how safe are babies and family dogs.

[sue1386]

how safe are babies and family dogs. i know it will vary but personal experiences and knowledge welcome please.

also can anyone advise where i should have posted this as i find there are so many very specific topics about breastfeeding etc that i dont know where i can post a question that isnt under one of those specific topics thanks.

[skybie]

babies and children are never safe with any dog and should ALWAYS be supervised! i cannot stress that enough.
even if the dog is a little pipsqueak that doesnt have a bad bone in its body!

Theres a general chatter thread u can post in or u could put this in the pets general discussion

[ss_storm]

I probably would have posted it under the Pets section.
to answer your question though, I think it really depends on the dog and you can't really say without knowing the dog itself. I trust our dog around our DD, he's always been a friendly, easygoing dog. He is an outside dog so I think that makes it a bit easier. We did make sure to get him used to all the baby paraphernalia and when DD was brought home we took out a blanket she had been wrapped in for him to smell. He took it all in his stride though and we introduced them a few days later.

I do supervise him when we are outside and would never leave them alone together without supervision, but I do trust him not to do anything to her (although he has accidently knocked her over before).

but I think it's one of those things where every situation will be different because every dog is different and may react to a new baby in a different way. there are lots of things you can do to ease the transition (i.e. smelling their clothes first) and some dogs take it in their stride, but some may never adjust, it just depends on the dog.

[AwesomeFoursome]

babies and children are never safe with any dog and should ALWAYS be supervised! i cannot stress that enough.
even if the dog is a little pipsqueak that doesnt have a bad bone in its body!

I agree with skybie 100%. My niece was attacked by a dog when she was 2yrs old by a dog who had been around kids its whole life, that didn't have a bad bone in its body and he turned. I don't think you can be too careful.

[~StarBright~]

I would also agree it depends entirely on the dog. I have two dogs- and they are fabulous with DS, he is nearly two now and one of tbe dogs even curls up on the end of his bed at night and sleeps there with him. But at the same time- i dont always trust OTHER kids with my dogs- and at the moment we are going through an ear pulling phase- where DS thinks the whine-ing niose the dogs makes when he pulls their ears is hilarious- which i am trying to stop him doing.

Sometimes its the kids that are the problem- not the dog!!

[Marlene]

I really don't think kids are ever 100% safe around dogs. My daughter was bitten by dog (on her face ) that grew up with 3 boys all it's life. One day it just turned for no reason at all.

[Phteven]

Just moving to baby and toddler general discussion.

[Visitor7]

Whilst I definitely agree that children are not safe with dogs 100% of the time, there are certain dogs and certain behaviours in dogs that are just a no-no. For eg: my dog is a border collie, lovely dog, very protective of my girls, especially DD1 (not really sure why he's more protective of her over DD2). My bil's dog is a kelpie. I wouldn't trust that dog as far as I could throw it. It's an inside dog, and very spoilt. They've recently had a baby and the dog isn't adjusting at all. Tries to push their baby out of the way all the time. Both dogs are very tempermental dogs.
You just can't be too sure. Not only with dogs, but most animals.

[krysalyss]

I agree that they shouldn't be left unsupervised. The fact is that dogs and babies find it hard to read the other's behaviour. Kids won't pick up warning signs and are naturally curious (e.g. poking fingers where they shouldn't). I think you can be comfortable to a certain extent if you are cluey with dog behaviour and know your dog but dogs can do a lot of damage very quickly and I wouldn't ever say you can be 100% safe. Even the nicest dog has its limits, and if it has a sore part of its body, has a recent bad experience or may even be getting old and slightly senile etc, then it may react as it hasn't before.

[Roryrory]

Both DH and I grew up with dogs that our parents trusted implicitly - me with a German Shepherd and DH with a Blue Heeler. Not dogs you would trust with kids, right? But neither of us were bitten, threatened or harmed by these lovely dogs. Sheba and Sally were magical dogs that you could poke, prod, ride, tongue-pull, dress up - all with complete safety.

Would we trust a dog around our kids? NO WAY.

[~Kim~]

:yeahthat:
I grew up with a shepherd too, but I've been to way too many jobs where kids have been attacked..and some funerals.
I know all dogs are different, but so are kids and you can't predict either of them some of the time let alone all of the time.

[diannescruffy]

I don't think babies are ever safe with dogs unless always supervised.

Regards,
Dianne

[KimB]

My 2 dogs I got when they were pups and my kids were babies so they grew up together. They are used to kids crawling all over them, poking ears, eyes and pulling tongues lol but now that they are getting older I'm a bit more watchful, especially of the male. He can be a bit grumpy. Usually he just moves away but if I see the girls going for him again I tell them off. The female (shepherd X kelpie) is so placid still that I don't worry about her at all. I do have to stop my girls from just going up to other people's dogs though as they are so used to ours being friendly.

[~Hestia~]

I grew up alongside a rottweiler & used to ride her, sleep on her, do anything to her. She slept under our cots, she was a beautiful dog! Have had dogs all my life & have never been injured or bitten.
But my personal opinion is no dog is safe. Our dog who wouldn't hurt a fly - but I would never leave DS with him alone. I don't let DS near the dog's face & I never let him anywhere near him when he is eating/has a bone.

[Ryatha]

I grew up with dogs and think that supervised play is ok in our house. DH didn't grow up with dogs and it took a long time for him to agree to get one. But when he saw our friends dogs play with DD1 (rottie and greyhound ) they were so good with her we got a dog too - a daschound! Daisy the Daschound is very good with the baby and with kids but is a bit wary and jelous of my attention. So she gets kicked outside when we have a lot of kids around, but she's inside if only a few a here.

[Roryrory]

It's interesting how so many of us grew up with lovable dogs but still wouldn't trust one with our kids. Not a criticism, just and observation - you'd think us dog-riding ear-pullers would be happy to leave kids with dogs.

[Saffi]

I agree that you can never trust a dog 100%, but I think there is a lot you can do to make your kids pet aware. My dogs have always been supervised in their interactions with our kids. We have also ensured that our kids have a healthy respect for the dogs. Knowing how to pat them, keeping away from dogs when they are eating etc. I could leave the babies on their rugs when I left the room because I knew the dogs would always follow me LOL.

[~Hestia~]

It's interesting how so many of us grew up with lovable dogs but still wouldn't trust one with our kids. Not a criticism, just and observation - you'd think us dog-riding ear-pullers would be happy to leave kids with dogs.

Yeah that is interesting!