Who Do You Love More: Your Baby or Your Dog?
October 16, 2008 at 2:44 PM by Cafe Suzanne - Comments (3)
photo by curveymama
Would you give your dog away if it snapped at your baby? That's what one of the members of the 2007 Babies group asked (this is a private group that you have to join). Before I continue, I'd just like to point out that the adorable dog shown here is not the dog in question ...
As you can imagine, the question got many responses, some saying they'd get rid of the dog, "As much as I love my dogs (and I do, I've had them ten and six years), I would take them out in the backyard and shoot them if they showed their teeth to my son."
Others who said they'd keep it. "I wouldn't get rid of the dog. I've had animals my entire life and they are just like humans where they don't like people invading their personal space."
But my favorite response was from the mom who wrote, "That is a tough decision. I'm very glad our dog's a coward and just runs away from our son!"
What would you do?
FILED UNDER: safety
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I would reevaluate my training of the dog. Because apparently I didnt do something righ in training that dog. I have a chihuahua(Raider) and a pit bull/am bulldog (Buster) and I have to watch Raider more than I do Buster as he thinks he can beat him up. Silly lil dog!
Raider has snapped at my 11yo and its always when he is sleeping and she startles him. With my 5 mo who is fascinated with the dogs, he has grabbed his ears and skin and pinched the mess out of him he didnt snap at him just yelped. Now he rarely comes in reaching range of the baby.
But trust I did think of giving Raider away when he nipped at my daughter I was furious! But I had to look at what provoked it and can I do something about it. The answer was yes. He no longer sleeps with them.
i believe there is a difference between an aggression and a dog trying to protect itself. if a dog is being aggressive, by all means find a new home or have it put to sleep depending on the severity of the behavior. most dogs are uneasy around children because of sudden movements, how loud they are, and how rough they play. some dogs, like mine, love the attention. my daughter pulls on kora's fur, sticks her hands in kora's mouth, smacks her, and kora seems to enjoy it. the only thing she doesn't like is when lexi grabs her tail- kora just walks away, or turns around so lexi is not by her tail anymore. we also tell lexi when that happens not to grab kora's tail. i think people who have pets and children need to not only train the pets, but also teach the children what is appropriate behavior with a dog. when lexi plays with kora's face, we steer her away. not for kora's sake since she likes being messed with, but for another dog's sake. same thing with the tail. now that lexi is getting older, she doesn't pull on kora so much and is learning to pet her, and we encourage the petting and try to redirect her when she pulls. i have an amazingly well-behaved dog, and i wish more dogs were like her. but my husband and i do realize that if she ever did anything to jeopardize our daughter's safety, we would get rid of her. we don't want to, so we are very vigilant in her training!
Check out some of the most popular topics today in Answers:
OMG! GET RID OF THAT DOG!
WE ARE SO LUCKY, OUR DOG IS SOOOO GREAT WITH OUR DD! AND OUR CAT!
BUT IF EITHER ONE OF THEM WAS AT ALL A DANGER TO OUR DD, THEY WOULD BE AT THE LOCAL HUMANE SOCIETY BEFORE THEY COULD BLINK!
JayGirlsMom Oct. 16, 2008 at 4:02 PM