If you have a dog, do you NEVER leave your kid(s) and dog alone EVER?

[DrNortherner]

I have a 6 year old ds and a 12 month old black lab. He is my first dog.

He is lovely, gentle, kind, playful though a tad boisterious!

Now, sometimes I go upsatirs and ds and mu dog are downstairs alone. AS the dog he so friendly it has never occurred to me that this could be a dangerous situation.

Should I remove my dog from the room ds is in and close all doors so the dog can not get to him while i am upstairs or is the crazy as Labs are hardly known for mauling children are they?

Views apprecited please, and hones answers on what other dog owners do.

Many Thanks

I think there is a big difference between leaving a 3 month baby alone with a a dog and leaving a 6 year old to be honest.

I have a dog and have never seperated him from the kids, whether I am there supervising or not. It never crossed my mind until someone mentioned it on here.

I think it is mainly a problem if the child is smaller than the dog or the dog feels dominant to the child.

Once the child can control the dog and you believe the dog will see the child as a superior in the 'pack' then it should be ok.

A six year old boy should be able to do obedience training with you so that the puppy will obey him as well as the adults in the house.

we have a springer spaniel, I fear more for the dog tbh, when he's left alone with my kids

My kids are 6 and 8 and I think it's v.important as soon as they can to ensure they let the dog know the pecking order...so for example our Dcs ensure that they leave or enter a room and make the dog wait.

No dog is "safe" whatever the breed - you can never 100% trust a dog.

Personally I think that age/responsibility of the child is a huge deciding factor.

I have a 6 yo ds, a nearly 14 yo lab and a nearly 5 yo lab retriever cross. It never occurred to me not to allow ds and the older dog to be alone when he was a baby, she is placid and I 100% do not believe she would have mauled him for no good reason. As he got a bit older and more mobile I revised this, more for the dog's sake than his though as I wanted to be sure I could prevent him hurting her when I wasn't around to supervise.

When I got the younger dog ds was three and younger dog was approx 18 mo, I was more careful because young dog was ve boisteress and ds used to wind him up.

Now ds is older he is more responsible and i no longer feel the need to separate them.

It is almost unheard of for family dogs to turn without reason, ie having been hurt by the child etc, so given I am 100% confident ds wouldn't hurt the dog now I am happy for them to be left alone.

i am pretty sure that there is something about the #pack# going on

so our dog knows the pecking order

alpha male - dh
alpha female me
beta male ds...etc.

right at the bottom of that pile is her

and she is quite right in knowing it.

i would assume therefore that when one has a dog - THEN has a baby the dog might confuse its place n the pack
couple that with the lack of mobility and language of a baby and this could result in infortunate circumstnaces.

its not the same as having a 6 year old at all

also the breed of the dog and how it is reared and trained plays a great part - as it does with any of us

We didn't get our dog until our youngest was DD.
While she was so small i didn't leave them together because she was unpredictable and could unwittingly provoke the dog by grabbing him roughly etc.
When we chose our dog we also selected a breed with no reputation for aggression and made a point of meeting his parents to see waht their temperament was like.
He is a very very gentle dog and has an astonishing manner with all the children including DS" who remains wary of him but whom the dog tries his hardest to protect.
Dog now sleeps on Ds1's bed at night and tbh I have no concerns about the childrens safety.

I know this will probably be greeted with 'but you can never know' which I am sure is true but honestly - I still have no cocerns.
I am more worried about the kids on their walk to school than at home with the dog.
Nothing is totally safe.

having saidthat my niece has a staffy and i would not leave DCs alone with him.I think that some breeds have a greater propensity for aggression than others

Agree big difference between older child and small baby. I don't have a dog as no room for one but my parents have two beautiful and V well trained labs. My DD has grown up with these dogs, as a small baby and toddler I would never have left her in the room with them, not so much because I thought they posed any danger of turning more because they were so much bigger than her and could easily inadvertantly hurt her.
Now she's almost 8, yes she is left alone with them..in the garden playing with them while we're in the kitchen etc.
Tbh those dogs listen to her and do what she tells them way more than they do anyone else!
Thinking on it actually one of the dogs did hurt her when she was around 4, accidentally while playing, no bite or anything, just big paws and small person (I was there at the time btw) She cried out and the poor dog looked mortified and stayed laid at her feet as if begging forgiveness the rest of the time we were there! They've never gotton overly boistrous around her since then.

a dog like a lab or retriever or whatever, if the worst happened and they snapped or turned on a child, would just bite

one of these bloody Staffs/pit bull things are like to savage a child - why do people have them around kids? crackers

I'd never leave a baby in same room as ANY sort of dog though

actually have you noticed how often these incidents happen at grandmas or cousins house.
I wonder if it is a 'new' pack member =dominate situation IYSWIM

agree pag. And how these attacks provoke mass histeria from the "all dogs are wild animals just waiting to maul your children" brigade.

These attacks almost always happen at someone else's house, or with dogs who were not supposed to have access to the child, such as in the case of the two rotweillers that killed the baby last year.

It is extremely rare for family dogs to turn without provokation and kill the family children. In fact dogs killing children is also so rare that it is almost always reported in the news, two-three times a year perhaps.

Very good point, pagwatch. I was always more watchful at my in-laws because the dogs there hadn't grown up with my two.

Personally, no never. DS is 4.5mo so totally defenceless and very jerky and our dog is still young and exciteable so she could hurt him trying to play. It doesn't need agression to cause damage.

When DS is old enough to understand how to behave with her I will then leave them alone- As yet I have no idea what age this will be.

I adore my dog but if she hurt my son (or became in any way agressive towards him) she would have to go so I make sure she is not left in a position where that could happen.

At the end of the day I think there is nothing nicer for a child than having a lovely dog to play with but I think it needs a bit of caution until the child is old enough to understand what can cause a dog to react- pulling ears/tail/poking etc

[ducks in case she gets another flaming for thinking kids can unintentionally wind animals up]

I don't have this problem as my dog is constantly under my feet. If I leave the room, she does, as does my cat and dd2. I have a little train following me

It has never occured to me to deliberately seperate them though. My dog is incredibly protective of both my children and would never hurt them.

Though she also knows that they are higher than her. She often submits to them, showing her belly when they approach her.

There is no way on earth I would let my children anywhere my parents bigger dog. Even though he is really my dog and was there when I lived there. I wouldn't trust him for a second. They have a little old lab who is an adorable thing and I don't leave them unnattended with her but that is for the dogs sake not the childrens.

We have a Westie, previously hit by kids in old home. He can snap at other children, but has to be seriously provoked before growling at ours (3.2 and 18mo). We don't separate, but ensure that he has places to retreat (Dog bed, top of sofa, etc.) But I wouldn't leave my children for longer than it takes to go to the loo, for example.

My parents have two big dogs (Collie cross & German Shepherd). They are both quite boistrous, and the collie was rehomed after a terrible start in life. We simply only go around if the dogs are kept away. The children are too young, and they are too big, for me to be comfortable.

I feel terrible for making that condition, but don't trust either the dogs or my children sufficiently to KNOW that nothing would happen. I also know that they are big enough to do real damage very quickly.

My sister takes her 12 month old around there happily without that condition, but being a parent is about making decisions you can live with.

BTW, we always shut the dog away if other children visit, because they tend to put their faces in his, and he would get the blame if he did snap at them. For his sake, it's kinder.

we have a dd who is 3 and 2 labs, one is 5 and the other is 1. I have left dd alone with older dog since she was a baby, it has never crossed my mind not to to be honest.

Both labs are so placid and have never ever shown even a growl at a human so I dont think their is any risk with my 2.

I am however very aware of other dogs, such as my friends rottie, who she swears would not harm a fly, but they have never grown up with chidlren, so I would never leave my dd unsupervised around them, and I will NOT allow dd to approach a strange dog, without asking my permission and the owners- she has no fear because of her own dogs, but I always make sure she knows other dogs are not as friendly as hers!

don't really go along with the pack nonsense, thought that had been well and truly overturned through proper research? dogs living with humans know we are not con-specific

it is natural for dogs to guard resources and defend themselves and so on, but in most cases boundaries can be set through training - make that a priority and above all educate children on canine body language and how to be sensible around dogs

I do think extra vigilance is warranted around those breeds that can do the most damage

Have a 5.5 year old Border Terrier and a 2.5 year old son.

Our dog is an absolute saint, sometimes to the extent that I wish he would bark at my son for irritating him, (I always step in the second it happens to protect the dog and explain to my son to be respectful) but he doesn't.
I think the dog being so good can backfire when my son expects all other dogs to be as friendly, it's hard to tell get him to understand that we don't touch dogs we don't know.

They do get left alone for a few minutes at a time, it's simply not possible to take one of them with you every time you walk out of a room. But having reared this dog from puppy, neutering him, making sure he knows his place and having witnessed his total lack of response other than to scarper every time my son goes to grab him I feel I can say this.

With what someone said earlier about the incidents like the one in the paper often happening at grandparents houses - I think the problem is that those dogs are sometimes babied, and spoilt, and don't like the challenge of a child coming in to take their place. We have this on both sides of grandparents - my MIL's dog is just like this (very small nippy type who I never let my son near), he'll sit on your chair when you get up, growl at you if you wanted him to move etc.
Then there's my parents dog who is a large gundog, and like a baby, he howls when left etc, and seems so placid but when my son goes near his bed or toy he growls so again, there is an adult between my son and the dog at all times.

I don't think it's acceptable to leave a dog and small child alone, or in close proximity if the dog doesn't live with the child - the dog won't know the child's habits and can be startled by their movements, or be jealous.

Echo Lotster - have a 2.5 yr Parson Russell Terrier and 21 mo ds - even through we had dog before ds, our dog is brilliant with him, we have had him neutered and spent time training him as well. However, you can never tell what they're going to do (toddlers can be v boisterous, unlike a 6 yo who knows how to treat pets). My mum has 2 yorkies, one v placid with ds, the other snappy and has to be watched all the time - agree, jealous of grandma sharing the love! Just have to apply common sense!

when baby was younger, then she would be in bouncy car or car seat on table etc, out of reach if i left the room, and dog was a small puppy

now we all do leave the 3 children with dog and walk into other room

but

tbh the dog normally follows me if i leave the room

think a lot depends on if they have been to training classes and also i agree about being a pecking order, and dog is right at the bottom

if we have friends over, he goes in his massive cage, till children are happy with him

his bark is worse than his bite - he has a very loud woof, but is the sofest mutt around that you could ever find, though he is massive

We never left DD alone with our dachs when she was little. How is a dog supposed to know the difference between a baby and a rabbit?

Things gradually change as the child gets older of course. One rule we kept with the old dog was that she shouldn't play down on the floor at face level with him (even if we were in the room). The new dachs is a total and utter softie and DD is 10 now and so has been able to be alone with him responsibly for a few years now.

I will hold my hands up and say that I do leave my springer in the same room as the dcs when I am not there. Having said that he almost always leaves the room to follow me (think he's a bit scared of being left with them, tbh), then they follow him and me and we all get under one another's feet. The only time I'd make a point of not doing it would be if the dog was injured or unwell when his behaviour might be different.

I wouldn't do it with my MIL's dog. She has an untrustworthy temperament (whippet/greyhound/terrier X). I certainly wouldn't have done it with my last springer - he would have killed ds1 at some point (put down because of his aggression). I wouldn't do it with any dog I didn't know well.