Is there anything legally i can do ?

[Pearl72]

What is the name of your state? Colorado

Hi. I went to go pick up my daughter from her parenting time with her father, and noticed that she had 3 punture wounds on her face by her eyes and nose. I had asked my daughter what had happened, and her father pipes up and states that my daughter would blow it out of porportion. Apparently the dog that her father has bit my daughter in the face. This has happened twice that i know of now. He didn't report it, nor did he take her to the doctor to get it checked out. This apparently happened on Monday night. Im just concerned that this has happened twice now. Also my ex stated that he punished the dog and our daughter. All my daughter was trying to do was cover the dog with the blanket because she thought he was cold. The dog was sleeping and my daughter apparently startled the dog, hence why the dog bit her. My daughter is 4 years old. The dog is a greyhound dog as well. Would i be in the wrong to call animal control and file a report of the bite, being as it is the second time now? Or should i just let it go?

 

[stealth2]

As a parent and a pet owner, I'd have a tough time making that call. It sounds like there are two things going on.

(1) Your daughter is not being adequately supervised when around the dog. This is something you may want to discuss with Dad - not in an accusatory way - but asking if there could be a stronger eye kept on the two of them until she learns (2) more consistently.

(2) Your daughter is not sufficiently aware of what to do - and NOT do - with a dog. That's something she needs to be taught, and she is not too young by any stretch of the imagination. She needs to understand that she is not to disturb a sleeping dog EVER (at this age, that's the best rule), not to pet it, not to cover it - nothing. She startled the dog, and the dog did what comes naturally to the most gentle of creatures. She is not to ever interfere with the dog when it is eating. And then the usual - don't poke in the eyes or ears, don't pull ears, don't pull tail, always use gentle touches.

It doesn't sound - from the little you wrote, that the dog is vicious. It does, however, sound as though your child needs to be socialized better with the dog. I'd work with Dad on it - and make it plain that you're not blowing it out of proportion, but that you'd like to work with him so that the dog is comfortable in his/her home, and that your daughter learns to love and respect the pooch as well.

Good luck.

 

[SingleMom67]

Pictures

I completely agree with Stealth. However, I'd also take pictures and put them away in a file somewhere. Hopefully, you'll never have to use them. But if Dad isn't cooperative, at least you will have some "proof" of a previous dog bite.

 

[Pearl72]

Thanks for the input! I do appreciate the information given, and will try and work with her dad.... which can be interesting sometimes, but worth a shot. He was upset about the incident as well... and Im sure that we can both come to a workable solution i hope! Thanks again!

 

[LdiJ]

Thanks for the input! I do appreciate the information given, and will try and work with her dad.... which can be interesting sometimes, but worth a shot. He was upset about the incident as well... and Im sure that we can both come to a workable solution i hope! Thanks again!

While I agree with what Stealth said about your child and socialization with the dog....I honestly have to disagree about whether or not the dog is potentially vicious.

I am also a pet owner...with years of experience with dogs. I can recognize and agree that a child getting their hands in the food bowl while the dog is eating leads to accidental bitings that are not vicious in nature. It happened to my daughter twice as a young child with our family dog.

However I honestly disagree about messing with a sleeping dog...and it particularly disturbs me that a child has been bit in the face. Dogs generally treat small children like puppies. They recognize that they are "young" and treat them accordingly. Its quite rare for them to actually bite hard enough to break the skin....and in fact are likely to snap at them without actually making contact. My ex's great dane used to occasionally pick our daughter up by her clothing and carry her to him if the dog had a problem with what our child was doing. (and no...I didn't over-react to that...I thought it was funnier than heck...I actually saw the dog do it once)

I do agree that some serious discussion with dad is in order...and that socialization and supervision where the child and the dog is in order.....but greyhounds are very highstrung and very inbred....they honestly aren't proper pets for a household with small children. Therefore extra precautions need to be put in place...which may include keeping the dog locked up in a separate room when full supervision isn't possible.

At one time I was caring for a pitbull that belonged to a friend. This dog was the gentlest dog you could possibly imagine...had never bit anyone...not even another animal. Wasn't even a barker or growler...she didn't have an aggressive bone in her body.....yet, if child were around, I put her up. I wasn't willing to take that chance.