# Dog just kill an infant



## supaflyz (Jul 28, 2006)

The local news just cover a story regarding a family dog killing an infant. I think this is just a freak accident. The infant was 3 months young. The lady kept 9 dogs. It appears that all of the dogs were large. The video had a rottweiler and a few other mutts. They said she was giving one of the dogs a bath while leaving her 3 month old infant in the other room. She heard the other dog barking and ran into the room. The infant was already dead. I feel sad for the other 9 dogs because they said their fate is to be determined by next week. They are not sure which dog actually bit the child. They are taking all 9 in. The article states 4 rottweilers and 5 mixed breeds. I feel sorry for the other dogs. The dogs probably thought the infant was a toy and was a little rough. 
This article reminds me of the other story in California where a pitbull bit off a kid genital.
Pet dog kills infant | Herald Sun


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## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

That is just so sad.....

First off, 9 dogs while trying to raise a baby? 2, why on earth are the dogs roaming free when your eyes are not on the child who is in reach of the dogs?


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

PupperLove said:


> That is just so sad.....
> 
> First off, 9 dogs while trying to raise a baby? 2, why on earth are the dogs roaming free when your eyes are not on the child who is in reach of the dogs?


 
agreed. I trust my dogs and all but never EVER left my kids alone with them, especially that young! Anytime i had to leave my kids alone for evem a second, they always got put back in their cribs or the dogs were barred from the room. I feel bad for the mother because not only did she lose her child but she's most likely going to lose her dogs as well.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Who does that? Who leaves eight dogs in a room with a baby in a swing while she gives another a bath? Those parents are a bit old to be acting like airheaded teenagers. 

I understand having a group of dogs, but not leaving a three month old baby in a room with eight dogs. I have heard too many stories. 

This does not bode well for any of the individuals involved, or even just present.


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## WarrantsWifey (Dec 18, 2010)

I would have put the baby in the crib. If you can't keep an eye on the baby, put it in a safe place where it can not be harmed. Its a really sad story!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

This is so disturbing and so tragic. We live in a rural part of TX where a lot of pitbulls and other fighting dogs are raised and it seems as though children are being killed at an alarming rate. One town, the city of Van TX, is trying to make it illegal to own a pit. Which is pretty ridiculous. I would never ever leave one dog, let alone multiple dogs, to have access to an infant.


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## supaflyz (Jul 28, 2006)

I have a pitbull shes 7 years old now. She the nicest thing ever. She doesn't get along with other dogs though. She's really good with small children.


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## PupperLove (Apr 10, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> agreed. I trust my dogs and all but never EVER left my kids alone with them, especially that young! Anytime i had to leave my kids alone for evem a second, they always got put back in their cribs or the dogs were barred from the room. I feel bad for the mother because not only did she lose her child but she's most likely going to lose her dogs as well.


Same here. I trust them but there is too much that can happen in just a second. Especially a child that young. If a dog is not used to seeing small babies, which most likley they were not if that was their only child and only 3 months, there is no knowing what the dog's reaction is going to be...

And how hard would it be to have crushed the baby if one of these large dogs decided to put it's paw on it and jump on the swing??

This is just so terrible....too bad some situations are too tragic to allow for a second chance...


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

tragic, yes it is tragic, but it is also ignorant. The baby is dead due to the mother's ignorance. Those rotties could have toppled a swing and landed on the baby just playing and killed it. What was in that woman's mind. She was left out on the maternal instinct gene. 

I know this woman is probably beside herself with grief and the father too, but blatent ignorance, is still neglect. She neglected to protect that child. It will not do any good for them to throw her butt in prison, but what she did was criminal. 

If you left a two year old in the front yard while you watched a soap opera, and oh wow, look it got hit by a car, shouldn't someone go to JAIL. Ah well, maybe I am just unreasonable. The poor baby. Who does that with a three month old. My sister's kid just turned one, and she would not leave it in a room with eight dogs alone. 

I would be having it in its crib with the door shut. No dogs on the second floor, baby gate on the steps.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

selzer said:


> tragic, yes it is tragic, but it is also ignorant. The baby is dead due to the mother's ignorance. Those rotties could have toppled a swing and landed on the baby just playing and killed it. What was in that woman's mind. She was left out on the maternal instinct gene.
> 
> I know this woman is probably beside herself with grief and the father too, but blatent ignorance, is still neglect. She neglected to protect that child. It will not do any good for them to throw her butt in prison, but what she did was criminal.
> 
> ...


 
that just about covers it.... yup.... my dogs learned early on, they were not allowed to rough house and they had to be gentle. If myself or my husband wasnt there in the room, the dogs were gated away, in the backyard, crated or confined to a bedroom. I mean we brought my daughter home from the hospital, Zena would literally tip toe around her and go out of her way to take the long way to wherever in the house she was going if my daughter was in her swing or just doing tummy time on the floor. Despite her hips, if my daughter was closer to the exit of the livingroom and Zena wanted to go play or needed to move quickly to get outside for a potty break, she would jump OVER the back of the couch. I swear that dog is simply amazing. Absolutely wonderful with kids of all ages but even she knew the rules. There were just certain times that she and Riley would be confined. And baby gates were not allowed to be jumped without permission, example would be the baby gate that blocks the cat box from the dogs. They arent allowed over that gate.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

No matter how good a dog is with kids, I would never leave a dog alone with an infant. Even if the dog weighed 3 lbs. To me, that's just asking for trouble. 

A while back, there was someone who left their baby while she went to the bathroom or something, and when she came back, her Chow Chow bit the baby's head (I think it was 2 or three weeks old) and killed it. She only left for a minute, but that's all it took.

But to leave a baby in a room with eight BIG dogs? That's just a disaster waiting to happen. No matter how good those dogs are with kids. They could have just jumped up and knocked it over or hurt the kid regardless. I don't think dogs and babies mix when unattended.


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## Klamari (Aug 6, 2010)

Sad, sad story. 



Konotashi said:


> No matter how good a dog is with kids, I would never leave a dog alone with an infant. Even if the dog weighed 3 lbs. To me, that's just asking for trouble.


Agreed. I don't have a link to the story, but a while back, there was a story about a mom who left her baby laying on the bed and walked into the bathroom. She hears a scream, comes back to find that her Pomeranian had bitten up the babies face.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

And the one where the father left the newborn on the bed with the six pound pom (I think), to prepare some formula, when he came back the dog had killed the baby.

Too many stories to leave a three month old kid with a dog much less eight.


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## Locknload (Nov 8, 2010)

Such a heartbreaking thing to happen. I would not want to be the parent whose ignorance brought about the death of their baby. I don't think I could live with myself.

I'm torn between anger at the parents and extreme pity for them when I hear about things like this. Not just with dogs, but the parents who leave their babies in hot cars, whose babies drown because they stepped away for just a second and all those other tragic endings that could have been so easily avoided. They paid a terrible, terrible price for their ignorance.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

True


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

Locknload said:


> Such a heartbreaking thing to happen. I would not want to be the parent whose ignorance brought about the death of their baby. I don't think I could live with myself.
> 
> I'm torn between anger at the parents and extreme pity for them when I hear about things like this. Not just with dogs, but *the parents who leave their babies in hot cars*, whose babies drown because they stepped away for just a second and all those other tragic endings that could have been so easily avoided. They paid a terrible, terrible price for their ignorance.


I do not feel sorry for people who leave their babies in the car and they die because of it. A baby isn't going to die if they're left in the car for 30 seconds. It takes a while for a baby to die if they're left in a hot car. I couldn't imagine being baked to death like that. It it just stupidity. There is *NO excuse* for leaving a CHILD in a car long enough to BAKE to death. I also live in Arizona where it's common to get 110 outside during the summer, so it gets pretty toasty in the cars.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Konotashi said:


> I do not feel sorry for people who leave their babies in the car and they die because of it. A baby isn't going to die if they're left in the car for 30 seconds. It takes a while for a baby to die if they're left in a hot car. I couldn't imagine being baked to death like that. It it just stupidity. There is *NO excuse* for leaving a CHILD in a car long enough to BAKE to death. I also live in Arizona where it's common to get 110 outside during the summer, so it gets pretty toasty in the cars.


 
agreed. 

i think i'm going to stop reading this thread because every time i do, i start crying. I couldnt imagine anything happening to my kids. My kids are my world and as much as i love my dogs, you better believe that if they ever did anything to severely injure one or both of my kids or kill them.... the dog wouldnt take another breath. I know that sounds harsh coming from someone who counts her dogs and cats as adopted kids, but fact of the matter is my skin kids come first. i'm gonna go hug my babies now.


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## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

Stupid mother, poor baby. You should never leave a baby unattended with a dog, no matter how well trained the dog is. Especially if the baby is that young.

Some people should not be parents. Anyone who leaves a baby in a hot car is just plain stupid IMO.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

And now of course Rottweilers will once again be the villains, which is unfortunate. People can be so mind numbingly ignorant and stupid that it boggles the mind - so your dogs are nice, friendly even, "trustworthy" - that's all fine and dandy, but a huge dog with the best of intentions can still kill a small child!

People need to consider a lot before they bring a child home - all of the sudden two come home and become three, completely out of the blue. But this third stranger is abnormally small, smells weird, barks loudly and all of the time without reprimand, goes potty indoors, sucks up all of mommy and daddy's time and attention, eats all day long when you only eat twice, pokes and prods you too hard, pulls your ears and tail - need I go on? It should be obvious to new parents with dogs that this is a potentially deadly situation! Keep the animal AWAY from the baby, how hard is it to shut a door or erect a gate or crate the dog!? How many more children AND dogs need to die before SOMEONE gets a clue?!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Larien said:


> And now of course Rottweilers will once again be the villains, which is unfortunate. People can be so mind numbingly ignorant and stupid that it boggles the mind - so your dogs are nice, friendly even, "trustworthy" - that's all fine and dandy, but a huge dog with the best of intentions can still kill a small child!
> 
> People need to consider a lot before they bring a child home - all of the sudden two come home and become three, completely out of the blue. But this third stranger is abnormally small, smells weird, barks loudly and all of the time without reprimand, goes potty indoors, sucks up all of mommy and daddy's time and attention, eats all day long when you only eat twice, pokes and prods you too hard, pulls your ears and tail - need I go on? It should be obvious to new parents with dogs that this is a potentially deadly situation! Keep the animal AWAY from the baby, how hard is it to shut a door or erect a gate or crate the dog!? *How many more children AND dogs need to die before SOMEONE gets a clue*?!


 

sadly.... far too many


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## vat (Jul 23, 2010)

This is so sad, I agree with all of you this was a stupid mistake. Some people should not have dogs or kids!


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

What a tragedy for all involved. 

I guess that we were guilty as well because when we brought our infant home we had a 2-3 yo female GSD and then we had another female when he was a baby as well and while we never left him alone with the dogs for long periods of time thought nothing of leaving him crawling on the floor or in a little swing with the dogs. We have pics of the dogs sharing his cookie while he was swinging back and forth and even once in a while taking it so gently out of his little fingers. Would have been totally shocked if either dog ever showed the least bit of aggrsssion or even rough play with the baby - just never happened.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

That's because your dog is well trained and socialized, codemaster. But in this case, we have a clearly irresponsible owner with 9 dogs - I don't see how someone dumb enough to leave a baby alone with 8 dogs would also manage to consistently train and socialize that many dogs. I think that most people with that many dogs don't socialize or discipline because there's just too many of them, and they're either too lazy or just don't care.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Larien said:


> That's because your dog is well trained and socialized, codemaster. But in this case, we have a clearly irresponsible owner with 9 dogs - I don't see how someone dumb enough to leave a baby alone with 8 dogs would also manage to consistently train and socialize that many dogs. I think that most people with that many dogs don't socialize or discipline because there's just too many of them, and they're either too lazy or just don't care.


Unfortunate but probably all too true in many cases.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

Terrible.

On the plus side, news articles like this that get so well known will hopefully show others that no matter how much you trust your dog, you should never leave an infant alone with it.


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## GSDolch (May 15, 2006)

I feel for the parents, I really do. Ignorance cost them their childs life, something they probably never thought of and probably though it would never happen. This is something she has to live with for the rest of her life, somehow I don't think anyone could be harder on her than she already is on herself.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> while leaving her 3 month old infant in the other room.


There's your problem right there - bad parenting and the dogs are probably going to be PTS for it. They left their 3 month old unsupervised where the dogs could get to the child. Bet the baby was on a blanket on the floor or on the bed.

Almost all stories I read of infants being mauled to death by dogs have this in common: child unsupervised in a room with dogs. Parents nowhere to be found. There was another case very recently where the parents left their young child unsupervised with their mastiff while they were in another room. They even admitted in the article that the dog was "territorial with his toys." Yet they didn't figure it would be a problem to leave their toddler in a room with the territorial / possessive dog. X|


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## Deuce (Oct 14, 2010)

Sounds to me like an animal hoarder and an irresponsible parent all in one. Sorry for the child.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Syaoransbear said:


> Terrible.
> 
> On the plus side, news articles like this that get so well known will hopefully show others that no matter how much you trust your dog, you should never leave an infant alone with it.


Depends on the dog to a large degree. And for how long you will leave it alone.


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## Whiteshepherds (Aug 21, 2010)

GSDolch said:


> I feel for the parents, I really do. Ignorance cost them their childs life, something they probably never thought of and probably though it would never happen. This is something she has to live with for the rest of her life, somehow I don't think anyone could be harder on her than she already is on herself.


Agreed. 
How many of us have done stupid things only to realize later what COULD have happened? 
Unless someone can show that these parents were irresponsible or abusive in other ways, I have to believe it was a tragic mistake and a tragic accident. It's so sad.


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## Syaoransbear (Sep 25, 2008)

codmaster said:


> Depends on the dog to a large degree. And for how long you will leave it alone.


I have to disagree. When it comes to the safety of a child, you shouldn't take any chances. It only takes 1 second to kill or injure an infant. I'm sure all of those people who left their dog alone with their baby allowed for the same exceptions as you. That they were just going to leave the room for a short period of time, so it didn't matter. Or that their dog was such a nice, calm dog that was incapable of such deeds. Or that their dog was too small to do any damage.

That's dangerous thinking. There's just no reason to leave your dog alone with a baby. A dog is not a very suitable baby sitter.

Even my boyfriend's parents' no-drive, submissive shih-tzus ended up biting his niece in the face when she was a baby. That was the first time they bit anyone.

These are animals, we should not forget that.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

Agreed, Syaoransbear. We all love our dogs and spoil them so much, and develop such close bonds that we often forget that they are, are heart, animals and not humans. As I said before, even a dog with the kindest intentions can kill a child in seconds - a St. Bernard could kill an infant just by laying down with it. Or a dog could lick a baby's face so hard (haven't we all had our dogs try and lick the insides of our nostrils?) and suffocate them. A playful or inquisitive nip could maim or kill. And then there's always the chance the child could effectively tick off the dog by pulling on it, pushing it, pinching it, etc. and the dog fights back. But the point is, it doesn't take an aggressive dog to kill a child. It just takes the dog and your turned back.

I'm one of those "trust no one" types - I adore my dogs more than just about anyone, but would I leave any of them alone with my 2 yr. old niece when she lived here? Absolutely not. We all make mistakes - the key is to learn from them, and from others'. This woman's child is dead. Doesn't it make those of you with kids think twice about allowing them to spend even a second alone with your dog? I certainly hope so - we've seen it happen time and again, why take the chance?


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

If you wouldn't trust your dog with a family 2 yo, then I wouldn't have that dog. 

Of course the dog could accidently bump the child - so could an older sibling or even another adult - would you also not allow any aloneness with them?

We had a 2 1/2 year old female GSD when we had our baby - they grew up together and you could not have asked for a better playmate for our baby. she would let the baby crawl over her time and again and grab her fur etc. etc. More trustworthy than his human little playmates as well.

Wouldn't leave them alone for a long time but not because of the dog but because we would not leave a baby alone for any time in general - the dog had nothing to do with it.

I can't believe that folks would not trust their normal temperament GSD with their own child.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Dogs are dogs. I have for the first year after my sister got her girls, worried about Cujo when she brought them over. He was never socialized to babies and the girls were just starting to toddle when she brought them home. 

they do not live with my folks and Cujo. 

I do not know if I would leave a dog with a two year old in the room together, not sure. The girls are not almost four and just four. They have been alone with him without issue. 

But he is one dog. One dog, two dogs, but eight. What does it take to have a brawl start when you have eight dogs running together. And the baby was just three months old, still relatively new. 

So sad, No way would I leave eight of my dogs in a room with an infant while i bathed another dog in another room. That is not just ignorant, but negligent.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

My dogs are not aggressive, codemaster. But they've also never lived with a child, and the child had never lived with dogs. Even in play, as I was trying to point out, my late very large Great Dane could easily hurt or even kill her. He weighed well over 100 lbs. and she was always trying to pick at him - sometimes he would have these crazy running spurts where he'd take off and fly around the house. Imagine if he'd bowled her over accidentally. She'd be injured. He had a normal temperament, as do my other dogs, but he was HUGE, and she was TINY. Do you see my point? GSDs are big, they could easily crush a tiny infant without being mean in the process.

I guess what I mean is that it's not so much that I don't trust my dogs themselves, I just don't trust the _situation_ - I wouldn't want an accident to occur without anyone around to see it and therefore help/prevent it. I can't think of an analogy... I guess like, I also trust my horse, Rocket - but would I let a baby ride him? Obviously, no. He'd kill it, but not intentionally.

I don't know how many times I have to say it - it's not always aggression that hurts or kills small kids. I would not leave any dog alone in a room with a 2 yr. old tiny girl, no. Even if there was only a minute chance of something happening, that's still a chance, one I'm not willing to take.


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## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

Some dogs just don't realize their own strength and that can hurt some kids.


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

Jessiewessie99 said:


> Some dogs just don't realize their own strength and that can hurt some kids.


Agreed. Shasta is as sweet as can be. She loves everyone but she loves them "too much" and could easily hurt a child by accident.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Our male, the black dog, was never around kids until my brothers and sister and daughter were born. He was iffy at first but you should see him get all tail and full body wiggles now when he see's a kid. Zena, my big ol teddy bear dog would NEVER harm a child. She is probably one of the BEST dogs i've ever seen around kids in my entire life. But would i have ever left them alone with my kids or anyone elses without supervision? heck no. There is just too much that could accidently go wrong. Zena has bad hips. She is VERY light footed around kids on the floor and such but sometimes her back legs would give out and down she would go. I trust my dogs fully no doubt but they're never alone with my kids or anyone elses. Supervision is a must. if its not the dogs in something, its the kids and vice versa. Its sad that parent never got to get these kinds of cute pictures. Its just sad and tragic and there's no taking it back.


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## Locknload (Nov 8, 2010)

codmaster said:


> If you wouldn't trust your dog with a family 2 yo, then I wouldn't have that dog.


In some cases, it's not so much as knowing that you trust your animal, but rather knowing what they're capable of. Almost any dog is capable of killing a child whether by intention or accident. The key is to be vigilant and head off any potential incidents or accidents before they happen.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Obviously if someone doesn't trust their dog to play with a child, then they simply should not ever allow it.
No question that you have to do what you feel is best with your own dog and kid(s).

I used to trust my dogs with my child, and never doubted that they would be very careful with them. Could an accident have occured? Of course! And an accident could have occured when I was playing with him as well.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

Locknload said it perfectly - and I never said I didn't trust them with kids, just not ALONE - just like I trust my staircase, but I wouldn't let a baby near it without a gate and a watchful eye. If you never doubted that your dog, an animal, would be "very careful" around your child then it is my opinion that you made a mistake. Of course an accident could occur with you - but then again, you're a full grown adult AND you chose to own the dog and interact with it. The small baby does not. If it's innocently left alone with the nicest dog in the world who happens to be a large GSD that accidentally crushes her because no one was watching, it's not only negligent, it's unfair. If you want to take risks (and I believe the risk to us playing with our GSDs is extremely minimal) that's your thing, but the infant didn't ask to have the dog or be left alone with it. And in a baby's case, the accident could be fatal. So again, why take the risk? Is it really so hard to keep an eye on the baby or simply erect a gate to separate it from the dog? If it is, there's a bigger issue at hand for people than dogs, to be honest.

But again, supervision or lack thereof is the issue here. I'd let my dogs play with children, as I have in the past - but NEVER without an adult present and NEVER without ME if the child isn't family.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

There was a story posted on this forum quite some time back about a dog that had viciously mauled a young child. 

The dog, a Cocker Spaniel (if memory serves) had never done anything mean in its life and had been frequently around the child unsupervised until this time that the dog mauled the child who'd been coloring with crayons on the floor in the same room the dog was in, while the parents were elsewhere. 

When they took the dog to the vet to have it PTS after it mauled the child, they found a crayon embedded in its ear canal. 

I wish that story were made a sticky. When you leave dogs and children together, unsupervised, a lot of things can happen. Many moves that children make quite innocently, like tripping and falling onto a dog, taking a dog's toy, etc. can cause a dog to bite and inflict serious damage or even kill the child. 

And some dogs just can't be trusted - like the story with the dog where the parents said that the dog was known to be protective and territorial with its toys, yet they still left their toddler with the dog while they were in another room.

What it comes down to is minimizing risk. Most of life comes down to that, doesn't it? We have homeowner's or renter's insurance so if something happens, our property can be replaced. We have smoke alarms to warn us if there's a fire. We drive carefully when it's snowy and icy out so we don't hit another car. We gate off the stairs so young children don't tumble down. And in the same line of thinking, we should be supervising dogs and children instead of leaving them together unsupervised.

Nobody is saying not to let your dogs play with your children (or vice versa). They're just saying there's a safe way to do so and leaving them alone unsupervised is just stupid.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Why and when would you leave your small child alone in the first place? Without even considering a dog.

How old would your child have to be before you would leave him/her alone with your family dog - say in your own fenced in back yard?

BTW, I don't think that the family child taking a dog's toy away from him should ever be a cause of worry that the dog would react aggressively. That is ridiculous! No reason in the world for this esp. with a dog that has been raised from a puppy! The kid should be able to do anything short of actually hurting the dog to him. At least that has always been the case with all of our dogs.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> Why and when would you leave your small child alone in the first place? Without even considering a dog.


Exactly, that is the point. Nobody said you can't let your infant or toddler play with the dog, but they shouldn't be left without supervision. In the original news article, the dogs (eight of them, in one room) killed the infant when they were left alone together. Eight big dogs. One infant. No supervision.



> I don't think that the family child taking a dog's toy away from him should ever be a cause of worry that the dog would react aggressively.


In an ideal world, no. However, many people who have dogs don't raise their dogs from puppies and/or don't train their dogs not to be aggressive or possessive over their things. Loads of people wouldn't think twice about having a dog that aggressively snarls or growls any time someone goes near their toys - just watch America's Funniest Home Videos or YouTube to see some of those folks. There are PLENTY of them out there.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

AbbyK9 said:


> ............
> In an ideal world, no. However, many people who have dogs don't raise their dogs from puppies and/or *don't train their dogs not to be aggressive or possessive over their things.* Loads of people wouldn't think twice about having a dog that aggressively snarls or growls any time someone goes near their toys - just watch America's Funniest Home Videos or YouTube to see some of those folks. There are PLENTY of them out there.


And those folks are idiots! To each his/her own! 
I wouldn't have a dog that I could not trust with my kids! With food or toys or anything else.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> And those folks are idiots!


Exactly. But there are A LOT of them. And this is why those of us who do train and socialize and know they have good dogs are smart enough to also not leave a baby alone with the dog.


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## Larien (Sep 26, 2010)

That's right, AbbyK9. Children shouldn't be left alone under any circumstances, I'm so tired of babies dying in bathtubs and hot cars.

And that's also another point I was trying to make, kids sometimes mess with dogs because they don't know any better, like the crayon in the ear. My niece once put her finger up my dane's you-know-where outside right in front of us - he took off running, and I swooped her up - if I hadn't, he may have run her over, or worse. And who can blame him, really. He's a dog, and the sweetest one ever, but some kid just did the unthinkable, who wouldn't be a little miffed? This is precisely why we must never leave them unsupervised! If a dog lays too heavily on the baby, or shows signs of agitation, we can quickly end it because we're THERE. Everyone is prone to snapping or getting overly p.o'd now and then, humans, dogs, everyone. Nice people get angry, so do nice dogs. It's to be expected when they have an annoying child picking at them, or taking their toys, we need to be there to curb the behavior, not in the other room doing lord knows what.

And it's true that a lot of people just aren't properly training or socializing. Combine that with small kids alone with the dogs, and it's disaster. It's idiotic, it's ridiculous, but it's happening.

Don't leave a baby alone with a dog. Even a really, really nice sweet dog. By the way, the owners of the Rottweiler who attacked me as a child swore up and down she was "the nicest, sweetest dog." Stuff happens, wouldn't you rather be there to stop it?

Plus I'm talking babies here, newborn to maybe around 5. In this day and age I would never leave any kids alone outside, fenced or not, with or without dog, but that's another can of worms.


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## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

The shelter I volunteer at had a Husky(So beautiful!!) but if someone wanted to adopt him, they could not have kids under the age of 12, because he would get excited and might knock the little child down and hurt the child.

Its not always aggression.


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