Dad Says Mom 'Didn't Do Her Job' And That It's Her Fault Son Was Bitten By Dog

Nov 23, 2021

Every parent wants to make sure that their child is safe and protected at all costs. Whether it be just taking a stroll through a park or going on a fun adventure together, many parents try to scope out their surrounding area the best that they can in order to prevent their child from getting into any dangerous or hazardous situations. However, accidents happen, and sometimes children sadly get minor injuries.

A mother took her 3-year-old son to her sister’s house for a backyard barbecue and noticed that the neighbors had a dog. Even though each house had its own yard, there was no fence separating them, making it pretty easy to accidentally wander onto either lawn. 

At some point during the gathering, the little boy ended up making his way over to the neighbors’ backyard, where their dog was sound asleep. Like any child would, the 3-year-old wanted to pet the dog but accidentally startled it awake. The dog immediately reacted and bit the boy, not badly, but enough that the child required some bandaging.

Since then, the mom has been determined to find a way to make the neighbors pay for having such a hostile dog, but her husband disagrees with her. He told her that it was her fault that their son was in the neighbors’ yard and was bitten by the dog. The two have continued to argue about the matter, resulting in the child’s dad going to Reddit on Nov. 21, 2021, to ask users for advice on how they should handle this situation.

In his Reddit post, the original poster (OP) talked about how his wife was invited to her sister’s place for a small party while he was working. She decided to take their 3-year-old son to the gathering, which had a nice barbecue in the backyard. The neighbor has their own yard, but there is no gate or fence to divide the yards.

“The neighbors have a dog and my wife says the dog was chained on the neighbors’ side,” OP said. “However my son went over there and tried to pet the dog. He ended up getting bit.” OP’s sister-in-law saw just as the child was about to pet the dog and noticed that the dog had been sleeping but was startled awake, resulting in the 3-year-old getting bit.

“Thank goodness there weren’t any serious injuries (no infections or rabies) and my son is doing better,” OP said. “His hand is still bandaged up.” It was clear that the entire incident was just an accident, and it seemed like everyone was ready to move forward except for OP’s wife.

OP explained, “Three times she’s mentioned wanting to get the neighbors' info and report their dog being ‘hostile’ so something can be done about it.” He tried to tell his wife to drop it because the dog was on the neighbors’ side of the yard, and it was their son who went over to try to pet him. He reasoned that there was no way that the dog or its owner was at fault. However, his wife was insistent that it was the neighbors’ fault that their son got hurt.

OP was furious. He said, “I told her it’s entirely HER fault my son was even there to begin with when she should’ve been watching him. It is not the neighbors nor the dog’s fault and she didn’t do her job as his parent by keeping an eye on him so he wouldn't be wandering off in the first place.”

Even though his wife stopped bringing it up, it was clear that she was still mad and even said OP accused her of being a bad mom. However, he couldn’t stand by her side knowing that she was trying to pin this accident on the neighbors when they didn’t do anything wrong.

Fortunately for OP, many Reddit users were on his side. One user commented, “Your wife is mad at herself for letting your son out of her sight but she is directing her frustration to the dog/neighbor. I would just remind her that the bite incident occurred because your son trespassed (accidentally) onto the neighbor’s property so the law is on the neighbor’s side of the story.”

Another user asked, “Does your wife have a pattern of failing to accept responsibility for her mistakes and blaming others instead?” OP answered, “Honestly no. She’s usually very sorry if she makes a mistake. Even once when our son randomly decided to throw himself off the couch as an infant she felt guilty for not being fast enough to catch him. I don’t know why this has to be different. It was an accident and there doesn’t need to be blame on anyone."

Whose side are you on in this situation? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends, too.