Hi everyone I had something happen today that upset me terribly.
As I arrived home from a long walk with my 2 dogs (Ruby and Blossom) the neighbour and her son were outside and asked to pet the dogs. I put them in a sit stay and she and her son came over and he pet both dogs. As mom and I continued to talk the little boy went and played for a bit and Blossom move behind me where I didn't have a visual on her (don't know if she was sitting, laying or standing). The little boy came back over as we were talking and at one point went out of my line of vision and in that split second Blossom bit him on the cheek (two marks on cheek bone and small laceration lower down). Neither mom nor I saw what happened or heard any sound until he came back to her crying.
To say the least I was mortified and profusely apologetic and mom was very understanding with the whole incident (didn't seem to phase her in the least).
I went over to their house a while later to check on him and to give her information related to the dog as well as my contact numbers and she assured me that he was fine and that she had cleansed the laceration and iced the area.
I am not fine and feel so badly that this happened as I'm so careful to make sure proper socializing is alway done and this has never in all my years of dog ownership happened before.
The dog is 10 years old and a medium sized mixed breed with no past agression issues and both dogs are always on leash and tightly controlled.
I guess I'm wondering is there anything else I should/could do in this case (short of the obvious - watch the dogs closer)so that it doesn't turn into a bad situation.

The boy should see his doctor. Bacteria could have been injected under the skin by the teeth and an infection could result. Not likely with a little nip, but possible.
Try to get the mother to get an MD involved, then things IMO are less likely to get out of hand.

ditto what Betty said.

IMO since the bite was on the cheek and the dog is med size, the boy must have been in her face... maybe that will help you feel better, but not likely to matter if things get out of hand.

If I had to, I'd even offer to pay for him to go to the doctor.

Hi Lori Anne,
I agree with the others re the Dr's visit. The mom may decide that it's healing just fine without him seeing a Dr, but at least you have made the offer.

Re the dog, I think you have to assume that this could happen in the future, so best just not to allow interaction w/ small children.

What a pity. One feels awful when something like that happens. Obviously you'll be on your guard from now on. Small children sometimes frighten dogs.

Thanks everyone I did encourage Mom to seek treatment and as I live in Canada paying for healthcare isn't an issue I need to address. I will definitely not allow myself to become distracted in the future as this was the what contributed to the event in the first place and will certainly be keeping a close eye on the dog whenever we are around children.
As far as feeling badly, I think it's going to take a while before I get over that one but like my son told me "it's happened and all you can do is let things play out. Don't dwell on the actual incident anymore cause you can't change that it happened,just be more vigilant in the future." (he such a sweetie)
Cheers
Lori Anne

 Quote: Lori Anne McAlpin

I will definitely not allow myself to become distracted in the future as this was the what contributed to the event in the first place and will certainly be keeping a close eye on the dog whenever we are around children.

 Quote: Lynne Barrows

Re the dog, I think you have to assume that this could happen in the future, so best just not to allow interaction w/ small children.

I think Lynne said it best.:wink:

There is one way to make sure this NEVER happens again, and that is to keep the dogs away from children.

Smart kid, your son is right the only thing you can do is better prepare yourself for the future. If this is completely out of character I would get her to a vet to rule out anything medical, unfortunately I know all too well that those medical bills aren't free for Canadians, but what are you going to do.

if i stop to talk to people my dogs are always under command and nobody is allowed to touch my dobe, there is no reason for it and he doesn't like being touched by people he doesn't know. even though he has never acted out... he is giving off signals that this isn't sitting well with him.

I don't let kids around my dogs ever, if my friends kids come over the dogs go in their crate or are on leash. my dogs are both extremely excited by kids, so they can't be trusted if the kids all of a sudden ran or screamed as kids often do somebody could get hurt.

Best of luck to you,

Rob