Should parents with very young children....?

Question

..have any dogs AT ALL.... let alone some of these breeds that seem more/very aggressive..?

There is NO WAY a 1 year old would have the sense to not provoke or irritate a dog....


so why have one...?

Answer 1

You know what, you are going to get both extremes on this issue. I've worked with dogs directly for 10 years. In that time I've met dogs that let little kids climb on them, hit them, smoosh up their faces, and they do nothing. I've also seen dogs attack kids (or heard about it), or be a little snippier. I've known dogs that got put down for aggression toward kids when they were sweet as pie to adults. One attacked a kid in the face (I think he was 3 or 4) and the dog was 5, so he had known the kid all his life. All it took was that one provocation and he got put to sleep. I've seen that happen with other dogs too- they always seem to get the kid in the face for some reason. One I remember happened because the parents never taught the kid not to go near the neighbor dog without asking permission first, but guess what, he did and got it in the face. The dog of course was put down.
The harmony gets along best when parents realize that the dog is an animal, and therefore can be unpredictable. They leave the kid alone with the dog, and assume that everything will be peachy because the dog loooooves the kid. Guess what. Things change. Sometimes it takes one thing to set off a perfectly nice dog. Seen it happen. You can't always predict these things.
The opposite also happens. I've seen dogs in the vet clinic that have been cut with scissors by kids, burned in hot water, dropped on the floor, kicked, stepped on (to the point of broken bones) just from kids playing with little dogs and dropping them on the floor by accident. Kids should never have little dogs as they are too immature to know how to carry them properly. I can't tell you how many broken bones I've seen in little dogs from kids dropping them... My personal favorite stupid parent was one who put her 9 year old daughter in charge of giving the dog the daily anti-seizure medication. Guess what? The kid forgot, the dog started seizuring like crazy, and the mom blamed the kid for it. Are people born stupid or is it learned?
If a family wants a dog, they should NEVER leave the dog alone with kids, and realize that a dog's behavior cannot always be predicted. Parents that don't listen to this have kids with effed up faces from dog bites. People just think they know everything. Funny how paranoid parents can be about pedophiles and kidnappers, but an animal in the house that can KILL the kid is perfectly trusted by the parents.

Answer 2

As long as the parents NEVER leave the child alone with the dog I don't see any reason not to. A responsible parent and pet owner can balance a dog and baby just fine. Of course, those are few and far between these days. I just can't agree with getting rid of a dog because your having a baby. First off, it's not going to be a problem as long as your responsible and it's definitely not fair to the dog, telling yourself the dog is going to get a good home at the shelter is ignorant and selfish. Secondly, the basic rules of owning a pet mean that you should THINK about whether or not your life will change and if it does can you still keep the dog. If no, don't get one. A 1yr old shouldn't have access or be allowed to do anything to the dog, if a parent is letting a child of any age get away with that, they should have CPS called on them. No dog is completely tolerant of a child abusing them, yes some dogs have a shorter breaking point than others, but eventually all dogs will stop tolerating mistreatment.

ADD: I would never ever ever recommend a puppy for a family with small children, it's too hard to balance training and raising a child much less a puppy. If you did right by the dog from the beginning by socializing it with children and people the dog should have no problems adjusting to a child. And the theory that a child and puppy should grow up together is stupid, young dogs are far more likely to bite than mature dogs, except maybe a senior dog with health problems.

Answer 3

Hello
OK you are asking a real good question here.....
So If you already have a existing pet dog that you have had for a few years now why have a kid??
There is NO WAY a 1 year old would have the sense to not provoke or irritate a dog....
so why have one...?
See what I am getting @
LOL
Yeah I see what you are getting @ allot of people seem to think once they have a child they have some aching need to fulfill this so called family unit by going out and getting a dog and the white picket Fence and so on but when the child becomes mobile he is going to start irritating the poor dog and what defense does the dog have other than to bite the kid and then the dog ends up another statistic in a shelter pegged as a biter when all it was doing was trying to defend itself from a child who didn't know any better so basically the Poor dog is doomed from the moment it is purchased by the new parents
So tell me where to sign so we can put a stop to this
Happy New Year
Respectfully Yours
Anne

Answer 4

As long as the parents realize that the dog is like one more child in the sense that they need constant supervision when around the human children, then dogs and kids do just fine together. The problem comes when parents assume that the dog will 'babysit' the kids or that the dog and kids will always do the right thing and not irritate one another. As long as the parents understand that dogs are dogs, not little babysitters, and they are prepared to supervise all interaction, then there is no problem with having dogs in the same household as small children. I think too many people just expect too much out of the dog and expect them to tolerate anything a child can dish out and that isn't fair to the dog or the child.
I don't think kids and dogs should ever be left alone together until the kids are old enough to understand how to properly treat and deal with a dog.
I have nieces and nephews that love my dogs and my dogs do great with them, but out of fairness to both the kids and dogs they are always supervised. I would never put any child in danger of a dog and I would never put my dogs in a position where they felt the need to defend themselves violently with a child because it never ends well for either party.
Kids and dogs can do wonderful together. Supervision and responsibility is the key. If the parents aren't in a position to totally be in control of the dog and kids at all times, then no, they shouldn't have one. But plenty of families are responsible enough and are very capable of making it work.

Answer 5

I think you need to read the news report properly - the children were only being supervised by a 16 year old and not the grandparents who owned the dog.
Also the dog had only been in the home for 6 months so case history must be taken into account.
Finally the 16 yr old was upstairs and it was a seven year old girl who carried the child out to the dog so it is highly likely the dog thought the child was a toy.
Plain and simple the dog should have been shut away from the children whilst the adults were not there and the children told to leave it alone.
And no before any one asks i am not making any of this up you can find it all on the BBC website.
You can not just put a blanket ban on dog owning but regulation should be considered seriously as well as compulsory training

Answer 6

Young children need to learn respect for animals. This is an opportunity for them to love and respect an animal and possibly even deal with the loss of something if it dies while they are still living at home. Growing up with a pet is a constant lesson in responsibility, patience, love, and its rewards.
Children should never ever be left alone with an animal ever. Any parent who does this has a lot to learn about keeping their kid safe.
Keep in mind that a one year old also doesnt have the sense to not eat a bug off the ground, keep their hands from electrical sockets, not catch their fingers in drawers, or fingers from a hot stove. There are many modern devices to help shield young children from injuries such as these but in some ways it only serves to make people think they can leave the room for a second which in fact THEY CANT.
People who plan on having children or who have young ones already should not adopt or buy dogs that are of a breed or have a mix containing a breed that isnt historically good around kids. No amount of training can help this to an absolute certaintly. It might reduce the chance of something happening but it wont eliminate it. It irks me to see people think that their expertise can somehow override an animal's natural instincts when it comes to small children. I think there are many breeds though that do wonderfully with children. Even with these breeds, the children should never be left alone because they ( as you say) dont have the sense to not provoke or irritate and frequently by accident. They also are very prone to testing limits and the edge of a dogs limit can equal injury,

Answer 7

I had an English Bull Terrier when my daughter was first born (weird present from ex-husband) and he had to be put to sleep because he was so protective over her that no one other than me could get anywhere near her. On one hand this was a good thing because I knew she would always be safe in her pram but on the other hand I was really concerned that he would attack someone for simply looking in the pram, something people often do with small babies.

He was NEVER left with her alone as I could not guarantee he would not hurt her intentionally or otherwise.

I think if you have a dog (any breed) and you have a baby/toddler you have to watch them carefully as children explore things and dogs sometimes object. Any dog can hurt or kill a child, even the most placid if dogs can be dangerous in certain situations.

Answer 8

I have a rottie mix puppy (1yr) and two kids, 4 and 6.
The dog and children are never alone together-I am always right there with them. Of course theyll do things to provoke the dog, but they should be corrected the first time, and the dog should be corrected if he responds.
Ive seen his tail get pulled, he's been poked and prodded, accidentally kicked in the face and he's never responded.
He's also taken a treat from a child's hand while too excited and scared the kid. He's knocked them over with his tail. He's knocked them over playing in the yard. No one has every been hurt and before a word is said he always backs off and lays down at their feet. His mistakes are rarely repeated, and on the rare occasion they are its always calmer than the prior time-he's just trying to figure out how rough is too rough.

Answer 9

Doesn't this really depend on how good a parent you are? I mean if you are a good responsible parent, who supervises your children and your dog then there is no reason why not.

I am an adoption counselor for a rescue. We place dogs with families with young children all the time. We also decline some families. It really depends on the family.

You can't lump any family or breed of dog into a category.

I know plenty of people WITHOUT children who have absolutely no business having a dog. I also know people with teenagers who shouldn't ever have a dog.

Age has nothing to do with this question. It's about personal responsiblity.

Answer 10

There are a million reasons to have a dog and kids together.

A one-year-old and a dog cannot be left unsupervised together. Neither the child nor the dog has any concept of what is "right" and "wrong" behavior around the other, save for training.

Answer 11

I think this is too broad of an approach. Some dogs are very tolerant of very young children and it can work out fine. My goldens are very tolerant of little kids and I seriously doubt that they would injure one (maybe knock one down in play at worst). But I think extremely small toy breeds are at risk of injury and that people who have known human aggressive dogs around small children are taking a huge and dangerous risk.

I don't recommend getting and training a puppy when you have a very small child - most people feel overwhelmed by raising a child and a puppy is like adding another small child to the mix - and the puppy usually loses out.