Our boxer attacked our child - Page 3

**Maniago** · #25 1st October 2006, 08:00 AM

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Not sure if this will put you mind at ease for your boy- but as a child I was attacked by my aunt’s dog. (I however provoked by hanging on the dog when he was done playing.

Along the same note, when my daughter was three she tried to take a towel that a fully grown pit bull was laying on. Leigha, the pit had be rescued from a monster that had fought her on two occasions. Leighs accidentally scratched my daughter when jumping up to get away. While having butterfly stitches and a ER visit was terrifying for a three year old she now loves dogs. Children rebound quicker than you think. This was not an attack, but an accident and not the same as your child experienced. The dog lived a long happy life, but she was my aunts who had no small children.

EAO76 · #26 1st October 2006, 12:23 PM

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If you're still considering options for Zeus, I would love to take a chance on him. Abbey could use a playmate that is more her size and his history doesn't scare me one bit (no pun intended).

This sounds lovely. I hope you can work something out.

lovemygracie · #27 2nd October 2006, 11:21 AM

I am sorry that you are facing this situation, and hope your little boy bounces back completely and doesn't fear dogs.

Please, please do all you can to see that Zeus isn't put down. He made one mistake. There are plenty of homes without children and he could live a long and happy life in one without causing harm to a child ever again. I for one wouldn't hesitate to adopt a dog who had his history.

If your local rescue won't take him, you could try placing an ad on craigslist.org for your city saying that you are seeking a new home for Zeus without kids. Be sure to screen the potential homes though (getting some guidance on how to do so from your local boxer rescue is a good idea!) and ask a reasonable adoption fee (giving him away for free isn't a good idea--he could end up as a bait dog or sold to a laboratory.)

While you are looking for a new home for him, could you maybe crate him or keep him in a room separate from your son or take him to a boarding facility? I know my boxers would be heartbroken if I put them outside for days.

xenaprincess · #28 2nd October 2006, 02:56 PM

Oh I definately agree...please don't have him put down for this!! From the details of the event you described, this was not an all out attack with intentions to disable or kill..more like a warning. I agree that an attack would break the skin and draw blood. Surely this is not something serious enough for Zeus to lose his life for.

Also, a side note about Sheba, who is Xena's sister (my baby). She was resting comfortably on the sofa one afternoon right after almost 2hrs of playing with my kids in the yard. My son, who was 9 at the time, flopped down on the sofa next to her and went "arrrgghhh" in her face. She snapped at him, breaking the skin under his chin (tooth mark) and chipping his front tooth. It scared the bejeebers out of my son, BUT, he was knowledgeable enough at the time to tell us it was his fault for "harrassing" her. As upset as my mom was, she was confident that this would be an isolated incident, and thankfully, it was. Sheba is almost 10 and is the gentle queen that her sister Xena is. She LOVES my son and he loves her just as much.

Only you can decide wether this is a good "match" for you and your family. If re-homing him is an option for you (EAO76 has made an offer!!), and that's what you want, then by all means, but I really don't think that Zeus should be euthanized for what appears to be an "accident". Good luck & (((HUGS)))!

tessa-leader · #29 2nd October 2006, 03:43 PM

depending on location i am willing to help with a CUR

bxr4me · #30 2nd October 2006, 08:27 PM

Sorry, I havent posted in a long while but read your post and am very sorry about what happened to your son and hope that he will be okay. As for Zeus, you mentioned head tremors, like small seizures? My son had petit mal epilepsy, diagnosed at 6 years old and outgrown now (he is now 17 and outgrew them at 14). We tried three times before to wean him off meds and it didn't work, only one episode that we saw would mean he was having more that we didn't. Each time he was being weaned off the meds he would have an eeg or ekg (I can never remember the name) but it was an image of his brain waves. They showed he was still having them even though we thought he was better. Could it be possible that he was still having the tremors and had spaced out and got a fright when he came out of it and that is when he snapped? Now that he is being kept outside are you interacting with him and how is he with you and the rest of your family? Can you crate him inside for a bit so he still feels a part of the family? Maybe you could have him evaluated by a vet/neurologist and make your decision from there, I know it has to be rough and I really don't know what I would do in your situation. I did read that someone is willing to take him, would that be a possibility for you to organise? Hopefully everything will work out the way it is supposed to.

lovemygracie · #31 4th October 2006, 01:46 PM

You and Zeus have been on my mind...have you found a new home for him?

ZeusMamma · #32 4th October 2006, 02:31 PM

Thank you for all the replies... first to those who asked how w/o drawing blood- he has a super soft mouth and has accidently bit me before going for a toy and never drawn blood either- I'd post the pics but I don't particularly want pics of my child floating around the internet randomly, hopefully you can understand that. He did have teeth marks in his face though

No home for Zeus yet. I did put a call in to boxer rescue. My DH was trying to find one of his friends to take him but no avail. Thanks for the tip on Craig's List- I will go do that now. We did put an ad in the paper and I had some psycho lady call (long story- I found out that she runs this "rescue" where she gets dogs free then "adopts" them out- she gave me some BS story of her boxer dying 2 wks ago- which I didn't believe so I researched her online) and 2 people WITH KIDS- which our ad SPECIFICALLY said good home w/o children. I'm scared to put "free to good home" b/c like lovemygracie said you get a bunch of weirdos wanting your dog and I'm not putting him somewhere that I don't feel is appropriate. He needs to be a mostly indoors dog but have room to run and play with no young kiddos around.

Abbey's Mom I would definatly be interested if we could figure out logistics of transport. I shall PM you.

The whole reason for us wanting to find him a home is b/c we 100% agree that it was 1 mistake and by NO means do we want him put down. People mess up, dogs mess up- that's just life.

As far as the vet we had asked before about doing an MRI and 2 vets both said that they did not see any reason to do it b/c of the tremors.

Thank you on the stories about overcoming a bite or attack. Little man seems to be doing much better mentally with things and now no longer discussing the pain just telling the dog to "go away" and "hush" when he comes in at night. He's avoiding Zeus for the most part.

As far as living situation right now, he is spending the days outside with food, water and his house but no company- that bums me b/c he's totally an indoor social dog, as most boxers. We let him in at night after dinner while the baby is getting his bath and bedtime reading in. DH is still playing with him and all too.

Sorry I haven't checked in til now- this is still very difficult for our family as you might imagine.

ZeusMamma · #33 4th October 2006, 02:36 PM

Abbey's Mom I tried to PM you and for some reason can't anymore. YES, if we could figure the logistics of transport it would be a possibility.

Moderator's note: read the rules now before you get removed. PM were disabled at the beginning of 2005. No private contact information can be exchanged through this board.

ZeusMamma · #34 4th October 2006, 09:34 PM

My apologies to the mod- I didn't realize- I had read the rules back in 2003 when I signed up and I didn't know the change. Thanks for the info.

EAO76 · #35 4th October 2006, 10:20 PM

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Abbey's Mom I tried to PM you and for some reason can't anymore. YES, if we could figure the logistics of transport it would be a possibility.

Maybe you could use boxer cur (see the transport forum) for the transport. Since you cannot exchange private info via this board maybe Abbey's Mom could find your Craig’s listing and get in touch with you that way.

dharmadoodle · #36 5th October 2006, 07:38 AM

I think that if you don't get a brain scan done, then recommend it to the new owners.

My BF had a dog when he was little that had the same head problems as Zeus, & the dog ended up going nuts after time, then attacking members of the family. The last straw was when the dog had my BF pinned up against a wall. The dog had to be put down in the end.

I'm so glad your child is doing fine now.

If it were Rogue I would want to know myself if there was something going on upstairs that a scan might show. It may just be a case that Zeus just needs to be on his meds again.

A child free zone is a better option for him though - What a shame for your family.

xxx