What have you been bitten by?

[TrishB]

As an informal sort of survey - over the years, what breeds have you been bitten by? By bite, I mean bad enough to leave a mark and cause physical pain. It doesn't mean that you needed stitches....

Why?

I got into an argument that small breeds are more prone to biting simply because many people feel that they are 'too cute' to discipline. Of course, my love for Rotties always comes into these conversations. "Then why do you see so many attacks by Rottweilers in the news?!?" they ask.

I simply explain that dogs are dogs - they should never be left alone with children. They understand dog body language, kids don't. Therefore, a responsible owner should never leave them alone with children. What a dog may view as MANY warnings, may not be recognized by a child.

Rotties just happen to be big, powerful dogs - but they are no more prone to biting than any other breed is. It's their size that makes the degree of injury so much higher.

You don't hear about small dog bites, because people simply don't feel they're bad enough to bother to report. I think that this information would be incredibly valuable against the attempt to ban our beautiful breed! If a Rottie is no more prone to biting than a Cocker Spaniel - maybe they'll rethink the tag of "dangerous".

I've been exposed to a large amount of dogs over the years, probably quite higher than the average (worked at a boarding kennel and 9 years in vet clinics). I've handled everything from toys to giants.

I've been bitten 3 times:
1) Yorkshire Terrier
2) Beagle
3) Terrier mix (under 25 lbs.)

What breeds have gotten you over the years? I'll be sure to take a tally so we can see what breeds are true 'biters'. It's a small survey - but is accurate as typically, we're dealing with dog lovers in here, hence a large, vast experience base!! :)

[Keri]

When I was six years old I was bitten by a German Shepherd. The dog just ran after us in a cornfield as my friends and I were running through as a shortcut. The owner didn't have it tied up. I hate German Shepherds to this day. The dog mangled my hip and bit my brother hard on the knee. We both required stitches. I have long gotten over the bite but I just can't stand Shepherds. They are very loud, "barky" and quite frankly butt ugly!! I consider them very big yorkie "barky" terriers. I have had the mispleasure of interacting with a lot over the years and EVERY one at least I have come into contact with has had a bad disposition, very unfriendly or too noisy. That's why I love my Rottie. I also realize the way I feel about Shepherds is the way some others feel about Rotties but oh well. Whatever floats your boat.;)

[frontierrots]

I'm a boarding kennel manager and a groomer so I am exposed to many more dogs than the average person.

I've been nailed by
MANY cats
a few Shetland Sheepdogs
a couple poodles
a Chow
a Great Pyrnese
a small mix breed
Lhasa
ShihTzu
and the prize winner for damage was a big German Shepherd mix

[moondog]

Do Shetland Ponies count? :D I've never been bitten by any dog, but the pony got me one good!

[Charles V]

I totally agree with you.

The topic on one of the radio stations yesterday was "deadly dogs", people were calling in and telling stories about what dogs they considered to be the most viscious. Suprise, suprise, Rottweilers are the most deadly dogs...according to a sample population here in Phoenix.

I was a little angry about it and did a search of dangerous dogs on the net and found a list that an insurance company compiled of the most dangerous breeds.
http://archivesearch.wtnh.com/news/c.../01111999.html
Pit bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepards, Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, Doberman Pinschers, Chows, Great Danes, Saint Bernards and Akitas.

If you look at the list, the one thing all these dogs have in common is that they are all very strong dogs and most of them are breed specifically to work. I imagine that these dogs get a bad rap simply because in the event they do bite, they have the potential to cause alot of damage.

Family and close friends of mine have had Rotts, Malamutes, GSD's, and Pitts. I have nothing but good stories to share about them.

To answer your question, its the little dogs that I have had issues with. I have been bitten by,

Lhasa Apso's (several times, 3 different dogs), a Poodle
and a mutt or two. I have been around Rotts most my life, and have never had an issue.

[rottnelmo]

I have been snipped at several times by several different dogs, big and small. It always gets my heart pounding.

I have actually only been bitten once by a dog that I didnt know that was in a daycare facility where we train. The worker of the facility left me alone with the dogs loose in the training area. I went to step towards the gate, the dog, a lab mix backed me into a corner and torn my jeans.

I have to say that research has proven that rotts and pitts are NOT the number one biters! The number one bitters have been malamutes. (nothing against Mals, I have had a Mal/GSD mix...never been bitten, just research) So, when people cringe because we have rotts, they are just grossly misinformed. Any dog can be mean! I find that little dogs are usually the nastiest.

I actually had a lady ask me the other day if my Rott has ever bitten me or anyone else. I answered her with a very straight face and I said "Well, no, but he has eaten a few children...he normally fills his quota of 3 a day by noon, I dont consider that bitting, I consider that chewing" She looked appalled until realized that I was SOOOO kidding. People are so ignorant.

Beth

[RottiMomCT]

Yikes - little ankle biter dogs can cause more damage than a rottie in my book!!

I have been bitten by (and these were ALL owned over the years by the same family!):

Yorkie, Pug, poodle, pekinese, two bichons and a little cocker spaniel named Satan that LOVED to try to eat my toes (I learned to NEVER go to that house wearing sandals!!!

They now have another little cocker spaniel mix thing that is just plain ugly and sad looking...and they, after much talking to by other people, and myself, finally took the dog to obedience classes and learned that the DOG was running the house, which is why it was a biter! They realized that all the other dogs did the same things and they treated each dog the same way, and the dog was just reprimanding those who 'talked balk' to the so-called 'Alpha' of the house!

[MybabyZeus]

Well this won't help your case much but...
I've Been bitten by 3 dobermans, one rottweiler, and one chiuaha (sp?). Why? Because they were not trained or socialized. The Rottie that bit me actually bit me while I was trying to give it food over a fence b/c he was chained to the back of a garage for days and animal control did nothing but offer to shoot it.(it ended up going to one of my friends Junk yards and it is fed and medically taken care of now.)

Also, If you are saying that a "responsible owner" would not leave a dog alone with a child. Sorry, I disagree. A responsible owner will train the dog and teach the children. And make sure that they are not left alone in a situation where the dogs could be provoked to attack the child. I'm certian that the dogs who do attack children are not trained nor or their owners educated on proper socialization and training methods.A responsible owner will not put a child or a dog in a possible attack situation. But a responsible owner may get up to use the bathroom without disrupting the whole house to put the dogs outside/cage them or leash them before taking a three minute pottie break.

[cinde33]

I have been biten by:

A doberman guard dog
(i was 5 and decided I had special powers to make this dog nice and walked right up to it, held out my hand and CHOMP! and people wonder how kids get bitten by dogs....)

2 Chihuahua
Cocker Spaniel
Yorkshire Terriers
And my own rottie Maximus when he was 5 months and had food aggression. Not any more though.

[myandromeda]

My parent's bichon frise doesn't like men and has bitten a few of there friends drawing blood. They always said "It's okay, he's just protecting his home." Can you imagine if one of my boys did that?! It's NEVER okay. No matter what size the dog is! Not that you didn't know that :D but I just wish other people did

[WorkinDogz]

My worst/most painful bite was from a 9lb Carin Terrier.

Little snot was wiggling all over the place with the "pet me! pet me!" face on. He was a smart one. Lured me right in then CHOMP! No outward signs that he was going to grab ahold of my right hand and shake it like he was tearing a piece of meat off of a nice, side of beef. The little landsharks brilliant owner's response was "I was hoping *this time* he really did want to be petted." Evidently; I was his 6th "victim" in 3 years. Oh....and this occurred in my OBEDIENCE class; first night with the dogs. The owner was *hoping* that obedience would make him a little "friendlier".

[Soapie&Buddy'sMom]

I've been bitten three times, all by medium sized mixed breeds.
When I was a letter carrier, I was "approached" for want of a better word by a Rottweiler (crashed against the screen door - miracle it didn't break through, scared me to tears) and another mixed breed (actually broke a porch window trying to get at me - dog was very badly injured but he never reached me. That dog had been shut out on the porch by his owners and I think the highlight of his day way trying to get me each time I approached the house to deliver the mail).
My friend's bichon frise has bitten at least five people.

[Joanne in NJ]

A chihuahua. Evil little beast snuck up behind me and WHAM, right in the ankle. I jumped straight up in the air.

Lotsa kitties too. I have scars from kitties. Guess I never learn.

[Michele Baxter]

I was bitten 2x by a Yorkshire Terror---er, uh, Terrier that I used to own. The bites were severe enough that I had blood squirting from the area between my thumb and fingers. It left a heck of a bruise and scar too! She truely was a bitch! She bit me while disciplining her for attacking my rottweiler

I've owned big dogs most of my life--she was the only small breed I owned. My grandparents raised GSD and I have owned Boxers, Old English Sheepdogs, Standard Schnauzer and St. Bernard---but I have never been bitten by ANY of the large breeds.

[alexav]

Over the years I have collected some major scars, then my reflexes (or my luck) have been better.

The worst scars are from:
Westie mix (On ace, though aparantly not enough)
Yorkie ("Well, sure he's going to bite if you touch him THAT way!")
Schnauzer mix (My fault)
GSD ("oh, I guess I should have mentioned that he doesn't like women")
Rottweiler (My fault again)
"teacup poodle" (The lady that owned this dog insisted on it's TEACUP statis. All I've got to say is she must really like tea to drink it by the GALLON!!!:) )


The scariest close calls:
Belgian Malinois (Went for my dog, then my leg)
Akita (went for my face)
Rottweiler (went for my face)
LH GSD (went for my face)
Shar pei (Hippo nose, hard to read.)
Bull Mastiff ("He's just trying to say hello! He won't hurt you!")
"Malamute" (says the owner. Hah! It was a wolf!)
Sulfur Crested Cockatoo (went for my face)
Rattle Snake. (yep! Good thing I was wearing knee high Tony Lamas! The snakes fangs actually caught on to the stitching of the boot! My friends are STILL talking about the "squealing snake dance" I did to shake him off! And that was almost 20 years ago!