r/TikTokCringe • u/GhostofTinky • Aug 25 '26

Discussion This is a disaster waiting to happen.

The dog isn’t allowed to be around a toddler because he growls at her. I don’t get it. A family dog is supposed to get along with the whole family. Why are the parents concerned about why the dog “doesn’t like her”? What about the child’s safety?

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

When I was a toddler, I lived in a home that had a dog that couldn't be in the same room as me for long, and never unsupervised. I was 3 when I squealed in excitement because my brother was getting back from school and that dog mauled me for it.

I have extensive scarring, and an enduring anxiety around dogs. A plastic surgeon had to put my face and scalp back together, and he was surprised seven years later when he saw I healed well enough that my face looked normal. (It is slightly crooked in the upper right side around my eye, but I'll take a weird eyebrow that is half paralyzed over the risk of losing said eye.) On top of that, years later I met the animal control officer who had to retrieve the dog for euthanasia and testing for rabies(he thankfully didn't have it), and she remembered the site of the attack because she had never seen that much blood from one where the person survived, let alone a 3 year old.

They need to either rehome the dog in the vid with someone who fully understands the risks, or put it down. All it will take is a moment of carelessness for that kid to be dead or severely traumatized.

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u/hellogoawaynow Aug 25 '26

God, I’m so sorry that happened to you. My response to this post was something along the lines of “I’ve heard too many stories of dogs eating children’s faces off, hell no.”

Was not expecting to see one near the top comments. Fuck.

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

I'm alright nowadays, enough that I don't judge dogs too harshly based on breed; I stay aware of the purpose of each breed, and learned a lot about dog behavior and body language so I can make accurate threat assessments.

It may have been a rottweiler that got me, but the other rottweiler in the house did her best to fight him off, she was just smaller and older so she couldn't overpower him. His name was Bruiser, and her Sugar; Sugar was very protective of me for the rest of her life, and between her a fantastic rottie by the name of Ms. Wiggles, I learned that it's the dog, not the breed that is violent.

Honestly, it boggles my mind when people don't consider the purpose of each breed. Bulldogs were bred for bull baiting, yorkies for hunting rats, dachaunds for hunting badgers in their dens, those kinds of things. Hell, golden retrievers are hunting dogs. It's not a surprise when some dogs develop aggression issues because they aren't trained with their original purposes in mind, even if it's just to mitigate unwanted behavior. Of course a dog that's hard-wired and bred for certain things is going to need consistent and full training, they need to learn self-control and proper socialization.

Even pitbulls need careful socialization and training to be the best they can, both with all variety of people and pets. They aren't a beginner dog; it's the novices that think they're all cuddly babies as a baseline and bad people who encourage aggression and poor socialization that give the breed a bad rap.

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u/ashoka_akira Aug 25 '26

I don’t know if there really is any such thing as a beginners dog. There’s just dogs that are small enough to manage easily. I have a small dog and if he doesn’t want to do something, I just pick him up and put him where I need them to be, and then I have a husky and there’s been a few occasions when I had to do things like put eardrops in and if he doesn’t want something to happen, it’s not happening.

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

Ah, huskies. Huge personalities, incredibly intelligent, and prone to throwing temper tantrums like a kid when they aren't on board with something 😅😂

Small dogs often require quite a lot of training, though, depending on the breed and temprament.

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u/Adventurous-Brain-36 Aug 25 '26

Huskies are definitely not for novices lol. But even when you’re very well versed with them, when their answer is an ‘absolutely not’, just forget it because it ain’t happening.

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u/Evamione Aug 25 '26

Golden retrievers aren’t exactly hunters - they were breed to help people hunting water fowl by swimming into the water, gently grabbing a dead duck, and bringing it back to a human undamaged.

This means if you have a pool and a Goldie, they will follow you in and keep retrieving your floats back to the deck. It gets very annoying.

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u/Thin_Explanation1334 Aug 25 '26

Lol wait that's so cute

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u/nikstick22 Aug 25 '26

Curious about the "hound" in your username. Considering your incredibly traumatic history with dogs, what inspired it?

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

I've spent most my life being told I have similar loyalty to a dog. Unwavering once someone has earned it, and willing to plant myself between those I love and danger without a second thought.

There was a point when I was a kid that I tried to convince myself I love and trust all dogs, and viewed the comparisons between me and a dog as a badge of honor. 😅 it stuck, and while I'm trying to grow past unquestioning loyalty, I do still view myself emotionally as a loyal hound most the time. Sweet and relaxed most the time, but will throw down to protect those I love. You won't lose me as a friend unless you do something I deem unforgivable or align yourself with bad ideologies, but it takes a lot for me to give up on someone

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u/sherpasunshine Aug 25 '26

I’ve dealt with many hounds and owned a beagle, and I have to say that their loyalty stops at food. 🤣

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

Oh, offer me some chicken nuggets and I'm sold 😂 offering to feed me is guaranteed loyalty, I've learned most people don't offer free food unless they actually want to, and I appreciate it when it is

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u/tiny__e Aug 25 '26

You seem like a really wonderful person. I'm really sorry that happened to you and glad you've had a successful recovery.

I love dogs and I love children. Few things infuriate me more than folks being careless about children's safety around dogs.

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u/LikesToNamePets Aug 26 '26

My husband really REALLY wanted a rottweiler, and purchased a puppy. Our nephew, who was at our house often, was only 3 at the time. I was so worried knowing how strong rotties are, and the fact that the dog would eventually be the same height as our nephew.

(I walked up to a dog [small terrier] when I was a kid, and my head was level with the dog's. It bit me in the face, but thankfully it was just a nip or small warning bite and immediately backed off. Didn't even leave a scar, just scared the daylights out of me).

Anyway, our rottweiler is now 8 years old and the BEST dog in the world. I watched so many training and socialization videos when she was a pup. My husband and I put in the work to train her together. She's great around kids, other dogs, and our cats and chickens. I will never understand people who get a dog or puppy and just... plop it into their home like it's a pre-programmed robot.

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u/annewilco Aug 26 '26

An old boss had two dogs: a Female pitbull rescued as a puppy from a breeding mill & a male purebred Golden Retriever. His toddler son got bitten by the Golden.

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u/ValdisHound Aug 26 '26

Oh, that's common- golden retrievers got popular so a lot of people started breeding them for profit, not behavior and conformation. If I went for a golden, I'd look for a breeder that shows their dogs and has a good lineage, as they have much better behavior and less aggression issues

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u/finalina78 Aug 28 '26

Oh, I love Sugar. She saved your life ❤️

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u/ValdisHound Aug 28 '26

She really did her best, even though she was older and Bruiser was her son ❤️ she, my brother who was 7 at the time, and my grandma tried so hard to stop him, but my uncle wasn't home to step in and stop his own dog.

To this day, I count it as a blessing that I had them to help and that he didn't redirect his aggression to my brother; the only time he bit someone else was when my grandma shoved one of her hand in his mouth in an effort to pry him off me. (Not a good plan in practice, but she was panicking)

Sugar was very patient with me while I got used to her again after the attack and was terrified of all dogs for a while, even though she very much wanted to be up in my space and nannying me. The fear made sense, but I can't help but feel guilty for her sad, confused expression when she'd approach and I'd go so far as to climb onto the back of the couch to get away with her while yelling for my grandma. To the day she died, she never let another dog come close to me when she was around, and would follow me around the yard while I was playing outside to keep an eye on me. I wish I had pictured of her...

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u/finalina78 Aug 28 '26

Oh what a sweet and lovely dog , she really loved you❤️❤️❤️

I am glad that they together finally managed to save you and that the dog didn’t turn on your brother also. 🙏

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '26

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

Where did I mention pitbulls' bred purpose? I said they need careful training and socialization. I didn't think waxing poetic of the exact method of training/socializing and why was needed.

Rottweilers were originally bred as herding dogs, for starters. Each breed you've mentioned requires training and socialization tailored to their breed and temperament, but as a baseline I'd suggest extensive socialization to help negate the territorial and aggression issues, avoiding negative interactions with other dogs(especially pitbulls, because they're bred in a way that makes it incredibly easy for them to learn how to fight better the more often they end up in them), consistent training in recall, paying attention to you over outside stimuli, discipline(not pulling on leash, jumping on people, or stealing food, those kinds of things), and plenty of exercise so they're not having to combat pent-up energy.

Of all of the dogs that are known to attack, how many were pure, well bred dogs? And I don't mean backyard bred. I mean properly bred, with all of the health testing, careful tracking of lineage, and done for the purpose of keeping the breed alive and strengthening it, not for profit. If they are well bred, their temperament would be much more stable. The breed standard for Doberman Pinschers states they should be loving to family, great with young kids, open to/friendly with strangers, moderately good with other dogs, vigilant, and adaptable.

I will stand by that it's not the breed. Each individual dog is it's own representation due to breeding, temperament, and how well it was socialized/trained. Yes, some breeds are prone to territorial and aggression issues, but proper training, socialization, and enrichment are required to mitigate that. If the dog's needs aren't supported, they will not be the best they can be.

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u/Bitmush- Aug 25 '26

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u/ValdisHound Aug 26 '26

How many of those dogs were backyard bred, poorly trained/socialized, and were lacking proper exercise? Set a dog up for failure, and it will. I'm a staunch supporter of behavioral euthanasia, but even excellently bred dogs can turn out aggressive if they never get proper socialization or training.

Pitbull isn't even a breed, it's a catch-all term. Damn near any medium short-haired mutt with smallish eyes and blocky head is called a pitbull. Boxer/lab mixes are often misidentified as pitbulls.

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u/Honorsheets Aug 25 '26

It's usually one breed of dog too.

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u/candypants-rainbow Aug 25 '26

It is too horrible imagining a three year old suffering this attack and aftermath. I am so sorry. And fantastic to hear that your surgeon was able to help you so effectively. I wonder if anyone could do a documentary/informational video where people like you share their stories that could be used to educate parents to be more realistic about their dangerous dogs.

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

I believe that all dog owners should have in-depth knowledge of their dog's breed purpose and how to train them fully with that in mind. It would save people a lot of heartache and pain, as well as cut back on the number of 'vicious' small dogs.

No, your Yorkie is not supposed to be an untrained, yappy mess. They're bred for hunting rats with tenacity, and require plenty of exercise and training. Of course golden doodles are high strung and prone to social issues, they're a mix of two hunting breeds with extreme demand for exercise and training to handle it(I won't get into the semantics of how no ethical breeder would sell a pure, well-bred poodle or golden to make high-priced mutts, that's a whole secondary issue of health and behavior defects). Bulldogs are assumed to be family dogs when the core purpose they were bred for was bull baiting, where they'd bite onto a bull's nose and hold on until it drowned in it's own blood. That's why their faces are like that, so the blood would run off their snout without drowning them, too.

Any dog can be dangerous without proper understanding of their breed behavior and socialization, unfortunately. I still remember hearing almost a decade ago about a woman who was mauled to death by dachaunds(bred for hunting badgers in their dens), which many people think are just sweet lap dogs.

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u/ianlulz Aug 25 '26

I’m sorry hold up you’re saying a woman was mauled to DEATH by dachshunds?! Wiener dogs?

Fuck I just looked it up and yeah, a 52yr old woman was mauled to death in 2018 by a pack of seven dogs that were owned by her neighbor. 6/7 were dachshund mixes and the 7th was a mini border collie mix (but still shorter than knee height)

God damn, dude.

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u/lilbabybrutus Aug 26 '26

Dachshund mixed with what though? I mean, I could see it if they got you on the ground, but if they were actually mixes that buries the lede a bit

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u/Effective_Rock9477 Aug 26 '26

The problem is that they wouldn't learn anything from a video like that. Their dog is ALWAYS the exception. 

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u/zelozelos Aug 25 '26

Wow. Thank you for sharing. And hope you are doing well these days. Dogs can be so dangerous and humans just have a hard time admitting it. 

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

I'm doing alright nowadays; most of my anxiety around dogs is due to understanding their body language now, especially when the owner is swearing their dog is "just being friendly" when I can see every single marker for the exact opposite. Hackles raised, tail up with short, tight wags, ears back, even grumbling on occasion, those kinds of things. God forbid I point it out, though, they get weirdly defensive about it.

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u/Silent-Variety-9988 Aug 25 '26

Oh my god, Im sorry, this must’ve been so traumatic /: Hope you’re at least kind of ok today …

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

I'm much better nowadays, it's been over 20 years since it happened. My scars still ache, especially in the cold or during storms, and I have chronic headaches from them, but I'm working with a neurologist to help lessen the symptoms. I can't stand the sound of dogs chewing on bones, though, too similar to the sound of the dog's teeth on my skull. 0 out of 10, would not reccomend.

I got extremely lucky, though. There's a scar at the base of my skull that would have paralyzed me if it was any lower, and one close to where my jaw meets my neck in the front that would've killed me if it was any lower, too. My eye was saved, ears were put back on and reconstructed respectively- I still have a seam on the reconstructed one where the cartilage had been torn, as well as a slight point at the top of it where a sliver on the outer edge is outright missing(teeth marks incuded).

Honestly, nowadays my biggest complaint is that I'll occasionally get pimples under the edges of the scars where some pores have healed but not passed through, those are unpleasant on several levels

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u/SirVanyel Aug 25 '26

Don't worry friend, chicks dig scars!

And if you are a chick then don't worry friend, chicks dig scars!

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u/LatterFox9233 Aug 25 '26

I’m so sorry this happened to you.

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u/GhostofTinky Aug 25 '26

I’m really sorry. Your parents failed you.

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u/Wit-wat-4 Aug 25 '26

I am so, so sorry. I'm glad you're relatively alright, I don't even want to ask how you feel about the situation (I don't think I could ever forgive my parents).

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u/wyerhel Aug 28 '26

That's one reason I adopted a cat. I remember lot of news reports of kids being killed by pitbulls in 2010s or like the one babysitter that got disabled by dogs.

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u/ValdisHound Aug 28 '26

I do still like dogs, if they're trained and relatively friendly. It wasn't Bruiser's fault he mauled me, even though he was incredibly determined to do so in the moment; he had killed a goat for no reason back before I had been born, and the adults around me knew he wasn't safe around children. The blame falls on my uncle in the end, as he refused to rehome Bruiser or have a gate up to keep him away from me. It's uncomfortably common with owners of unsafe dogs.

The main reason I won't get a dog any time soon is because while I enjoy the companionship, I know I wouldn't provide the consistent structure and upkeep a dog needs. It doesn't help that many dog owners get one without considering that properly, so even if you do socialize and train them well, their dogs can derail yours or they will actively undermine your wishes with it. There are too many variables and I wouldn't feel secure, even if I would love the dog, anyways.

I won't say no to loving on a friendly dog, though. I have to interact with dogs to keep my anxiety around them from taking too much root in my brain, I get jumpy without exposure 😅

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u/Somanylyingliars Aug 25 '26 edited 12d ago

Account nuked because reddit now forcing login. Fuck off Reddit! See you over at Lemy.

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26 edited Aug 25 '26

Nah, up in Alaska. He got my grandma too, but not because he switched focus- she was panicking and shoved her hand in his mouth to try and pry him off me; he crushed the knuckles of her pinkie and ring fingers, though she thankfully was able to get them mostly fixed

It's the dog, not the breed. When I was mauled, the other dog in the house did her best to fight him off me, but she was older and smaller than him. ...sometimes I wonder how she felt about having to try and save a kid from her son, as Bruiser had been her pup. She was incredibly protective of me for the rest of her life, and would start growling any time a dog came within 50 feet of me and stand between us.

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u/FederalCauliflower92 Aug 25 '26

Behavioral Euthanasia needs to be much more common than it is. Christ. I'm glad you're okay.

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u/PerformerFancy117 Aug 25 '26

Or at least rehome the child, if they aren’t going to do anything about the dog…

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u/ValdisHound Aug 25 '26

That's not easy nor humane.