“My Son’s Life And Safety Is More Important To Me”: Mom Refuses To Let MIL Babysit Her Baby
While some people consider their dogs to be their fur babies, we have to admit that no matter how much we love them, they’re not exactly the same as human babies. And even though it might be safe to put two human infants in the same room to play, there are a few more risks associated with leaving a dog and a child together.
Due to concerns for her child’s safety, one mom recently shared on the Parenting subreddit that she won’t let her mother-in-law babysit anymore if she refuses to lock up her dog. Below, you’ll find the full story, as well as some of the replies sympathetic readers have left her.
This mom has requested that her mother-in-law keep her pit bull separate from her son while babysitting
Image credits: Makarand Sawant (not the actual photo)
But because she refuses to lock her up, the mom decided she doesn’t deserve to babysit her little one
Image credits: Sandra Seitamaa (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Liza Summer (not the actual photo)
Image credits: desertrose156
Pit bulls are responsible for more fatalities than any other dog breed
It’s no secret that many of us consider our dogs to be members of the family. We share a special bond with them, and we love them with our whole hearts. But when it comes to introducing them to children, we have to look at the situation rationally. You may view your dog as your precious little baby, but they have the capacity to bite and scratch much more easily than a human baby, and we can’t always be sure what exactly will trigger them.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control, more than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs in the US every year, and at least half of those bitten are kids. Unfortunately, pit bulls are often the culprits for violence directed towards humans. Between 2005-2020, dog injuries and attacks killed 568 Americans, and of these fatalities, pit bulls were responsible for two thirds of them.
Pit bulls are also the most dangerous breed for children to be around. Despite the fact that pit bulls make up less than 6% of the dogs in the US, in 2019, they were responsible for killing 10 out of the 16 kids who died due to dog attacks. And after a baby and toddler were tragically mauled to death by their family’s pit bulls in 2022, there has been much debate about whether anyone should be owning the breed.
Experts recommend never leaving small children and dogs together unsupervised
Pit bulls are not the only breeds that parents are advised to keep away from small children. In fact, having any dogs around babies and toddlers can pose a risk. The RSPCA warns parents to never leave their baby and dog together unsupervised, no matter how much you trust your dog.
When a new family member comes along, it disrupts the dog’s routine, and they may receive less attention. They’re not as used to your baby as they are to you, and they may display behavior you’ve never seen before. They can even accidentally cause harm without realizing how heavy and strong they are or how sharp their teeth and nails are. Turning your back for a second when your dog and child are together simply poses too big of a risk.
According to Andrew O’Shea, veterinarian and animal behavior specialist from the Sydney Animal Behaviour Service, some of the factors that contribute to dogs attacking babies are: new smells, loud noises, staring, unpredictable movements, unfamiliarity and jealousy. But thankfully, we can usually prevent dog bites and attacks by taking simple precautions.
By taking precautions, most dog attacks and bites can easily be prevented
“Any dog has the potential to injure children. Any dog has the potential to bite. Any dog should be supervised around children until the child is at least eight years of age,” O’Shea told the Sydney Morning Herald. Kids also need to be taught how to appropriately approach and interact with dogs. They need to be gentle and considerate, which might be challenging for young children to understand at first.
Parents also should teach their little ones that dogs need their space, just like anyone else. If they’re eating or sleeping, they should be left alone. Learn how to recognize when is an appropriate time to try to play. It’s also important to know when a dog is uncomfortable and to be able to recognize signs of fear or anxiety. Aggression usually comes from fear in dogs, so bites can usually be preventable if owners pay attention to the signals their dogs are giving off.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. How would you respond to the mother-in-law if you were in this mom’s position? Feel free to share, and then if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article discussing dog attacks, we recommend checking out this one next!
Readers shared support and suggestions for the mother, and she joined in on the conversation
And others continued to assure the mom that her concerns were valid
Pitt bulls are illegal in some places and there’s a reason. I’ll admit and I expect to be down arrowed for this, but I’m kind of racist towards certain dog breeds and pit bulls are one of those breeds I don’t like. I don’t care how sweet they are if you show me a pic I cringe. They look intimidating and when I see one in person I’m scared and am very careful with how I walk or even look at them. I wish they weren’t such a hyped breed to own. With that being said even the best behaved dog is still a lot bigger than a baby and anything could happen. He could get too excited and whip him with his tail. It’s just best not to allow a baby around one for everyone’s safety
I love pitbulls. I have a pitbull mix. I would never let him around children, other animals and complete strangers. He was abused as a puppy and isn't wired right. It's for my dog's protection more than anything. I love him so much and would feel horrible if something happened to someone and animal control came for him. MIL needs a reality check and needs to better protect her grandson AND her dog.
I love pits, but they should never be left with a kid unsupervised and shouldn't be around small toddlers. They have a pretty big prey drive like a lot of large dogs, but their bite force is too big to save a toddler if something happens.
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Pitbulls deserve the bad reputation they have. Its not a smear campaign. 2/3 of all fatal dog bites are pitbulls and 47% of all dog bites that end up in an emergency room are pitbulls. There are 199 other recognized breeds but 1 causes most of the issues. Check out dogsbite.org if you want to know more about your breed.
Just as Soviet scientist Dmitry Belyaev started selectively breeding foxes for tameness in the famous "silver fox" experiment in the late 1950s at his Institute of Cytology and Genetics you could selectively breed for aggression by selecting the most aggressive dogs and discarding the most docile ones from the breeding pool. Soon, in a relatively short time, you would end up with litters of more aggressive dogs. This is what unscrupulous people choose to do with these breeds. They are often criminals who want an intimidating looking dog. It is foolish to pretend that genetic traits don't exist. Certain breeds are picked for guide dogs as they are docile & trainable, collies because of an innate desire to herd etc. People will breed these dogs with aggressive traits & then develop it, nature & nurture. It's always the people who are the true cause but pretending these dogs aren't behind the most serious attacks would be denying facts.
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There's so many dog breeds with minimal danger risk, so why own a pitbull or dangerous breed? Sure any dog can bit, but most might just barely break the skin. Dangerous breeds instinctually maul to kill. There's no way I would ever own a breed with that sort of risk, and certainly not have them around young children who may accidentally antagonize them.
My mother has always had a thing about West Highland White Terriers. My sister was bitten by her westie as a baby but she kept it and it bit me too. She bought one for my birthday when I was 7 and that dog hated children and bit one of our friends. When my daughter was a few weeks old we were visiting and the one she had then tried to bite her because it didn’t want her grandad holding a baby instead of him. They are very small dogs. Nobody thinks a small white fluffy dog is going to hurt anyone and nobody takes it seriously when they do. My mother is now in an assisted living facility where pets are allowed. She wants another. My sister, brother and I have all said there’s no chance we would buy one.
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Kids are also unpredictable walk like they are drunk..and dogs hate that...it frightens them then they bite
Although I expect to receive some heat for this ... I still cannot get around two facts: first of all, training and education have a massive impact on dogs' behaviour. I know that, I won't ever try not to recognize this. Second, genetics have a massive impact on dogs' behaviour. The selective breeding never was limited to physical properties, but always included behaviour as well. The pit this bull was bred for - the name isn't some randommery - is a place used to have dogs fight lethal fights. I'd never even suggest euthanizing a single one of them due to their breed, but I'd also not advise to continue breeding every breed of dog. Some are bred to be sick upon birth, by restrictive airways and such ... and some are bred to be more aggressive, among these are pitbulls. While existing dogs are not to blame, humans should, in regard to any and every breed of any and every animal, reconsider breeding, and stop breeding certain ones if the things bred into them are more likely to hurt themselves or others. There are several pitbulls never doing anybody any harm, but the likelihood of that happening still is higher than in other dogs - because it was one of the original goals in breeding them and defining the breed. Stop breeding them? I don't see why that should not be open to debate at the very least. Are there any valid reasons to breed pitbulls in the first place? I doubt so.
As they currently are being bred, no. But much like there are breeders out there working to "fix" dog breeds that have physical characteristics that cause them health problems (by breeding only those who least exhibit those traits or by cross breeding and making new "mixed" breeds with the goal of eliminating negative traits) the same could in theory be done behaviorally. Breed the least aggressive pit bulls instead of the most aggressive ones. But that's the only way I'd imagine it'd be fine to keep breeding them.
Load More Replies... “ We have to protect our babies, and sometimes that's protecting them from people who love them”. I do not see evidence that the grandmother loves the child. She puts the (temporary) needs of her dog over the safety of her own grandchild. She puts her own pigheaded determination to have her own way over the needs of her own grandchild. This is not an indication of love.
The grandmother cares more about her dogs than she does about her grandchildren. So don't bring around any kids to distract her from the true loves of her life.
I do t think that’s quite accurate. It’s more true to say that she cares more about her dog than she cares about children and grandchildren combined.
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I have a Rottie and a Karakachan.... I don't have any children around me as I live in Bulgaria and my kids and our grandchildren/great granchildren live in the UK. I don't know how my two very large dogs would react to kids but I do know the Rotti has a high prey mood with my chickens so I would not like to risk kids around her!
I have an amazing pibbles mix that is basically a fat mama dog and my son is her child, but I would never leave her and him alone together. It is really for both of their safety. She can get really playful (no biting history) and gets rough, but also she needs her boundaries respected from my toddler as well. It's just basic common sense.
The breed of the dog isn't the issue. No children under the ago of 5 should be left alone with any kind of pet. Animals have boundaries, just like humans, and overstepping those boundaries can cause even the most docile animal to aggression and violence. My little brother was mauled by a toy poodle when he was a toddler because he kept trying to pat her even after she growled. It's better for both the child and the pet to be kept apart.
Absolutely right. One of the times I was bitten by a dog was when I was 4 years old and had been warned not to touch a German Shepherd. I was a bright kid so my parents and their friends who owned the dog thought I would listen. I didn’t. When he bit me the owners blamed the dog. My parents knew better.
Load More Replies... Parents do not train their kids to respect animals. People think it's cute to have a kid climb all over the dog, grab the cat, etc. Then, when the kid gets bitten, it's all the dog's fault and it's usually killed. Pets are not stuffy toys for kids to throw around and poke in their eyes. I've worked in an ER, and the kid was always the initiator of any abuse.
The "Pitbull" breed used to be called The Nanny Dog. They are the world's most misunderstood dog. They are the world's friendliest and most forgiving dog. I have been bitten twice in my life by dogs and both bites were caused by Chihuahuas (I trust those demons disguised as a dog less than I trust gas station sushi).
Some colleagues and I used to call Chihuahuas "piranhas".
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We had to teach our herding dog not to herd. He'd always try to herd people who left the group back the "flock", so friends visiting the house and so on. He learned but you could tell he didn't like it, just like he disliked us being spread out over the house, he was much happier when we all were together so he could guard us properly.
I'm terrified of dogs that I don't know. I made the mistake of taking a scan of that r/BanPitBulls subreddit someone suggested. Jeez. My now-ex's friend married a woman with two small children. He had two pit bulls who were generally very sweet, but I was STILL afraid of them. They went at each other and drew blood when my son was feeding them. I said my son could not go over there alone any more. Then one day they fought so badly that even spraying with a hose and hitting one with a shovel didn't separate them. After that, the wife said the dogs had to go. My ex and the dog's owner thought she was being a b***h. I couldn't believe that they thought she was overreacting and didn't care about the true danger to the little kids. I still can't believe it.
You and the friend’s wife are absolutely right. If the dogs are fighting enough to draw blood and cannot be separated they should not be in a home with children. I think it’s really sad that you are afraid of dogs that you don’t know though. Speak to the people with the dogs. Ask if they are friendly and if they are ok with strangers. Most dogs with decent humans love affection and attention. I met a family with an American Bulldog a few hours ago. She was beautiful but the couple warned me that if I started stroking her she wouldn’t want me to stop. Most people and dogs are good.
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The problem.is they've been being poorly bred for negative traits for many generations and it's more likely there will be issues.
My boyfriend has a super sweet pit bull but, I would never let him near a baby.
Pits are great dogs and often excellent with children. All of my rotts have been as well, and I 100% trusted them (aside from a clumsy bump with their butts)... however, you have to socialize them to be calm and respectful! This is not common unfortunately with many dog owners. "Excitment" can easily turn into prey drive, dominance, or aggression. This is a huge issue with dog owners: "oh they're just excited!"; "well Rebecca, you can't let your dog be at a level 10, and not expect a level 10 reaction "... it's not the dog's nor the breed's fault; I've seen way nastier poodles than I have pits in behavioral rehab! Owners are just not good at guidance often, and they end up reinforcing an unwanted behavior.
I was a vet tech for 16 years, and always said I would rather reach into a cage for a Pit Bull than for a Chihuahua any day.
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It's not just pitbulls, it's any dog. Babies/toddlers and animals should never be alone together because toddlers are not gentle. Small dogs are the worst because they can be intimidated by anything bigger them then, but at least their mouths are small enough not to rip off a child's face in one bite. (Hubs has a friend with a stupid corgi/husky mix, thing's aggressive as heck, and he insists on taking it everywhere with him. He can't understand why I won't allow it in my house. Umm because it's aggressive maybe?) Any data found online can be skewed to support whichever side. Bully breeds and other large breeds have worse bites because of their jaw size and strength, not because of their "inherent aggressiveness" or "tendency to snap/turn on people for no reason" (all garbage I've head before). I wouldn't leave my child with a family member who lacks common sense and doesn't respect my boundaries regarding basic safety.
I agree. I forget when I happened, but I think it was a small pom that killed an infant. No dogs should be left unsupervised. The large dogs not being around toddlers/infants at all is because you won't save the baby if anything happens. If a small dog is being aggressive it's easy to pick it up and put it in another room. Even if your hand gets some small dog bites
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Having recently read the tragic article about the loveable, friendly, dorky family pit Bull destroying a couple's 2 young children, I think it would be the height of negligence to leave your babe in a home with a free roaming pit. It's not like there aren't hundreds of stories like that. Shame on the grandma.
I think it is important that children are introduced to how to behave around animals but in a supervised setting. The child is still learning how to pet animals gently so they shouldn't be around any animal without supervision or division or area. Seriously, just put the toddler in a playpen or the dog in a crate while they are in the same room. Make sure that the dog receives positive reinforcement when they act calm around the child, and understand that the animal has their own boundaries and triggers. It's the best way to have a healthy relationship between the two.
Young kids should not be unsupervised with ANY animal. They are too unco-ordinated (which can be scary) and 'petting' tends to be on the rough side bc of this, even if you're teaching them to be gentle. And they can't understand the little signs an animal makes to say 'that's enough' so they don't back off. We don't tend to have pitbulls in the UK but staffies are common (Staffordshire bulls) - my grandma had one when I was growing up and she was fantastic - but I was never allowed around her alone (as I wasn't around my other gran's Welsh terrier).
Pit Bulls are illegal in the UK and soon the XL Bully will be as well - the type responsible for the spate of horrific attacks and deaths. You are right about any animal being a risk, even a rabbit or hamster will bite if they think it necessary. The problem with Pit Bulls and Bully types is the sheer size and the fact that criminals and idiots will breed for aggression and then encourage that aggression - making those particular dogs very dangerous.
Load More Replies... I love dogs and I’ve never had a pit bull. It doesn’t matter how a dog is raised. As my vet once said, they are animals and sometimes instincts kick in. Pit bulls and some breeds like them can be the sweetest creatures BUT they are built with jaws that lock and are particularly deadly. Even if she says she will lock the dog up - DO NOT BELIEVE HER. Only allow her near your child if it is outside her house or you are present to know the dog is locked up.
Bully dogs don't have locking jaws, that's a myth. They do, however, have very strong jaws.
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The grandmother is out of line in this situation. The mother is simply trying to protect her baby and grandma is refusing to help with that. It only takes a few seconds for a dog to go from excited to dangerous. When I was a delivery driver, there was a customer that every single time I came to his house, his dog would run out and jump on me. He was curious about what I had in the bags. The last time he did that, he scratched me. I told my manager that I was not going to that house anymore. The customer had no control over his dog and this was a big dog. It wasn't a pitbull, but it was a big dog.
I had a cat that would just see what's up and stay away until any children (or others they didnt' trust) were gone, I have one that grew up with a baby and basically stays enthousiastic whatever madness happens (we intervened multiple times to protect him from tail-pulling etc), and we had one that loved kids and was enthousiastic until the second she got scared and she'd become a whirling ball of fur and claws (obviously not a cat to leave alone with any kid under 3). All same breed ("moggy"), so for dogs yes being a pitbull shouldn't make that much difference --- however an insane cat won't maim/kill you, yes scars and damage to maybe a retina.
I have never owned a dog but I have cats and I am very carefully watching if children comes, because their ways with cats are sometimes frightening. A couple were visiting with their toddler who hunted my then only cat. He tried to pull her ears and her tail and apparently poking her eyes out. I asked the parents to stop him, but they did nothing. When my cat finally scratched his hand in self defence they got very angry with her. I was so angry at them, that I said "Good kitty" before they packed up and left. I can easily imagine a child getting bitten by a dog because of such behaviour, because not all toddlers have natural gentle behaviour with animals.
I love my dogs to bits. I also know that kids can be really mean to dogs without trying. When we have kids over, I always make sure that the dogs have a safe place to hide where they can get away from the kids. I also supervise everything without distraction. I also have a nice kennel where the dogs can be happy all day if necessary. I try to look after the needs of all. If a guest or family member is uncomfortable with the dogs, I can put them up. If a young kid wants to play with the dogs, the answer is always no. If an older child wants to play with a dog, we get the ball, and the dog and I go with them to play fetch. Any dog can bite! I think smaller dogs bite more (Chihuahua) but their bites rarely need to be treated. Prevention is always best! If Grandma thinks her dogs are saints, then she will just have to meet you all on neutral territory if she wants to see her grandbaby. A nice restaurant would be perfect.
Yeah like my neighbors precious rescue pits that seemed fine til they dug under my fence and broke a gate into my mom and sisters property next to mine an mauled to death our outside cat of 17 years that was sleeping on top of a table. I tried to stop them and was screaming. My sister had to pry the dog off the cat. The wife from next door came to get them with no leashes carrying her newborn like doo doo doo nothing wrong. And when presented with the vet bill the wife just took it an drove off. Seriously I have to live next to this. Oh the wife left her husband and took one of the dogs (the female) and her baby she said wasn't his an left him alone and with the attack dog. Nothing was done. Was to quarantine for two weeks and two days later the dog was under my fence again an he walked into my yard to get it. Yeah ur dog really had a reason that second time to break into my yard. What if it was my niece n nephew babies out there when the dogs came? Look they snap. You ha
You have to protect that which cannot protect itself from these dogs.
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Bottom line, is that there ARE ALWAYS stories about Pitt bulls suddenly attacking. And OP knows the breed and how they r. Bottom line, this is OP's boundary and if MIL wants to babysit the kid for 3 hours once a week, she could do this. She's just trying to be difficult and create problems. This is NOT a big deal. I've put my cats away when certain kids come over. It's really NOT a big deal if it's something that's important to u
My little cousin was attacked by a "sweet, old dachshund" and almost lost his eye, has a permanent scar over his eyes now. His mother got a pit bull puppy to "help him fear less dogs" 🙄. The cousin that they got the puppy from? She thinks she is a dog trainer/breeder, and is definitely NOT. Her pitbull is constantly growling at her two little kids, and instead of separating and/or teaching the children to leave the dog alone when showing obvious "leave me alone" behavior, she yells at the dog and smacks her in the butt 😒🤬. I refuse to allow my excitable child-fearing dog near children under 10ish, even when their parents say things like "oh dont worry my kid LOVES dogs!!" Its not for my dogs protection, its for the childs.
I love all dogs, no matter what breed. We had 4 dogs when my daughter was born. None of them were ever left alone with her. Our friends had a British Bulldog and when we visited he sat by her and wouldn’t let anyone but us near her. We didn’t leave her alone with him either. Dogs are not dangerous because of their breed, they are made dangerous by bad people. On the other hand children, especially very small children, are dangerous where dogs are concerned. Even the kindest, sweetest dog in the world can be frightened by the screams of a small child, or can be hurt by having their ear pulled if they have an ear infection, or their tail pulled if it’s unexpected. Their automatic response is to use their teeth to stop whoever is hurting them because they can’t say NO. The child is not to blame and neither is the dog. It’s the adult who puts the two of them in that situation. This mum is absolutely right to not allow this and if her MIL doesn’t agree then she shouldn’t be allowed to take.
Pitbulls are fine. The breed isn't inherently aggressive. They can be the most wonderful, loving dogs. Admittedly they can be protective of their families, but all the bad reputations are a direct result of s****y owners. They are not inherently aggressive, and don't deserve the stigma.
Kids are still learning what is and is not acceptable behavior, they don't have a good grasp on boundaries at that age. Your kid probably would never intentionally harm your pet and your pet would probably never intentionally harm your child, but all it takes is a kid shoving their hand in an animal's face in a way they don't like for instinctual threat response to take over. When my grandparents got their last dog (old English sheepdog) she was difficult to train but one thing they managed to train her well on was when she was a puppy, they'd grab her face (not aggressively, just annoyingly), shove their hands in her food bowl, gently pull on her fur... because most of my cousins were young, and again, young kids do that sort of thing, so they wanted her to be used to that behavior and not respond aggressively. And it worked well. She was great with kids (just had to be careful because she didn't always know her own strength and could unintentionally knock a kid down). But they still made sure to tell any new kids (friends of my siblings and cousins, mainly) to be careful around her. y
The paws/toenails on big dogs can easily hurt a baby even while being sweet/playful/putting a paw up. Just the way it is. Best to keep them separate from tiny kids especially if they haven't been socialized to small children
I. Saw someone nearly lose a thumb to a fox terrier...and looked after a woman whose little finger waS amputated after a puppy bit her...a puppy ...
I find this to be an anti Pitt smear campaign. Doxies and Chihuahua have a bigger bite history. Pitts are actually nanny dogs.
The nanny dog thing is a myth created by a story in a newspaper. It was also never claimed about the Pit Bull but a Staffordshire bull terrier, a much smaller dog. For attacks on humans by dogs the Pit Bull IS the one with the highest number of attacks - you can google it and find it confirmed on many sites.
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Having a child climb all over a dog is bloody dangerous. You don't leave them unsupervised EVER - even being in another room "mother ran in and saw what was happening' is very telling. The dog doesn't know what's going on or why it's being treated like that. The dog might have been in pain or felt unwell. It's not always obvious and they get days where they don't feel good. Dogs growl because they're saying 'back off' and have no other way to tell you they're not happy or are scared. Dogs have boundaries, same as people. Of course dogs don't release - they've lost it in that moment. If dogs fight other dogs they might revert on the owner because they don't know what they're doing bar defending themselves. I'm truly sorry the child was hurt but letting that situation occur was poor parenting and poor dog ownership.
Load More Replies... Pitt bulls are illegal in some places and there’s a reason. I’ll admit and I expect to be down arrowed for this, but I’m kind of racist towards certain dog breeds and pit bulls are one of those breeds I don’t like. I don’t care how sweet they are if you show me a pic I cringe. They look intimidating and when I see one in person I’m scared and am very careful with how I walk or even look at them. I wish they weren’t such a hyped breed to own. With that being said even the best behaved dog is still a lot bigger than a baby and anything could happen. He could get too excited and whip him with his tail. It’s just best not to allow a baby around one for everyone’s safety
I love pitbulls. I have a pitbull mix. I would never let him around children, other animals and complete strangers. He was abused as a puppy and isn't wired right. It's for my dog's protection more than anything. I love him so much and would feel horrible if something happened to someone and animal control came for him. MIL needs a reality check and needs to better protect her grandson AND her dog.
I love pits, but they should never be left with a kid unsupervised and shouldn't be around small toddlers. They have a pretty big prey drive like a lot of large dogs, but their bite force is too big to save a toddler if something happens.
Load More Replies... Pitbulls deserve the bad reputation they have. Its not a smear campaign. 2/3 of all fatal dog bites are pitbulls and 47% of all dog bites that end up in an emergency room are pitbulls. There are 199 other recognized breeds but 1 causes most of the issues. Check out dogsbite.org if you want to know more about your breed.
Just as Soviet scientist Dmitry Belyaev started selectively breeding foxes for tameness in the famous "silver fox" experiment in the late 1950s at his Institute of Cytology and Genetics you could selectively breed for aggression by selecting the most aggressive dogs and discarding the most docile ones from the breeding pool. Soon, in a relatively short time, you would end up with litters of more aggressive dogs. This is what unscrupulous people choose to do with these breeds. They are often criminals who want an intimidating looking dog. It is foolish to pretend that genetic traits don't exist. Certain breeds are picked for guide dogs as they are docile & trainable, collies because of an innate desire to herd etc. People will breed these dogs with aggressive traits & then develop it, nature & nurture. It's always the people who are the true cause but pretending these dogs aren't behind the most serious attacks would be denying facts.
Load More Replies... There's so many dog breeds with minimal danger risk, so why own a pitbull or dangerous breed? Sure any dog can bit, but most might just barely break the skin. Dangerous breeds instinctually maul to kill. There's no way I would ever own a breed with that sort of risk, and certainly not have them around young children who may accidentally antagonize them.
My mother has always had a thing about West Highland White Terriers. My sister was bitten by her westie as a baby but she kept it and it bit me too. She bought one for my birthday when I was 7 and that dog hated children and bit one of our friends. When my daughter was a few weeks old we were visiting and the one she had then tried to bite her because it didn’t want her grandad holding a baby instead of him. They are very small dogs. Nobody thinks a small white fluffy dog is going to hurt anyone and nobody takes it seriously when they do. My mother is now in an assisted living facility where pets are allowed. She wants another. My sister, brother and I have all said there’s no chance we would buy one.
Load More Replies... Kids are also unpredictable walk like they are drunk..and dogs hate that...it frightens them then they bite
Although I expect to receive some heat for this ... I still cannot get around two facts: first of all, training and education have a massive impact on dogs' behaviour. I know that, I won't ever try not to recognize this. Second, genetics have a massive impact on dogs' behaviour. The selective breeding never was limited to physical properties, but always included behaviour as well. The pit this bull was bred for - the name isn't some randommery - is a place used to have dogs fight lethal fights. I'd never even suggest euthanizing a single one of them due to their breed, but I'd also not advise to continue breeding every breed of dog. Some are bred to be sick upon birth, by restrictive airways and such ... and some are bred to be more aggressive, among these are pitbulls. While existing dogs are not to blame, humans should, in regard to any and every breed of any and every animal, reconsider breeding, and stop breeding certain ones if the things bred into them are more likely to hurt themselves or others. There are several pitbulls never doing anybody any harm, but the likelihood of that happening still is higher than in other dogs - because it was one of the original goals in breeding them and defining the breed. Stop breeding them? I don't see why that should not be open to debate at the very least. Are there any valid reasons to breed pitbulls in the first place? I doubt so.
As they currently are being bred, no. But much like there are breeders out there working to "fix" dog breeds that have physical characteristics that cause them health problems (by breeding only those who least exhibit those traits or by cross breeding and making new "mixed" breeds with the goal of eliminating negative traits) the same could in theory be done behaviorally. Breed the least aggressive pit bulls instead of the most aggressive ones. But that's the only way I'd imagine it'd be fine to keep breeding them.
Load More Replies... “ We have to protect our babies, and sometimes that's protecting them from people who love them”. I do not see evidence that the grandmother loves the child. She puts the (temporary) needs of her dog over the safety of her own grandchild. She puts her own pigheaded determination to have her own way over the needs of her own grandchild. This is not an indication of love.
The grandmother cares more about her dogs than she does about her grandchildren. So don't bring around any kids to distract her from the true loves of her life.
I do t think that’s quite accurate. It’s more true to say that she cares more about her dog than she cares about children and grandchildren combined.
Load More Replies... I have a Rottie and a Karakachan.... I don't have any children around me as I live in Bulgaria and my kids and our grandchildren/great granchildren live in the UK. I don't know how my two very large dogs would react to kids but I do know the Rotti has a high prey mood with my chickens so I would not like to risk kids around her!
I have an amazing pibbles mix that is basically a fat mama dog and my son is her child, but I would never leave her and him alone together. It is really for both of their safety. She can get really playful (no biting history) and gets rough, but also she needs her boundaries respected from my toddler as well. It's just basic common sense.
The breed of the dog isn't the issue. No children under the ago of 5 should be left alone with any kind of pet. Animals have boundaries, just like humans, and overstepping those boundaries can cause even the most docile animal to aggression and violence. My little brother was mauled by a toy poodle when he was a toddler because he kept trying to pat her even after she growled. It's better for both the child and the pet to be kept apart.
Absolutely right. One of the times I was bitten by a dog was when I was 4 years old and had been warned not to touch a German Shepherd. I was a bright kid so my parents and their friends who owned the dog thought I would listen. I didn’t. When he bit me the owners blamed the dog. My parents knew better.
Load More Replies... Parents do not train their kids to respect animals. People think it's cute to have a kid climb all over the dog, grab the cat, etc. Then, when the kid gets bitten, it's all the dog's fault and it's usually killed. Pets are not stuffy toys for kids to throw around and poke in their eyes. I've worked in an ER, and the kid was always the initiator of any abuse.
The "Pitbull" breed used to be called The Nanny Dog. They are the world's most misunderstood dog. They are the world's friendliest and most forgiving dog. I have been bitten twice in my life by dogs and both bites were caused by Chihuahuas (I trust those demons disguised as a dog less than I trust gas station sushi).
Some colleagues and I used to call Chihuahuas "piranhas".
Load More Replies... We had to teach our herding dog not to herd. He'd always try to herd people who left the group back the "flock", so friends visiting the house and so on. He learned but you could tell he didn't like it, just like he disliked us being spread out over the house, he was much happier when we all were together so he could guard us properly.
I'm terrified of dogs that I don't know. I made the mistake of taking a scan of that r/BanPitBulls subreddit someone suggested. Jeez. My now-ex's friend married a woman with two small children. He had two pit bulls who were generally very sweet, but I was STILL afraid of them. They went at each other and drew blood when my son was feeding them. I said my son could not go over there alone any more. Then one day they fought so badly that even spraying with a hose and hitting one with a shovel didn't separate them. After that, the wife said the dogs had to go. My ex and the dog's owner thought she was being a b***h. I couldn't believe that they thought she was overreacting and didn't care about the true danger to the little kids. I still can't believe it.
You and the friend’s wife are absolutely right. If the dogs are fighting enough to draw blood and cannot be separated they should not be in a home with children. I think it’s really sad that you are afraid of dogs that you don’t know though. Speak to the people with the dogs. Ask if they are friendly and if they are ok with strangers. Most dogs with decent humans love affection and attention. I met a family with an American Bulldog a few hours ago. She was beautiful but the couple warned me that if I started stroking her she wouldn’t want me to stop. Most people and dogs are good.
Load More Replies... The problem.is they've been being poorly bred for negative traits for many generations and it's more likely there will be issues.
My boyfriend has a super sweet pit bull but, I would never let him near a baby.
Pits are great dogs and often excellent with children. All of my rotts have been as well, and I 100% trusted them (aside from a clumsy bump with their butts)... however, you have to socialize them to be calm and respectful! This is not common unfortunately with many dog owners. "Excitment" can easily turn into prey drive, dominance, or aggression. This is a huge issue with dog owners: "oh they're just excited!"; "well Rebecca, you can't let your dog be at a level 10, and not expect a level 10 reaction "... it's not the dog's nor the breed's fault; I've seen way nastier poodles than I have pits in behavioral rehab! Owners are just not good at guidance often, and they end up reinforcing an unwanted behavior.
I was a vet tech for 16 years, and always said I would rather reach into a cage for a Pit Bull than for a Chihuahua any day.
Load More Replies... It's not just pitbulls, it's any dog. Babies/toddlers and animals should never be alone together because toddlers are not gentle. Small dogs are the worst because they can be intimidated by anything bigger them then, but at least their mouths are small enough not to rip off a child's face in one bite. (Hubs has a friend with a stupid corgi/husky mix, thing's aggressive as heck, and he insists on taking it everywhere with him. He can't understand why I won't allow it in my house. Umm because it's aggressive maybe?) Any data found online can be skewed to support whichever side. Bully breeds and other large breeds have worse bites because of their jaw size and strength, not because of their "inherent aggressiveness" or "tendency to snap/turn on people for no reason" (all garbage I've head before). I wouldn't leave my child with a family member who lacks common sense and doesn't respect my boundaries regarding basic safety.
I agree. I forget when I happened, but I think it was a small pom that killed an infant. No dogs should be left unsupervised. The large dogs not being around toddlers/infants at all is because you won't save the baby if anything happens. If a small dog is being aggressive it's easy to pick it up and put it in another room. Even if your hand gets some small dog bites
Load More Replies... Having recently read the tragic article about the loveable, friendly, dorky family pit Bull destroying a couple's 2 young children, I think it would be the height of negligence to leave your babe in a home with a free roaming pit. It's not like there aren't hundreds of stories like that. Shame on the grandma.
I think it is important that children are introduced to how to behave around animals but in a supervised setting. The child is still learning how to pet animals gently so they shouldn't be around any animal without supervision or division or area. Seriously, just put the toddler in a playpen or the dog in a crate while they are in the same room. Make sure that the dog receives positive reinforcement when they act calm around the child, and understand that the animal has their own boundaries and triggers. It's the best way to have a healthy relationship between the two.
Young kids should not be unsupervised with ANY animal. They are too unco-ordinated (which can be scary) and 'petting' tends to be on the rough side bc of this, even if you're teaching them to be gentle. And they can't understand the little signs an animal makes to say 'that's enough' so they don't back off. We don't tend to have pitbulls in the UK but staffies are common (Staffordshire bulls) - my grandma had one when I was growing up and she was fantastic - but I was never allowed around her alone (as I wasn't around my other gran's Welsh terrier).
Pit Bulls are illegal in the UK and soon the XL Bully will be as well - the type responsible for the spate of horrific attacks and deaths. You are right about any animal being a risk, even a rabbit or hamster will bite if they think it necessary. The problem with Pit Bulls and Bully types is the sheer size and the fact that criminals and idiots will breed for aggression and then encourage that aggression - making those particular dogs very dangerous.
Load More Replies... I love dogs and I’ve never had a pit bull. It doesn’t matter how a dog is raised. As my vet once said, they are animals and sometimes instincts kick in. Pit bulls and some breeds like them can be the sweetest creatures BUT they are built with jaws that lock and are particularly deadly. Even if she says she will lock the dog up - DO NOT BELIEVE HER. Only allow her near your child if it is outside her house or you are present to know the dog is locked up.
Bully dogs don't have locking jaws, that's a myth. They do, however, have very strong jaws.
Load More Replies... The grandmother is out of line in this situation. The mother is simply trying to protect her baby and grandma is refusing to help with that. It only takes a few seconds for a dog to go from excited to dangerous. When I was a delivery driver, there was a customer that every single time I came to his house, his dog would run out and jump on me. He was curious about what I had in the bags. The last time he did that, he scratched me. I told my manager that I was not going to that house anymore. The customer had no control over his dog and this was a big dog. It wasn't a pitbull, but it was a big dog.
I had a cat that would just see what's up and stay away until any children (or others they didnt' trust) were gone, I have one that grew up with a baby and basically stays enthousiastic whatever madness happens (we intervened multiple times to protect him from tail-pulling etc), and we had one that loved kids and was enthousiastic until the second she got scared and she'd become a whirling ball of fur and claws (obviously not a cat to leave alone with any kid under 3). All same breed ("moggy"), so for dogs yes being a pitbull shouldn't make that much difference --- however an insane cat won't maim/kill you, yes scars and damage to maybe a retina.
I have never owned a dog but I have cats and I am very carefully watching if children comes, because their ways with cats are sometimes frightening. A couple were visiting with their toddler who hunted my then only cat. He tried to pull her ears and her tail and apparently poking her eyes out. I asked the parents to stop him, but they did nothing. When my cat finally scratched his hand in self defence they got very angry with her. I was so angry at them, that I said "Good kitty" before they packed up and left. I can easily imagine a child getting bitten by a dog because of such behaviour, because not all toddlers have natural gentle behaviour with animals.
I love my dogs to bits. I also know that kids can be really mean to dogs without trying. When we have kids over, I always make sure that the dogs have a safe place to hide where they can get away from the kids. I also supervise everything without distraction. I also have a nice kennel where the dogs can be happy all day if necessary. I try to look after the needs of all. If a guest or family member is uncomfortable with the dogs, I can put them up. If a young kid wants to play with the dogs, the answer is always no. If an older child wants to play with a dog, we get the ball, and the dog and I go with them to play fetch. Any dog can bite! I think smaller dogs bite more (Chihuahua) but their bites rarely need to be treated. Prevention is always best! If Grandma thinks her dogs are saints, then she will just have to meet you all on neutral territory if she wants to see her grandbaby. A nice restaurant would be perfect.
Yeah like my neighbors precious rescue pits that seemed fine til they dug under my fence and broke a gate into my mom and sisters property next to mine an mauled to death our outside cat of 17 years that was sleeping on top of a table. I tried to stop them and was screaming. My sister had to pry the dog off the cat. The wife from next door came to get them with no leashes carrying her newborn like doo doo doo nothing wrong. And when presented with the vet bill the wife just took it an drove off. Seriously I have to live next to this. Oh the wife left her husband and took one of the dogs (the female) and her baby she said wasn't his an left him alone and with the attack dog. Nothing was done. Was to quarantine for two weeks and two days later the dog was under my fence again an he walked into my yard to get it. Yeah ur dog really had a reason that second time to break into my yard. What if it was my niece n nephew babies out there when the dogs came? Look they snap. You ha
You have to protect that which cannot protect itself from these dogs.
Load More Replies... Bottom line, is that there ARE ALWAYS stories about Pitt bulls suddenly attacking. And OP knows the breed and how they r. Bottom line, this is OP's boundary and if MIL wants to babysit the kid for 3 hours once a week, she could do this. She's just trying to be difficult and create problems. This is NOT a big deal. I've put my cats away when certain kids come over. It's really NOT a big deal if it's something that's important to u
My little cousin was attacked by a "sweet, old dachshund" and almost lost his eye, has a permanent scar over his eyes now. His mother got a pit bull puppy to "help him fear less dogs" 🙄. The cousin that they got the puppy from? She thinks she is a dog trainer/breeder, and is definitely NOT. Her pitbull is constantly growling at her two little kids, and instead of separating and/or teaching the children to leave the dog alone when showing obvious "leave me alone" behavior, she yells at the dog and smacks her in the butt 😒🤬. I refuse to allow my excitable child-fearing dog near children under 10ish, even when their parents say things like "oh dont worry my kid LOVES dogs!!" Its not for my dogs protection, its for the childs.
I love all dogs, no matter what breed. We had 4 dogs when my daughter was born. None of them were ever left alone with her. Our friends had a British Bulldog and when we visited he sat by her and wouldn’t let anyone but us near her. We didn’t leave her alone with him either. Dogs are not dangerous because of their breed, they are made dangerous by bad people. On the other hand children, especially very small children, are dangerous where dogs are concerned. Even the kindest, sweetest dog in the world can be frightened by the screams of a small child, or can be hurt by having their ear pulled if they have an ear infection, or their tail pulled if it’s unexpected. Their automatic response is to use their teeth to stop whoever is hurting them because they can’t say NO. The child is not to blame and neither is the dog. It’s the adult who puts the two of them in that situation. This mum is absolutely right to not allow this and if her MIL doesn’t agree then she shouldn’t be allowed to take.
Pitbulls are fine. The breed isn't inherently aggressive. They can be the most wonderful, loving dogs. Admittedly they can be protective of their families, but all the bad reputations are a direct result of s****y owners. They are not inherently aggressive, and don't deserve the stigma.
Kids are still learning what is and is not acceptable behavior, they don't have a good grasp on boundaries at that age. Your kid probably would never intentionally harm your pet and your pet would probably never intentionally harm your child, but all it takes is a kid shoving their hand in an animal's face in a way they don't like for instinctual threat response to take over. When my grandparents got their last dog (old English sheepdog) she was difficult to train but one thing they managed to train her well on was when she was a puppy, they'd grab her face (not aggressively, just annoyingly), shove their hands in her food bowl, gently pull on her fur... because most of my cousins were young, and again, young kids do that sort of thing, so they wanted her to be used to that behavior and not respond aggressively. And it worked well. She was great with kids (just had to be careful because she didn't always know her own strength and could unintentionally knock a kid down). But they still made sure to tell any new kids (friends of my siblings and cousins, mainly) to be careful around her. y
The paws/toenails on big dogs can easily hurt a baby even while being sweet/playful/putting a paw up. Just the way it is. Best to keep them separate from tiny kids especially if they haven't been socialized to small children
I. Saw someone nearly lose a thumb to a fox terrier...and looked after a woman whose little finger waS amputated after a puppy bit her...a puppy ...
I find this to be an anti Pitt smear campaign. Doxies and Chihuahua have a bigger bite history. Pitts are actually nanny dogs.
The nanny dog thing is a myth created by a story in a newspaper. It was also never claimed about the Pit Bull but a Staffordshire bull terrier, a much smaller dog. For attacks on humans by dogs the Pit Bull IS the one with the highest number of attacks - you can google it and find it confirmed on many sites.
Load More Replies... Having a child climb all over a dog is bloody dangerous. You don't leave them unsupervised EVER - even being in another room "mother ran in and saw what was happening' is very telling. The dog doesn't know what's going on or why it's being treated like that. The dog might have been in pain or felt unwell. It's not always obvious and they get days where they don't feel good. Dogs growl because they're saying 'back off' and have no other way to tell you they're not happy or are scared. Dogs have boundaries, same as people. Of course dogs don't release - they've lost it in that moment. If dogs fight other dogs they might revert on the owner because they don't know what they're doing bar defending themselves. I'm truly sorry the child was hurt but letting that situation occur was poor parenting and poor dog ownership.
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