....to be sick and tired of hearing/reading about dog attacks on children??

[M0naLisa]

I probably am going to get flamed for this so I am donning my hard hat for this one but I am sick of hearing or reading about dog attacks.
And I know I could 'turn the channel or just not read' but why should I?

When will people realise a child especially a young baby/toddler cannot I repeat cannot EVER be left alone with a bloody dog!!!!!!

2 in 2 weeks now! It's getting bloody out of hand!
A dog origins from the Wolf family - not that I need to remind anyone.

Why are some people still blind to the fact that any dog whether it's a Rottweiler or a Yorkshire Terrier or a poodle can turn on their heel and KILL a young child!!!

Rant over!!

Sorry if there is already a thread on this, especially with this afternoons heartbreaking news

And yes I've just seen the other thread wrt dogs in a family home
Sorry

Well I don't disagree that dogs should never be left alone with young children.

Your op is in the main, more balance than the other op. A bit more ranty but actually more balance.

Yanbu.

*balanced.

For the love of god! I'm sure my phone autocorrects this way to spite me

Yes I agree especially with today's. Mamalutes make wonderful pets if they are brought up right and trained properly but it doesn't matter it you have a fucking chihuahua you don't leave them alone with a child. Makes me so mad. My dog is wonderful with children, he's actually better with kids than adults (he drops the ball for kids so they never go near his mouth) but I still wouldn't leave them alone.

I agree completely, I love dogs and ours is daft and soft but I would never ever leave him alone with a baby or small child, people have to be resp

*repsponsible!! Bloody phone

Yanbu. I grew up with dogs. I would never leave a child alone with one.

YANBU

I agree.

Is it lack of awareness or what? I just don't know why anyone would leave their child alone with an ANIMAL.

Tbh, I think that the attitudes some people have towards dogs is weird anyway. Try suggesting in the doghouse section on here that your dog lives outside and see what happens.

But you would think that hearing about all the other tragic cases on the news would make people stop and think.

I feel desperately sorry for families who have lost their child to a dog attack. The fact that these attacks are newsworthy does mean that they are relatively rare.

Sometimes dogs attack children outside their families. There are times when its neither the owner's or the victim's fault. Prehaps it would be better to have a licence for certain breeds of dog than destroy all staffies or dobermans on impluse.

I imagine that 100% supervising a dog and a child is next to impossible. As you said a dog can kill a child very quickly.

Why should a dog have the run of a house though? Its only impossible if the dog has no restrictions imposed on it whatsoever.

YANBU. It's heartbreaking and so often utterly avoidable. I have two dogs and two older DC. I adore my dogs and they are spoiled rotten. They still go behind a baby gate in the kitchen when my friend visits with her cruising baby. Trusting a dog to behave with human responsibility is madness.

Hmm, as a dog owner and Mum, I'd say I've found it 100% possible to supervise my dog and child. I never left them alone together when DD was small and even now supervise their contact very closely. I couldn't 100% prevent any mishap, but the chances are very small.
My dog is well cared for but does not have free reign in the house. If I need to restrict my dog from running about I have a long lead in my downstairs hall that I clip her to for a while.

We need some legislation to protect children from dogs not managed properly by parents. There are huge numbers of attacks by dogs that don't get into the papers. Police records of numbers are frightening. Responsible dog owners will do the right thing but these days there are so many irresponsible dog owners and as a society we should be protecting their children not just leaving them to their fate.

Yanbu, it's sheer stupidity really. When will people get it. The consequences are so fatal, why take the risk.

I cannot understand why you'd leave them alone either. Even the best behaved friendliest dog will eventually get fed up with a child that pokes them, fingers in eyes or pulls on their fur. Small children cannot be trusted not to do these things as much as some dogs cannot be trusted to not randomly hurt a child for no reason. Recipe for disaster.

A six day old doesn't torment an animal though. So it must have been unprovoked

I have two dogs, two older DC and toddling twins. I love and trust my dogs. They are very much part of the family and have never been anything but affectionate and loving towards us and our friends
. I would not leave them unsupervised with the babies for a heartbeat.

I don't let children shout, push, pinch, grab or otherwise upset them. Makes my blood run cold when people say, 'Oh he's so soft, the children can do anything to him.'
They're dogs FFS. Carnivores. With huge teeth.

Further to the above, our old chap (dog) is wonderful with children and I'm pretty sure wouldn't hurt them, is never left with a child alone. Simply because in his world a puppy needs a nip to be reprimanded. Although he never has, I could see it as quite reasonable in his eyes for the human puppies to need that nip if they get out of hand, again in his eyes.

Some dogs take that nip further.

Dogs who have not been around infants can mistake high pitched cries for the sounds of an animal in distress. My older greyhound girl had a high prey drive and got quite alert the first time she heard a newborn cry.
Small babies neither smell, sound or move like older humans so the dog may have simply been acting on instinct.

Didn't realise it was a six day old baby. Even more reason to not leave them alone, a 6 day old crying would sound exactly like a wounded animal to a dog. Again recipe for disaster.

Especially as some dogs can be so jealous of new arrivals to "the pack". Sympathies to the family but, come on, how could they do it really?

I expected a flaming! Especially after reading the last thread!! I half expected dog lovers to flame me down.

My mum has a dog. I wasn't best pleased when she bought him, a couple of months after losing the family dog who was tame and lovely. (Still didn't trust him with my sons)
She bought a Staffordshire bull terrier crossed with a Jack Russell!!!!!!!!!!!! My thoughts exactly!!!! Why the fuck did she buy one of those when she has 4 grandsons aged 7, 5, 4 & 1.
My children are never left alone with the dog and as soon as I get there I put him outside. If the kids are outside playing I bring him in. I will not leave my kids alone with him.

My sisters friend has American pitbulls and she gave the argument the other week that they have never turned on her and they are the softest dogs ever!!!!!!!!!! Grrrrrrrr!!! She would not accept that one day maybe just one day one of those dogs could turn!!!

I have two dogs who I love to bits, whippets, but I would never trust them on their own with a baby or small child. We have a cat, which they pay passing attention to, but again I would never trust them on their own with it.

Its just common sense, something which we are sadly lacking these days.

My daughter has a collie and thinks the sun shines out her arse and 'she would never do anything to harm anyone' Hmmm really!!

I don't know what the answer is.

But a dog does not have to be alone with a child to attack.

Some people take a false sense of security from adult presence.

I know for a fact that a recent fatal dog attack close to me took place whilst parents were in the the same room less than a metre from the child.