This will probably be easier for people with kids to answer but if you don't have kids, please answer hypothetically.

My sister has two little boys. One that is four and autistic and one that is two 1/2 and a wild man.
She also has two dogs that live inside. A lhasa apso and a great Pyrenees, The kids and the dogs do pretty much what they want - they have very few boundaries.
The GP has been somewhat of an issue for some members of my family since my sister had kids because he is allowed to do whatever he wants, he is so big that he knocks the kids down on accident sometimes, he jumps all over the place, etc. They got him when he was just a few days old and bottle fed him. He was their 'baby' for a long time. He tends to be a little jealous acting but is also very tolerant of the kids. The kids often jump on him and they pulled his air (mainly on accident) alot when they were younger. The dog ignores this behavior and is generally very good with them.
Last week my youngest nephew was tackling the GP and the GP bit him, apparently because my nephew jumped on him so hard that it hurt him. My sister says that it was a warning bite but because the dog has a broken tooth, it did more damage than it would have otherwise. The kid had to get four staples on his head and the dog had to be quarantined for ten days.
The dog is going to be released tomorrow and my sister and her husband have decided that they are going to keep the dog and things will go back to the way they are, except they are going to try to keep the youngest from being so rough with the dog. I'm worried about this because when the kids were younger they weren't allowed to roam around the house because of the dogs (they had three then) and were kept in a playroom or play yard so that the dogs couldn't accidentally hurt them. I think that they might go back to doing that to keep the kids safe, which I personally think is ridiculous. In the dogs defense, the kid really shouldn't have been allowed to tackle/jump on him and I think that his reaction was the dog being a dog. My personal belief is that you can't train an animal to not be an animal.

I can't get my head around this and although it isn't my decision to make I have been asking myself what I would do. I can't help but feel like my sister is making a mistake but I haven't been comfortable with this dog to begin with.

If this was your problem... what would you do?

Well, we don't have a dog.. this is kind of one of the reasons why, but we do have a cat.. After a coupelbad scratches on Anna, finally the worst being on her eyelid, the cat got declawed, or we would have gotten rid of her. Animals are animals, and will be animals. They will defend, and they don't understand, and can't be reasoned with. I don't have any advice, really, but personally don't trust any dogs around my child.. I can't imagine how scary it is for you to watch from an outisders point of view and seeing the bigger picture. It sucks.. they are lucky that he only needed a couple stitches.. but oy.. it could have been so much worse.. sigh, I don't even know what to say other then .. the situation sucks

I do not have any pets right now, but I grew up with dogs. I think this situation is sad and could have easily been avoided had both the kids and the animals been taught boundaries. Children should not be allowed to jump on animals or play too rough with them, and animals should be trained esp when they are going to be around children. It shouldn't be one free for all, which is what it sounded like.

The dog was defending itself, and will again. Sadly, if nothing changes in the house then I imagine the child could end up hurt again. If they are not willing to get the dogs trained and teach the children appropriate behavior, then they should find the dog another home.

Just my 2 cents.

Have you seen my ship?

You know, I really don't know. I don't have kids so I can't answer this. I had like a 3 page post typed out and I was finishing up I changed my mind about what I was saying. I'm still going back and forth about it.


I know this post don't help anything, but I typed too much to start with to not get a post in this thread.

Jamie and Charlene are the best people that I have never met.

I couldn't ask for better friends (even if some people think they are imaginary).

animals will be animals, kids will be kids

it doesn't always mix, and that's just something they're going to have to understand. if something like that happens one more time, they should get rid of the dog or the kid lol

quote:

women are like mustangs, there's plenty of them, a few are nice, the rest of them are unreliable, cost money, and make noise.

detooth the dog?

give him dentures.