Ok, my hands are still shaking....

[Jenny]

I just had the scariest experience a parent can have, without anything really being wrong.

I was sitting inside working on coupons. Josh had gone outside to play. I knew he had gone around front to play because I could hear him banging around with his shovel & stuff. No biggie. That's fine, cause he knows to stay in the yard.

All of a sudden, he starts screaming hysterically. Crying, screaming, etc. Not like I have ever heard him before. This was the first time I have ever heard him that terrified. I have my slippers on, so when I hit the part of the floor in front of the door that is linoleum (not carpet), I skidded, which wrenched my back as I was trying to get the door open.

I throw the door open and look and he is huddled by the door, screaming and shaking like a leaf. I didn't even hesitate. Just opened the screen & grabbed him up and slammed the screen door shut.

Turned out our neighbors had come outside and their dogs (medium & smallish, not huge dogs) had come out ahead of them and started barking at Josh. That was it. But it terrified him.

I am still shaking. I had heard him scream and heard the dogs barking and all I could think about was the reports on the news about dogs attacking children. :gle: :neartears

[Punker_bob2004]

hmmm thats crazy...:eek:

[Cantacuzene]

Yeah, thats scary stuff. The worst is the first bee or wasp sting. The kid is freaking out hysterically and it takes you a while to figure out what the problem is, especially if they can't talk very well yet.

[GraingerGuy]

I'm glad that your kid is alright Jenny!!!

[Hiro]

Thankfully no harm came to him!

[Capricornholio]

My goodness, I can't yet fathom being a parent @ only 25 still. Good thing I've been responsible! Glad everything is OK. I'd hate to hear about a dog mauling naturally 'cause of the child, but they also seem to always put the animals down thereafter so it sux for all involved.

[Blitz]

keep it rolling.... :p

I came out side and saw my child, shaking in terror when...

[Jenny]

Originally posted by Capricornholio
My goodness, I can't yet fathom being a parent @ only 25 still. Good thing I've been responsible! Glad everything is OK. I'd hate to hear about a dog mauling naturally 'cause of the child, but they also seem to always put the animals down thereafter so it sux for all involved.


Ummm, yeah, I was married before we got pregnant, so it wasn't that I was irresponsible... :)

And yeah, I felt like that before I had a child, but now... As much as I love dogs, any dog that mauls a child needs to be put down. If they have done it once, they have the potential to do it again.

[eSDee]

Poor Jenny :( Give your kid a stun gun maybe :shrug:

[Capricornholio]

Originally posted by Jenny



Ummm, yeah, I was married before we got pregnant, so it wasn't that I was irresponsible... :)

And yeah, I felt like that before I had a child, but now... As much as I love dogs, any dog that mauls a child needs to be put down. If they have done it once, they have the potential to do it again.

I could maybe agree with you opinion, however unfortunate. :bawl:

[Jenny]

Yeah, the thing with dog attacks is that the ones that most should NOT have attacked in the first place. A lot of the time, the owner has brought the dog up to be aggressive. Either by mistreating the dog or training. It's pretty sad. :( Almost any breed, you can have as a pet and 99.9% of the time, the dog won't have any inclination to be aggressive. On the flip side, almost any breed WILL be aggressive 99.9% of the time if they are abused or trained to attack.

:shrug: The ones today with Josh aren't aggressive at all. They are little, one of them a yappy dog of some sort, and it just frightened him. The neighbors on the other side of use have 3 big dogs (1 or 2 boxer or boxer mix and 1 other that I can't remember). Anyway, when we moved in, we thought we'd really have to worry about letting Josh play outside in the backyard, even though they (& he) are fenced in with a high fence. But we've lived here since May and have never had a problem with them. They rarely bark (or at least, I never hear them. lol) and we've never had a problem with them digging under the fence or acting mean toward Josh or us when we are out back, even when we are out there being loud and playing. They come outside to the front going back and forth to the van and the house with their owners all the time. I still wouldn't want Josh alone with them, but as aggressive as they look, they have never given us cause for concern and Josh has never acted afraid. I dunno. :)

[Capricornholio]

Yeah, I'm aware of how it works like that mostly. That's why it bothers me. They should euthenize the owners along side. :hehehmm:

[Jenny]

Originally posted by Capricornholio
Yeah, I'm aware of how it works like that mostly. That's why it bothers me. They should euthenize the owners along side. :hehehmm:

heh, I agree. :)

[Kim]

Glad he's okay Jenny!

[Merlin]

I got ta tell ya, if a dog starts barking at me while I'm using a shovel...Well let's just say he won't be able to bark for long. :bonk:

[avlena]

Originally posted by Jenny
And yeah, I felt like that before I had a child, but now... As much as I love dogs, any dog that mauls a child needs to be put down. If they have done it once, they have the potential to do it again.

but how do u draw the line between a vicious attack vs just getting hurt? My roomie was telling me last nite about how when she was younger, her 5 year old neighbor was provoking and teasing their large Akita dog... in an attempt to get away, the dog accidentally ripped part of the little girls ear. But, it wasn't an attack, because as my roomie pointed out, if it had meant to attack, the child would have been seriously hurt (apparently Akitas can be rather aggressive at times). Yet, the neighbors threatened to sue if the dog wasn't put down. I totally understand the point of the neighbors, because it's a scary thing to have your kid threatened, but at the same time i know a lot of people would overreact if the dog so much as bit the child.

[Merlin]

Originally posted by avlena
but how do u draw the line between a vicious attack vs just getting hurt?

By the number of stiches or length of hospital stay. It is really easy to tell the difference between a dog bite and an attack by the amount of damage done.

[Memo]

Yep, false alarms still get your just as scared as the real thing. Last weekend my best friend was walking home from studying at a friends house when he heard a loud screech and then people screaming and a crash. Turns out a Chevy S-10 was blinded by a car's on-coming lights and hit a couple walking their baby in a stroller. The mom got throw off to teh side along with the baby and the dad got flipped over the truck. My friend said it was pretty gruesome and when the guy tried to stand up his scalp damn near fell off. I think that would be your mother's worst nightmare. Luckily, the people turn out to be ok after hospitilization.

[i6s1]

Originally posted by avlena


but how do u draw the line between a vicious attack vs just getting hurt?
-Snip-



I agree, sometimes I don't think the animal did anything wrong. A friend of the family had a dog. One of thier girls was playing with a neighboor boy. The boy jumped on her back, and the dog nipped him in the ass. No broken skin. The dog didn't do anything that bad, it was just protecting it's owner.

The neighboors insisted that the dog be put down.

Sad for all involved.

[Jenny]

Originally posted by avlena


but how do u draw the line between a vicious attack vs just getting hurt? My roomie was telling me last nite about how when she was younger, her 5 year old neighbor was provoking and teasing their large Akita dog... in an attempt to get away, the dog accidentally ripped part of the little girls ear. But, it wasn't an attack, because as my roomie pointed out, if it had meant to attack, the child would have been seriously hurt (apparently Akitas can be rather aggressive at times). Yet, the neighbors threatened to sue if the dog wasn't put down. I totally understand the point of the neighbors, because it's a scary thing to have your kid threatened, but at the same time i know a lot of people would overreact if the dog so much as bit the child.


Well, there's the major thing: the 5 year old girl was PROVOKING and TEASING the dog. It was the GIRL'S fault. Or rather, her parent's fault for not teaching her not to be stupid. But yeah, I agree with Merlin. You can tell the difference between a dog bite or an accident and a vicious attack. Even then, sometimes it's sad because a dog will get put to sleep. But here's a story that makes me upset to think about:

I was watching Vet Emergency awhile back. This dog was in the backyard. A rottweiler or something. It was the family pet. They had 3 little kids that played with the dog, etc. The dog was a watchdog but not aggressive.

Anyway, a burglar broke into the house and as he ran out the back, he spooked the dog. The dog went into guard dog mode and chased the guy. The man broke out the back gate, letting the dog out. The man hopped into a car and drove away (or alluded the dog or something - he got away). Two women happened to be walking down the sidewalk beside the house. They saw the man & dog and screamed and started trying to run (If I'm remembering correctly). The dog bit one woman on the calf. A policeman was there by that time and saw the dog and shot it. So the dog got killed for protecting his family, basically. The shot didn't kill it but it was put down at the vet's by police orders. :shrug: That is a story I can feel bad about. I can't feel nearly as bad for a person who gets bitten after taunting and teasing the dog.

[Jenny]

Oh, and I forgot to tell this:

I was delivering Girl Scout cookies when I was young to our neighbor's house. It was dark outside. I bent down to pet this dog that I had petted many times before. The dog was startled and bit me across the bridge of my nose. No stitches or anything, just a couple of bite holes and a big bruise. But my mom didn't overreact like some people do now. :shrug: