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Would you let your baby and dog do this?

When we raised Great Pyrs, I had no problem with them playing with kids. I often took them to the park and let them play with the kids in the sandbox. The mothers were usually deep in conversation at the picnic tables and didn't notice til the kids started giggling. They would start to freak out as the kids pulled ears and tried to stick their heads in the dog's mouth but, I'd tell them, 'don't worry, I fed them this morning.'
 
Both my dogs (shepherd-collie mix and pit-lab mix) are very gentle my daughter since she was born. They let her pull their ears, tail and fur and at the very most they'll whine a little after a while.
 
they can snap at anytime... NO. I watch the dog like a hawk if he gets near the kids (parents' dog who I used to live with)... I love the dog too but you just never know. My previous dog snapped once and bit me... small little terrier. Point is, one moment can cost for life and I'm not going to let them play unsupervised.
 
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My son used to try to ride my dog like a horse...the dog didn't like it much though because she's old and has bad hips so we would always discourage our son from doing that. The dog would never hurt him intentionally though, other than stepping on his bare feet every once in a while (because she's a big clumsy dog) she's never hurt him or our cat.

I wouldn't let a dog do that around a newborn though.
 
Yes:

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They've been best friends since she was a baby. The dog has never, ever acted aggresively. Her 10 month old sister crawls all over the dog too. If he's had enough, he'll walk to another part of the room. The only time he has ever even knocked her over is when they're playing with a ball outside 😀
 
Dogs are not unpredictable monsters. Properly raised dogs have no problems around babies. Learn to raise your pet right or don't get one.
 
Vonkhan said:
Both my dogs (shepherd-collie mix and pit-lab mix) are very gentle my daughter since she was born. They let her pull their ears, tail and fur and at the very most they'll whine a little after a while.
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my black lab was the same with all 3 of my kids. and very protective of them when new people were in the house. not aggressive, but were always there if the new people went close to the kids. best dog i ever had.
 
Usually it's the dog I'm more worried about. Poor mutt has taken her share of sippy cup whacks to the head and unintentional steps to the tail. She's usually the one running away from the kid.

🙂
 
Our top bitch was a great baby sitter. We used to watch the neighbor's two year old girl and she loved to play with the knobs on the TV (this being the dark ages when TVs had knobs). We told our dog not to let the baby play with the TV and every time the little girl would try to go to the TV, the dog would nose her away and push a ball or other toy over in front of her to play with.

The dog also knew the rules to tag and hide-n-seek.

Some dogs do snap but, the only folks who are surprised when it happens are people who lack the ability to observe the dog's temperament.
 
rh71 said:
they can snap at anytime... NO. I watch the dog like a hawk if he gets near the kids (parents' dog who I used to live with)... I love the dog too but you just never know. My previous dog snapped once and bit me... small little terrier. Point is, one moment can cost for life and I'm not going to let them play unsupervised.
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Little dogs like a terrier are vermin and should not be included in the same species as normal dogs. A normal dog, properly trained and socialized, will not "snap at anytime".
 
As long as there is supervision, sure.

my geman shephard was uber gentle around my infant nephews, even other people's infants. she snapped once when she was around 12 years old and the 3 year old jumped on her hind quarters while she was laying down. she had severe arthritis so i have to imagine that fucking hurt. still, that's the parent's failure, not the dogs. Someone jumps on me when I have hip dysplasia I'll belt them a good one too.

But a healthy normally friendly family dog playing with your kids, as long as there is supervision, is fine. I wouldn't leave an infant unattended with a dog, obviously, and I also wouldn't be comfortable with my infants in that position with a stranger's dog. Your dog can smell that the kids are part of the pack, so to speak. Other kids are merely tolerated.
 
surfsatwerk said:
Little dogs like a terrier are vermin and should not be included in the same species as normal dogs. A normal dog, properly trained and socialized, will not "snap at anytime".
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well, no more than any animal alive. Technically, a human could "snap at anytime" at work and go on a shooting spree. Doesn't mean you don't hire humans. Just don't hire postal workers, duh. I don't have the statistics but I bet more parents hurt or kill their kids than the family dog.
 
surfsatwerk said:
Little dogs like a terrier are vermin and should not be included in the same species as normal dogs. A normal dog, properly trained and socialized, will not "snap at anytime".
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Every time I agree with you, a little part of me inside dies.
 
I let my son interact a lot with my dogs and cats and trust them to not do anything malicious. However, I know that my chocolate lab can get excited at times and be too rough. There've been times when I've been lying down with my head leaning on her, and she's gotten startled and jumped up really quickly hurting my neck and often stepping on me. If she did that with an 8mo, she could do some serious damage. Therefore, we always supervise, but they've all been great with him so far.
 
I been through several dogs throughout my life... all labs and/or retrievers. They've never shown any hostility, or 'snapping' as others have seen in other breeds. I'd feel pretty safe having my dogs around any child that's old enough to crawl, but of course still keep an eye out. After a couple years old though, kids are big enough to not have any worry around larger dogs IMO.
 
if you wanna risk it, thats your choice, but don't be sad if something tragic happens. yeah its cute and fun to watch them play but is it worth it? in the end, it is an animal, and you can't truly know and control it.
 
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