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Originally Posted by Luba
I'm not trying to offend you I was trying to get more information about how the bite occurred.
Some bites are like knee jerk reactions.
Say someone came up behind you and grabbed you by the throat, your initial reaction is to protect yourself and you may just elbow them or kick or something in defense.
There is nothing different then that with a dog. I'll give you an example, a dog I had who since has passed away bit my father terribly on the leg one day, big bite mark and drew blood, big puncture.
Sounds awful doesn't it!
But what I didn't say is.... my dog was seated underneath the patio table sleeping, my dad walked over not knowing the dog was under there and being 250 lbs stepped on the dogs leg. He awoke and reacted!
You have provided 'some' information about the situation but more is really needed for us to offer additional advise.
Is this dog old/sick/on medication? What happened just before the bite? Was the dog sleeping/startled? Things like that?
You say for example being poked in the eye is this what happened?
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I still don't see anyone saying what you do if a dog bites when it's provoked. Is discipline warranted, and if so, what kind? If you do nothing, does the dog then get the idea that attacking is acceptable?
In this case, the dog is about 6 years old, has some dietary illness but is fairly healthy. The dog was not sleeping but just sitting (as far as I know). I was told by the people present that the dog was aware of the baby and the baby reached out and poked it's eye but I'm not sure how accurate that is since the baby is a very gentle "poker" but loves to pull hair hard. I don't know any more details. I don't even know if there was a warning growl. The owner had warned before to be careful with the kids around the dog. I am not trying to lay blame on the dog, the owner, or the parent. I am trying to figure out what is a reasonable expectation for me to have in terms of how to treat the dog and how to avoid recurrence. Some parents would be asking the dog to be put down. I don't want that. I want to find an alternative that will really work and be fair to everybody including the dog.
I appreciate all the responses I've had so far.