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.
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.
I guess the lesson here is…Don't Drink & Basenji 
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"!)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Glad to hear your wife is better. And glad you are keeping your dog.
I feel that when you get a pet that they are a life commitment, not a thing that can be disposed of if things go badly or you just dont want to deal with it anymore.
Sounds to me like your dog was in pain many times when animals are blinded by pain they will lash out. My mothers sheltie got its foot caught in the door when my mother bent down to check him he bit her in the face and she had to get stitches. I was shocked when I heard this because this dog was very well natured never even heard it growl.
On the other hand I had an doberman/shepard mix who tried to jump an iron gate and got herself impaled on top tearing the flesh away from her under arm area. This dog was 80 plus pounds and she let me lift her off that fence. (I was expecting her to bite) and she never even growled at me. IMO its not so much the breed as the dogs temperment.
How is it going at your home now? Is your wifes hand healed up?
Fine we have no incedents since then but I just dont allow situations that allow any problems to occur (keep him crated when guests are over).
In general he is a very sweet & loving dog, but in the right situation he will bite without hesitation and draw blood. 99.9% of the time he is calm & loving.
When injured, is a situation you can't control.
I am the only one he will let near him in that situation.
