dog bite

my 6 month old female english bulldog was outside with my 9 yr old son and they were playing and running around and all of a sudden she got to aggressive and ended up biting him in the leg. she bit him pretty good. what the heck was that all about.

It was probably accidental - she is still a puppy, and learning her boundaries. Has she done any basic obedience yet?

I REALLY doubt it was aggression. She probably just got over excited. So I wouldn't rule it out as aggression. ;)
I probably wouldn't have them do that type of play though if she is getting over excited. Have them play fetch or something. :)

I also think this is not an aggression, she will learn all things tardily.

Have you ever watched 2 dogs play together? They will wrestle and run and then all of a sudden they just STOP. Then they start up again. This cycle repeats throughout the play session.

They do this to slow down the excitement, the stimulation. It helps them keep in control, and keep play AS play.

I suspect your son did not do this, and just kept going and going and going. In addition, he was likely yelling, laughing, providing verbal stimulation as well as the physical.

When playing with a dog, especially a puppy, it is imperative you follow the rules of the dog world.

Sounds like it was definitely a play bite, which can happen with puppies and kids, both not understanding each others limitations fully yet. When you have kids with larger dogs (or any dog really), you should tell your kiddos not to make high pitched noises during play or if the kid notices the dog becoming too wild, to immediately stop playing and calmly walk away. Our Saint Bernard went through an unruly, rowdy time during his puppy adolescence where he was just obnoxious during outside play time and would take every opportunity to chew us and try to drag us around the yard by our pant legs. I know first hand how unpleasant it can be to have a dog go bananas in a matter of seconds. But i learned that if i calmly walked away and stopped yelling/squealing at the dog that he would cease his chewing and jumping. A lot of puppies, especially the larger ones, have a tendency to think that humans are like other dogs and that they can handle being play bitten. When they play outside, the play gets rougher when they play with other dogs, so they assume they can be rougher with the humans like they would be with other dogs. My Saint had completely different play personalities when it came to outside play and indoor play. Outside play was always more, hmm...aggressive as opposed to indoor play. He would also adjust his bite to fit what clothing I wore, long sleeves usually meant a tougher bite, never enough to break the skin, but definitely enough to cause a deal of pain. We believed he thought that long sleeves were the equivalent of floppy, loose skin on another dog, something that could be chewed on without any damage. Thankfully he got past that stage and doesn't do any of that anymore. With him aging came the knowledge and experience that the fun stops when you get too aggressive during play. Sometimes it's tough though to know when the dog is going to get crazy when you're a kid and haven't had much experience with dogs yet. Always though, tell the kiddos to be calm when they start noticing something changing in the dog's behavior, to stop playing if they notice the change, and to not make loud and/or squeaky noises when the play becomes too rough. If a bite does happen, tell your child to, in a deep voice, say "no" to the dog and walk away from the situation. The dog, noticing the change in tone and the leaving of the child from the area, should understand that it did something wrong by biting. Of course, a bite is rather traumatizing and the first instinct of most children is to either yell or cry when encountering pain, but that can excite the dog more and that fact must be stressed with children. Calmness is the key and can save a kid in a variety of situations, not just with dogs :D