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Racine toddler injured by family dog

Posted at 5:47 PM, Jun 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-03 19:06:53-04

RACINE - A toddler was severely injured by the family dog Thursday night in Racine.  The dog's now in quarantine and expected to be euthanized.

The baby was visiting his grandpa when he was mauled. The injuries were so bad that he had to be airlifted to Children's Hospital where family's been at his side all day.

What happens after a dog bites, especially when it's this severe?  Police say a grandfather had to pry the dog's teeth from the toddler's head at his home near Jerome and Taylor. The owner will be cited with failure to obtain a license and failure to have updated vaccinations.  Police say because no one prompted the attack, no further citations will be issued.  The dog is a six year old American bull dog boxer mix. The humane society now has her on a ten day rabies hold. That's standard procedure.

‘We look at the severity of the bite, the context surrounding it," said Holly Lewis, a dog behavioralist.

Lewis works with dogs that have exhibited aggressive behavior. Some of the signs to watch for include:

“So they’re doing things like licking their lips. They’re crouching down.They might yawn out of context. They might kind of look at you out of the side of their eye," said Lewis.

We asked Lewis whether a dog with a history of biting can be rehabilitated.

“It definitely becomes a work in progress, it never changes overnight and it takes everyone to be on board and to provide consistency for the dog," said Lewis.

But not all dogs will succeed. Puppy biting is normal, but when the dog is close to a year old, that should stop, unless the owner is continuing with rough play.

"Usually if a dog is still play biting at two on humans, that is something we want to look at," said Lewis.

So get to know what's usual for your dog.  Know what makes your dog nervous or fearful.  Even if the dog's never had an issue around children, no matter what the breed, things can go wrong. Be ready for it.  Police say in this case, the grandfather did everything he could to save his grandson.