Too feel nervous about big dogs and little babies

[findingherfeet]

Disclaimer - I'm not a dog lover or someone who really knows anything about dogs.

Recent bout of Facebook pics or huge dogs snuggling up with teeny babies...everyone commenting how wonderful/amazing it is...is it?? Makes me feel anxious, isn't it a bit dangerous? Just pondering. My friends who post know I'm nervous so keep their dogs away from my baby but just generally wondering.

I feel the same when I see similar posts on facebook - it worries me. There was that nasty incident with a new born a year or so which died.
I just think it sets a bad example and some people will not be as vigilant and another bad accident could occur.

I have GSDs and 3 DSs, my dogs are soft as mush with my kids (DS3 was 1 when we got pups at 8 weeks), they snuggle up all the time and friends with younger children have also done so, however I would never leave a young child and dog alone as an animal cannot tell you if its unwell or sore etc

Will also add that my kids or visitors to my house have strict rules of what is acceptable behaviour with my dogs

I hate it! You just never know what may happen. Every time a child is hurt by a pet the owner says they never thought the animal would do something like that. But everyone thinks their pet is different. They may well be, but I would not be willing to take that risk. I've seen a few pics of cats lying with babies and that terrifies me too.

I can take or leave dogs.

We had a lovely(border terrier) dog when i was growing up that was elderly by the time ds1 was born. I didn't leave the dog alone with him ever. She once managed to get his sock off without touching him. That was a close enough call for me.

I don't like seeing this either. Even the most mild mannered dog can turn, why take the risk? Especially with a dog big enough to eat a baby up! But I am risk averse. I'm sure there are plenty of people whose pets are part of the family and feel much less worried about it than I do!

It scares me but I have no experience of dogs at all never had one as a family pet and no close friends or relatives growing up with dogs so I am generally very cautious around them.

YANBU I was attacked by a dog when at primary school. I wasn't doing anything such as teasing it, just walking past their house and it didn't know it was there until it was on me. Luckily I was ok as I was with my Dad who got it off, I think someone else helped too (I was pinned on the floor with it trying to bite my face), but I've been frightened of dogs ever since. The owner thought the dog was lovely. Sadly it attacked another child a few months later and was put down. Baffled as to why they waited for the second attack to confirm their dog was not the lovely cuddly thing they thought

When I was a little baby my parents couldn't get our (giant) golden lab away. He'd curl up at my mums feet if she was holding me, or by my cot, or outside the door. If someone he didn't know came to coo over me in the pram whilst they were out he'd get between them and the pram and then slowly lean on their legs to move them away (he was a big dog)

My parents had a holiday in Scotland when I was a baby too and they left me in the room with him whilst they got a quick dinner! They trusted him more than a strange babysitter.

So no, it doesn't automatically make me nervous. BUT it hugely depends on the animal. There are some dogs I wouldn't even want in the same room as a young child, not to mention being left alone with them. It will always, always depend on the dog, and if you have any misgivings at all then you should not do it.

One snap from that dog and your newborn's dead.

People who risk it are stupid IMO.

I think you are always going to get two distinct answers to this.

There's the pro-dog camp who think that animals can be trained to behave in whatever way their owners see fit - regardless of any other issues at hand. And there's the "holy crap - what the hell are doing allowing an animal near a small and defenceless child" camp.

And that's about it. The fact of the matter is that very sadly, it is known for dogs to kill small children. The only way to make sure that this does not happen is to eliminate the risk. So, remove the dog.

I have always had GSDs and have a new Granddaughter.

I've introduced them, but my dog is generally outside when I have my GD.

We also have a Bordeaux in the family and she is introduced then put in another room.

The dogs that worry me the most are the small dogs who are treated like children, not the bigger breeds, who know their place.

I don't like to see the baby put in the dogs bed, that is the dogs space and should be respected.

The same around food.

The incidents of child deaths have been illegal breeds, usually left by the Son or Brother.

I don't like the instant fear of large dogs, small terrier types can rip a child to bits, just as easy.

If a large breed is that unpredictable, it should be re homed, or PTS, because realistically, large breeds can kill anyone.

Actually I believe most genuinely pro-dog people wouldn't let a dog of any size snuggle up to a baby or small child. I didn't leave my dd alone with my dachshund till she was sensible enough to know how to behave with a dog.

Just to add I'm not scared of my dog, or the Bordeaux biting etc, but being knocked over/butted can end in a serious injury in a infant.

I always monitor their reaction to the baby's cries, they can misinterpret the noises they make, coupled with arm movements.

We have a large saluki lurcher. He's middle aged now and we got him as a puppy when my youngest was 1. From that first moment I have monitored his contact with the children, when the kids play he has his own corner to sleep in where they leave him alone. He's not a dog to play games so their interaction with him has only ever been stroking/feeding. When I go to the toilet I take him with me or shut him in a separate room and always have.
He has never ever once so much as even curled a lip toward my children. There have been the rare occasion when someone falls and his tail/feet have been landed on, he hasn't reacted at all to these incidents. However I still always watch, even when the kids are just stroking him and he does not have free run of the house he is always in the same room as me or away separately.

He is a fantastic dog with kids as a result. He ignores their shrieks and isn't frightened of loud noises, he doesn't knock them over even though he is larger than most. He doesn't nose them for attention but will happily give them an ear to stroke if a toddler reaches gently.
I love my dog, he is fantastic and I do actually believe he would never harm my children out of the blue. However even so, if someone fell on you and it hurt, what might you do as a dog? So that's the point of supervision, not to prevent my man eater from eating the kids but to prevent the kids causing harm to the dog who may against all odds, react with panic and bite them. If that happened it would be entirely my fault and not the dog's or child's.

So no, dogs around kids doesn't worry me, unsupervised children do.

Fwiw, dogs have a natural in bred love of humans. It isn't natural for any animal to 'turn' against years of behaviour. Most dogs that attack give out massive signs of unhappiness, nervousness well in advance of any bad event. People are just too stupid to notice.

My cousin had a wienmariner . I think that's right. Huge thing it was. It didn't come into contact with my baby grandchildren very often but I was very nervous around it , especially as the owners cooed over it saying it would be fine with children it was lovely etc. They didn't even put it outside in the garden. It towered over my grand babies.

Then my cousin had a late baby with his much younger wife. The dog was shipped out quicker than you could say Jack Robinson.

Strange that isn't it?

I got ddog when ds1 was 9mo. He's now 3 and we have 16mo ds2. The dog loves playing with the kids in the garden and curling up with them on the settee. Both my dc know not to pull, prod, poke or hit the dog or wake him up, lie on him etc. People who let children crawl all over dogs are dicks. When ds2 crawls on me it hurts, but I can pick him up and tell him no. Dogs haven't got that luxury

I think YANBU. But then I also have a problem with this. Because I will never be able to forget helping debrief a friend/colleague who was involved in the completely futile attempt to resuscitate a baby who was killed in a dog attack. I wish to god I could forget their description of the injuries.

It depends on the dog. We have a very large dog (can put paws on my shoulders) who we got when youngest DC was 6m old and trust him totally. He treats the DCs as 'his' and will position himself between them and people he doesn't know. I still didn't let them play with him unsupervised when they were tiny, because of the size difference and because very small children can be rough without meaning to be, which would not have been fair on him.

A family member of mine keeps doing this. The last time I visited her, her dog bit me. Not hard, it was a warning bite but as I hadn't actually touched the dog I was somewhat taken aback. Dog is also aggressive in general, not a massive dog but a foreign breed, bred for fighting not being a house pet. Makes me feel a bit sick seeing photos of it near her tiny baby.

I have two dogs of my own (small ones) so have no issue with dogs in themselves, I think mine are great especially! But I wouldn't put risk my own baby like that.

Well I am firmly situated in the pro dog camp. I think dogs are just fabulous and prefer them to the majority of people. However, I find that most people who own dogs are pretty clueless and the 'adorable' photos they slap all over social media of their kids and dogs are usually enough to make me want to comment. Not because the dog, big or small, is a frothing killing machine but usually because the child is causing the dog stress and that then leads to a growl, an air snap and finally a bite. The dog isn't the issue, the ill informed owner of said dog and child is.

Yy TooOld, so many people who do those kinds of shots are the sorts of owners who forget their dogs are animals and need to be treated as such, rather than furry, four legged humans.

I love my dogs, have already planned how to safely have my baby (arriving imminently) and them in the same house. It's obviously about being a good parent first and foremost, but also about being a good dog owner. I'd like to think I will be able to achieve both.

Yanbu at all! I absolutely cannot bear any of these pictures, big dogs or little dogs.

Dogs and babies/toddlers/young children really do not go together.

Large dog = predator

Baby animal = prey

Dogs are not predatory towards humans at all. Whether the dog is large or small. The only risk you have with dogs and infants is that to dogs, an infant doesn't act, look or entirely smell human so it's fairly simple common sense to not leave an infant and a dog alone. Dogs are not predators they are scavengers. Some breeds are bred, by humans, to hunt but even the dumbest dog doesn't confuse a rabbit/rat/deer for a human.

I was at a steam rally today and while my DD was on the ferris wheel we all stood watching her. One bloke had put his two kids on the wheel and was videoing them. He'd left his daughter, aged maybe 6 or 7, holding the lead of the puppy. A black lab perhaps 16 or 17 weeks old. The girl hit the dog repeatedly, yanked its collar, pushed it into a sit and a down, got right in its face and tweaked its nose. I guarantee that when that puppy bites they won't look at themselves, they'll blame and boot out the dog.