Concerned Owners Advise Quora User Against Trusting Dog With Biting History To Be Around Newborn

They shouldn't leave their baby with a a dog unsupervised, regardless of whether the dog has a history of biting.

May

• Published in Interesting
• February 25, 2024

Dogs and babies share a special bond that's truly heartwarming. Spending time together creates a unique connection between them.

Whether it's a playful canine or a newborn, they both crave companionship and affection. The relationship your baby forms with your dog is truly remarkable and can offer numerous benefits for their growth and well-being.

Dogs have a magical way of bringing joy to babies' lives. Research even suggests that interacting with dogs can boost levels of serotonin and dopamine, the feel-good chemicals in our brains.

Plus, let's not forget how delightful it is to have a furry friend around! Beyond the adorable moments, studies indicate that babies raised with dogs tend to have fewer allergies and a stronger immune system.

Owners need to teach every dog how to interact gently with a baby right from the start. Dogs pick up on our cues and body language, especially around infants.

When showing your dog how to be around a newborn, maintain a calm and protective demeanor to help your dog learn to be sensitive and cautious. Early and regular socialization and training are the best ways to nurture a dog's protective and reliable behavior around infants.

If you encounter challenges that seem beyond your expertise, you can always ask the pros for help. Also, remember that no matter how well-behaved your dog is or how much your little one adores it, your dog should never be left alone with an infant or expected to act as a babysitter.

Safety should always come first for both your dog and your baby. In today's post, let's take a look at some of the dog owner's take when having dogs around a newborn, especially those with biting history.

This was the question posted on Quora:

Would you trust a dog around your newborn that has bitten and attacked another dog?

Most people wouldn't trust dogs around a newborn, including those that don't have a history of aggression.

I am a long time dog owner (we currently have five- two are pitbulls). I would not trust a dog that has bitten and attacked another dog.

As a mother and dog lover, I would be cautious with all dogs around my newborn. While the majority of dogs will give their life for you and your family, I would always be very careful not to leave my infant alone with the dogs.

A vicious dog cannot be trusted at all.

As so many answers have told you, you should not allow ANY dog unsupervised with a tiny baby. Many people are very clueless about dog body language.

I've seen videos on YT that purport to be a dog cutely engaging with newborn human, tiny kitten or what have you, when the dog is clearly much too interested in the small helpless squeaky creature. Your dog has infinitely faster reflexes than you do and can pounce on and administer a shake designed to break prey’s neck, before you could even react.

Dogs don't conceive of the world like you do, and can't be expected to understand the consequences of their actions. Even a generally very good natured dog can be cranky due to something like arthritis, and could snap out of character.

Dogs’ mouths are right at child face level, so even a mild snap could cause a serious injury.

Dogs can get in scraps over space or bones or lots of other things. I wouldn't use that criteria as a rule of danger of aggression to humans or babies.

I have a dog, an Akbash (a livestock guardian breed), who has often disciplined other dogs for trespassing on her resources, but she's quite trustworthy around kids. A vicious dog, however, is another matter, and shouldn't be trusted at all.

Every interaction will be supervised, according to this user.

I wouldn't trust anybody else's dog around my newborn, much less a dog known for attacking other dogs.

And I would be very, very careful with interactions between my own dogs and my newborn child until I was comfortable that the dogs accepted the baby.

And I would never leave my baby with a person who anthropomorphizes their pets and assigns their dogs magical, mystical qualities (Oh, but, Rex knows she's a helpless baby and would never hurt her.”). Or is quick to create excuses and blame the victim.

A baby having her face torn off because she pulled the dog’s ears is inexcusable. And the blame sits squarely on the shoulders of the pet owner who claimed, “Oh, but Rex knows she's a baby…”

Dogs that get too excited shouldn't be around newborns too much.

It all depends on the relationship that you have with your dog. If the dog is easily excited, you should probably be wary of too much ado in any situation.

Better safe than sorry. That being said, I’ve never had this type of trouble with any of my pets, but I do know some people who have had poor encounters with their children interacting with the pets.

A pro trainer's take:

I trained dogs professionally for 20 years. I would trust NO DOG around a new baby.

Small children/infants and pets should be supervised and you need to be especially vigilant when a new baby is brought in and the dog is not familiar with the sounds & scents it makes and that it will demand attention from the human/s that might have previously gone to the dog. I have 2 dogs, but as far as I know, neither has ever been around an infant.

They may or may not be good with one. Dogs can kill little kids, so do not leave a kid alone with one.

Never leave the baby alone with a dog.

I wouldn't trust ANY dog around a newborn, let alone one who's already bitten and attacked another dog.

However well you think you know your dog, you don't know how they might react on seeing a newborn baby, who seems to them, to be getting all your attention now.

Not all dogs become jealous, but you cannot take the risk.

The golden rule is to NEVER leave your baby and dog in the room together, while you're not there, not even for a minute.

Even dog lovers wouldn't easily trust a dog around a newborn.

Dog fanatic here. I wouldn’t trust dog around any newborn, baby or toddler.

It only takes a millisecond for something to go badly wrong.

A crying infant might trigger a dog's prey drive.

That doesn’t matter, very much at least. What do you mean”trust”?

You NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LEAVE AN INFANT/SMALL CHILD ALONE WITH A DOG! The crying and squirming of an infant, can trigger prey drive in ANY dog.

All interactions between small children, I don’t mean 17 year olds, must be supervised by a responsible adult. Since you asked this question, which any adult of triple digit IQ would know the answer to, I don’t think you are responsible enough to have either a child or a dog.

In such a situation, even well-behaved dogs can't be trusted.

I wouldn’t trust a dog of any sort around newborns. There is always an occasion when some set of circumstances don’t conform to expectations….

A user believes that a dog could get jealous of the baby.

Animals can get jealous when attention is shared. Keep the baby away Hold your baby and let the dog see you do not leave him out. Let him sniff the baby stuff .

Get a professional dog trainer to train the dog so he does not bite other dogs or use a muzzle in the house..

Having a dog with biting history around a newborn is just too risky.

You would have to be a moron to trust your newborn with ANY dog, period, never mind one that has attacked another dog.

The dog should always be supervised around a newborn.

No, I would keep the dog separate from the newborn, unless you are supervising the visitation with the dog and the baby!

Accidents could happen, so it's better to be safe than sorry.

“Hello!” That's the main reason because you were close to giving birth that's why your dog bit other dog.

Your dog was protecting you, HIS FAMILY. Yes you can def. Trust your dog around your infant.

Though that doesn't mean your dog is aware of tiny babies?

You have to observe your dogs behavior around your infant. For ex: make sure your dog doesn't roll over on baby or jump up on bed without looking first?

Some dogs are more aware and gentle than others. I had a girlfriend & her dog actually tipped toed when baby was sleeping.

It was the sweetest thing & it was so funny too! You don't have to worry about your dog biting your infant.

Just make sure your dog senses, knows where the baby is at all times? If you observe your dog not knowing where the baby is then you need to pay attention to that.

For reasons like may step on babies hand, may knock baby accidentally off of something, may sit on infant etc…

As you infant grows and becomes a toddler make sure you are teaching your child how we respect animals, dogs. How we treat them.

If you have a baby that constantly is hurting, pulling hair, kicking the dog, throwing toys at the dog. These kinda things can only go on for so long until the dog can't take it any more.

You should NEVER ALLOW ANY OF THOSE BEHAVIORS FROM YOUR CHILD TO CONTINUE.! Now if your child was doing this then I would def.

say do not leave your child alone with the dog. The thing is in these peticular situations the parent ALWAYS blames the dog for hurting or biting the child.

Biting is bad and the child was hurting the dog everyday in some form. So who's to blame?…

The parent is at fault! If the parent taught her child to RESPECT the dog it would have a better ending.

Respect is a two way street and dogs too NEED TO BE RESPECTED. Just because they are dogs doesn't mean they don't deserve it.

Plus dogs understand and know what respect looks like. They actually know how to respect a human better than humans do.

So you want respect then you have to be able to show your dog that you respect him or her. Hope everyone gives a little respect, its a good thing. Take care!

Whether it's a well-behaved dog or a canine with a biting history, parents shouldn't just leave their pet alone with their newborn. It's just too much of a risk.

You can always have the dog bond with your baby, but it should always be supervised. And if the dog gets too excited, it's best to keep it away at all times.

May