is a 6 month old terrier/pitbull mix from an animal shelter a good pet for a 8 month old baby?

Answer 1

An 8 mo old baby does not need a pet. If you don't need a pet, then don't get one.
Somehow the idea of a terrier/PITBULL does not sound like a good choice around a baby.

Answer 2

Absolutely not. Any six month old dog in a shelter has probably been dumped because someone else didn't take the time to train him properly. You'll be adopting someone else's problems.

I've known many pit bulls and terrier mixes that were great, loving family dogs and terrific with kids, but you only need one that isn't for a personal disaster. Remember, pit bulls have a natural tendency to be aggressive towards other animals and the dog may not understand that your child is a human baby.

A dog's instincts are different from ours. When we hear a baby cry, our instinct is to pick it up and comfort it. The dog's instinct is to hold its puppy by the head until it calms down. (Watch a mother dog or wolf with its cubs.) If the dog tries this on the baby, it will scream and thrash around, whereas a puppy would calm down and hold still. The dog won't understand the baby's behavior and will bite down a little more firmly to tell the baby to calm down. The baby will scream MORE and the dog will bite a little HARDER and wham! You have a dead baby and a dog that has to be destroyed.

Don't ever leave any dog alone with a small child - especially when they first start crawling. When the baby becomes a toddler, he may tease, hurt or torment the dog. This is the cause of MANY dog bites. Some dogs don't like to be pulled on and harassed. Many dogs will bite to protect themselves. Pit bulls are no more likely to bite than a poodle, but a bite from a pit bull will do much greater damage.

Anyone with children should go with one of the sporting breeds. My all-time favorite mid-sized dog for kids is the English (or Welsh) Springer Spaniel. They require some grooming, but don't shed too much, are generally great with kids and easy to train. Females are a little bit easier than males, but either should make a terrific pet. They will need a good thirty minute walk every day.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Pekingese are great too and need less exercise. They are small, sweet and quiet.

Setters, Labs and Goldens are usually great with kids but they're bigger and shed quite a bit and are very boisterous until they are about two.

Herding dogs like Corgis can be terrific, but they can be a bit nippy and they tend to bark a lot.

Beagles are very sweet with kids, but unless you're training them to hunt rabbits, you are very nearly wasting your time. They have powerful tracking instincts which nearly guarantee that they will try to run away every time you open the door. You can get them to sit and do tricks for treats, but you will almost NEVER see a beagle in an obedience competition. And they will dig, bark and howl endlessly if left alone.

Personally, I love terriers but they can be a handful and a half. Wouldn't have one if I had kids and don't recommend them for families with young kids. Westies, Borders and Cairn Terriers are probably the mellowest.

I'd also suggest reading some really good books on training. Try not to do it randomly - there are a lot of bad books out there also! These are some of my favorites:
What All Good Dogs Should Know - Volhard
Good Owners, Great Dogs - Brian Kilcommins
Don't Shoot the Dog - Pryor
Training Your Dog: The Step by Step Method - Volhard
Dog Tricks : Eighty-Eight Challenging Activities for Your Dog from World-Class Trainers by Haggerty and Benjamin
Dog Problems - Benjamin
Cesar's Way - Cesar Millan

Also, watch the Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. Cesar Millan is the best trainer I've ever seen on tv.

Answer 3

The dog is young enough so that it can be easily trained! I have 4 pitbull pups, and they are wonderful around children! They are very, very loving.....but then again, they were raised in a loving environment! Just carefully observe how the two interact! P.S. I want to thank you for adopting a dog from a shelter! I love it when i hear that someone was willing to adopt a shelter dog! More times than not....they end up being better than any other dog you could have bought! I hope everything works out great! Good luck!

Answer 4

Breed aside, bringing a six-month old puppy into a house with an 8 month old baby is going to be a heck of a lot of work. Consider heavily whether you're really up for it, because you may want to think about an older, settled dog or wait until the baby is a bit older.

The breed really isn't important for whether a dog is suitable for a baby. Even a toy breed dog is physically capable of hurting or even killing an infant, so size and power of the dog is not the main factor here; the main factor is whether that dog is socialized to children. IF that pup has grown up with kids and has no history of social problems with humans or children, it could be a good match. Also pay attention to the energy level of this dog. If this dog has more energy than you do, you may want to think hard about whether it's the right match for right now.

If you decide to go forward with this, be sure to include obedience training for the new pup as part of your plan.

Answer 5

I'd hold off on any pet for a year or so. 8 month old and a young dog generally don't mix well. Ideally you should get the dog 1st raise it until it's 1-2 years old then get the baby, or wait until your child is at least 2 or 3 and get a puppy. That said as long as you don't leave them alone they should be fine.

Answer 6

I have a pure bred pit and she is absolutely wonderful around children. She goes to my sister's day care to play all the time. Yougest kid is under a year. I don't know much about the mix breed, but for the most part if it's a puppy you can train it to be a great pet. Don't listen to laffytaffy20, she is obviously one of those ignorant people that haven't been blessed with a pit bull.

Answer 7

You can't tell from just the breed mix. If you like the puppy, test him out. He may very well be a great family dog.

Most animal shelters, will let you bring a miss match back. It should only take a few days to know if he is the right guy.

Answer 8

No dog should be a pet for an 8 month old baby.
An 8 month old does not need nor can they help care for a pet.
You need to spend time taking care of the baby and not worry about pets now.

Answer 9

Breed standard for pit bulls state they are very good with children. This is the aka so they should know. My niece comes and gets my pit bull when she takes her son to the park to protect him and she owns a lab. So they do well with kids.
By the way did you know that more kids were bit last year by cocker spaniels than by pit bulls and there are more pit bulls.
Jack Russel are consider very hyper and are better when the children in the house are older. People should do their homework before saying what dogs are good. Micheal J. fox has 4 kids and owns a pit bull. Hummmmmm

Answer 10

i have a full bread apbt. he is awesome with kids. but we raised him around kids. i had another one we didnt raise that we got at anout 7-8 months old, and he attacked me and my other dog. dont mean to scare you.. i love my pit. hes like my kid. but if that other dog wasnt socialized with people or other dogs, especiallykids, it will demand your attention, and be aggresive towards anything or anyone that gets in teh way. do your research before anything,. at six months, you may be able to train it right.