Dogs and children

http://torontosun.com/Lifestyle/2007/12/02/4701571-sun.html

Dogs and children can be a bad mix

Don't take a chance when preparing your pet for the arrival of baby

By JOHN WADE


Q: Our daughter and her partner are expecting their first child. They are the proud and loving owners of a rather large dog, more than 5 years old and probably a mix breed, that has at least one incident of biting (another dog) recently. Are we being overly concerned prospective grandparents when we worry about how the dog will take to the new, human, arrival?

-- R.A.

A: There are some dogs that are exclusively aggressive towards dogs. Others only some dogs. There are some dogs that are exclusively aggressive towards people. Others, only some age groups or other defining characteristics. There are some that will bite anything that gets in their way.

Normally a dog that has never shown any aggression towards a human for the first three years of its life just isn't wired that way and would generally pull its own teeth before harming a person.

However, I can't tell you how many times I've asked people if their dog had ever been aggressive and been told it hadn't. In the meantime, I'm in their house watching the kids giving the dog a 10-foot no-bite zone every time they walk by.

I ask a few more questions and you'd be surprised how often I uncover that they believe if they work around "certain issues," their dog isn't aggressive.

If your daughter's dog has never so much as crossed its eyes when poked and prodded during a veterinarian's examination, having its nails clipped, a treasured toy removed, or when someone approached their food bowl ... I doubt he's a significant risk -- except for one thing. If he hasn't regularly been exposed to crawling infants, toddlers, and children, particularly boys, about age 8, you have to reassess the dog's reliability.

A dog that wouldn't think of biting an adult can unexpectedly bite a child. Some can't figure out what the screaming ball of fury wrapped in the blanket is, or the human-pseudo crab crawling on the floor, or the miniature drunken sailor toddling towards them, or the 8-year-old ninja, wrapped in a bed sheet careening off the walls apparently bent on defeating every four-legged foe available, and, frightened, they lash out.

It's also important to know just because a dog has no problem with ninjas, he or she may not be comfortable with drunken sailors, etc.

Parents have to be on their guard at each developmental stage of their child.

There are things that a couple can do to increase the chances the transition will be easier on their dog.

However, I'd swear that most of the "prepare your dog for baby" programs are put together by people that have never had a child, or did and didn't like it, or did and just liked dogs more.

Here's some pieces of advice I've read.

"Carry a baby doll around during the pregnancy allowing the dog to see the upcoming routines, etc." Guess what? Baby dolls are made of the same material as most dog toys. Dumb idea.

How about, "Bring home the baby's blanket." And do what? If you haven't started a real desensitization program long before there's a blanket available, the dog is either not going to care because he or she wasn't going to care in the first place or it's going to have the opposite intended effect and become another stress trigger.

There are many things that can and should be done to objectively assess and if it's the right dog, prepare it for life with a child.

See if you can track someone down in your area who understands child aggression and is a happy mom or dad themselves. If not send me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.

Bottom line: Like your dogs, love your children, take no chances.

 

interenting article...

good advice...never leave a dog and child unsupervised and socialize that new puppy with all kinds of children

 

nice post!

#1 bite victims are children~so, this info is great to know and a good head's up!