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Amidst all the debate, one thing springs to my mind: I cannot be the only one who cringes in horror when seeing those supposedly "cute" photos of very young babies snuggled up, face-to-snout with a dog (any dog). It's not cute to me. It's dangerous, no matter the breed, past temperament or degree of training. A friend of mine sent out a photo of her Cocker Spaniel curled against her 3-month-old baby, who was wrapped up in the dog's legs. Terrifies me.
Your not.
I have owned a lot of dogs over my years including multiple Rotties, chow, pitts, GSD and various and sundry breeds and mixed breeds. Most of my dogs have been/are as trustworthy as any dog could be but I would never, ever lay a baby with one of them or let a child near their face or leave a child alone with them. Sadly people forget or dont understand that they are dogs and not furry humans but just like humans they have the capacity to snap, to be triggered by something an act out of character, become aggressive and cause harm not out of willful malice but instincts.
Your not.
I have owned a lot of dogs over my years including multiple Rotties, chow, pitts, GSD and various and sundry breeds and mixed breeds. Most of my dogs have been/are as trustworthy as any dog could be but I would never, ever lay a baby with one of them or let a child near their face or leave a child alone with them. Sadly people forget or dont understand that they are dogs and not furry humans but just like humans they have the capacity to snap, to be triggered by something an act out of character, become aggressive and cause harm not out of willful malice but instincts.
Couldn't agree more. A baby daughter of one of my mother's friends was badly disfigured by their St. Bernard after the baby bit the dog's tongue. That breed often lets their tongues hang out of their mouth.
Yes, in the beginning. As well pups from these wolves were domesticated but there has been centuries of selective breeding and domestication to get the hundreds of dog breeds we have now and as well develop desired traits. Where I believe modern dog is well removed from the wolf, dog still retains its primal instincts. As I believe humans do. Some more so than others.
Of course. Dogs are inbreed or crossbred to achieve desired traits. Some are genetically more aggressive and others are more dangerous just by their physical size and strength. IMO chihuahuas and some other small dogs are more aggressive than a APT, which were actually bred NOT to be aggressive, but given the difference in their size, strength and tenacity the APT is more dangerous. If chihuahuas were large, muscular dogs they would be quite the contender.
I agree. Children too.
Me and a buddy used to joke that pound for pound a Chuaua is the most viscious dog, and what would happen if we put ones brain in a much bigger dog, and it realized it was 40x bigger than it used to be.
Your not.
I have owned a lot of dogs over my years including multiple Rotties, chow, pitts, GSD and various and sundry breeds and mixed breeds. Most of my dogs have been/are as trustworthy as any dog could be but I would never, ever lay a baby with one of them or let a child near their face or leave a child alone with them. Sadly people forget or dont understand that they are dogs and not furry humans but just like humans they have the capacity to snap, to be triggered by something an act out of character, become aggressive and cause harm not out of willful malice but instincts.
It seems like outside of a few cases, med-large dogs are good with/tollerate/ aware that kids and babies are kids and babies. The smaller dogs seem to hate kids and though a few larger dogs have mauled/killed a few kids, I'm certain that attacks, and bites from smaller dogs out number them. I have an uncle...or my moms uncle...most of us call him uncle anyway, has had a Rott named shiela forever, she seemed to be tempermental but not really. Never heard her barknor growl, she mostly roamed around the back yard and laid around. The reason I say tempermental because I would pet her whenever she got close, I was a kid, he said I shouldn't bother her too much, but she never as much growled or wagged her tail...just seemingly indifference. We only ever eent over during cookouts, so she wasn't bothered by a lot of people either.
I think the factors are:
Owner
Inbreeding
crossbreeding
age
Enviroment.
Some people are crappy owners, inbreeding which happens a lot with pitt bulls, well dogs aren't supposed to be inbred, you end up with things like kid killers and teacup chuahahas. Mixing certain breeds, can cause aggressiveness, and some dogs(dalmations) get onry as they age, especially they don't see well, or something.
I had a boarder collie and as she got older, she started to hate kids, especially being crowded around her, and she's been to parks, even off leash countless times. She didn't like certain dogs as she got older. It was kinda hard keeping kids away from her, she had to get aclimated first, you couldn't just walk up and pet her. I miss that dog, we grew up together, she could be so snarky sometimes,anybody else have their dog give them backtalk?
Classic nature vs nurture. Nurture seems to have a majority affect, and yet there are a smaller percentage of instances, in which nature overrides the nurture effect completely.
You know the saying when ever a dog like a "pitt bull" attacks somebody or mauls a child to death
people keep saying they're not bad dogs just bad owners?
What about bad kids / people that do very bad things? crime/ theft / violence / other
does the same rules apply? there are no bad people just bad parents / upbringing?
because Ive heard of stories about kids from good upbringing / good families & morals / church going / law abiding parents, but the kids still often end up growing up to be bad people?
so you cant always blame bad behavior on the pet owner / parents.
it seems some animals / people are just born bad / no good people
Or... the kid could turn out good even if his/her parents are bad
If, the parents were super good, it's still possible if the kid does something bad - other influences are present. I've heard the saying, something similar to "love the kid but don't like what they did".
I'm beginning to think of that movie Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy was in and the $1.00 bet by the Duke brothers.
While upbringing in the case of children and socialization and training in the case of dogs are both HUGE factors in the end result I think genetic plays a significant role in both along with the mental stability of the individual in question.
The ocassional truly "bad seed" inspite of the best efforts is probably suffering from some type of compromised/abnormal brain functioning/chemistry that effects reasoning and impulse control.
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