A little aggressive and bitey, and not into being petted, but a wonderful guard animal.
Posted on 05/01/2012 4:32:59 AM PDT by Colonel Kangaroo
A baby boy has died after he was attacked by his family’s mastiff dog during his first birthday party.
A day after turning one, Jeremiah Eshew-Shahan was at his grandmother’s house in Las Vegas when he crawled over to the dog – a mastiff-rhodesian mix weighing about 120 pounds – and started to pet him. The dog then attacked the baby, sinking his teeth into Jeremiah’s head and shaking him...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The guy that has the cable show “Dog Whisperer” reintroduced many people to the concept of being the head of their pack when they had out of control dogs. It works.
Whispering to a horse or dog also works. I have no idea why but they really pay attention.
All of my animals are trained to respond to a conversational tone of instruction. No yelling as it is not needed.
>>frankly speaking, I find this sort of thought pattern in a human a bit bizarre. None of the people I know refer to their pack. <<
It’s the way dogs think, not humans.
>>Why is it so important to have a dog?<<
Because they are loyal and will listen to a child, love them and protect them when they are feeling that the world is against them. It teaches responsibility and compassion.
Hamsters don’t do that.
Well, I’m a dog lover, but don’t know that I am a dog ‘apologist’. I don’t believe this dog should be killed for acting like a dog. But, I would not be heart broken to see the end of breeds like pit bulls who are BRED for the purpose of fighting. I have personally seen the cutest little pit bull puppy who was afraid of stairs for crying out loud, and who was never abused a day in her life “turn on” when she hit about 2 years old (spayed, mind you), and start killing cats and then going for other dogs. I don’t trust pit bulls as far as I could throw one.
>>I seriously doubt this was about prey.<<
I didn’t say it was the motivation, I said dogs are prey animals. Their instinct is to clamp and shake.
They'll never be back.
>>But they do clearly display emotions. Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, jealously, & selfishness are all evident in dogs.<<
You’re assigning them human emotions. They are dogs and therefore have dog emotions. Run on instinct and not thought.
I love my dog, but she is a dog.
You, my FRiend are brilliant!
...so who would be liable for the baby’s death in this scenario? The grandmother for not securing her dog knowing a child was coming into the home? The parents for bringing their child into a home where the dog was present? There should be some jail time here...this child was killed by an ‘unsecured weapon’...
Often heard (especially dealing with a new baby and a family pet) about bringing the baby’s blanket so the dog can get used to the smell, attack the blanket and realize it’s no threat and ignore/accept the smell of the baby.
My Corgi wants to herd. It is what he was put on Earth to do. Unfortunately, when he sees a bunch of three-year-olds running around, they all begin to look like sheep to him.
His method of herding is to nip at the heels of the sheep. We have trained him to stop this when he is with us, but if we have a lot of kids around, that dog will not get the opportunity. He’ll be locked away. Training only goes so far.
“Dogs killing children is not common, but dogs injuring children severely enough to require the services of a plastic surgeos is a very common event. “
So common that I’ve never seen it happen.
Had dogs as a little kid. My kids were raised around dogs, and my grandkids are now. Not a mark on anyone.
A great many dogs consider kids something to protect at all cost, not something to attack.
At a year old, kids need constant supervision for everything. They also need to be taught how to interact with dogs, and the dogs need to be monitored for aggression. But done right, dogs provide kids constant, devoted friendship - just as they do adults.
A little aggressive and bitey, and not into being petted, but a wonderful guard animal.
That is beyond stupid...
Your pictures remind me of a grotesque sight that I saw at the West Palm Beach Farmer's Market. Big sign - NO DOGS (except service animals). Some old bat couldn't bear to be parted from her dog for the hour or so that it took to look at every single stall. She had her nasty little dog in a closed carrier like the picture on the left. I noticed the thing growling at some kids who were looking at it.
Well then of course if YOU haven't seen it it can't be common. Let me refer you to this link to hopefully ameloriate your ignorance on the subject. You can also google on the number of ER visits caused annually by dogs.
I made the mistake of clicking on a small picture of a little blond girl who had been attacked by a pit bull...a window opened up featuring a few pictures of her in a hospital bed before treatment...I didn't think any photo could be as gruesome as an aborted child.
Boy; was I ever wrong.
We always put the dogs in the basement whenever we have company over.
What people fail to realize is that Mastiffs and Ridgebacks were bred for a specific purpose(as were all purebred dogs).
Mastiffs date back to Roman times. They were working dogs bred to be used in battle. Ridgebacks are hounds bred to hunt lions in southern Africa. It is hard to take thousansds of years of breeding and change it into a housepet. Some dogs breeds in particular are not meant to be trusted , especially around small children.
It would be like taking a Jack Russel Terrier and having him watch your kids Hampster.
This one sure listened, loved and protected the child didn't it? I kind of thought that PARENTS were supposed to do this. What you're saying is that dogs fill some sort of emotional want rather than any rational justification.
***Dogs are dogs. They are prey animals.***
I believe you mean predator animals.
***I am also the lead horse of my herd and the horses are well aware of it. Spurs work.***
One of my co-workers had a stallion that killed a neighbor child. It made national news about 12 years ago.
I learned to watch animal body language and it kept me from getting hurt by cattle and my bull a few years ago.
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