Just pondering...

[mammyglicks]

I read in the news today about a 4 day old newborn getting killed by the family's Pit Bull. I was wondering because I've heard this happening before. Do you think it was just the dog's nature despite the fact the owner said it had never show signs of aggression? Could he be lying? I am sure other breeds have done this, they don't know a baby isn't a toy.

Has anyone heard of and English Bulldog being aggressive like this? I plan on having at least one more baby and I know how Bear plays with my son. No matter the animal I would keep my infant under a watchful eye but still. Just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on the subject.

 

[kazzy220]

It's so difficult to say ...... as far as an english bulldog being involved in this .. no I haven't heard any stories. Although, there is a story of an american bulldog attacking a toddler that was in the news recently.

I can't see how a dog would even think of a baby being a toy - a dog has animal instincts and would know that this was a living and breathing creature and not a piece of plastic.

Without knowing the dog in the past, I don't think anybody will ever truly know - it's just a terrible shame that it is a pitbull that has done this. Once more it's going to give every pitbull a bad name when I still believe that pitbulls are just the same as other dogs and it's the pitbull owners that are usually 99.9999% the ones who are to blame.

 

[Libra926]

It could be any dog. I have a facebook friend (Vegas' account) who's little one got bit in the face by the Bulldog. She got rid of the dog because of it. My personal friend has a pitbull that I'm afraid of. He's growled and shown his teeth around me. He is also intact...but she just has a baby a few years ago and Grip lets Trey climb all over him. They are best friends. I think each dog is an individual case. Some dogs take to being "mothers" while others don't.

 

[cali~jenn]

It is such a sad/scary thing to have happen to anyone and I agree it could be any dog that does it. I personally would NOT leave a newborn unsupervised with ANY dog because in the end dogs are animals and you have to respect that. When my daughter was little and I wanted to give her some tummy time and be able to leave the room I put her in a play pen where the boys couldnt trample her. This was my main concern since Cutty is a bull in a china shop but you never know how a dog will react to a baby. Now I know they are great friends and if she climbs on Cutty at most he will grumble to get my attention and I get her off.

 

[izstigspunks]

I agree with everyone. It's mostly due to the owners how their dog behaves. What a coincidence that this topic was brought up because I just saw a Dog Whisperer ep this past weekend that took a survey on what breed most people think are the most aggressive. I think it came to be the Pit Bull, German Shephards and Rottweilers. Cesar Milan says that any dog can be agressive and it's all up to the owner to train him how not to be.

But as what you all have mentioned, until I can tell how our bullies will behave around children, I wouldn't leave them alone together.

 

[lexterwayne]

i wonder if has been around kids before? just how aggressive that dog was? when have you ever heard of someone saying o ya my pit is aggressive??? every owner will deny it being aggressive!!!
IT ALL COMES BACK TO THE OWENERS!!!! i dont care what anyone says it all depends on how the owener has raised the dog!!

my brother had a friend give him a full blooded hunting lab, he was gorgeous well he had him for about a yr and i was at his house laying in the floor w him cuddling i went up to pet him on his head and he went to bite my hand and growling at me. well i jumped up and when i did i put my self in the corner of the room cause of where i was laying. he was just staring and growling at me good thing my ex bf was w me cause he kept yelling at him trying to get his attention when he finally did he just started wagging his tail like nothing happened. when i moved to get out of the corner he started growling at me. my ex put him outside and we called my brother "he was at his gf house" and he said he was on his way home.. well a yr later i moved in w my brother and the dog still growled at me, well whne my brother went out of town i had to feed him, well he became my best friend after that week. "dont bite the hand that feeds you" well a fews years later he had turned on my brother, growled at my dad and my youngest step sister. he finally found someone that would take him!!! when my brother had him he was never abused mistreated anything, so where thinking something had to have happened with the previous owner. you can never trust an animal!!!

 

[gatorfan85]

That happened here in Jax. The baby ws 3 days old and the parents left the room for whatever reason. You have to be CAREFUL!!!! Idk what kind of dog it is pit or toy poodle. Babies smell like poo, they cry and make crazy noises and if your dog is not use to this and not use to the smell. That dog is going to do something out of the ordinary. Before i brought my son home when we had our deaffie DC I had my son take home a blanket of the babies so he could get use to the babies scent. Being that he couldnt hear noises were not an issue but the strangeness of somthing/someone knew worried me. We did meet and greats thru the crib and while I was holding the baby the first couple of months and he slept by the babies crib. I wouldn't have EVER left them alone together. I don't even leave him alone with my fur-kids now because you never know.

 

[froggz]

Did the article say how the baby was killed? I can actually see the baby getting laid on and suffocated more than I can see it getting attacked.

Its all the individual dogs though. Small breeds actually bite more people per year than larger breeds though. Since the wounds never more than a small puncture people don't report it the way they do when its a larger dog.

I've worked with a multitude of dog breeds while I volunteered at the humane society and I have to say I felt the safest with the pitbull and pit mixes. In addition to the eb Sadie both of my other two boys are pit mixes. I wouldn't have it any other way either. I've been bitten by many of the little dogs like rat and jack russel terriers, dachshunds, min pins, and even the lap dogs like shih tzu's, chiuahuahs, pekenese, and the multitude of "hybrid dogs" aka mutts. I've only been bitten by one larger dog and that was a golden lab. I'm not a fan of labs either.

Michael Vick's dogs PROVED to the world without a doubt that pitbulls are not a vicious dog. They are loyal and determined to make their master happy. Some of his dogs have even went on to become service and therapy dogs.

The other reason pit bites are so prevalent in the news is that so many people own pitbulls compared to twenty or thirty years ago. There are also alot of dogs that are being incorrectly labled as pits or pit mixes due to the size of their head or body. I can tell you from experience you get a dog that looks like a pitbull when you cross a saint bernard with a fox terrier. Although it looks like a pitbull, it is not a pitbull.

Another thing to consider is breeding. If the dog is of poor bloodlines that DOES have ALOT to do with temperament of the dog! Taking the puppy away from its mother before 8 weeks can and does also contribute to aggressive behaviour. Most of the time this appears through fear agression.

 

[LisaRN]

always remember..an animal is just that, an animal. My shih tzu has bitten twice. Once several years ago on the lip and the other a couple months ago on the eye. Both times he got spooked. Chester on the other hand is a gentle giant. Though, I would never trust any animal - not even a cat around a baby or small child.