who would you judge here?

sarabellam

My parent's neighbors have 3 children, ages 8, 6, and 3, great kids, and friends of my daughters. Their dog is a 130+ pound Mastiff. They had some other friends over yesterday afternoon. One child was petting the dog and accidentally poked the dog in the eye. Dog bit the child's face, inflicting enough damage that child had to be taken to the hospital and received 6 stitches. Fast forward a couple of hours, and Animal Control is there taking the dog from the home, I'm assuming to be put down, but possibly only for quarantine.Who do you judge here? The child, for accidentally poking the dog? The parents, for allowing strange children to play with the dog? The dog, for snapping at the kid's face?

amandasw

Also, I agree with whoever said "how do you a poke a dog in the eye by accident?" Pretty sure the kid was playing around...

ricksang

to=too

amandasw

When I was 11 I was at a friends home and was attacked by their King Charles. I had unknowingly sat in the dog's 'spot' on the couch and the dog did not know me and went after me. I ended up needing plastic surgery for a ripped open lip. I am a huge dog lover but this experience made me judge dog owners to know their dog. I should have been warned about this dog's territorial behavior and maybe this child/parents should have been warned the mastiff could be provoked.I think your situation was a true accident, but can you really accidentally poke a dog in the eye?  A hamster would get provoked if you poked it in the eye.

ffmaid

8 yr old- old enough to know not to poke annimals parents of 8 yr old- shoudl have taught kid to respect other people and annimals spaceowners of dog- should shoudl have not had a child not familiar with dogs enough to know you only touch them gentle around their animal

ac_in_dc

The child who was bitten is 8, and the mom was right there.Given this info, I'd say it's just an accident, no one's really at fault here.You could put a little bit of blame on the kid, the dog, or either set of parents, but I don't think anyone did anything really wrong.

brittjoy84

Umm, 8 years old and poked the dog in the eye? No. My two and four year old brothers know better than that. When children play with my dog I separate at the fist sign that my dog is annoyed, and I teach the child only to extend the hand palm up for the dog to sniff and then to gently pat the head or back. The dog parents should have been more aware of their dogs reactions to the child (I'm sure the bite wasn't the first sign the dog was annoyed) and the child should have been taught to never do that to any dog.

[Deleted User]

Kids are clumsy and get excited when they are around dogs. Dogs move a lot, so I can see how it would be an accident if the kid was petting the dogs head and the dog moved or something happened and they both jerked. I think it's the fault of both sets of parents. You have to teach your children to respect animals and understand that they can hurt you if you are rough with them.

ktjanesmom

All of the parents (adults).  Sometimes they arent one in the same.

Lauren Exley

The owners of the dog, unless it was a truly isolated incident with no previous indication that the dog was not complacent.

Pirata13

I'd say the parents of the kid and also perhaps the dog owners. Depends if he's shown agression before. But as pps said, the kid poked the dog in the eye, it's not his fault. But an adult, parent or owner, should have been right there while strange child was petting the dog. Poor dog. I'd be pi$$ed if someone poked me in the eye too.

xheartunbrokenx

definitely the parents, poor dog.

suedoe

The parents of both children. A parent should teach their children to ask before petting any animal that is not their own. The other sets of parents for not watching the dog.

Sydney.O.Rutledge

I don't necessarily judge anyone.  If it truly was an accident on the kid's part (he wasn't behaving irresponsibly), his parents had no behavior to stop.Even if the kid was fooling around, he could have switched from appropriate to inappropriate in a second and provoked the dog before his parents could stop him.If the dog has never done anything like that before, why would its owners be concerned about the kid petting the dog appropriately with his parents nearby?Sometimes accidents happen despite everyone behaving appropriately.  It's part of life.  From these facts, I'm not sure anyone has done anything *wrong.*  It's sad for the dog and his family, but hopefully he gets another chance.

Moneypenny424

I think it's pretty easy to see how a kid accidentally pokes a dog in the eye: the child is trying to pet somewhere else and the dog moves, etc. I'd put the parents at fault, though it does sound like an accident. When i was 3 I was attacked by a german shepard. I was playing with the dog and something I did apparently made the dog feel threatened. He bit me in my face, head, etc. I don't think anyone ever blamed the dog (he WAS a guard dog...and I think my parents had turned away for a second). Oh well, I still love dogs

thesuninherhead

I would have kept the dog away from the kids if I was the parents or the owners.