Dog Attack Kills Baby

People will never learn, there are some that are such know-it-alls, that no matter what you say or what we have learned, if they think their dog won't hurt the baby, they are too thick headed to realize that.. I am still concerned with my 6/yo around our dog, probably because she is a German Shepherd and I know how dangerous they can be. My son will lie down with the dog and then the dog tries to be the alpha, and take control over him by "puppy biting" him..My son doesn't realize it when I tell him to not to lie down and be below the dog, he is to always stand over her so that she knows he is in charge, not her.. Actually my whole family doesn't realize it..They say she is "too stupid" and loopy to really hurt someone, but stupid or not, she is a dog and if she can be an alpha over someone, that is not going to stop her from biting..

Well...for starters, i am a big time dog lover. I have two dogs at home and love all dogs. Sometimes, i feel that it is totally unfair for people to blame the dogs for what happened. Have you all looked at the whole situation and actually analyse it first? It is not always the case that the dog is the culprit and goes crazy...thus attacking the human. Dogs r loving creatures. They only attack when provoked. There were a few cases that I have read in the papers that dogs attacked kids. Well, for starters, the kids are like throwing rocks, stones, sticks and all sorts at the dog. The dog definitely has to attack to protect itself. Is this fair? This is just an animal. Many parents, actually teach and bury in their kids' heads that dogs are mean animals...why? I would say that this parents are the biggest culprits... As for the above mentioned case, I am very sorry about what happened to the baby. I know that there is no way that the baby could have provoked the dog. Therefore, like what worldwise said, maybe the dog really did mistake the baby as a stuffed toy and was just playing with it. Adults should always keep big dogs away from babies. Best to prevent right?

it is such a sad story... i had heard many of these cases before... you are right... i don't know when will people learn and take more precautions when their children are with the dogs... i will never trust my child especially toddlers to be around dogs no matter how docile they are... it is just too dangerous and dogs can change their moods very easily... take care and have a nice day...

This is so sad my friend, we have had a lot of dog attacks in the UK too, time and time again, and it's always the dogs fault and the dog must be put down straight away, er, excuse me? The dog is an animal! It's not the dog's fault it's the way it's trained and any way as you rightfully say you must never ever let an animal, any animal near a baby, no excuse! Not even for a second, it only takes a second for an animal to turn! It doesn't bear thinking about, yet people are quick to condemn the animal that is what annoys me, it's the owners not the animal that are at fault.

they wont, they love the status of havin a big attack dog more than they love their children. My sister got a rescue dog reently and when we went to the rescue centre we asked why one of the rotweillers had been left there. The lady said it had been found in the garden with a toddlers head in its mouth. But the guy who lives across the streey from me has 3 rotweillers and they all grew up with 3 kids and have never harmed a soul,they are the nicest dogs you could wish for.

I think this is a terribly sad thing to hear about! I love animals, and I have a real passion for dogs! I have a DAA (Diabetic Alert Animal) black lab, who has saved my life on MANY occassions. I also have an ESAAA (Emotional Support Anti-Abuse Animal) Black Heeler, and I could NOT ask for a better companion and she takes very good care of me, and i don't know what I would do without her. I love both of my dogs with ALL of my heart! They give me life, and I would be lost without them. HOWEVER! I have 2 boys, older now, but... If I had an infant or young child in my home, I would be with them! I can not even imagine leaving my children unattended, or even with someone else saying they will watch my child, and I certainly would not leave my child with a dog as a baby sitter!!! My thoughts on what people need to learn to prevent this from happening. Become a REAL parent, not just someone who gives birth to a child, but a real parent, who takes time with their child, attends to their needs 24 hours a day... As with ALL animals, one of you has to be the Alpha. Is it going to be the dog in control? Or you? In my house, I am #1 Alpha, along with both of my boys, my Black Heeler, although she is the smaller of the two dogs, she is #2 Alpha. And last is my black lab. You have to set these guidelines from when animals are babies, she that it never is a doubt in their minds who is in control. I have often seen people give their dogs old dolls, stuff animals... to play with. Obviously, this is NOT a good idea! My dogs play, don't get me wrong. But I give them their toys when it is play time, they are not just laying around for them to grab and play with whenever they want to. And the toys I have for them, are not old dolls (this is obviously an unwise thing to do), not stuff animals... They each have their own toys, and do not touch the other dogs toys. Each has a... Ball - 2 different colors and sizes Tug toy - 2 Different types and sizes Squeeky toy - 2 different shapes and sizes. Which is most likely not a good thing for them to have due to the small parts that came come off of them, but needless to say, they love theirs and they enjoy stomping on them to make them squeek. My Black Heeler walks around biting down on hers just enough to make it squeek, it is kinda cute to see her doing it. Chew Toy - Rawhide chew toys, and this is the ONLY thing they are allowed to chew on! When playtime is over, all of the toys are then place back into the toybox and up on a shelf for the next playtime. Yes, it takes more of my time to do it this way, and I have to pick things up, put them away... But I feel it is better this way than to have toys laying around the house, my dogs acting a fool thinking it is playtime when it is in fact NOT playtime... As far the first incident, it sounds like the grandmother was supposed to be baby sitting, and left the dog in charge while she did, who knows what..... But it also sounds like this dog was Alpha in the household, and he wanted to keep it that way, which is why the grandmother ended up with bites. The dog was letting her know, he was in charge, not her! Too bad the owners of this dog allowed him to be Alpha over them! This is very sad, and I appreciate you sharing this with us. Hopefully, this will not happen again. Nocturnica

That is so horrible. I cannot imagine seeing something like that. They should never leave a baby where an animal can get to it.

OMG... That's so terrible :( I love my pet but I'd never leave it alone with my baby in reach! Even if the dog is as friendly as can be, what if it accidentally stepped on my child?? Out of curiousity, I wonder what kind of dog it was. Anyone know?

What kind of dog was it?

Sad to say that this happened a town over from me. The news had a big report on it and then talked to a vet and told parents how to avoid this happening again. Now I agree that this should have never happened at all. It was a husky and they didn't think that the dog would do anything to the baby. From what I have heard they think the dog thought it was a stuffed toy. According to my mom who follows stuff like this, something about the bed wouldn't fit through the doorway into the kitchen. I have no idea what kind of bed it would be, but they just left the baby and had breakfast, never thinking nothing about it at all. No charges are being brought against the parents, but they unfortunately leard a very hard lesson, the hard way.

yes dear worldwise1, such stories are moving around and it is gross carelessness. even in remote areas i have heard wild animals entering the village and carrying the children while asleep!! how horrible!! better sense to parents and other caretakers!

This is so tragic and becoming such a common thing. People do not listen. They do not realize that no matter how wonderful their family pet is, they could change in an instant. It is not only dogs though, although they are getting all the blame. Look at how many cats have smothered babies. Or, how many other animals have mauled babies. The only safe thing is to never leave an animal unattended with a baby. Not even for a minute. You never know when man's best friend could turn on a baby or think that a baby is a stuffed animal to be played with. The best choice is not to risk it. Better safe than sorry.

very very bad! caretaker should not let dogs get close to the baby, dog is still a dog, they're not like the mind of human.

if you find a street dog around your home..... and if his behavior is aggressive... than its better if you let your muncipality people's or others dog caretaker know about this.... and always stay with your children out of house.... thankyou

I have not heard about this one, but I do know that there are dogs that one should never allow near small children. And ones that seem to think toddlers are a night time snack. Yet there are people who persist in buying these dogs not as guard dogs, or to keep people from breaking into their premises, but as family pets. And I am sure that grandmother could not move fast enough that infant. Such a horrible way to learn a lesson.

[i]Oh my God, this is very disgusting! Very sad! ANyway, I hope this story will bring so much lesson for everyone not to trust fully to their pets when they have toddler!

To start with, many dog owners think it's cute to wrestle with the puppy. That encourages aggressive behavior. Also, many people work hard at making the dog mean because they think that it will make a better guard dog. Also, they will strike the dog figuring that it works as a good teaching tool. People who get Pitt Bulls, Dobermans, Rottweilers, German Shepards etc don't stop to think that hitting the dog will cause it to retaliate at a later period of time. I have had Rotties for the past 15 years and have raised them from puppies with love and gentleness and have never had a problem with them biting. Another factor is that the dog owners will lavish tons of attention before the baby. The dog ends up spoiled beyond belief! Then the baby arrives and the attention diverts from the dog to the baby. The dog owners figure that the dog will understand why it's being ignored...well it doesn't! Some dogs will develop deep resentment towards the child. Then the parents will place the baby on the floor figuring that the dog will be good with the child....OOPS, wrong thought! First, the baby doesn't understand about animals, especially dogs and cats. The first thing they go for is the eyes. The dog won't take to that kind of treatment easily. Of course the parents wander off to go to the bathroom or the kitchen to get a snack and WHAMO, the dog will bite the baby after getting its eyes poked or ears pulled. A dog or cat should NEVER be left alone with a baby!!! A baby is a stranger to the dog or cat and considered an intruder. The dog feels it's its duty to protect the family so it will attach the baby. Even the gentlest of dogs can be found guilty of this behavior! When I had my daughter the animals were never allowed around her while they were in the house. When I introduced them to her and her to them I was so close to them that you couldn't have fit a piece of tissue paper between us!! I taught my daughter how to respect the animals and it has stayed with her to this day. It isn't necessarily the animals fault, it is the fault of the parents. As for wild animals carrying away a baby, if you look at it from the wild animals point of view, the baby is prey. They will steal young from other animals so what makes a baby any different from a baby baboon? Yes it's human, but in an animals eyes it's food.

Usually dogs that attack babies are pitbull. But still it is never advisable to have a pet inside the house when there are babies around. We can never predict the animals behavior no matter how sweet it is around us. It is just a matter of being a responsible parent to be aware of the danger of having a dog inside the house with a baby.

wow the dog must be huge lol. i have a 26 inch german shephard, and it never attacked anyone. he was almost the same size as me! i know dogs don't attack people on purpose, but when they feel threatened, then they will even attack it's owner.

when we choose to have a pet or pets in our home, we should take a bigger responsibility in caring them. There are many factors why our very own beloved pets can ever do that gruesome killings. Maybe the dogs are hungry or he/she was deprived by the love of his/her owners and they can see that his/her owners only tends to the child. They are more curious in babies than with the older children. I know that, i have a min pin pet and when a baby was in our bedroom, he stay a closer look at the baby as if he was so curious in it. But as i always says to the family, dont ever trust them alone with the baby. You will never know.. they are animals.