Anyway shape of form if a dog nipped a kid , that would be a tremendous liability. Although I am a firm believer of adopting dogs, they all have some baggage and you never know what that is until you get them home.
Best dog I ever had was full blooded wolf, but we had to be careful. She would protect my wife with her life.No stranger and even a few friends could get close to her.
Liability...? Yes.
In this situation, this kid was running absolutely loose and zero interest by the mom in controlling her kid. I saw where this kid had run towards us and our dog and Kamo took keen interest in this person bearing down on us. I told the kid very firmly to stay away. Told the mom to please control her kid and keep him away from us. Explained the dog doesn't like it when people come running at us like that.
She did exactly zero in the form of control. We moved around to another spot to separate ourselves. Sure enough, later on the kid is running around oblivious to everything. I saw him change course and head right at my buddy whose back was turned. Kamo saw it immediately. I had stepped away and was too far and yelled but it was too late. Kid came bearing down on my buddy's backside and Kamo put himself between the 2 and nipped the kid kind of on the side of his butt.
Kid squalled. Mom came running. Took him into a dugout and checked, skin wasn't broken. I apologized and reminded her I had asked her to keep her kid away. She admitted it was on her and the kid.
That is the one thing about this doberman, don't know if it is all of them, but when pushed, he nipped once and backed off. Let the person decide what was next. Didn't truly bite and bite and bite. Didn't become blindly aggressive. Popped them once and then sat back.
Same with the guy that showed up and the dog had him backed against the truck. I believe he nipped him in the pant leg, and then stepped back barking. Guy stood dead still until I came running out from behind the shop. Kamo instantly came when I called him.
I wish he hadn't nipped the kid, but I will take that behavior in a dog. That dog loved us and in his mind, he knew his job was to protect his family. Had a number of dogs try to fight him. He did just enough to put an end to it, and then was instantly interested in being a buddy to the dog that just came after him.Not a mean dog at all. Just not one you wanted to f-around with, or as the popular saying goes, you would find out.
