, even a small one, because half of the top 10 biters are small dogs according to the CDC. I was moved to share the story because I cringe every time I hear a story on the news of a child being attacked in the home by a dog, then it actually happens to someone I know. I don't know what else to tell you. Clearly you disagree and so we'll just have to agree to disagree
For EVERY video there's a 1 to 1 correlation? I'm calling bullsh** on that unless you have some evidence to back it up.
He hates dogs.
And not trying to go political, but it's just like every liberal that cries to ban entire classes of firearms any time there is one incident involving that particular class. Obviously, there's a correlation in his mind that if there are 0.0001% (arbitrary number on my part) of dogs that go after a family member, ergo, all dogs will go after family members.
I highly suspect there is far more information here we just aren't getting.