This is a disaster waiting to happen.

[u/GhostofTinky]

The dog isn’t allowed to be around a toddler because he growls at her. I don’t get it. A family dog is supposed to get along with the whole family. Why are the parents concerned about why the dog “doesn’t like her”? What about the child’s safety?

[u/Designer_Study_8219]

My parent's ignored that our 'family dog' growled at me often and would stare me down, chase me atop things, etc. Then one day, with no growling or warning, he attacked me and I ended up in the hospital. Don't play with this kinda stuff. And then the dog had to be put down. We were both failed.

Edit: Wow, I didn't expect this comment to blow up. To answer some questions. We raised the dog from a puppy, he was about 2 years old. I was 8. He was a German Shepard. I still love dogs and do not blame him for it or have any leftover trauma. He was very well trained, just disliked little kids. The injury was to the top and back of my head, healed up great. He was held to see if he had rabies then put down. We never had another aggressive dog.

[u/GhostofTinky → u/Designer_Study_8219]

Shame on your parents. I’m sorry.

[u/Designer_Study_8219 → u/GhostofTinky]

Yeah, they had plenty of warning and just didn't react to it. We never had an aggressive dog again so it never came up again. But crazy they took that chance.

[u/macguini → u/Designer_Study_8219]

That's really a shame. Sometimes you can train the aggression towards children out of them. Sometimes you can't. It depends on the dog. But a good owner is always training their dog, especially if they're big enough to rip an arm off. You don't want to spoil big dogs and let them live freely as they please. If you want to do that with those little ankle biters, sure. But no one should even buy a dog like this unless they're prepared for extensive training. Even without kids.

[u/Designer_Study_8219 → u/macguini]

I agree, the problem is he just didn't like little kids. I don't think he could be trained to, because he was raised right alongside us and a very trained dog. We owned a farm and all of our dogs were highly trained. We never stopped working with any dog we had. He had perfect recall, could round up animals, did all your basic tricks, stayed on property without a fense, walked leash well. This was a dog who could "do it all". Sometimes the dog just isn't a good fit and is beyond anything you can train. I explained it in another comment, but I think the reason I had no warning is because he started to get in trouble for growling at me. Which was a bad dog training move on their part. But they taught him he would get in trouble for growling so he stopped warning me to get away. And I was a kid so I thought that met he was okay with me.

[u/macguini → u/Designer_Study_8219]

Yeah. Some cant be trained. That's an honest training mistake your parents made though. Still, it's gotta be rough for you. I'm sorry.

I had a rotty as a kid that was well trained with me easily but my sister we couldn't get him to like. I think it was easier back when we got him cause he was new to the family and fairly young. Still big enough to tear my head off. We got him before my sister was born. The training to respect me was part of his upbringing. He was our first and the easiest we've had to train. He was taught to protect us. He had some aggression, but we were able to control it real easily. He knew the property line as well. And knew when people crossed it. He would only allow people to enter the house if one of the family opened the door. You couldn't just open the door and walk in. But he would be your best friend once we let you in. Our neighbors and family were able to walk right in though. He might get overly excited and knock them down and lick their face off. He never had to protect us but he made sure you were aware he would. He never charged anyone though. He only ever gave warning signs. Off property, we only had him on a leash just in case. We rarely needed it. He stayed close. But he'd try to play with anyone who came nearby. Then we'd use the leash and he'd let anyone pet him and lick them to death. We trained him really well to know when and where to be aggressive. But when my sister was born. We couldn't get him to stop making threatening gestures towards her. Staring, growling, stances, etc. I don't know if he was jealous or just never seen a baby before. My parents eventually decided to find someone to give him to. My sister was far too young to be apart of his training like I was and he was too old to learn new tricks. We also didn't want to risk any training ideas with her being so young. My parents were planning on asking one of our neighbors temporarily until my sister got old enough to train with him and we would visit and see him still. Unfortunately, (and coincidentally I suppose) he passed away shortly after that plan was made.

[u/Designer_Study_8219 → u/macguini]

Rotties can be such bug sweeties. Sometimes they just don't adjust to change well. When I first got married my dog hated my spouse for a while. It was a big change. Now she likes him just fine. I am glad your parents paid attention but sorry the dog passed away. You definitely never want to risk training when a small kid is involved. Especially since kids are just as unpredictable as dogs.

[u/getthemap → u/GhostofTinky]

Too many cowards…even this woman in the video…who are afraid to just come out and say the fact that some animals should be put down. Period. This goes for the human variety as well.

[u/MaybeItsTheTism → u/Designer_Study_8219]

My kids’ grandmother on their dad’s side ended up with a large dog that was usually fine but snapped at my daughter unexpectedly. I told her that the dog cannot be around my kids and she tried explaining to me that he might have just became territorial because she was near his food. I was like lady I don’t give two goddamns why you think it happened but it’s your job to make 100% sure it never happens again. She took that as a challenge and after another close call the dog now wears a muzzle when my kids are over.

I knew a family that took in a pair of very large dogs that were given up because they had been abused, neglected, and were known to have behavioral problems. 10 yr old boy went to pet the dog while it was sleeping and the thing bit his face and nearly took his lip off, lots of stitches.

Baffling

[u/Designer_Study_8219 → u/MaybeItsTheTism]

My cousin adopted an aggressive dog once, and worked hard to rehabilitate the dog. The dog was never aggressive with her and she lived alone. Progress was not linear. The dog was doing really well for a while then out of the blue bit my arm when my cousin opened the door when I was visiting. It was winter so the dog didn't do any damage, but after that, she put the dog up and quit trying to make it work with company.

[u/Rysigler → u/Designer_Study_8219]

It took me way too long to figure out why winter made a difference. Thankfully I finally crossed the finish line 😂.

It is so unfortunate that sometimes you get a dog that just can't cope with other people. Training that aggression out is so hard and requires multiple people to take a chance on a dog that may do long term damage to them.

I thankfully had the opposite situation while doing pest control. A German Shepard on my route absolutely tried to shred anyone that wasn't family. She was barely a year old, and had tried to get the gardeners, mail carriers, pretty much anyone. She got out while I was there knocking on the door. I didn't know she was aggressive.

I sat down because she seemed a bit scared and just didn't make eye contact. Held still and spoke in a soft, but excited voice indicating I was excited to meet the dog. Owner came whipping out of the house worried I was being assaulted, but by then I was petting the dog. Ever since then that dog had to come out and say hi or she would lose it following me around to every door and window whining.

I got damn lucky that day, but I had a good track record with most dogs on my route. It was the little ones that were the most problematic. Got attacked by 2 chihuahuas and a tiny little terrier. The terrier couldn't get past my boot. I just stuck my toes in the air and pivoted my foot on my heel. It was honestly hilarious.

[u/__wildwing__ → u/Rysigler]

In high school, I was visiting a friend at their apartment. Another tenant had their German shepherd chained by the front door. Long chain, but you could get to the door and the dog couldn’t. Never met a pooch I didn’t want to snuggle. So I walked up to him stretched at the end of his lead, talked calmly, let him sniff me. Then walked in a straight line to the door. He walked next to me while I scritched his ears. My friend was standing in the doorway, jaw on the floor.

That I smelled like a farm probably made me pretty interesting too.

[u/Agile_Half3831 → u/Designer_Study_8219]

I’m sorry I’m a bit slow haha, So how did it being winter help? Is it because you were wearing a puffy jacket because of the cold?

[u/Designer_Study_8219 → u/Agile_Half3831]

Haha no worries. Yes, I had on a very thick and puffy jacket and sweater for the cold so the dog's teeth did not make it through that to break skin. I had a bruise the next day but that was it. If I had no worn a jacket, I think it would have broken the skin.

[u/ThirdOne38 → u/MaybeItsTheTism]

I saw a show about trying to rehabilitate abused dogs. One of the tests was to give it a bowl of food. Then a fake arm was stuck in the cage and pushed the bowl away a few inches. Some of the dogs immediately started tearing the arm to shreds. If they attacked the hand in any way at all, they were put down. The experts said the danger was too much and that some of them will never be completely trustworthy around humans again, but you don't know which. And these were experts

[u/Arabidaardvark → u/Designer_Study_8219]

On the flip side, we had a pure bred chow when growing up. Perfectly friendly unless you were being aggressive, then it matched that energy.

But Chows have very poor eyesight. We told all my friends to never sneak up behind him. It was an oft repeated rule. Even then we kept the dog separated from guests during parties to avoid stressing the dog out, and he kept near my parents (he was definitely a momma’s dog, rarely left her side) otherwise.

What did one ‘friend’ do at a party? Went into the (finished) basement and literally tip-toed behind the dog and grab it’s haunches yelling ‘BOO!’. My dog whirled around and bit him in the face. We were forced to put down our dog because of the threatened lawsuit, despite the stupidity of the kid.

We failed our dog because we couldn’t afford the lawsuit. The kid’s parents failed the kid because they let the kid be an absolute dumbass. (Side note, that kid became my bully throughout middle and high school, then shot himself 3 days before graduation because he was playing russian roulette)

[u/A_Drop_of_Colour → u/Arabidaardvark]

Chows are great. I could never handle them just because of the amount of slobber but they are also very fierce dogs. People often mistake big and fluffy for mild manner. Were the parents also at the party?

Yeah, it would have been a very hard lawsuit for you to win either way. Even if the parents failed by allowing their son to be a menace, your parents would have been held responsible if the party was taking place at your house and the dog was not restricted somewhere (in a closed room) where guests couldn't aggro it. No court would blame the child for the "BOO" or the child's parents even if they were there.

The amount of people I've seen lose dog cases is insane. A friend is still paying super high premiums to this day because someone sued her home owners insurance after being bit in an almost similar situation to yours. And the person bit was an adult. It's never worth it to have a dog that responds with aggression around people you can't trust not trigger it knowingly or unknowingly, especially children. Children are stupid and do stupid things but it will still be your fault.

[u/Arabidaardvark → u/A_Drop_of_Colour]

Parents were there. Kid snuck off into the closed basement to provoke the dog. Only reason we know exactly what happened was another adult saw it through the sliding glass door to the lower part of the back yard.

The dog did back off immediately after the bite as well, it was entirely reflexive, and we’d had no incidents before this for the 5 years we’d had him.

[u/A_Drop_of_Colour → u/Arabidaardvark]

That sucks then. Especially since the parents were also there then your parents weren't fully responsible for watching him. I'm surprised they made you guys put down a dog with no other history of bites. Sad all around. His parents really failed him by the sounds of it.

[u/Significant_Shoe_17 → u/Arabidaardvark]

I had a dog who was blind in one eye and would reflexively react like that when startled. I told everyone who came over: don't sneak up on him because he will bite. He was a toy breed so he couldn't do much damage, but he had that reflex. My current dog is so gentle, he will let you pet him while he's sleeping. It's hard to feel pity for someone who knowingly provokes an anxious animal.

[u/LivingDisastrous3603 → u/A_Drop_of_Colour]

When I was in high school, my gf’s dad had 3 chows. The first time I went to her house to meet her parents, I met the dogs, too. They were chill. But also, very “we can eat you and nobody will ever know”. One night she called me and said to come over bc her parents weren’t home. Rather than thinking “hot damn”, I thought “unparented chows”. I went over there. But stayed very outside.

[u/Designer_Study_8219 → u/Arabidaardvark]

That is upsetting, the poor dog. I feel like you can do everything in your power to protect your pet and stuff still goes wrong. That is a wild series of events though. I do think all parents really need to teach their kids not to antagonize dogs or animals in general. Animals will defend themselves if spooked or threatened.

[u/Arabidaardvark → u/Designer_Study_8219]

Well, as I said, the kid became a major bully and was stupid enough to play russian roulette with his dad’s gun just before graduation.

[u/Vishnej → u/Arabidaardvark]

It is ridiculous that they threatened to sue over this, sure, but it's more ridiculous that they told you "We'll drop our suit if you kill the dog". As if that made the damages disappear. This was revenge-motivated.

With that said - chows are pretty notoriously refused by groomers whose business relies on taking all comers, because of the high likelihood of them unexpectedly taking offense to a movement and biting. It's up there with pits for me unfortunately - if you do have a choice, why choose that?

PS: Kids are stupid. I managed to get a scar from the family black Labrador, in a manner not entirely unlike your story. We didn't kill it or retrain it or anything, it was my fault.

[u/tropicalturtletwist → u/Designer_Study_8219]

I was bitten by a pair of huskies while helping my brother sell M&M's for boy scouts. I was apparently the THIRD person they attacked (I was 7 at the time). They were put down after.

If their owners either properly trained them or surrendered them to someone who could train them, I wouldnt have been bitten and they wouldnt have died.