Dogs and babies

steddyeddy

A friend of mine has recently given birth to a baby girl. She also has a rescue dog that she's rehabilitating. The dog is gentle but is quite large and jumpy. Somehow she thinks it's a good idea to post pics of the dog and the newborn beside each other on the couch.

I don't think that's particularly safe butwhat really gets me is the uploaded picture. I know a few people who do this and I get the impression they're trying to provoke a reaction. Should babies ever be left alone with dogs?

Harry Palmr

Only if you're bored with the baby.

BBFAN

I would never leave any child alone with any dog because all they have to do is pull their tale and the dog might bite.

However I'm puzzled why you're more disturbed by the picture than the actual fact of the dog lying beside the baby.

salmocab

No you shouldn’t and presumably your friend didn’t as they were there to take the photo

SEPT 23 1989

You can never trust a dag

Jack Moore

My dogs love my baby

Fr_Dougal

They should have gotten a rescue baby.

steddyeddy

BBFAN wrote: »

I would never leave any child alone with any dog because all they have to do is pull their tale and the dog might bite.

However I'm puzzled why you're more disturbed by the picture than the actual fact of the dog lying beside the baby.

I'm puzzled because she's the "my dog would never hurt anyone" type and has been in several arguements to that effect. It seems the picture is to provoke. In other words putting her baby in that situation to provoke a reaction.

Roger Hassenforder

steddyeddy wrote: »

Should babies ever be left alone with dogs?

Dogs are rather poor primary care givers to new born humans, especially when breastfeeding.
An adult female, ideally the mother is best


Dogs are ok with puppies. Which are usually cuter.

RustyNut

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

You can never trust a dag

Or a baby. They should not be left alone imo but it sounds like they weren't in this case. I don't see the problem with pictures of the dog and baby together.

rainbowtrout

If she took the photo then she didn't leave the baby alone with the dog, she was there. Or are you suggesting the baby took a selfie with the dog and she's now boasting of her babies abilities?:pac:

Atoms for Peace

Sure the only reason people are bothering to reproduce to post pics on social media. That's what happens when you replace catholism and replace it with hollow consumerism.

wexie

steddyeddy wrote: »

A friend of mine has recently given birth to a baby girl. She also has a rescue dog that she's rehabilitating. The dog is gentle but is quite large and jumpy.

Few red flags for me here to be honest, rehabilitating from what exactly? If it's any kind of abuse then the dog cannot and should not be trusted with a child other than under close supervision. Not because it's a bad dog but if it's been abused more likely than not it might be fearful and fearful dogs are unpredictable (perhaps not to experts but certainly to babies)

Large and jumpy dogs, no matter how lovely, can hurt small babies purely on account of being large and jumpy dogs....

steddyeddy wrote: »

I'm puzzled because she's the "my dog would never hurt anyone" type and has been in several arguements to that effect.

Well...personally I think that's not a great attitude, you may think it wouldn't hurt anyone (and maybe she's right) but you still need to be cautious of the fact that it can hurt someone and it doesn't take much with a small baby.

And again, especially if the dog is being rehabilitated from any kind of abuse I would be much more careful with it.

Having said all of that, my eldest learned to walk holding onto our very large dog and would have been asleep on top of, against and partially under the dog many times.

But she was a newfy and they have always been great at caring for kids, even employed as nurses

wexie

Roger Hassenforder wrote: »

Dogs are rather poor primary care givers to new born humans, especially when breastfeeding.
An adult female, ideally the mother is best


Dogs are ok with puppies. Which are usually cuter.

Wolves on the other hand will make your children grow up to be great leaders (and perhaps kill one another )

Gael23

She's in the same room taking the picture so the dog is supervised in which case its not a problem.
I winked never leave a dog unattended with a child though

steddyeddy

wexie wrote: »

Wolves on the other hand will make your children grow up to be great leaders (and perhaps kill one another )

And found Rome . The she-wolf reference in Latin was actually thought to mean "whore".

facehugger99

steddyeddy wrote: »

I'm puzzled because she's the "my dog would never hurt anyone" type and has been in several arguements to that effect. It seems the picture is to provoke. In other words putting her baby in that situation to provoke a reaction.

Well she sounds like an idiot. Hope this was helpful.

Raging_Ninja

BBFAN wrote: »

I would never leave any child alone with any dog because all they have to do is pull their tale and the dog might bite.

However I'm puzzled why you're more disturbed by the picture than the actual fact of the dog lying beside the baby.

I'm reminded of the infant lying down on the mother, with the husband and greater dane lying on either side. A hiccup startled the dog and it bit and killed the baby.

corner of hells

BBFAN wrote: »

I would never leave any child alone with any dog because all they have to do is pull their tale and the dog might bite.

However I'm puzzled why you're more disturbed by the picture than the actual fact of the dog lying beside the baby.

Babies don't have tails , how could a dog do that ?

Seth Brundle

wexie wrote: »

He he boobies

seannash

wexie wrote: »

Few red flags for me here to be honest, rehabilitating from what exactly? If it's any kind of abuse then the dog cannot and should not be trusted with a child other than under close supervision. Not because it's a bad dog but if it's been abused more likely than not it might be fearful and fearful dogs are unpredictable (perhaps not to experts but certainly to babies)

Large and jumpy dogs, no matter how lovely, can hurt small babies purely on account of being large and jumpy dogs....



Well...personally I think that's not a great attitude, you may think it wouldn't hurt anyone (and maybe she's right) but you still need to be cautious of the fact that it can hurt someone and it doesn't take much with a small baby.

And again, especially if the dog is being rehabilitated from any kind of abuse I would be much more careful with it.

Having said all of that, my eldest learned to walk holding onto our very large dog and would have been asleep on top of, against and partially under the dog many times.

But she was a newfy and they have always been great at caring for kids, even employed as nurses

There you go OP, you've found what you were looking for. Justification of your point of view, now go lambaste your friend and tell her shes an unfit mother.




or........
Just mind your business.....
But what to do with all your unused outrage....... i feel for you on that one.

ceadaoin.

I wouldn't have a baby around a dog, supervised or not. It only takes a split second for a dog to turn and there's no way of knowing if they will. Usually when you hear of these attacks it's always a lovely family dog who had never bitten anyone previously.

seannash

ceadaoin. wrote: »

I wouldn't have a baby around a dog, supervised or not. It only takes a split second for a dog to turn and there's no way of knowing if they will. Usually when you hear of these attacks it's always a lovely family dog who had never bitten anyone previously.

Statistically is more harm done to babies by humans or dogs.
If it's humans your logic is flawed.
It only take a split second for a human to turn. Usually when we hear these stories it's a person who is normally a violent individual but they are allowed to reproduce and care for a child.

My point is exceptions should not dictate the rules. Always be aware of the exceptions but by no means accept that they will mean it's gonna be the same outcome.
If we took that attitude no baby, or adult,would travel in a car

Jack Moore

ceadaoin. wrote: »

I wouldn't have a baby around a dog, supervised or not. It only takes a split second for a dog to turn and there's no way of knowing if they will. Usually when you hear of these attacks it's always a lovely family dog who had never bitten anyone previously.

Such gibberish

My dogs and my baby are my family
Like I and my brother were family with out dogs
And my parents and their dogs

It’s normal
It’s basically what dogs are for (watching children at home )
All this stuff is gibberish

In my opinion

Chinasea

I applaud her for getting a rescue dog.

steddyeddy

seannash wrote: »

There you go OP, you've found what you were looking for. Justification of your point of view, now go lambaste your friend and tell her shes an unfit mother.




or........
Just mind your business.....
But what to do with all your unused outrage....... i feel for you on that one.

It's everyone's business if a kid is put in potential danger.

wexie

seannash wrote: »

There you go OP, you've found what you were looking for. Justification of your point of view, now go lambaste your friend and tell her shes an unfit mother

That's certainly not how I intended that to come across but if that's what you want to take away from then fair enough I guess

mad muffin

It’s Dingoes you shouldn’t trust alone with a baby. Dogs are fine.

seannash

steddyeddy wrote: »

It's everyone's business if a kid is put in potential danger.

And statistics would show it's not in any danger what so ever.
So...............

seannash

wexie wrote: »

That's certainly not how I intended that to come across but if that's what you want to take away from then fair enough I guess

What are you basing your danger factor on??t
My take away is you are ignorant to animal behaviour.
Will anything change your mind or are you looking for validation.
I suspect validation is the driving factor.

If not, let's discuss.

gobo99

Iv two rescues and they are bomb proof around the kids. Always was careful introducing new babys to home, dogs are naturally inquisitive. Let them sniff toys clothes etc and don't throw them outside or change too much when baby comes home and they won't feel like their loosing out to/competing with the baby. As time goes by they understand the pecking order in the "pack".
Oldest kid regularly feeds them now and has total respect from them.
The only reason I wouldn't leave them alone with the kids now is that I wouldn't trust the youngest not to be pulling and dragging at them.

wexie

seannash wrote: »

What are you basing your danger factor on??t
My take away is you are ignorant to animal behaviour.
Will anything change your mind or are you looking for validation.
I suspect validation is the driving factor.

If not, let's discuss.

Really.....

Here's what we know :

1) it's a rescue dog
2) it's being rehabilitated but it's unclear for what.

I'm basing the danger factor on the fact I don't know what the dog is being rehabilitated for and I thought I pointed that out quite clearly.

My mind doesn't need changing, I'm more than passingly familiar with the unpredictable nature of badly abused animals, there's one asleep on the couch next to me. But it's taken years of persistent work to get him to the stage where I do trust him around my kids and I still wouldn't trust him around a baby.

Because both abused animals and young children are unpredictable.

seannash

wexie wrote: »

Really.....

Here's what we know :

1) it's a rescue dog
2) it's being rehabilitated but it's unclear for what.

I'm basing the danger factor on the fact I don't know what the dog is being rehabilitated for and I thought I pointed that out quite clearly.

My mind doesn't need changing, I'm more than passingly familiar with the unpredictable nature of badly abused animals, there's one asleep on the couch next to me. But it's taken years of persistent work to get him to the stage where I do trust him around my kids and I still wouldn't trust him around a baby.

Because both abused animals and young children are unpredictable.

And where was it indicated the dog was abused?
It's a rescue,

seannash

wexie wrote: »

Really.....

Here's what we know :

1) it's a rescue dog
2) it's being rehabilitated but it's unclear for what.

I'm basing the danger factor on the fact I don't know what the dog is being rehabilitated for and I thought I pointed that out quite clearly.

My mind doesn't need changing, I'm more than passingly familiar with the unpredictable nature of badly abused animals, there's one asleep on the couch next to me. But it's taken years of persistent work to get him to the stage where I do trust him around my kids and I still wouldn't trust him around a baby.

Because both abused animals and young children are unpredictable.

And where was it indicated the dog was abused?
It's a rescue which doesn't mean abused.
I'm also going to make the leap that the parent does not wish the child to be in any danger (massive leap I know) so if they feel comfortable with the dog being around the baby why should the OP feel any different?
We are basically validating that the OP knows better from a few pictures than the parent

wexie

seannash wrote: »

And where was it indicated the dog was abused?
It's a rescue,

steddyeddy wrote: »

A friend of mine has recently given birth to a baby girl. She also has a rescue dog that she's rehabilitating.

wexie wrote: »

Few red flags for me here to be honest, rehabilitating from what exactly? If it's any kind of abuse then the dog cannot and should not be trusted with a child other than under close supervision.

Do try reading the posts before you wade in Seanie

the_syco

steddyeddy wrote: »

Should babies ever be left alone with dogs?

Was the baby taking the photo with a selfie stick? Otherwise the kid & dog were not alone...

steddyeddy

seannash wrote: »

And statistics would show it's not in any danger what so ever.
So...............

Statistics show dogs never attack children?

seannash

wexie wrote: »

Do try reading the posts before you wade in Seanie

So you are stating that all your advice hinges on the dog being previously abused.

So if we can prove it wasn't we can disregard your advice
Great

seannash

steddyeddy wrote: »

Statistics show dogs never attack children?

In comparison to adults yes the number of dog attacks versus attacks from humans is very low

wexie

seannash wrote: »

So you are stating that all your advice hinges on the dog being previously abused.

So if we can prove it wasn't we can disregard your advice
Great

No my advice is that I would reserve judgement until someone told me more about what the dog in question is being rehabilitated for.

steddyeddy

seannash wrote: »

And where was it indicated the dog was abused?
It's a rescue,

It was abused unfortunately.

wexie

steddyeddy wrote: »

It was abused unfortunately.

Talk to Sean, he's an expert in animal behaviour and will be able to tell you all about what to do

:rolleyes:

seannash

wexie wrote: »

No my advice is that I would reserve judgement until someone told me more about what the dog in question is being rehabilitated for.

So why didn't you state that

seannash

wexie wrote: »

Talk to Sean, he's an expert in animal behaviour and will be able to tell you all about what to do

:rolleyes:

And what if I am.
I've already stated that the parent is responsible and certainly knows better than someone who judges a photo from Facebook.
Would this not be a true statement.
Everyone is exceptionally quick to overreact based off of one snapshot in time.

BeerWolf

NEVER leave a young child or baby alone with any animal...

Not a difficult concept to grasp, yet plenty do... And their idiocy can have dire consequences.

And then people have the gall to blame it on the animal should that happen.

wexie

seannash wrote: »

So why didn't you state that

You mean like I did in my very first post in this thread when I questioned what the dog was being rehabilitated for? And then said : if....it is any kind of abuse?

I think perhaps for me the clue to start asking questions was in the words "rehabilitating" and "fostering".

But I'm sure that's down to my lack of experience and insight in animal behaviour....

steddyeddy

seannash wrote: »

In comparison to adults yes the number of dog attacks versus attacks from humans is very low

Indeed but it happens and it's completely unpredictable with an abused dog.

wexie

seannash wrote: »

And what if I am.

No offence but you clearly aren't.

You may well think you are, but I guess I can't help with that.

seannash

wexie wrote: »

You mean like I did in my very first post in this thread when I questioned what the dog was being rehabilitated for? And then said : if....it is any kind of abuse?

I think perhaps for me the clue to start asking questions was in the words "rehabilitating" and "fostering".

But I'm sure that's down to my lack of experience and insight in animal behaviour....

My point is why did you reach for all the negative possibilities from the begining

seannash

wexie wrote: »

No offence but you clearly aren't.

You may well think you are, but I guess I can't help with that.

I never claimed I was, I'm saying what makes your point of view more valid than others.
Several posters have claimed real world experience yet your advice trump's all there's.

Statistics would show that rehabilitated dogs don't pose a threat.
Now absolutely everything poses a threat to an Infant. It's up the parent to decide what's acceptable.
We are now validating someone's opinion on a potential risk from a picture versus a parent judgement

wexie

seannash wrote: »

My point is why did you reach for all the negative possibilities from the begining

Because of the word 'rehabilitating'

People don't 'rehabilitate' dogs that don't have issues.

Dog's that don't have issues don't need rehabilitating

Like I said in the first post it's a red flag.

Even if the dog wasn't being rehabilitated for abuse but for a physical issue or illness it would still be a red flag because dogs that are in pain are (again) unpredictable.

Happy well adjusted dogs that are family members can usually be trusted around kids and children.

But happy well adjusted dogs don't need 'rehabilitating'.

In short, whenever the word rehabilitating is used in reference to a dog (and especially a rescue dog) it is always a red flag or at the very least a reason to ask more questions. There are no exceptions, no ifs, no buts.