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My dog bit someone! What will happen?


Guest Anonymous

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Guest Anonymous

I adopted an Olde English Bulldogge from a local shelter in August. He is a two and a half year old neutered male named Titan. He has been very good up until now. We bring him to obedience classes and walk him regularly and he has previously not shown any aggession towards people at all. He has shown that he can be somewhat aggressive with other male dogs and because of his size (22" at the withers and 105 lbs.) and rambunctious behavior, he has to be supervised when children are around. Last night my girlfriend answered the door for the pizza delivery guy and I was holding our three dogs (as best I could) so they wouldn't get outside. Titan (the Olde English Bulldogge) got away from me, nosed his way outside, jumped up on the delivery guy and bit his arm! This all happened in about two seconds!

Although the guy acted as though his arm had been torn-off and we were terrified at first, when we got the man settled down and inside, and were finally able to assess the wound, it turned-out there were only two small, minor scrapes on his arm. I called the police (on the victims request) and they came over and took a report, took pictures of the wound, etc.. I also had the guy call his employer and let them know what was going on. While the police were on their way over, I had a chance to talk to the victim for a while and it became clear that he was the type of person who was going to milk this for all it's worth. I certainly don't mean to make light of the fact that my dog bit this guy at all, but the extent of the damage was something that my Mom would've sprayed a little Bactine on (if that) and sent me on my way. This guy was telling me that he'd need to go to the hospital and get a Tetanus shot (which I figured was reasonable) and that he wasn't sure if he'd need stitches (pah-leeeze)! Mind you, the "wound" wasn't even bleeding. The police officer offered to call and ambulance to take the man to the hospital (as I'm sure she was required to do). He refused and said he was going to drive back to work, cash-out for the night, and drive himself to the hospital. He also said that this would be the end of his pizza delivery career.

Anyway, after the police report and photos were taken, both the officer and the victim left. I haven't heard from anyone yet but undoubtedly I will be. I'm wondering if anyone here has had a dog bite someone before and can tell me what I can expect to have happen. Also, I'm very concerned about my dog! Obviously I need to prevent this from happening again so any advice on that would be appreciated as well.

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Guest Anonymous

Depending on your state and the legistations there there may not be an option of a next time. Unfortunately the time we are livin in is causeing some very rash decisions particular with our bully breeds. Hopefully it will be just a fine for the doctors bills and the options to keep your dog but this is bad Im not sure you know how just how bad this can be, you may lose your dog.

that really sucks, but hey you may get lucky but trust they will have this on file and recorded that you have a "vicious" dog, and now that he has bitten someone he is known to be vicious. That means zero tolerance from this point. you may lose your home-owners, or be forced by the company to give your dog up, if you rent the landlord may do the same or even evict you if you refuse.

this is a bad situation sorry you have to go through it.

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Guest Anonymous

sO sAD i HATE TO JUMP ON YOU BUT WHY DIDN'T YOU SHUT HIM IN THE OTHER ROOM IF YOU KNEW THAT YOU ORDERD PIZZA? Also I hope you did not tell the police what happend as they will use it agaisnt you. You should have waited for a lawer. I am very upset because I know that they probably think that your dog was a pitbull and I know they will probably try to say that it is and Yet another blow to my breed will take place. Yes pitbulls get blamed for everything and that is what will happen. You better get documentation from your vet that he is not an Aopbt or they will most definately euthanize him(if they don't anyways) I know it was just a scratch but any dog that even resembles a pitbull will be labeld as such and society has very little regards for Apbts .

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Ever since the incedent happened I've been asking myself "[b]WHY[/b] didn't I secure the dog before the delivery man came to the door?!?" I've been just kicking myself! Hind site is 20-20 and like I said, I had no idea my dog would react this way. For anyone else reading this, better safe than sorry! [b]Keep your dogs secured when strangers come to the door![/b]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll let you know how things pan-out.

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Meehs - Thanks for the advice and for thinking of the rest of us even at a time like this. I know I'll be putting Kavik in the other room from now on.
Kavik always runs to the door barking wanting to greet the pizza guy. He means no harm but he has made the situation difficult and one pizza guy was Islamic? and very much did not want to meet Kavik. (Islamics?, some or all?, believe it is unclean/sin to be touched/licked by a dog, I think) I would save myself alot of trouble and make the pizza guy much happier if I put Kavik in another room breifly.
Best of luck with your pup, I'm so sorry. Keep us posted.

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Meehs I am so sorry to hear about this. I hope everything turns out Ok for you. I have taken your advice and shut my dogs away when anyone comes to the door. Thank you for warning us. My GSD would bite a stranger at the door I think, my Rott would definitely not. I now take my Rott with me when someone is at the door and I do not open the security door - but, the GSD is locked in another room. Please keep us posted.

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Worst case scenerio...you will be sued. The guy making the statement of it being the "end" of his pizza delivery career...makes me suspiscious that he might try to use that as a reason to file for disability or something along those lines...
Best case scenerio he went to the hospital and the doctors laughed at him.

I am not sure what state you are in....and you NEED to find out your local laws, NOW, to see if you are going to need a lawyer.


Personally, it sounds to me like the dog wanted the pizza...not the pizza man...if he wanted the pizza man...he would have HAD the pizza man.

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Guest Anonymous

Well....my dog bit someone, but she's not a bully breed which can make a difference, I'm sure :roll: .

Our neighbor came over to let them out for us one day when we were out of town.

She made the mistake of bring Snuggs, one of her female dogs with.

Kika, went after Snuggs. They got into it. Kika had Snuggs pinned against the fence. Sharon (the human) went to break it up and got it from Kika by accident.

Sharon took Snuggs home (she got torn up, poor baby) and then put our dogs back in a little bit later. Kika showed NO aggression twards Sharon AT ALL.

Sharon had to get a tetnis shot and was in for a few antibiotic shots as well. Her hand didn't bleed much so all the blood stayed inside and caused an infection.

Our homeowners insurance paid the $1000 bill.

Kika was quarentined to our home for 10 days....but the Humane Society worker but the notice on a door we don't use so we never found it until she only had 4 days left! :oops: I called the Humane Society immediately and all was well. She just needed to be inside at ALL times for those remaining 4 days. If she had to go out, she had to be supervised.

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Guest Anonymous

This is just my opinion, so, take it however you like. If one of my dogs bites a human w/o provoking, especially in the situation you described about the pizza guy, I will put them down myself. I hear peoples' excuses for their dogs biting all the time, and if it is NOT a pit bull, it just seems like no big deal. ANY dog(unless it is solely bred, raised, and trained to be human aggressive and can be confined correctly) that bites, should be put down.

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[quote name='johnny']This is just my opinion, so, take it however you like. If one of my dogs bites a human w/o provoking, especially in the situation you described about the pizza guy, I will put them down myself. I hear peoples' excuses for their dogs biting all the time, and if it is NOT a pit bull, it just seems like no big deal. ANY dog(unless it is solely bred, raised, and trained to be human aggressive and can be confined correctly) that bites, should be put down.[/quote]
:o
The dog only made a little scratch..and most dogs' can be trained out of it...

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Afraid I have to disagree with you here johnny. Any human that breeds, trains or raises a dog to be human aggressive or to fight should be put down. This dog was unfortunately in a position where he saw a stranger at the door and this strange human was interacting in a way the dog could not understand with a member of the dogs family. Maybe the dog saw the situation as threatening to his human and went into protection drive.
A dog should not be put down for this behaviour, it was not a savage attack it was a scratch. It is a great pity we do not have the instinct to protect our dogs that they have towards us. This dog made a mistake, humans make many mistakes. Sorry but I don't like your attitude towards dogs at all.

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The fact that this dog did NOT do the damage it *could* have done, tells you it had some sort of control. It would not suprise if the "holding back" of the owner, "inticed" the dog for the "bite" This is a technique done in bite work to enhance the dog's desire for "bite". It is a fact that if you choose to own breeds that were bred with drive, protection drive especially, then you take on a whole new set of obligations. Strict training is a must and disciplin should be swift and sure. You must be able to control them, overpower them, and take on any of the possible problems having such a dog can cause. These dogs are only doing what they were bred to do. I have seen golden retrievers jump up on people in play, and grab their sleeves, and do more damage then a scratch....with the jaw power that dog had he could have crushed the man's arm...yet he chose not to.

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My neighbor's dog bit my daughter's face when she was about 4 years old. It was a very old dog and my daughter was just saying hello, and got too close to his face. I could have made them put that dog down if I wanted, but didn't. Patty, my daughter had to have surgery and got an infection. But the bottom line is that it is up to the person who got bit. If this guy pushes it, I think you may have a problem. I understood why the dog bit my daughter, and I have had dogs all my life, but who knows about Mr. Pizza. And, I think you're right about him stating his pizza "career" was over. That constitutes damages. He could sue over the lost income. We shall just have to wait and see how litigious he is.

Good luck!!

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I totally have to agree with eggrolyn and anne. johnny, I don't know if you're saying this cuz it wasn't your dog or what, but if you were a really loving owner that cared about your dog, I don't think that the idea of euthanasia can be decided upon so quickly, before training, consulting, or any other forms to actually help the dog. You just seem to be all "go for it!" with the euthanasia. Putting a life down shouldn't be decided upon so impulsively. Of course, there is no choice but euthanasia for dogs trained for illegal dogfighting (I watch too much Animal Precinct and Animal Cops on the Animal Channel :lol:), but if it was accidental, especially at an early stage, it can be changed. And meehs, good luck :thumbs: with everything. If I were you, I'd be frantic. I'm an easilly stressable and worryable person, so I would be researching :user: about the laws and regulations of your area, getting documents about your dog, getting witnesses to say that your dog is friendly, etc. If you ever do need to testify to the police or whatever, be as polite and calm as you can, while being really upset and sorry :modla: . Your attitude can play a big role in things like this. It would look better for you if the pizza man was yelling and out of control. Just don't annoy the people, because even the officers and the lawyers, and the judge all want an easily sellting, peaceful case. It would look good for your part if you acted like the adult, and the pizza man didn't. If he's rash :madgo: , he'll prolly think that he's faking and overdramatizing it :flaming: . I hope everything works out for you, but I guess you'll just have to wait to see what kind of action the "attention-seeking, pathetic, pizza deliverer :diablotin: " takes. Hopefully, this will all be settled peacefully :chaos: .

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I'm not real crazy about Johnny's reply either. Dog's bite for different
reasons - out of fear - to protect, themselves or their owners - maybe he
WAS after the pizza! Guaranteed, if it had been an "attack", and not just his teeth making contact with the guy's arm, he would have had more than
a bactine-scratch. Bulldogs are known for their tenacious grip; once they
connect, they dont let go.

Try to remember exactly what happened - because if this guy makes an issue of it you will need a lawyer to save your dog. Was he growling, snarling, in protect-mode? When he got away from you, did he bark, growl, or just run to the door and jump on the guy. That's VERY important.
With a good lawyer, you can convince the court that he was not attacking,
but rather was trying to get the pizza and accidently scratched the guy in the process. My big golden-lab snatched a pizza out of the guy's hand once.
Fortunately never made contact with the guy, so this just could have been an accident. It all depends on how he was behaing when he got to the
door. If he was snarling or growling, you have a problem. Otherwise,
you might be able to prove it was just an accident by an over-eager dog who likes pizza.

Since then, with my two, I put them in my room and close the door when the pizza guy comes, just to be sure. Or you can gate them out of the doorway with a baby gate.

I'm really sorry this happened to you. If this wasnt such a law-suit society, it wouldnt be a big deal. Hope everything works out well for yu.

Katy

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Don't worry folks. I [b]completely[/b] disagree with Johnny and my dog will [b]NOT[/b] be put down. I [b]will[/b] be working diligently with my dog however, and taking every precaution to ensure this does not happen again. I am also working with my obedience instructor to learn how to curb this behavior. This was [b]NOT[/b] a savage attack and I think the idea of putting the dog down is completely ludicrous!

By the way, I called and talked to the police officer that responded to the call. She told me that the pizza guy did not quit his job as he said he was going to do. He was back at work the next day. He went to the hospital like he said he was going to. They gave him a tetanus shot only because he demanded one. The doctor said that he didn't really need one. After the shot they sent him on his way. They didn't even put a bandage on the "wound"! They said it would heal faster if he left it open to the air.

I haven't heard anything from Dominos, the insurance company or anyone yet. I'll keep you posted.

I was thinking about this the day after the incedent. The delivery guy had a heavy winter jacket on and two long-sleeved white shirts (I live in Minnesota and it was below zero). The jacket was completely undamaged as were the shirts and there wasn't a trace of blood on either of the white shirts. Hmmmm! When I called the police officer, she said that she had noticed that too and had made a note of it in her report.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I appreciate the support that most of you have given me. I actually appreciate all of the opinions that I've received.

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