Posted on 01/29/2008 1:43:21 PM PST by Lucky9teen
A little Australian boy's face was horribly scarred by the family dog - but his mother vowed to keep the pet, blaming the attack on her son.
Two-year-old Noah Newbold is lucky to have the sight in his left eye after being mauled by his family's mastiff-staffordshire cross.
Deep cuts and scratches cover the left side of his face.
But, the toddler's mother, Alicia Cottier, said she was keeping the dog despite the attack because it had been provoked by her son pulling the dog's ears.
"People are telling me I should shoot the dog, and as much as I love my son to death, I believe Noah was annoying her. I love the dog and she's part of the family," Cottier said.
Noah is nursing a range of painful injuries after being bitten on Monday night at his home at Booral in the Hunter Valley.
Police attended the scene but said there no charges would be laid because the attack had occurred at the home of the dog's owner.
With a large cut on his eyelid, and puncture marks on his cheeks and chin, the toddler told The Daily Telegraph his pet dog "bited me."
As the child hugged and kissed the dog yesterday, Ms Cottier said the attack was not the dog's fault.
"It's not like the dog picked him up and shook him or anything, she just snapped at him for pulling on her ears," she said.
"She's a good dog, I've never had any problems with her before and I don't think it's her fault."
Young Noah agreed.
"I love Cassey," Noah said.
Paramedics who dressed the boy's wounds said he was lucky to escape with so few injuries, given his size compared with the dog.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Bingo. I think I would have strangled that dog (I don’t care how big or expensive it is) and/or taken it out to the back 40 post haste.
Then again, my dog wouldn’t have been so obnoxious as to even be allowed to THINK he could get away with that. My dogs have yelped and barked when ears got pulled and I would certainly intervene and explain to the kids they should not do that to the dog but come ON!
You stated it very well. Our breeder told us that no dog should ever be allowed to place his teeth on any human skin period, from the day we got him till the day he went to doggie heaven.
Who let this dog think it was alpha, in that household? NO dog ever disciplines ANY human that visits or lives in the house.
I do let my dogs mouth gently — me but not the kids. Now that the kids are older they are allowed to gently mouth them as well. But they only do it when they are happy we’re home, mostly. Never in anger. In fact I don’t think our dogs ever get *angry* at a human being, because they know they don’t have the right.
Well, my dog is a mastiff. I don’t want him mouthing anything that doesn’t belong to him personally (food, bones, his toys, his blanket, his baskets, etc). He’s just too big, and an a nip could do real damage.
LOL and you’d be SOAKED!
My dogs are airedales — they can cause damage too and one of them was a little more exuberant than the other, but she’s learning to be gentle. It’s a personal preference I guess. if there were dominance issues I wouldn’t allow it.
I like airedales, friends of ours had one that was just hilarious and very much a loving family dog. Pretty darn smart, too.
They’re wonderful!!! (of course I’m biased...) but that’s why they’re called the King of Terriers (and the court jester!)
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