[Dailydrool] Dog bite

[Pam McQuade]

<<This week an english bull Mastic is being put down by owner cuz a kid of 
friend was staying at her place and tripped and fell on the dog who
was sleeping and dog bit him rather badly. Too bad they can't talk The 
owner's devastated but decided to do it..>>

This one sends me straight up in the air like a rocket. I do not have a 
problem with someone putting a dog down that bites repeatedly and without 
provocation, but this case seems unfair. It was not the dog's fault. Anyone 
who is "attacked" in such a way will respond defensively. And the dog didn't 
know it wasn't being attacked.  As long as no one falls on the dog, it is 
unlikely to bite again. It should have had another chance.

People and laws about biting dogs can be unrealistic. I have a dog who has 
bitten, so I know whereof I speak. I also know that unless it's a completely 
unprovoked attack, when you solve the problem, the dog usually doesn't bite 
again. Since Abner has been on glucosamine and chondroitin, his back feels 
much better. He has not so much as snapped. I will keep him on Prozac, to be 
on the safe side, and I am being careful about touching places that 
previously provoked him, but he feels so much better, I think we are through 
the worst of it. Abs is fortunate that other than vets and vet techs, he's 
only bitten me. If he had bitten a stranger, he probably would have met the 
same fate as this dog.

A better solution would be to train children to watch out and not to fall on 
sleeping dogs. It's not that I don't feel sorry for the bitten child, but 
it's life is probably not at risk, as the dog's was.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets