[Sharon]

Doylestown, PA, 2006:

After a boy miraculously survived a horrible dog attack author/mom learned how little education was provided to children. Lisa LeLeu wanted to share her son Ben's story and hopes to encourage parents and dog owners to use more caution. Her educational Web site and story book 'Diggity the Dog' were created to help make the lessons fun for children and easy for parents.

When author Lisa LeLeu learned how serious the dog bite epidemic was and that schools do not provide education on dog safety for kids, she created an educational Web site with a story book that makes the lessons FUN and not scary for children. She wants children to learn to “GET DOG SMART” so that they can be more cautious, feeling confident and safe around dogs. It’s up to parents to take on the responsibility to teach their children dog safety just as they teach their children to stay away from strangers.

Important Statistics:
Statistics say that every year, dogs bite 4.7 million Americans and 60 percent of those affected are children, with the most severe injuries occurring in children younger than 10 years old (Ben was 9), which adds up to potentially 2.8 million scars on children each year from dog bites alone. Children seen in the emergency room for dog bites are more likely to have been bitten on the face, neck and head. In fact, children under 10 receive 65 percent of the reported dog bites to the face. Children are also 900 times as likely as letter carriers to be attacked by dogs.

On October of 2003, our son Benjamin survived a tragic dog attack.
He was bitten severely by a supposedly friendly neighborhood dog (Pit Bull Terrier).
The mistake the owner made was that they tied their dog to a white picket fence and thought it was ok to leave Ben alone with the dog. The owner told Ben and Ben’s dad that the dog was a good dog and that it was ok for Ben to pet him. Ben’s attack was totally unprovoked. The Pit Bull Terrier does not growl or show signs that it will bite so poor Ben had no idea that this dog was going to attack him. The dog leaped into Ben’s face, locked his jaws around both his cheeks and shook him violently. Fortunately, Ben’s dad and the dog owner were just inside the open door of the house and were able to stop the dog. The bite was only 2 inches from Ben’s jugular vein. Ben had to have plastic surgery with over three hundred stitches (17 inches) causing permanent facial scars and paralysis. Unfortunately Ben’s case was one of the worst but Ben was lucky to survive. Ben lived to tell his story in full detail even the moment just before the dog leaped into his face. He said the dog looked at him and then looked over to the open door where he could hear his owner speaking. He said he did this several times and then suddenly latched onto his face and pulled him down shaking him.

After almost 3 years now, Ben is doing great and has totally overcome his tragedy mentally. In fact Ben and his brother Austin have their very own dog, a Cockapoo, that they both love and adore.

[Wardead]

bet he has some bad ass scares now

[TwistedPrincess]

well at least some good came out of it. mom is doing what she can to keep other children from possibly going through what her son went through.

you should have dedicated this thread to johnleeknoefer...

[Sharon]

John may well pop in to vent fury. I can appreciate his hatred for pitbulls as they do seem to be responsable for most attacks. No wonder they've got a bad reputation. I've not seen one for ages funnily enough. It's all chavvies with Staffies where I live

[Spiffyfable]

Actually that kid is kind of lucky. That dog would have ripped off his head if the adults weren't around

[Rusty666]

[johnleeknoefler]

Originally Posted by Sharon. ↗

John may well pop in to vent fury. I can appreciate his hatred for pitbulls as they do seem to be responsable for most attacks. No wonder they've got a bad reputation. I've not seen one for ages funnily enough. It's all chavvies with Staffies where I live

At least you are honest enough to share it. The pit bull aficionados seem to ignore the horror these animals inflict on people.
I still have the scars on my forehead where some dogs attacked me. What did I do to provoke it? I was three and standing at the corner of my Grandma's yard. The dogs walked up and I just stood there not even knowing what a dog was. The largest dog approached and bit my forehead and then walked off.
And no, I don't hate pitbulls. And I am not in a rage. What angers me is the blind and ignorant defenses of people for these animals. And to be perfectly honest, it's not just pitbulls. Any dangerous dog should not be allowed to run loose. The owners have been getting away with these things for years with the most flimsy of excuses. No matter what happens or how it happens a dog owner should be held accountable for the actions of his dog as if it were a weapon he was holding. These horrid events can and should be stopped by severely curtailing the liberties of owning a dog.

[hyperdalmation]

I've been a long time member of DR but generally just lurk.
I don't know why I even clicked this link but now that I have.....
My 9 month old granddaughter was attacked unprovoked by the family dog - a 7 year old Pit Bull - on June 2 2012.
The dog (who everybody thought simply loved the baby), leapt across the room and bit her on the back of the head for no reason whatsoever.
The emergency room doctor was going to just cleanse the woounds and release her but my daughter (a nurse) insisted on an MRI. The MRI revealed much more damage than was apparent and she was airlifted to a children's hospital in Chicago with multiple skull penetrations.
A "minor operation" to clean out the bone fragments turned into major brain surgery when it was revealed just how deep the wounds were.
Luckily, she has recovered completely and aside from the scars (which will be covered by her hair) she has no ill affects.
Since the incident, we are afraid to let our dogs be loose when she is visiting, which is fairly often. I trust my dogs (female English Bulldog and male Dalmation/Lab mix) but you just never know and it only takes a second.
I have nothing against Pit Bulls. I don't believe that they bite more often than other breeds. Any dog can bite. The problem is that when a Pit Bull does bite, it causes more damage than most other breeds.
My daughter's dog was rescued at 5 years old. They had him for 2 years before my granddaughter was born. It is documented that some dogs feel threatened when a baby starts crawling and this may be what happened.
I'm not sure what I am trying to say but just want to throw this out there anyway.
Maybe I'll figure out what my message is later and post a folowup.
I don't have any pictures of the bites, but I have lot's of post-op photos of my granddaughter being a trooper.

[Pyramid_Head]

Poor kid

[Oswald2001]

Pitbull owners should get a more brutal mauling themselves from a strange pitbull than the one their pitbull gave to someone else.

I mean, if their vicious attack animals are so 'safe', they shouldn't object to such an arrangement. Right?