Do you think pets should be ''protected'' from kids sometimes too instead of the other way round all the time?

Question

People tend to blame/judge dogs on their bad temperament when they ''attack'' kids and many unfortunate animals have been put to sleep as a result. But i sometimes feel that kids can be an unwitting tease or push the dog too far.I had a six year old nephew who pinned my lab's head down with his foot to stop her from getting to something.He got punished for it of course, but i could not help thinking that if it was my bit more dominant Great Dane(who's passed on now),things might have turned ugly.
Anyway,i think kids shd be taught to respect animals.

Answer 1

I agree!! It annoys me when I hear people blaming the animals for attacking their kids when I am sure the kid did something to make the dog or other animal attack!!! I guess it depends. There are some animals that will attack for no apparent reason, but if there is a child or adult that is bothering the animal then I don't think the animal deserves to be put to sleep.

Answer 2

While I agree with you that all people should be taught to respect animals, kids included, there is no animal whose life is more precious then my child's. As an example, my kids, ages 4 and 5, know what they can and cannot do to the dogs in the house. They know how to respect them and how to approach and deal with them. It has been driven into their brains since they were born. There is an outside dog that they are not allowed to approach or go near, they understand that and have never broken policy, ever. Now, having said that and having provided all the education a 4 and 5 year old can understand, if any of my dogs, bites or threatens or looks cross-eyed at one of my children, that dog will die that day. It will not be passed on to become someone else's problem, that is not what responsible dog ownership is, we do not dump our problems on the guy next door. That is how I feel about kids and dogs. In the end, we must never forget that kids will always be kids and their lives are the most precious lives on the planet. No dog is worth losing a kid over, ask any parent.

Answer 3

You know I think there is good reason why one of the golden rules where dogs and children are concerned is "Children should never be left alone with dogs".

Some children play rough and they do not realize they are teasing or hurting the dog but if children were not left alone with a dog most of the stories you hear about would not have happened. And yes, they should be taught to respect animals but most of the horrible bites we hear about are to very young children that do not know any better and are too young to understand what it means to respect animals. Those kids should never have been left alone with a dog or unsupervised to wander into the neigbors yard where a dog was tethered. For these types of situation I believe the blame lies on the adult that was caring for the child that got bit. Somehow I managed to raise kids and babysit for my nieces and nephews as well as a few of my kid's school friends without even a nip happening to any of them and I have had dogs most of my life.

People need to start taking responsibility for their own neglect.

Answer 4

I agree. My dog is rarely around children so he's not really sure what they are or what to do with them. I am very protective of him around children, especially if I know the kids have no experience around dogs.

If I am on a walk with my dog and an unattended child wants to pet him, I tell him that maybe next time he can pet him. Children can be too excited around dogs, especially without their parents present.

With all that being said, I have had no issues, but I don't want to ask for any trouble either.

Answer 5

Yes, I agree completely. Especially in regards to strange or unknown children. We can all do a great job of teaching our own children the rules of the game (how to nicley pet a dog, not grab at it, show dogs respect etc) and control the situation in our own home, but what gets me the most are the kids in the park, on the street etc who come running up and yelling "ooooh dogggy" and start petting and pawing at my dog before I can get a word in edge wise. My lab is fairly tolerant of this kind of thing, but it always makes me uneasy. I feel like all children (whether they have pets in their own home or not) should be taught respect for animals and their space.

However, all that being said, it is still 100% the responsibility of the dog owner to control your dog at all times. Some people will say "the kid provoked my dog to bite him" or something like that, but it's still your job to control your dog. Kids don't know any better, so it's our job to know our own dog's boundaries, limitations etc. Your dog can't say "hey kid leave me alone" so we have to be that voice for them!

Answer 6

I agree with you.I think you should watch both children, and dogs. I do agree that kids should be taught to be nice to the animals. I have a pitbull a so called "dangerous breed" my pitbull is around kids all the time but i watch them both i will not let anyone pet him if im not right there. I want to make sure that I know whats going on. I totally agree!

Answer 7

Definitely! Parents need to teach their children how to behave around dogs and how to treat them. It really irritates me when I'm out walking my dog and some kid runs up to my dog acting totally out of line... It makes me nervous, because dogs do not like to be startled by strangers like that. Since dog bites and attacks on children are a considerable problem, I think that the schools should start teaching kids how to behave and how to treat animals... Just like sex ed, there should be an animal manners class!

Answer 8

You betcha! Many times when a dog bites a kid it is because the kid was pupping a tail, an ear, hitting the dog, screaming, stepping on the dog..... People worry about teaching the dog to behave but do not teach the kid how to treat an animal. Dogs and small children should never be left unsupervised for both their sakes!

Answer 9

i agree with you completely. kids and some adults sometimes should be the ones on a leash. when the dog retailiates after being tormented by some brat who thows stones,hits with sticks etc them goes home crying about getting bit, they should check out the parents. my kids and grandkids have always respected animals. i tell them how would you like to be abused like that. then have to take the blame. so yes there are some poor dogs out there being put down because of ignorance, i wonder where they learn the abuse from??.

Answer 10

I agree 100%!!! When I was younger we had a neighbor kid who would torture his dog. I have to say honestly that my dog's life is worth more to me than that kid's life.
If a dog attacks a kid w/o provication then yes, get rid of the dog. If a kid attacks a dog w/o provication (I mean intent to harm not just rough play) I say get rid of the kid. There are many lovely psychiatric institutions that will take care of the little serial-killer-to-be.