My child was bit by the babysitter's dog!

[Planogirl]

How does anyone know whether the dog was provoked or not? ANY dog will bite if provoked enough.

I have a problem with the daycare provider but not necessarily the dog. If this provider has had this dog around small children for over a year and it has just now bitten one of them, I would say that the dog does not have a tendency to bite.

As for finding out if it's up to date on shots, why not ask the daycare provider? She likely has paperwork if it is.

 

[4greatboys]

It sounds like the daycare provider was aware of a problem with the dog and toddlers since "she told them a million times" not to bother the dog. In that case the dog should not have been around the kids and I think she should be held accountable for her actions or lack thereof.

 

[Hippychickali]

How does anyone know whether the dog was provoked or not? ANY dog will bite if provoked enough.

I don't think this matters.

Ali

 

[robyn323]

I hope she is all right. That poor baby that had to be traumatic. Give her big hugs for me too.

 

[mrsmom]

My oldest was bitten in the face by a dog at her friends house when she was in 4th grade and It was never provoked, But it doesn't matter if a dog is provoked or not it should not have bitten. The hospital we took het5 to for stitches reported the dog bite and the dog had to be watched for 48 hours. and Then it depends on where you live what happens next.
I am so sorry about your little one I would report it.Because it could get the next little kid worse and if like my dd she carries scars from them.
Kim

 

[Planogirl]

I don't think this matters.

Ali

It would to ME as far as the dog is concerned but not the babysitter though. She should take responsibility.

 

[epcotfan]

How does anyone know whether the dog was provoked or not? ANY dog will bite if provoked enough.

I have a problem with the daycare provider but not necessarily the dog. If this provider has had this dog around small children for over a year and it has just now bitten one of them, I would say that the dog does not have a tendency to bite.

As for finding out if it's up to date on shots, why not ask the daycare provider? She likely has paperwork if it is.

I agree. My relatives had a dog who snapped at one of their kids. Well let me tell you the kids were not appropriate around the dog. Constantly antagonizing the poor thing. I don't blame the dog for snapping. I'd bite too if someone poked me enough. The sad thing is they took the dog to the humane society after that. Poor thing probably wound up dead because of her uncontrollable kids.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

wow--sometimes the kids i babysit come over and the dog gets locked up while they are here..i could never imagine treating their parents like that=they are like family to me--it seems shes scared bc she knows you can get her in trouble..good luck and hopefully you have a better day tomorrow!!

 

[shortbun]

Ask to contact her insurance company to file a claim. Your insurance should not pay for the medical bills. I can tell you that her insurance company will ask her to give her dog away or have it put down. You should not have any of this expense. She should have been all over you with worry about your daughter. I'm so glad your daughter isn't hurt any worse than she is. Childcare and animals do not mix.

 

[momof2inPA]

Ask to contact her insurance company to file a claim.

How could she find out who the sitter's insurance carrier is? Would her own insurance carrier be able to find out? Maybe the OP's health insurance carrier would be interested in filing a claim.

IMO, the dog should not be around kids and the babysitter should not be watching kids. The most important part of this situation would be to make sure the dog has had its shots and not to take the babysitter's word for it.

 

[disneyfan551]

Thanks so much for all of the well wishes & replies (good and bad! ). I'm going to follow up on a few questions that have been asked... As I said earlier, our dd & niece have been with this sitter for 3 years. We probably would not have selected this sitter if she had the dog at that time. But, we try to be reasonable people, and didn't think we had much of a choice when she did get the dog. How were we to know that chihuahua's aren't kid-friendly? We have (had ) 2 labs, that were great with our dd, however they were not 'inside dogs'. The sitter kept her dog in the cage some, and I think she just kept pushing the boundaries with us, as she did in other matters. Her overall answer was, "This is his home & I am not going to keep him up.", does not fly. We paid her for childcare, so that transforms her home into the workplace, with a responsibility of keeping our children safe. The dog was allowed to roam freely in the house, but she did not even offer to let him stay in another room during the times that our kids were there.

We live in a very small town & childcare is NOT easy to find. The sitter did not run an 'official' center, yet had kept children before, as well as having raised her own 2 teens. Yes, it was cheap care, and it was off the books, but this was our best option at the time. The girls have been happy going there. I had even been struggling with the option of sending my dd to pre-k in the Fall (knowing how happy/familiar she has been with this sitter), knowing that her cousin (who also stayed w/ this sitter) would definitely be going.

I'm still just in disbelief that she hasn't cared one iota to call & check on our dd. It's a very unusual situation, yet I'm trying to look at it like my dSIL does..."This is just a new adventure." I realize that it is better that we are out of that situation, even though we have new challenges. The new private school is a HUGE change for our girls, due to the extreme structure, and it's much more expensive. Not to mention that we are having to change our work schedules in order to pick them up/drop them off on time. My dh, dsil & I all work in a different county, than the private school is. However, we are really excited about this school & hope things do work out for the best.

My dh is going to file a report with the Sheriff's Department on his day off. He has already made the appointment to do so. I guess we will find out what they recommend at that point. I still feel a strong responsibility to look out for the interests of other kids in that womans care. I would hate to hear of another child being bitten, when they are too young to really know any better.

For those that asked about my dd, she is healing wonderfully! We are so surprised, as you can barely even tell now. The Dr. had led us to believe that it would be worse & told us to keep her well protected from the sun all summer & keep moisturizer on it, etc... It's a miracle, and we are very thankful.

My dh asked the sitter for the immunization records a few times & he called her back to check on them. She said, "I've looked everywhere & can't find them..." He let her know that the Dr. said we should report the situation to Animal Control, and could even sue her. He wanted to gently remind her of the importance of this matter, and she said she would look again. This was Friday, and she STILL has not called us back about it! I called the Animal Hospital that she uses & asked (no, the sitter does not know that I did this!), they told me that he was current on his shots. Whew, one less thing to worry about.

Our dd is still not afraid of dogs, and this hasn't seemed to have disturbed her too much. But, that's just how our dd is, she is very independent and afraid of nothing. I totally agree with Chicago526 that "the problem is with the judgment of the babysitter, not the dog." I'm just glad to see that I'm not crazy for believing that a 3yo should not always be held accountable for their actions, as studies show that they can not always control their urges & curiousity. In this state, the law doesn't even hold a child responsible for his actions until age 7.

My dh asked the sitter what she would do if he came in & laid his gun on the couch? She said, she would pick it up, away from the girls. That's our point exactly. We have to keep harmful things away from our children, for their safety!

Thanks again for letting me vent. I'm not looking for sympathy, I'm only trying to find some reason to the craziness.

 

[4greatboys]

Im so glad to hear that your dd is doing so well and that the dog was current on his shots.
Its just a sad shame that she put kids and her dog in a situation that was bound to come of no good and now she cant even step up to plate to do the right thing--or anything it seems.
Hope the girls do great in their new school.

 

[wovenwonder]

With your DH being a visual part of the community in his job as a State Police officer how is this going to come across when it 'comes out' that he was using and unlicensed caregiver and paying her ILLEGALLY under the table?

Just keep that in mind before you take too many steps on this issue.

I'm glad your DD is doing better.

 

[disneyfan551]

It doesn't matter that she's an unlicensed caregiver. She only kept 2 children in her home. She is not required to have a license.

And, it was not really paid illegally under the table. We wrote her a check every week, so there is documentation.

Thank you for the differing views, though.

 

[tobias sampson]

What proof is there that the DH knew she was on diability and not claiming the baby-sitting cash. It isn't illegal to care for children in your home. You don't have to be licensed at least in our state. This family was just using a private care-giver.

 

[wovenwonder]

Yep -- sounds like you are covered then. Its good you were writing her a check every week [so in every sense you were not really paying her under the table]. It really is not your concern to check if she is claiming the funds she receives. In PA we only have to be licensed if we care for 4 or more children.

 

[robinb]

Tiffany,

I'm a little confused about what you want out of the situation. Do you want to get the sitter in trouble? She certainly will be once your DH files that Sheriff's report. Would a heartfelt apology, medical expenses and a promise to separate the dog from the other children do it? Then you need to talk to her, or a third party of her choosing. I would really try to take care of this without getting the Sheriff's Department involved.

It could be that the sitter is getting advise not to talk to you as it could be an admission of guilt. It's not that she doesn't care, but that she is afraid of being sued. My (now dead) dog bit a child many years ago. The bite was on the face but child didn't need stitches. The bite was reported and the dog was quarantined (even though she was up to date on her shots) for weeks. We contacted a lawyer to protect ourselves. She advised us to pay for all the medical bills, but to never say we were sorry or to admit to any wrongdoing or ever contact the family as it would open us up to an expensive lawsuit. It killed us not to say "I'm sorry" and also not know if the child was OK .

 

[JAP]

Glad to hear your DD is doing much better! Kids are pretty resiliant at that age. Also, thanks for clarification on your situation with the sitter. It sounds like you guys are handling things the best way.

 

[tw1nsmom]

Tiffany,

I'm a little confused about what you want out of the situation. Do you want to get the sitter in trouble? She certainly will be once your DH files that Sheriff's report. Would a heartfelt apology, medical expenses and a promise to separate the dog from the other children do it? Then you need to talk to her, or a third party of her choosing. I would really try to take care of this without getting the Sheriff's Department involved.

It could be that the sitter is getting advise not to talk to you as it could be an admission of guilt. It's not that she doesn't care, but that she is afraid of being sued. My (now dead) dog bit a child many years ago. The bite was on the face but child didn't need stitches. The bite was reported and the dog was quarantined (even though she was up to date on her shots) for weeks. We contacted a lawyer to protect ourselves. She advised us to pay for all the medical bills, but to never say we were sorry or to admit to any wrongdoing or ever contact the family as it would open us up to an expensive lawsuit. It killed us not to say "I'm sorry" and also not know if the child was OK .

I could be wrong, and I probably shouldn't be answering for the OP, but i think she just wanted the sitter to agree to keep the dog seperate from children in her care in the future. The sitter refused to do it and that's why she removed her child. She's now concerned that if she doesn't push the issue about seperating the dog from children, she'll feel horrible if someone else's child is bit. Because the sitter won't do the right thing by herself, she is going to report her so that the authorities will force her to keep future children in her care safe.

 

[cgcw]

With your DH being a visual part of the community in his job as a State Police officer how is this going to come across when it 'comes out' that he was using and unlicensed caregiver and paying her ILLEGALLY under the table?

Nothing states that parents have to claim the $$'s they pay for daycare on their taxes. I believe they would need the provider's SS# in order to claim their portion. The responsibility to claim the money on taxes come with the provider. Tax wise, if the parents chose not to claim their deduction, there isn't a penalty. If the provider chose not to claim the income, that's another story. So, the under the table only applied to the provider.

It sounds like your DD & neice are going to be better off at the new place. Maybe you want to inquire as to whether or not the new place carries daycare insurance. I'm assuming they do if they are a center. But, it's better to be safe.