My Wife's hand/ dog bite

[tanza]

Hopefully she has seen a doctor about her hand?

[Barklessdog]

Yeah, she saw a regular doctor than was sent to a hand specialist. The dog injured her tendon, which takes a really long time to heal, he said she will have to adjust to the pain.

I really feel sorry or her, she always get the brunt of the bad from our dogs.

The other dog broke her nose by jerking her head into my wifes nose at the vet. It was an accident, but still.

[kristink]

The three b's I've owned were across the spectrum– one was badly bred and dominant, and a bite hazard with anyone. I have the scars to prove it. My girl Caddie was great with almost everyone, but I didn't trust her with kids-- she never bit but growled at pushy kids. Sol is very patient and gentle with kids, but because of past history I never leave him unsupervised-- except last week, when a 2 year old poked him in the eye by mistake-- he let out a surprised 'woof!' (one of the few times he has barked) but when I called the startled child back over to talk to him about why Sol barked (he was saying 'ouch!) Sol was fine and didn't growl. I still supervise, though, with new kids who may not be gentle.

Kris

[wizard]

Sounds to me lilke you need to spend lots of training time (not just obedience but also setting up boundaries and who's top dog) with the dog. There's something that's pushing his buttons.

[StellaGirl]

Should i worrie about Stella the other night a freind came over who was drunk, put his hand through the window < not on perpous>

[jaclempner]

I had a dog that broke my nose while playing with me and my son - not a basenji, by the way.

I hear stories all the time about sweet basenjis - they're always going to be spirited, and a rescue might be the answer, but there are some breeders out there that are really careful about temperment. My dogs can give me a run for my money, but are still really sweet (like you said, they make up for the mischef) and I really love them, but I have my eye on a breeder for the next round of dogs. I totally understand your wife. I, too, would like to stick to basenjis.

[jaclempner]

By the way - the breeder that I referred to in my previous post is Rugosa Basenjis - she has a waiting list, but she sounds great. I'm sure she's not the only one out there.

[wizard]

Maybe Stella felt you were threatened because she sensed the blood or maybe she just feels your friend is not good for you. You might want to contact a behaviorist.

[Quercus]

Uh, Stella's mom? That situation sounds like it would make ME freak out…and I would kinda understand what is going on. I certainly wouldn't worry about my dog's temperament if she freaked out after someone came into my house drunk, and put a hand thru a window. One of the reasons humans have dogs is to protect us....I don't understand why people get upset when dogs do their job. Chances are you weren't too thrilled about the friend's presence either, and Stella picked up on it.

I would just keep them apart and watch to see if she acts strangely around anyone else.

[Barklessdog]

I certainly wouldn't worry about my dog's temperament if she freaked out after someone came into my house drunk, and put a hand thru a window. One of the reasons humans have dogs is to protect us….I don't understand why people get upset when dogs do their job.

Agreed, our dogs know when something's normal or not, the way people behave or the way they enter our house or yard. Kids & teens come & go from our house all the time, without issue, but a delivery man or meter reader, they go into different mode. Dogs are way better at reading people than we are.

[lvoss]

My mom's 2 basenji boys go with her every time she visits my grandparents and stays at their house. Both are good tempered but the first time my uncle showed up in the middle of the night drunk they both put themselves between him and my grandmother and gave some pretty clear signs that they did not want him near my grandmother. My mom was able to diffuse the situation but they slept outside my mom's bedroom door on the top of the stairs that night and would not let him come up the stairs.

It really startled my mom because she had never seen protective behavior in her boys prior to that. Since then there has also been one other person they have behaved this way with and it is quite possible they had also been drinking prior to coming over to my grandparent's house.

[jys1011]

I guess the lesson here is…Don't Drink & Basenji

[nala121498]

@jys1011:

I guess the lesson here is…Don't Drink & Basenji

ROTFL:D

[RockysWoman]

@Quercus:

Right! And if we are going to take that stance, then NO dog should be allowed with any young children, because they certainly all could cause tremendous damage.

Amen to that. It goes back to many discussions we've all had here: Training & Supervision. Know your dogs… and teach your kids those limits and respect. Our two girls are toddlers (4 year & 18 months, respectively) and they both learned very quickly the "rules" about the dogs. Very very very rarely is it the dogs fault for a nip or growl. I look to see what the kids were doing first before I blame the dog.

Sorry to hear about the wife and the bite. Unfortunately, it is a risk we all run any time we bring an animal into our households (don't ever get my husband talking about the injuries I've suffered at the hands of the horses.... then you'll really get an earful and then another earful from me when I explain them mostly all away as "my bads"!)

[Barklessdog]

It goes back to many discussions we've all had here: Training & Supervision. Know your dogs… and teach your kids those limits and respect. Our two girls are toddlers (4 year & 18 months, respectively) and they both learned very quickly the "rules" about the dogs.

The problem is when their friends / relatives come over or their siblings. Example, a friend of my daughter's mom came to picker up unexpectedly. They were at a Church function with me. My wife did not put the basenji's in their crates, not knowing who was there. The mom had a little girl that was about 6-7 at the time. My wife greats them at the door, the little girl just runs into our house and corners the dogs trying to pet them. Our dog's react and of coarse our Tri bit her hand!
No time to react it all happened so fast.

No blood, but still A dog bite. Luckily the mom was very understanding. I told her that the dogs had their shots and we would pay any medical bills. She apologized for her daughter's behavior. We were really lucky. she pressed no charges or any bills. Unfortunately that ended my daughters friendship.

That's the point of this is you can't count on the other kids to be behaved and if any ones rough or inexperienced, you and your dog can pay the price.

I know a guy who had a Rotwieler that was on a leash when a neighbors little unleashed shelty ran over and harassed his Rot. The Rot grabbed the shelty and would not let go. The Rot injured the dog and my friend was forced to put the dog down and pay for all the medical bills of the shelty. It did not matter who started what.

[RockysWoman]

Understood… all we can do is attempt to control the situations as best as possible. And sometimes our best efforts are for naught. All we can do is keepin trying and educating those around us.

[nlgordaz]

Dogs bite because they are scared.

I don't think you should consider getting rid of the dog because it got scared one day and bit your hand.

[lvoss]

Dogs bite for more reasons than just fear. That is one reason so many of us recommend finding a behaviorist to work with, hopefully before the dog has escalated to biting.

[Barklessdog]

Well my wife's hand is now all better, it took a really long time to heal.

Dogs bite because they are scared.

I don't think you should consider getting rid of the dog because it got scared one day and bit your hand.

My sister in California (Im in Chicago) adopted a Boxer from a friend, who ended up being a biter. They worked with a behaviorlist, and things improved a bit, but the doog got loose and attacked a stranger damaging his hand pretty bad, they had to pay for the surgery and ended up putting the dog down.

We still have our dog and we have not had any further attacks. We don't ever plan on getting rid of him, he is a part of our family for 8 years now.

[GenJMar]

Glad to hear your wife is better. And glad you are keeping your dog.