Dangerous dogs with children

Hawthorn

Absolutely tncm

ameliarate

Oon the TV programme, "Me or the dog" they had to have a dog PTS because it attacked one of the children in the house and I am pretty sure it was a spaniel.
NO dog is ever safe with a child alone because you can't trust a child.

kyh

ameliarate - agree comletely. I class myself as a responsible dog owner - we have a 4 yr old female rhodesian ridgeback who I know is well trained. I also have a 2 1/2 yr old daughter who dotes on her "puppy" BUT I would never leave the 2 of them alone - you can do anything to the dog and she doesn't react aggressively in any way but I couldn't necessarily trust a toddler not to provoke her even though she is learning very quickly about dog care and handling. Even at 18months my daughter knew not to approach a strange dog without holding her hand out first for dog to sniff - now she is older she always asks me before if she is allowed to stroke the doggy and then holds her hand out after I have asked the owner if she is ok to approach.
She has once been jumped up at by a small terrier type dog at a friends house but thankfully her only injury was biting her own lip - this was a moment where she caught me off guard as we had already told her not to approach the dog as it was a little bit old and grumpy - it was actually the dog that came up to her and was licking her then pushed her over. It doesn't matter how safe you think the dog is or how good a dog handler/owner there can always be an unexpected situation especially where young children are concerned.

In the OP question - I think if the dog (whatever breed) has a reputation for agrression there is no way they should bring a baby into that environment.

But that's just my two pennies worth!

Hawthorn

This is the problem we have with our Bully at the moment. She's as daft as a brush, really, and loves playing with the kids. She is however flighty, and will jump up when she gets excited. She'll be a year old in August! There is no aggression in the jumping up, but it needs to stop. It's just taking a little longer than everything else for some reason.

Misty_Blue

tbain wrote: »

there is evidence via the media showing cases where children have been attacked by staffys and other lockjaws? Would you have the gall to say all that to a mother whose child had been attacked by one?

You're repeating myth as though it's fact.

a) There is no such thing as a breed of dog whick can "lock" it's jaws. It was said that Pitbull Terriers did it, but their bite is no different physiologically from any other breed in that respect. They have greater bite pressure, yes, but no locking mechanism.

b) It might be different where you live, but I can't think of a case off the top of my head where a SBT has been involved in an attack on a child. They are a generally very even tempered breed, and although they need to well socialised with other dogs, aggression to humans is very much the exception. Staffords do not have the nickname "Nanny Dog" for no reason!

c) As regards what to say to a mother whose child had been attacked, it would very much depend on the circumstances. If the child was minding its own business in its own garden or walking down the street and a strange dog ran up and attacked it, I would have nothing but great sympathy for the child and family involved. However, how may of these dog attack stories do you hear where the dog has been badly raised, left unsocialised and untrained by ignorant people who should not have any pet, and then the child is allowed unsupervised access to the dog? The fault there is 100% with the owners and not with that individual dog or its breed. In those cases I would truly welcome the chance to give the parents a piece of my mind.

d) In all my time as a dog owner, I have met only one dog aggressive Stafford (and never a human aggressive one). I have met countless nasty, snappy Jack Russels, Poodles, Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Chihuahuas etc, and the only dog owner I ever reported to the police for breach of the Dangerous Dogs Act was a Yorkshire Terrier owner. You don't hear people calling for these breeds to be legislated against.

Sue-UU

Hawthorn wrote: »

I don't think any dog can be trusted alone with a child to be honest.

It's not just dogs that can't be trusted around kids - kids can't be trusted around dogs, either.

I couldn't agree more with those 2 statements and neither should EVER be left and trusted to be ok as "they/he/she would never........" because we just do not know and that being the case, the 2 need to be supervised and never left together.

Sue

tbain

Misty_Blue wrote: »

You're repeating myth as though it's fact.

a) There is no such thing as a breed of dog whick can "lock" it's jaws. It was said that Pitbull Terriers did it, but their bite is no different physiologically from any other breed in that respect. They have greater bite pressure, yes, but no locking mechanism.

b) It might be different where you live, but I can't think of a case off the top of my head where a SBT has been involved in an attack on a child. They are a generally very even tempered breed, and although they need to well socialised with other dogs, aggression to humans is very much the exception. Staffords do not have the nickname "Nanny Dog" for no reason!

c) As regards what to say to a mother whose child had been attacked, it would very much depend on the circumstances. If the child was minding its own business in its own garden or walking down the street and a strange dog ran up and attacked it, I would have nothing but great sympathy for the child and family involved. However, how may of these dog attack stories do you hear where the dog has been badly raised, left unsocialised and untrained by ignorant people who should not have any pet, and then the child is allowed unsupervised access to the dog? The fault there is 100% with the owners and not with that individual dog or its breed. In those cases I would truly welcome the chance to give the parents a piece of my mind.

d) In all my time as a dog owner, I have met only one dog aggressive Stafford (and never a human aggressive one). I have met countless nasty, snappy Jack Russels, Poodles, Maltese, Yorkshire Terriers, Chihuahuas etc, and the only dog owner I ever reported to the police for breach of the Dangerous Dogs Act was a Yorkshire Terrier owner. You don't hear people calling for these breeds to be legislated against.

I disagree with a few of your points. Firstly I have heard of many incidents where a staffy has attacked a child. Here is a couple of links as examples, although there are many more:
http://itn.co.uk/news/6c4e78375d5984c9642ce722ebe2c768.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/6602975.stm

Nanny dogs? How can anybody, even a lover of the breed describe them as that? How anybody would want to own one when they have kids is beyond me.
I can only reiterate what I said before about owners, you can be the perfect owner for many years and just like that they can lose it.

And as for little dogs not being in the news, I hate to state the obvious but what is the liklihood of a Yorkshire Terrier mauling or even killing toddler or child?
If you love the breed fine, but why are people making out they are great with kids when many are not and they pose a risk?

kr15snw

Staffies are one of the softest dogs around. Unfortunately they do have the potential to do damage, BUT they very rarely use this. Its just the way the media portrays things!

Back to the OP, I really think if the dog has previous problems it wouldnt be a good idea to have the kid around. Could they look at rehoming?

mk_wotsit

I've been a postwoman for 11 years and in my experience it's collies that are the most likely to bite!
IMO any dog of any breed that 'has attacked more than one person' should most definately be put to sleep.
I've got a Jack Russel BTW.

lindseykim13

I think the point is that staffies are very strong and powerfull enough to harm a child like many other dogs the same/similar size. If you have children then i wouldn't personaly have a dog capable of this.
I have a springer spaniel and while she still has teeth and quite capable of biting she's not going to be able to maul a child to death.
However no matter what dog you have if you bring a baby into that home one bite from any dog could kill that baby. So my advice would be (and i'm no expert) no dog should be left alone with a baby or toddler. Once the child is older i would consider a dog such as spaniels and small dogs safe with that child. In the sence that the child would be big enough not be killed by the dog.
I would measure it up size/age of child compared with strength of the dog.
I would also make sure that i didn't own a dog before having a baby otherwise dog would get territorial if a new baby came into the home.

So in the ops case i would get rid of the dog preferably to someone who has no kids. They will be asking for trouble bringing a baby into that particular dogs home. I wouldn't risk it and as much as you can try not to leave you dog and baby alone things happen and it only takes a phone call or doorbell for you to forget for a split second. Unfortunatly that's all it takes.
I waited until my youngest was 2 before getting a dog i wouldn't of got one earlier than this.