My neighbor’s dog bit my husband in the face. The bite required 50 stitches. Do you think this is a dangerous dog or just an accident?

We had a very unfortunate accident happen last Sunday evening. Our neighbor's dog bit my husbands face.

I would like to give you a little history first. The dog is a German Shepherd. She is 3 or 4 and has been spade. They have another dog that is younger than she is and is a male. He is part lab, part chow. I should also mention the German Shepherd has been to obedience school.

Last November the wife was home alone and asked me to come over to see some new furniture she just got. I rang the bell and she came to the door along with both of the dogs. She asked me to come in and kinda pushed the dogs away so I could get in the door. I kinda stuck my hand out, not too much just calmly and the German Shepherd bit my hand. It did not bleed, but it did turn black and blue. Nothing came of this bite. We just figured the dog was being a little territorial since her husband was out of town.

The neighbors are friends of ours and they are concerned about the dog's barking and being too loud for the neighborhood. They bark at my husband and me any time we are outside or go on our deck. The neighbors asked for us to come over and play with the dogs and talk to them so they could get to know our voice, with the hope that they would stop baking at us so much. We played ball with both the dogs. Sat down in the yard so we were at their level. I suppose we spent about 30-45 minutes with the dogs & the owners. The owners gave us some milk bones to give to them over the fence and asked us to talk to them when we are in the yard and tell them "no bark."

Last Sunday I was watering the bushes on the side of the yard the dogs are on and asked my husband to come over and see what I planted. The German Shepherd started to bark. My husband started talking to her, telling her it was okay, it was just us. We started to walk over to the fence, 6 ft. privacy fence that dips down to about 5.5 ft. in the lowest part. I told him I would get her a bone. I was about ten paces behind my husband when he got to the fence. Then the German Shepherd jumped up and threw her neck over and bit my husband.

We went to the emergency room and he had about 50 stitches in his top and bottom lip and 2-3 under his eye where her front tooth hit.

About a day or two after the accident we walked back to the fence. My husband is not that tall. When he got to the fence we figured out he didn't look over the fence, or he would have had his hands up on the fence and would have been on his toes. Being a male, he really does not think he would have been on his toes. And he does not remember doing any of that. And I was right behind him and did not see him do that.

My question is... Is this dog dangerous, do you think she would do this again? My husband feels bad for the neighbors and really does not want the dog to be removed from the home. My spouse was hurt, so naturally I am angry and would like to see the dog gone. I would just hate for this to happen to someone else, or a child.

We believe the dog will be labeled dangerous by the county because the injuries were to the face and it was not a provoked attack.

I would just like some understanding on whether the dog is dangerous or this truly was just a bad accident.

Thank you for your time, I certainly appreciate any insight you could give me in the matter.

Sincerely,
Heidi