Boy undergoes surgery after being mauled by a Great Dane

[RaVen Blackehart]

Authorities say an 11-year-old Oklahoma boy underwent surgery after being mauled by a Great Dane.

According to a police report, Troy Helms was attacked by the dog after falling at the Strut Your Mutt dog walk at Grand Lake in northeastern Oklahoma on Saturday. Helms received more than 100 stitches.

The dog walk was sponsored by the Humane Society of Grove and Grand Lake.

Humane Society vice president Lori Follis says she saw the dog bite the boy and clamp down on his face and neck.

Witnesses told Grove police that after the dog was pulled off the child, its owner loaded the dog and left. According to the police report, the owner was issued a citation for the attack.

Follis says organizers will discuss what changes could be made at the event to prevent future attacks.

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/827431.html

[koochie]

a citation???...wtf? she left the scene of a crime...

[Echo]

Thats odd. Great Danes are usually so docile. They are like giant dopey sweethearts.

[Countess Olenska]

I was bit in the face by a Great Dane when I was 12. My dad pulled it off me and caught the fucker in mid air as it lunged for me.

Mind you, I had them as a kid so it's an animal being an animal....not the breed being the breed.

[skeptik]

This is the main reason I don't do dog parks or these events with my dogs. The adrenaline is just flowing, dogs are meeting strange dogs and I just don't think it's a good idea. If either of my dogs did this I would be horrified and I could not handle the guilt.

This sounds like a freak accident. Danes usually are docile, I had one growing up that my younger friends would literally ride on. Any dog can inflict damage, I hope the kid recovers without any scarring.

[Echo]

Its also animal instinct and how the dog is trained/raised. My friend has 2 great danes. She is the premier dog trainer in my city and her dogs are incredibly docile and gentle as can be.

[smallwonder4]

It's not the breed. Who knows how the dog perceived things. I know my little wimpy mutt gets fuh-reaked out by joggers running by her, for example. I love these events, and I still am selective about which dogs go to which ones etc. That said, 2 of my 4 dogs have gone to doggy daycare when I worked at one (including the aforementioned wimpy one), and the other one of those and my oldest dog are certified therapy dogs, but they still get over-stimulated in these situations, and I have to bring my A-game. I have to be vigilant and watch my surroundings for potential issues.. without creating them through paranoia. Even when I do go, I know I can't depend on others to manage their pets and know proper dog handling skills.

/siderant/ I had a guy introduce his VERY excited male pitX to my big black alpha bitch pit face to face at one of these events and when I put my knee between the two, he got offended and said they were getting along fine "see the tails are wagging" both dogs were sporting a high stiff wag and very stiff body and ear positions. UM no, they're not "happy" to see eachother they're ready to scrap, dumbass.//

[Pene784]

Some dogs just get territorial or over stimulated in some situations. And you just never know when a dog is going to panic for some reason. I have 4 dogs and would love to believe that they are NEVER going to bite...and so far no biting has ever occured (and our dogs range in age from 15-7 years old and range in size from 70 lbs - 7 lbs). BUT when we go out in public and someone asks me if my dogs bite I always say "of course, they have teeth don't they?". I only allow strangers to pet our Boston Terrier who is a certified therapy dog just to be safe. I would rather come off as a jerk than have someone get bit

[Nerdzilla]

I am the very proud and pleased owner of a great dane. Egon is our baby. I trust him probably more than I trust many humans with my and other children. He is the most docile, harmless lump of dog I've ever known. He's also the clumsiest dog... the only way he'll ever hurt a child is by stepping on their feet, or backing up into them and knocking them over. He's a great dog. That said, we spent a couple hundred dollars on training classes for him when he was a puppy, mostly because I've never been an adult dog owner-- I had dogs as a kid, but was never responsible for them. It was worth it, because we can stop him on a dime with a command. He will ignore food, he will pee on command, and he will come when called. He's a great individual dog, and I love the breed. We are quite comfortable with him around our friends, but prefer to lock him up when there are groups of children/adults around, just because a)he gets in the way (big dog, little house) and b)you really and truly cannot predict 100% how a dog is going to handle a new situation.
That said, part of the appeal of owning a great dane is that if we're ever threatened, this is a dog that can do damage. And I've seen that side of him surface. I was playing around with a male friend of mine, and Egon got in between us and growled low in his throat and pretty much scared the poop out of my friend. He never bared teeth, or got more than mildly menacing, but he was pretty clear that he did not like seeing his pack leader get "threatened" by someone he didn't know. I've been in houses were danes have chewed through sheetrock out of boredom. I can well imagine the damage his big, strong teeth can do to an adult, let alone a child.