Is it really safe to have a dog if you have a child?

I don't think that having a dog and a baby in a house together is irresponsible. I grew up with dogs from the day I was born on and, yea..we had one sort of cranky dog but, all of the others were really great. And, they can be quite protective. My dog is a big black labrador retriever. He is the sweetest thing with babies and children. He is so gentle, and curious and really quite perfect with children. So much so that, even though he is 120 lbs and can use his tail as a weapon, one of my friends from down the street has actually bragged about him to others about how great he is with kids. He will wip an adult with his tail but, when a child is around, he will still that tail and just play carefully with them. He actually gets as much amusement from them as they get from him. One time, one of our friends sons was about a year old. He was not fully sturdy on his feet yet but, could stand and, he would get himself up on his feet in front of my dog and then Frizbee (my dog) would gently nudge him with his nose on his chest, the boy would fall onto the floor and start laughing about it hysterically. Friz would snort which is his form of a laugh, wag his tail, pant a bit and wait for the boy to get back up on his feet and the two of them would do it all over again. I know that if the boy was upset about it, Frizbee would have stopped it entirely. But, the fact that the boy was having so much fun with it made Frizbee happy too. It was so cute. And, trust me, we are careful. We understand his size and, we believe he does too. In fact, that is part of what my friend was bragging about with him. That he does seem to understand his size and is so careful around kids. He seems to know what he can get away with and what he can't with each child. We taught him to accept snacks with his lips, not with his teeth so, he understands that his teeth can't touch people. We taught him by yelling at him and saying, "No, Ouch!" when we were training him as a puppy. So, he doesn't use his teeth. He also knows the word "gentle" and acts accordingly. My 6 year old neighbor also voted him the nicest dog in our cul 'd' sac. So, no...in my opinion, having dogs with babies in the house is not irresponsible. I am sure that there are dogs out there that are dangerous to have around children. But, not my dog. I think he is better with kids than some humans.

It's only irresponsable if you don't take the time to train both. I don't think toddlers should be allowed with pets as their too young to understand & properly mind instruction. Older kids & well trained animals are fine. Most of the horror stories stem from one side or the other not being properly prepared.

It is perfectly safe to have a dog and a baby in the same house. It also depends on the breed of dog. I had a doberman, and had a baby a year after I had had him, he was great with her. He would watch over her, and he never once showed any type of aggression towards her. I also had a golden retriever when I had my second daughter, and she was great with the baby. It all depends on the breed of dog, where you got them from, the breeder makes a big difference. Not all breeds of dogs are aggressive or unpredictable.

dogs are no more unpredictable than people are. yes, some dogs will bite.. some people will shoot you in the face. to say its irresponsible for people to have both kids and pets is.. well, irresponsible. there isnt anything wrong with having both, in fact, having pets for your children is a good way to help teach them responsibilty and compassion. my daughter just turned 8 today.. she has two cats and a dog, and she tends to the responsibles of them now that shes older(shes had a pet since she was 1) and has learned how to behave around and respect the beastial members of this family. she is expecting kittens in a couple months and plans to midwife the birth. so i guess im an "irresponsible" parent.. but shes learning things that are quite valueable, so im just fine with that.

i dont think it is safe to keep pet when there are chidren are at home

I think a dog doesn't have mistake. The mistake in here is your friends don't look after their babies.

On a general note dogs only go bad and attack when they are treated badly. There is nothing wrong with having children and dogs at the same time. I have kids and have 2 dogs.

You can have both a baby and a dog. You do need to prepare the dog for the new baby before you bring him or her home. As the Dog Wisper has pointed out on his show you need to make sure the you are the pack leader and that your dog knows that the baby is also a pack leader.

It is safe to have dogs around kids. I have had big dogs and little dogs around my children and have never had a problem. While it is true that an animal can attack in most cases dogs do not go off the deep end unless they feel threatend for some reason.

I also believe it depends on the breed of dog and how the dog is raised. I have labs, and they are fabulous with kiddos - when the petites were bebes, my blond lab used to let them crawl all over him, pull his ears, tail, etc. Just sweet as he could be and loved the attention. My black lab is a little more rambunctious, and we had to watch more carefully, not because she would bite or anything, but occasionally in her enthusiasm would knock the kiddos over. Even breeds that are "known to be dangerous" can be great with little ones - a friend of mine bought a rotweiller (spelling?) puppy when her daughter was 18 months old. Now the rottie is her best friend and sleeps across her doorway at night. If you train your dog to be a guard dog, you might have more difficulties - I would imagine dogs that are trained to be aggressive could be more dangerous. I do believe that until you know how your animals are going to react, that it is extremely important to supervise any interaction carefully.

I think it depends what kin of dog you want... If you are willing to settle for a poodle or a pekinua... then they can't harm anyone, but if you want a german shepherd or a husky then you better keep them away from your child!!!

It can be safe but, it is up to the parents to be sensible enough not to leave a baby in a room with a dog on their own. Most dogs are the way they are because of the way they have been raised or trained and so if you have trained your dog well then there is no danger as long as you just make sure you don't leave them together. The child benefits from having a dog around from an early age as they will grow up respecting animals and treating them right and at the same time a brilliant bond can be formed between children and animals that will last a lifetime.

hi... i was 5 wen my parents got me a pet n trust me ders nothing more wonderful than having a pet dog... it not only gives d child a companion, but also instills responsibility in d kid... as far as ur concern regarding d safety of d kids goes...dey r not completely baseless...der r dogs which r a bit aggressive and might turn violent if proveked (but dis is a highly unlikely situation) so wat u can do is to take a more 'homel' dog... a golden retriever would b my suggestion...

To me a dog acts how it raised to act..if u get a dog raise it to be kind towards ppl and itll be fine around children..Also this is strange to me but i use to babysit for a family and their little boy had Asthma their doctor told them to get a small dog and itll help with the Asthma!

We had the kids THEN got the dogs but my kids werent tots anymore...If research is done on what the best type of dog to get is for the family, lifestyle etc etc and the owners TRAIN the dogs properly then there shouldnt be a problem ya know..

It depends on how you train the dogs. First things first, dogs are meant to be friends of the kids. They should be well trained to guide the kids and befriend with them so as to foster a certain bond between the two.

hi liquorice-there is no worries about having a dog when you have a baby,they seem to take them into the 'pack' meaning your family and tend to be protective ocer them-obviously if you feel it is wrong to have a dog and a baby at the same time there is another way,when you have had the baby then get a dog in that way the dog accepts that the baby is family-i have two bearded collies and when my grandson came along they were so loving towards him and let him play with them as he got to about two-now he is four and more active they stay out of his way cos they are wimps!! so i wouldn't worry about having a dog with a baby-littleowl

no way u should not have a dog

I think it is safe to have both, because if you want to have children and dogs at the same time I think you should know what to do. I grew up to have dogs always at home and I got married , have children and still have dogs at home. It is just a manner of adjusting and observing them... and not leaving the kids alone with dogs if you think it is not safe.

i think that it is safe to have a dog and a child in the same house and yes i think that it depends on the breed and how the owner of the dog before u treated it. we have two little boys who are very rough and she just stands their and takes it and has never bite them or growled at them and if she does not feel like playing then she goes to mine and my husbands bedroom adn they know to leave her alone when she goes in there.