# Do you believe this story?



## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

"A GSD killed a 5 month old baby". https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cl...-girl-mauled-to-death-by-family-dog/769841311

Seems very odd.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Why do you think it's odd? It's entirely possible the baby woke up, started crying, the dog heard and prey drive kicks in. Or the dog was biting the babies head like mother dogs do to puppies to quiet them.


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

I would have to say not enough details to tell anything. 

A German Shepherd that has been around a baby and been "fine" towards for 5 months should not maul it to death (article's words) unless there was something wrong with it and the family just doesn't know how to read a dog. In other words I think it is possible for a dog to maul a familiar baby to death...I just don't believe there were zero signs this could of happened. High drive but low nerves? Not clear headed? And they thought it was A-OK?

You don't have to spend too much time on YouTube or dog FB pages to see that some people are genuinely GENUINELY inept at reading dogs. With titles like " Look, my Rottweiler Purrs" as a title.

5 months old baby is getting into robust territory. Would have to be more than a warning shot to kill a baby like that. At that age I'd expect a ripped lip or cheek..that sort of thing.Unless it was a preemie...who the heck knows. Very vague article. Very sad and tragic too.


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## Pytheis (Sep 23, 2016)

While I'm sure it could happen, it seems to me like there aren't many details and no one is completely sure what happened. Maybe the article just needed to be written better, but something does seem off to me too.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Jax08 said:


> Why do you think it's odd? .


An attack would have likely woken up the sitter if she/ he were coherent, especially if the baby cried first. 5 month old babies are not mobile so the baby couldn't have approached the dog. I wonder if they checked the dog mouth for evidence. He was euthanized quickly it seems like. I am always suspicious when a baby dies under the care of a non-parent. I agree that more details are needed.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I can attest that plenty of average pet people have zero idea what their dog is really thinking or capable of and will say everything is "fine" when it is far from it


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

wolfy dog said:


> An attack would have likely woken up the sitter if she/ he were coherent, especially if the baby cried first. 5 month old babies are not mobile so the baby couldn't have approached the dog. I wonder if they checked the dog mouth for evidence. He was euthanized quickly it seems like. I am always suspicious when a baby dies under the care of a non-parent. I agree that more details are needed.



You just totally jogged my memory. There was a case in the 90s of shaken baby syndrome. The sitter tried to say the dog picked up the baby and shook it....that wasn't the case. :/


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

It sounds VERY odd.I'm sure there's a lot more to the story.R.I.P. baby Paige.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

They said it was a German Shepherd but there is no picture and the dog is gone. It may have been a mix. We will never know.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

Very sad for the baby, the family, and the dog, but the lack of details makes me think it's fake news! I've been around lots of dogs with small children/babies around, and I have never seen or heard anything credible that comes anywhere close! I'm thinking there's more to the story.....


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## cdwoodcox (Jul 4, 2015)

The go fund me page is real. They've raised almost, $2,500.00. Google shows a lot of places reporting it. But they all seem to be the exact same thing. Hard to tell. People have faked worse to scam others out of money.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

It's odd. 

They euthanized the dog quickly. Of course, if the dog did do this, it should be euthanized. Still a few days dog food doesn't cost all that much. 

It's not so much odd that a GSD killed the baby. It happens. I don't know about trying to quiet the baby by putting its mouth over it. Never saw that. But GSDs are awesome mother-dogs. What they must think of our parenting skills! When babies cry they are right there, and they want to take action. They are looking to see if the baby is cold, if the baby needs to be relieved, if the baby is hungry. They are awesome mothers, and even the males can be very in tune with a pup's needs. And mother GSDs, are often mothering to other species as well, tigers, ducks, humans. And sometimes, like when the GSD bitch tried to take the newborn to its parents, the newborn does not survive the kind of handling. You can't move a baby human like you move a baby puppy, however gentle you are. And a dog should not be expected to understand this. 

Trusted family friends have been known to injure, accidently kill, negligently kill, molest, rape, and even murder children in their care. One would think if it was an accident -- the babysitter dropped the baby while falling down the steps and crushed it, it was unresponsive and died, well explaining that would be no more difficult than explaining that the dog mauled it. If on the other hand, the baby died due to abuse, using the dog (and how would they get the dog to chew on the babies corpse -- how gruesome) might be done to avoid prosecution I guess. 

GSDs are just so unlikely to maul a baby. Yes, they might kill a baby. One or two bites can do that. Dogs know instantly when they bite humans too. 

Of course a few bites might be reported as mauling by the media.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Usually, heck, always, the county coroner scientifically documents the injuries and cause of death in humans. They can tell injuries that happened after the heart was not beating anymore. If cause of death is mauling by a dog then thats what it was. Heck yes the GSD did it. He is (or was) an animal! It is the idiotic babysitter that allowed this to happen. To lay a little baby anywhere an animal can get to it, on the floor, on a bed, in a baby swing and then go fall asleep or pass out in another room is reprehensible. Babies are supposed to be put in cribs or playpens with bars, at least in the same room as the caretaker. Whats the matter with people? Usually it is men. Women usually have more sense than God gave a chicken when it comes to babies.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

wolfy dog said:


> An attack would have likely woken up the sitter if she/ he were coherent, especially if the baby cried first. 5 month old babies are not mobile so the baby couldn't have approached the dog.


I disagree. Some people sleep VERY deeply. You are not waking my husband short of causing pain. I've screamed in his face to wake him up when a fire alarm went off in the middle of the night and he barely stirred. Maybe a fan was on to further cover the noise. We don't know any of the facts. It's very likely the attack could happened in another room and the adult never woke up.

Baby in the room, cries, dog follows instincts and either tries to quiet the baby in a way that dogs would quiet their puppies or attacks as a prey object.

It really could be that simple. And not the first time this scenario has happened.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

LuvShepherds said:


> They said it was a German Shepherd but there is no picture and the dog is gone. It may have been a mix. We will never know.


This could very well be. I am personally aware of two such incidents where the dogs were claimed to be German Shepherds but when pictures were produced, it was obvious that there was no GSD blood in those dogs. Regardless, it won't be the first time that a GSD did kill a human, especially a baby. In this case, no doubt an autopsy will be performed so any concerns about whether the dog did it or something else happened will be laid to rest. I am glad this dog was euthanized. There is no room for baby killing dogs among us and we don't need dogs like this representing our breed.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

We certainly cannot allow this dog another chance at baby-killing. But yes, huskies (more likely), malinois, tervs, akitas, wolf dogs, king shepherds, shilos, and all kinds of other dogs are often labeled German Shepherds. 

Of course none of us want to own the breed of dog here. But the truth is that a helpless infant was left where a dog could get to it. That was serious human error. I don't like to think a normal dog would do this either. In the end a baby is dead and it is a terrible tragedy.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Dog owners have a responsibility to use common sense. Just because a dog is good with the owner doesn’t mean it will be good with every child. When I had babies in my home, dogs were not near them. They got to sniff and meet from a distance. I really doubt someone is going to lie about a baby’s death to get a small amount of money. It’s too easy to check it out.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

People will lie about everything. Scammers. But yeah, I think this one is out there. If someone did that, that would be really low.

I don't understand why so many folks need to solicit funds to bury their children. No one buys a cheap life insurance policy for their kids anymore? Ah well. GoFundMe's turn me off.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

I wasn't going to comment here again, but some of the assumptions and I guess perceptions of GSDs in the comments here are just ... well, troubling!

I've spent the majority if my life around these dogs, and I have yet to see one that would think of let alone treat a human baby like a puppy! They KNOW the difference! 

Over the years I've seen many puppies and dogs who had what I'd describe as a prey response to small kids running and squealing...initially. But most got over that initial response on their own once they'd had time to acclimate. Some took a bit more "convincing", but very very few remained actively unpredictable around children. I have yet to see a dog that didn't behave around babies, especially a baby they spent 5 months around.

Numerous young puppies who had an initial prey response when they were young, went on to be the best, most trust worthy family dogs you'd ever imagine. Even genetically fearful dogs, dog aggressive dogs, or less than clear headed BYB dogs! 

Furthermore, when a dog, any dog but a GSD in particular, has spent months watching you care for and coddle and love your baby, they clearly understand it's of high value to you, and the most usual response is for them to feel watchful and protective. If the baby were crying or in danger of some sort, the most likely response would be to alert the owner, not bite the child!

That a dog like that, with that history and experience, could or would somehow wake up in the middle of the night and intentionally or even accidentally kill this or any baby is just plain hard to imagine! Could it happen, yes. But my guess would be that you'd be more likely to be struck by lightning immediately after having won the lottery! It's such an incredibly uncharacteristic behavior, and no amount of speculation will ever convince me that this is all there is to the story! GSDs are typically VERY good and trustworthy around babies! Does that mean I'd leave them alone together for even a second without supervision, he** no! BUT, my experience with GSDs tells me that for a dog to do this, he's certainly in a very very rare and miniscule percentage of the breed, and likely had some serious neurological problem of some sort! Anyway, I am very very sorry for this baby and her family!!! But if it were me, I'd want to know more about exactly what happened...

In this case I hope they did do an autopsy on both the dog and the baby, and the findings are published for everyone to see! Unlike some of you, I'm not so confident it will happen, so we'll likely never know...


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Absolutely conducting an autopsy on the baby: Baby girl is mauled to death by German Shepherd in Texas | Daily Mail Online


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> Absolutely conducting an autopsy on the baby: Baby girl is mauled to death by German Shepherd in Texas | Daily Mail Online


Not the same case, but at least they are doing an autopsy for this kid... The baby in this thread was 5 months old, and the caregiver was not related...


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I assume every baby's death will result in an autopsy? Once a dog was put down after they found the baby injured and bloody. Turned out that it was the blood of a rat who had attacked the baby. The dog had killed the rat. Don't know how they knew that but I always remembered that sad ending.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

No matter how well trained or how well trusted or whatever breed, a dog should NEVER be allowed access while alone with a baby. It is an animal. They don't think like us. Its not worth the risk. The damage cannot be undone.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Nurse Bishop said:


> No matter how well trained or how well trusted or whatever breed, a dog should NEVER be allowed access while alone with a baby. It is an animal. They don't think like us. Its not worth the risk. The damage cannot be undone.


Right. Never leave an animal unsupervised access to a helpless infant. 

If you have an animal that is questionable around your infant, get rid of it or put it down, because in the course of a year or years, you can't guaranty that the dog will not get at that baby. And some things you can't take back.

My dogs are incredibly good around babies and children. But, if an owner of one of my dogs felt they needed to put the dog down because of their baby, I would understand it, and not hold the owner at fault. I might not sell them another puppy, but, babies and children are more important than dogs. I also would hope that my folks would call me, and I could take the dog back. If I felt it wasn't safe around children or babies, I CAN keep it safely without ever being any possible incident.


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

I remember this one:
ps://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/03/emery-jenkins-bit-son-neighbors-dog_n_6095314.html

And there was another I remember but can't find. babysitter shook the baby, gave it shaken baby syndrome..tried to blame dog. I guess he couldn't get the dog to bite the drunken yet still alive baby so he subsequently played tug with the baby's clothing to make it seem the dog did it.

I am not saying that is what happened here..but there are no way enough facts to say what happened here...

I hope there is follow up. If the dog did do it, as gruesome as the stories are, they are teaching moments.


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