# Help! Puppy attacked child



## beatule (Apr 29, 2016)

Hi, I wondered if anyone can advice. We have 16 weeks old (almost 4 months) Hungarian Vizsla puppy. Today he was half asleep on th sofa when my 5 year old sat down and tried to stroke him. He suddenly went for her, i.e. attacked her whilst growling and bit her on the chest. We are really worried now as it was not a provoked attack and not common for vizslas. Did anyone else experienced similar thing? Thank you


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

beatule said:


> Hi, I wondered if anyone can advice. We have 16 weeks old (almost 4 months) Hungarian Vizsla puppy. Today he was half asleep on th sofa when my 5 year old sat down and tried to stroke him. He suddenly went for her, i.e. attacked her whilst growling and bit her on the chest. We are really worried now as it was not a provoked attack and not common for vizslas. Did anyone else experienced similar thing? Thank you


What does your breeder say?

What have you taught your child about not approaching a dog when it is asleep/half asleep?


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## BlueJay (Sep 20, 2013)

Your puppy was sleeping and likely reacted out of fear from being startled (albeit an extreme reaction)
My podenco will wake with a start and shout at whoever dared disturbed him before settling right back down.

Keep a close eye on puppy and child, perhaps give puppy somewhere safe to sleep where child is not allowed to bother him and he can feel safe and secure; a crate, dog bed or similar.


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## labradrk (Dec 10, 2012)

First thing is first is take her to the vets for a full check up. Rule out pain issues.

Second contact the breeder and ask their opinion.

Third be extremely careful with your child around the pup for now.....although he may have been startled, his reaction (purely based on what you have said, obviously no one was there to witness it.....) is not quite right.....


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

I know I bite the heads off anyone that dares to wake me up, so it's not really "unprovoked".

Does the pup have a safe place to sleep where your child is not allowed access?


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## rottiepointerhouse (Feb 9, 2014)

When you say attacked and bit her on the chest do you mean he actually sank his teeth into her? is there a wound that required hospital treatment or a little graze or anything? Just trying to understand whether pup was startled and gave a warning or whether it was an actual bite.


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## Bobbie (May 3, 2008)

Maybe stop the dog from sleeping on the sofa might be a start.


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## LoopyL (Jun 16, 2015)

They don't say 'let sleeping dogs lie' for no reason. I'd follow the advice above & keep child away from pup when he's asleep
Hope your little girl is ok?


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

beatule said:


> Hi, I wondered if anyone can advice. We have 16 weeks old (almost 4 months) Hungarian Vizsla puppy. Today he was half asleep on th sofa when my 5 year old sat down and tried to stroke him. He suddenly went for her, i.e. attacked her whilst growling and bit her on the chest. We are really worried now as it was not a provoked attack and not common for vizslas. Did anyone else experienced similar thing? Thank you


If he was sleeping or even if he was dozing, there is probably a good possibility that it happened because he was shocked awake and wasn't totally with it, and did it because of the element of surprise, dogs will often growl, lunge or airsnap when shocked awake or caught totally by surprise its often a defensive measure.
How bad was the injury? if its scratches or a graze, it might have just been that he air snapped, miscued because he was dozy and caught the skin with an incisor.

You do need to make kids aware, of dogs and their behaviour, and that they have to have their own space at times.

Victoria Stillwell the dog trainer has lots of articles on child and dog safety and teaching kids about dog behaviour and when dogs need space and should be left alone.

https://positively.com/animal-advocacy/dog-bite-prevention/child-dog-safety-guide/

https://positively.com/articles/dog-child-safetyguide/

If you are worried, you could have the dog behavioural assessed by a qualified behaviourist they will assess his temperament in a range of situations.
There are several organisations, and the link below is a one of the good ones, I would suggest that you check behaviourists available in your area and have a chat to a few, explain what happened and your concerns and arrange a visit, they will assess the dog, and also give you help with training, and dos and donts too.

http://capbt.org/


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## leiela (Jun 29, 2016)

I think the 'seriousness of the bite is important here, puppies can break the skin accidently because they don't realise how fragile 'we are'. If he snapped out and caught your 5 year old and didn't break the skin I wouldn't worry to much, but if he broke the skin or latched on and wouldn't let go that's more serious.

I have a 10 week old king Charles and I plan to take him to my sisters this weekend where they will be a couple of children (3 and 6 years) I won't be letting them play with him unsupervised because he's a puppy and he hasn't really learned biting is unacceptable.

Your puppy is still a baby, if he was startled his best manners may have been momentarily forgotten, sometimes we have to remember puppy's don't always do the right thing because they are learning. I'm sure sometimes your 5 your old doens't behave in the best way? And in the same way you may have the odd incident of temper tantrums and lashing out from your 5 your old. You may get a similar thing from your puppy.

Im no dog expert .. but I would caution on letting the two play together unattended at least until they are 'both older' 5 year olds don't understand puppy's sometimes want 'alone time' or simply aren't in the mood to be stroked or played with. Like wise Puppys don't really understand teeth belong on chew toys, food and using them on people is not appropriate or acceptable. Chances are your puppy just woke up grumpy and startled and did to your child what it would have done to a litter mate. (Gave her a nip to tell her to sod off he was sleeping)

I think it's abit early to worry about the dogs temperament (unless it was a bad bite or you've had repeat incidents) but it is a warning you need to watch their interactions closer and make sure puppy and child are in the mood to play.


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

The pup is only 16 weeks. If one of mine were sleeping, I'd sit next to them and wait for a sign that they seem to know i'm there like waking up briefly or flicking an eye open. Or if I want their attention I'd call them from a distance.


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## KPope (Mar 16, 2016)

I am so sorry this happened to your little girl. I am a mother of three and they are my gems so I know how you feel about your daughter. My son is seven years old, I monitor him and our puppy always. Little children are drawn to animals and they get excited to be able to associate with them. With my son, I tell him not to bother Angel when she is eating or sleeping. I make sure he doesn't go in her area at these times. She sleeps and eat in her designated area in the house so it won't be any confrontations. My advice is-- Since you have experienced this incident and know how your dog reacts to his sleeping time, move your dog to an area where your daughter can't touch your dog at its sleeping times. Go over the do and donts. Also, teach your dog about its biting behavior; what is acceptable and what is not. Hope things work out well.


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