At what age would you leave a child and a dog together unnattended ?

[frumpety]

I know the general rule is children and dogs should be supervised , but there must be an age when people don't , I mean someone is a child until 18 .

I guess it depends on the dog and on the child.

Do you have a scenario in mind? Being more specific might help a bit.

Surely this would depend on all sorts of thing? How old is the child? What kind of dog? Does the dog belong to the kid or do they have history together? What’s the dog’s history? What’s the kid like? Just off the top of my head...

Dd's are allowed unsupervised with 2 out of our 4ddogs at 11+12.
Ds 3 never with any.

Totally depends on the child and the dog.

I would leave my two kids (6,3) with our dog as the kids aren't interested in her and she's not interested in them. However, I would never leave them alone together with food and I would never leave the dog along with any other kids as I don't know how she would react to being poked or anything.

It would depend on the dog (size, any known issues, tolerance threshold etc) and the child (sensible, able to recognise signs of fear and anxiety etc).

I was out walking the family dogs alone from the age of 12, but left alone with them well before that. However, they were sweet little things with no behavioural issues beyond one being rather grumpy if she didn't get her own way. My current dog? I can't let another adult walk him without giving them specific training on how to manage his ishoos, and I wouldn't leave him in a room alone away from his triggers with anyone below the sensible teenager stage.

Could you elaborate on the circumstances you're thinking of? I really can't think of a way to give a blanket age because there are just so many variables.

We recently called the police for advice on this - DSS (10), on the school nights that he is with his mother, lets himself in and is alone until she gets home at 6pm. She has 2 German shepherds and a staffy. DH, obviously unhappy with this, phoned police. Their response was that they wouldn't act unless one of the dogs was dangerous - so basically, until DSS has been attacked, they don't care. So doesn't seem like there is any minimum age

My kids are 9 and 11 and if they for instance are in the living room playing PS4 the dog sometimes wanders in there and lie on the sofa! He just likes company. They don't walk him on their own though. Dog is 18 months

I was just curious really , I didn't supervise my old dog with my own children as the children knew the rules and I didn't let him outside if they were playing with friends until he was older as he got excited and would send them flying trying to join in.
If and when we get our next dog , it would be another rescue. My youngest is now 9 , I cant imagine constantly having to supervise them with a dog at this age ?

There isn't an age because there are so many different factors at play on whether the child and dog should be left alone together.

It depends on the dog. How the dog behaves and it's temperament. Is it in pain? Can it go somewhere out the way if it needs to.

It depends on the child. Is the child old enough to leave the dog alone and not antagonise it as well as understand when things are not right and to leave and get help.

It depends on the environment. Is it hot? Anything around to stress it?

It depends on all those factors and more mixing together to decide when is the right time.

We recently called the police for advice on this - DSS (10), on the school nights that he is with his mother, lets himself in and is alone until she gets home at 6pm. She has 2 German shepherds and a staffy. DH, obviously unhappy with this, phoned police. Their response was that they wouldn't act unless one of the dogs was dangerous - so basically, until DSS has been attacked, they don't care. So doesn't seem like there is any minimum age

You haven't mentioned that the dogs have any history of behavioural problems. Would you be concerned if it was a dalmation, a labrador and a spaniel? Both GSDs and Staffies have undeservedly bad reputations; being a certain breed doesn't make a dog dangerous. If the dogs are very well socialised and well behaved, and your DSS is sensible, there may be no real danger.

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages - two of the dogs do not have any issues, but one of the german sheps does have a history. Agree wholly that these kinds of dogs get a bad name and it is not deserved, however our concern was that the 3 dogs together make a pack and that is when problems can occur. DSS has always grown up around big dogs - german sheps, Rottweilers, etc - so he is comfortable around them, it's just, for us, a matter of concern that a wiry 10yo is responsible for three strong dogs alone.

@Pizza If one of the dogs has a history, I can understand your concern completely!

My 4 year old and young dog are not unsupervised, but let's say loosely supervised sometimes. Kid knows the rules (still reminders needed!), dog is bomb proof, as much as any dog can be. If other kids of any age come around, dog is separated or close supervision. Don't know about other people's dogs, but familiarity is everything with mine

I am not a parent (yet, hopefully) but I like to think if I can trust a child to be home alone safely, I can trust them to be with a dog they are familiar with.

Obviously, this concerns a non-aggressive dog.

I would absolutely NOT leave a recently rehomed rescue dog with a child under mid teens - even then, it would have to be a teen with considerable experience with dogs. You have no idea of the animal's history or any potential behavioural issues or triggers. Disaster waiting to happen.

I trust our dog 99% but wouldn't leave her with 4 year old ds alone. I won't for a few years either. She's a very big dog, soft as shit but any dog can turn.

Hedge our first dog was a rescue , we got him when DD was nearly 3, I did supervise them together to begin with and obviously when DS was born we had to take more precautions. He had been in a foster home previously , with other dogs, cats, chickens, children , people coming and going, so they were able to assess him for issues, and other than being a total bin thief and counter surfer, he was a very good natured beast.

Totally depends on the dog and the child. Dd and ds treat our dog totally differently so one would be allowed to be with him and the other not.

If I’m going for a shower I usually put ddog in his bed and say to the kids to leave him be.
I’m quite sure he wouldn’t do anything but better safe than sorry.

They are 6 and 9

Never keep a dog you couldn’t kill with your bare hands if you had to. Sounds dreadful but dogs are not always reasonable.

BBCK really ? How many dogs have you actually killed with your bare hands ? or tried to ?

I think it's impossible to tell if you could kill it or not. Unless you have extensive experience. Even a small fluffy dog with adrenaline would be hard to get hold of, for example. Could even say the same about people though? If you get down to it.....I see coexistence with other people/animals as a trust thing . But of course, with animals you need to be sensible, aware and know what you're doing

Never keep a dog you couldn’t kill with your bare hands if you had to

Yeah, I feel the same about husbands ....

My 7 month old bichon puppy is in a room alone with my DD who is 7 daily. He is a very well natured pup and she is disinterested in him so won't bother or bug him. I wouldn't leave him with my 4 year old nephew. Nephew is a dog botherer and pup gets over excited. I doubt any real aggression would happen but an over-stimulated puppy can't be trusted 100%.

Goddess

My first thought was, well that escalated quickly.