A Biting Problem : Officials Say Popular Dog Breeds Can Pose Danger to Children

Scores of stitches later, the first-grader who used to look just like his father still loves the former playmate who suddenly, inexplicably, tried to kill him.

But the 70-pound family dog, a flash of tooth and muzzle whose Japanese ancestors were bred to hunt bears, was put to sleep, while surgeons did their magic on the 6-year-old Ventura boy’s face.

“I’ll never forget that one,” said Richard Lambert, a Ventura County animal control officer who took the year-old Akita into custody after the Sept. 24 attack. “We’re not talking about a stray dog, a sick dog, but a family pet.”

Across the county, across the country, officials are finding that the dog breed of the moment too often becomes the mauler of tomorrow, in part because breeders rushing to meet surging market demand have compromised some dogs’ genetic integrity. Too often, the victims are trusting children.

“Dog bites are the most commonly reported childhood health problem in the United States,” said Rachel Lamb, a Humane Society spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.

In Ventura County, Animal Regulation Department statistics over the last 13 months indicate German shepherds and chow chows are the most likely to bite, followed by pit bulls, Rottweilers and--a little farther down the list--Akitas.

“I would say that 90% of the (serious) bites are involving those dogs, the chows, the Akitas, the Rottweilers,” said Kathy Jenks, county director of animal regulation. She speculated that German shepherds might head the list because they far outnumber the more notorious dogs.

Also found to be frequent biters, however, are cocker spaniels, Labrador retrievers and springer spaniels, certainly not the breeds a layman might consider dangerous.

“We’re destroying breeds,” said Debbie Inglis, owner of Inglis Pet Hotel in Oxnard and a longtime dog breeder.

“There are some reputable breeders, of course,” she said. “But there are too many back-yard breeders and others out there, especially with popular dogs. It takes years to learn bloodlines, but these people aren’t waiting for that. They’re in too much of a hurry . . . , and so less attention is paid too quality control.

“The more over-bred the dog becomes, the more we’re seeing problems among them. We’re even seeing golden retrievers now who are biters. (And) Dalmatians . . . are showing up to do more biting.”

Some breeders are even inbreeding families of dogs, mating parents with offspring and brothers with sisters, she said.

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Although eighth on the list--in part because there are so few of them--Akitas are emerging as a concern because of a genetic disorder that is spreading through their rising population. The disorder can make the dogs ill-tempered and unpredictable, said W. Jean Dodd, an Irvine veterinarian and immunologist.

“(Akitas) have been turned into something that they were never intended to be,” said Thousand Oaks resident Barbara Bouyet, 45, national coordinator for the Akita Rescue Society of America. “They’re breeding these dogs for money, and they give no thought to the outcome or the damage it does to children.”

Name the breed--Doberman pinscher, boxer, even Irish setter--and observers have found that temperament problems accompanied each group’s burgeoning popularity and resultant population explosion, said Inglis, who has bred German shepherds for 18 years.

“Fifteen to 20 years ago, the Saint Bernard was a very loving dog,” she added, “but they became over-bred and (many) became very vicious dogs.”

Overwhelmingly, the victims of dog bites are children--an estimated 1.8 million nationwide last year, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Nine children were killed by dogs in 1993 and 11 so far this year, including 5-year-old girl who was mauled by a Rottweiler Oct. 23 in Colorado.

Although there is no recorded fatal dog attack in Ventura County history, the mauling on Sept. 24 came close.

“I believe that dog was going to try to kill that kid,” said Officer Lambert, referring to the attack in which a baby-sitter pulled the Akita off Jeffrey Landry before it could inflict more injury.

Naturally curious, incautious and small--with their eyes at the dog’s own level--children often are mistaken by the animals as a challenge for dominance or as a nuisance that can be corrected with a bite, with little risk of retaliation by the child.

Male animals that are not neutered are three times more likely to bite than other dogs.

Lamb, who attributed most bites to irresponsible dog owners, said adults should teach children proper precautions with dogs and never leave them alone with certain breeds, such as Rottweilers and Akitas.

Deceptively cute as puppies--hence their popularity--Akitas have long served as protectors and nannies to children in their native Japan. But the genetic disorder that has infiltrated their ranks in America--which Dodd linked to dietary changes, careless breeding and perhaps even to nuclear fallout after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945--has left some Akitas prone to unpredictable bursts of violence.

One example is the Sept. 24 attack.

Since joining the family as a puppy last fall, the Akita named Bear had romped the house with Jeffrey and his 4-year-old sister, Kassandra, under the parents’ watchful supervision, father Alan Landry said. He said the boy even rode on the dog’s back. But while Alan and Kim Landry attended a wedding that Saturday afternoon, Bear, without warning, knocked the boy to the concrete patio as he was leading the dog by the collar to the back-yard dog-run, the father said. Kassandra was playing on the grass nearby.

Rachel Szatkowski, 19, the baby-sitter, rushed to the boy’s aid and was bitten on the left forearm while pulling the dog off the child, Ventura firefighter Vern Alstot said. He said the boy’s head and face had been severely mauled.

“I never knew or had any idea that something like this could happen,” Alan Landry said. “The (books) we bought told us they were a great family dog. . . . (But) if people could see what I saw and go through what we went through, they wouldn’t have a dog like that, period, as long as they have kids.”

The dog, which was euthanized while the boy was undergoing four hours of plastic surgery, is one of three Akitas killed since Jan. 1 by county officials after dog attacks. So far this year, Akitas in the county have attacked 16 children, including three 2-year-olds who were bitten on the face. A 22-month-old girl was killed by an Akita last year in St. Louis, Mo.

In Japan, where Akitas have been the national dog since 1931 and their line is strictly monitored, the animals are more temperate with humans and more predictable, Bouyet said. They originally were bred to guard emperors and to hunt and fight other dogs.

Anastazya Tomoko Wada-Mellor, 29, who grew up Chigasaki, Japan, said Akitas served as nannies for her and her brothers from infancy on. “They baby-sat us, literally,” she said.

But Wada-Mellor, a member of Bouyet’s Akita Rescue group, said she will not get an Akita here because of the behavioral disorders so rampant in their American population.

Bouyet said the hypothyroid disease that can trigger aggressive behavior among Akitas can be countered with hormone treatment. The genetically related disease afflicts about 70% of the Akita breed and can usually be detected with a simple blood test, she said.

“The public isn’t aware that these (blood) screenings are vitally important,” Bouyet added. “The public doesn’t demand it because they don’t know it.” Lamb, whose Humane Society estimates there are 2 million to 3 million reported dog bites each year nationwide, said, “What we find is that the breeds that attack depend on the whim of the market.”

Although the county bite totals do not reflect a particular breed’s estimated share of the dog population--Labradors far outnumber chow chows, for example--the statistics do resemble lists compiled elsewhere, such as in Palm Beach, Fla., and Denver.

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Similarly, five animal behaviorists, asked by a pet industry magazine to identify the most troublesome of the 134 recognized dog breeds, chose Akitas, chow chows, Rottweilers, Shar-Peis and Dalmatians, in that order. The first three accounted for a disproportionate number of bites--159--in the past 13 months in Ventura County.

While such breeds as cocker spaniels might score high on bite lists, they are of less concern, authorities say, because their bites are less severe and they are house dogs that tend to be exposed to more people. Chow chows, Akitas and Rottweilers, on the other hand, typically have fewer opportunities to bite.

“What we’re seeing is personality disorders due to poor breeding, dogs that can be extremely neurotic and extremely fearing (of people),” said Liz Palika, an Oceanside dog trainer who participated in the magazine survey.

Although the American Kennel Club has set specific standards for size, shape and other physical traits of dogs, it has remained largely vague or even mute on disposition by breed, said Deena Case-Pall, a Camarillo-based psychologist and animal behaviorist.

Driven to meet suddenly skyrocketing demand, some “puppy mills” are inbreeding their animals and churning out dogs by mating within families, Inglis said.

“People just don’t always look at themselves as being craftsmen when they breed dogs,” Case-Pall said. “If you can put an egg and sperm together, you’re a breeder, if by accident or on purpose.”

Not only can this muddy bloodlines and amplify genetic defects already appearing in some breeds, but it can also compound the risks faced by children.

Citing a study by the federal Centers for Disease Control, Case-Pall said that a child by age 14 has a nearly 50% chance of suffering a serious dog bite. Most involve a known canine, like a neighbor’s dog, she said, and the second most common bites are by children’s own pets. Canines, whether poodles or Pekingese, are creatures of the pack and accordingly settle themselves into some niche in the group hierarchy, whether the group is canine or human, the county’s Jenks said.

A child’s lunge to hug a dog is, to some animals, a blatant effort to displace the dog in the social strata of the pack--where the diminutive child typically is at the bottom--and must be opposed with a snap, she said.

Dog Bites

Reported dog bites in Ventura County from Sept. 1, 1993, through Oct. 27, 1994.

1) German shepherd: 84

2) Chow chow: 70

3) Pit bull: 67

4) Rottweiler: 60

5) Cocker spaniel: 43

6) Labrador retriever: 39

7) Australian shepherd: 35

8) Akita: 29

9) Golden retriever: 28

10) Doberman pinscher: 16

10) Springer spaniel: 16 Sources: Ventura County Animal Regulation Department