Friday, September 29, 2006

Tethered Dog Mauls Young Boy

The parents of a little boy who survived being mauled by a Rottweiler said today that it was sheer luck the two-year-old survived.

Little Harvey Lawrence sustained deep wounds to his face and body after being attacked at the home of his paternal grandmother...


What happened here? Well, we have a clue from the article...

It had been tethered but lunged at Harvey after he stepped out of Mrs Lawrence's car as they returned home for lunch before heading to the beach.

The rottweiler has since been destroyed through agreement with the owner.

It is NEVER a good idea to leave a dog tethered in a yard. If you research dog attacks, you will find many of them happen when dogs are tethered as a way of containing them in the yard. It makes the dogs hyper-territorial, and it makes the dog feel cornered.

Tethering can also allow the build up of frustration aggression. If the dog was taunted, or not given sufficient exercise, previous to the attack, then that pent up emotional energy would then be directed at the first thing that gave the dog a way to vent that frustration. A frustrated dog then has a higher propensity to attack in an unnatural way.


This might have been why this little boy was attacked. This is why I advocate using a home kennel, if you are going to leave the dog outside while you are away. The dog is safe and the dog isn't conditioned to attack those that approach.

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