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Why do people trust their dogs so much?

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PeskyToaster said:
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A better question is why do they trust us.
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That's the far more interesting question.

FStop7 said:
Same for England. Fierce love of their dogs there, dare I say more so than in America.
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Challenge accepted.
 
Pickles the Firecat said:
Funnily enough, I don't think I'd entirely trust my Shiba around kids. She doesn't get riled up about most things-- not her ears, paws, or neck--but she'll do a quick turn-around-and-bite snap if you tug on her tail and she doesn't know you're there. Likes her space from time to time, too. Never seen her be aggressive over it, but I could see it happening with a particularly insistent kid. She's also very rough at play. We put her in the big dog areas in dog parks because she runs rampant over anything remotely near her size.
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We sometimes lift our Shiba by the tail, he doesn't panic or even try to get out. Quite funny. He does get a little territorial when inside our room, especially if there's someone unfamiliar in the room or another animal. He loves to nip those ankles. We then put him in a separate room for a limited time, I guess a sort of time out? He starts to "get" it after a while. If there are kids he doesn't quite know yet, we have the kids walk around with some dog treats and let them give him one when he's behaved, it works out well (he's a little skiddish because the breeders locked him up in a barn after they realized he became too big to be in those dog shows).

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Yeah thats pretty ridiculous parenting with a dog like that. It could kill the baby in one bite. I'll have to echo ealier posts though with regard to peoples attitude to pets. Some people humanize animals far too much. you should absoloutly love you pets and treat them right but the level to which people equate them with people is disturbing. Also those people who say they would save their dog before a person are mentally disturbed and morally warped.
 
sca2511 said:
We sometimes lift our Shiba by the tail, he doesn't panic or even try to get out. Quite funny. He does get a little territorial when inside our room, especially if there's someone unfamiliar in the room or another animal. He loves to nip those ankles. We then put him in a separate room for a limited time, I guess a sort of time out? He starts to "get" it after a while. If there are kids he doesn't quite know yet, we have the kids walk around with some dog treats and let them give him one when he's behaved, it works out well (he's a little skiddish because the breeders locked him up in a barn after they realized he became too big to be in those dog shows).
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that's a nice dog! what's that tamagotchi(?) doing around his neck?
 
I don't trust my dog alone with my children and I don't trust my young children to "handle" my dog correctly either. They both require training, parental monitoring and parental step back from producing bubble wrapped kids. We also teach our dog and kids how other kids or dogs behaviour may be so they're aware e.g. some dogs don't like petting when eating or that your dog is to move away from bad kid behaviour rather than retaliate.

My Boxer is the size and near weight of the average Rotty. We saw Caesar Milan (Yes the dog whisperer and in Australia no less) specifically for pregnancy, dogs and introducing babies into a couples/dog household. We've also hired a dog trainer to come to our house a number of times to train us the parents and our dog.

We're over 4 years in with kids and my dog is amazing with babies, my kids, other children/families that come over. However I still personally will never allow my dog or child to play alone or be in the house/room unattended. Simple things like children put pencils in dogs ears or a dog's claw and scratch their face/eye etc. My dog knows to follow myself or partner when we leave the kids location rather than stay but when we're present the kids or dog are free to interact for the most part.

I love having my dog part of my kids lives and my dog loves my kids. They're all subject to attentive parenting without the knee jerk reaction to bubble wrap them either.
 
I find it weird that dogs are cool with humans at all. What kind of beast listens to hairless monkeys and sees nothing strange about it?
 
strobogo said:
I find it weird that dogs are cool with humans at all. What kind of beast listens to hairless monkeys and sees nothing strange about it?
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Well if Aliens came and enslaved us you would probably be subservant to them if they controlled the food, the heat, and could at any point put you down. Im not saying dogs harbour the same notion that they are enslaved but their life revolves around their pack leader providing them with a sustainable lifestyle, its all they know.
 
I love my dog but I don't trust her when it comes to certain things, but then again she's a wiener dog so....
 
I trust my Welsh Corgi Pembroke around people unless he has a Carl Jrs bag in his mouth as that'll start WWIII.
 
Most people don't know how to socialize their pets (or children lol) properly.

My cat lets babies pull on his tail and fur. If he's had enough, he walks away. The other cat avoids children of all ages. :P
 
my brother nearly was mauled to death by a seemingly passive dog when he was four. Luckily my parents were 30 yards away and grabbed the beast off him. He ended up with massive scarring that was luckily hidden by hair. They were able to sew the ear back together or something (not exactly sure just how torn his ear was) and it looks normal. There are some points on his forehead where if you're up close you can see the dents, but luckily it was nothing too terrible.
 
joelseph said:
Just waiting for that baby to look away and then we eat him.

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LOL. Actually, dachshunds as much as they are my favorite breed, are unpredictable. They're one of the hardest to train dogs and actually one of the most aggressive of the small breeds. But damn if they aren't ridiculously adorable, comical and mischievous.
 
lastflowers said:
my brother nearly was mauled to death by a seemingly passive dog when he was four. Luckily my parents were 30 yards away and grabbed the beast off him. He ended up with massive scarring that was luckily hidden by hair. They were able to sew the ear back together or something (not exactly sure just how torn his ear was) and it looks normal. There are some points on his forehead where if you're up close you can see the dents, but luckily it was nothing too terrible.
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Does he have a fear of dogs now?
 
Tenks said:
Because people know exactly how their dog will react. I'd trust my dog around any child. If a child hits him he just yelps and runs away. Wouldn't dream of biting anyone or anything out of defense.
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Pretty much this.

I don't let my schnauzer around kids because i know he doesn't like them. Good owners know how their animals will react but again you also have to put trust into the kid. Obviously i wouldn't let my dog (even if he liked kids) around an aggressive kid because a kid who pulls and hits will piss off most dogs.
 
With most people, you learn to read dogs after a while and know what you can or can't do with them. I'd trust all of my dogs with my kids so long as I was around. I'd still be a little spooked having a small baby too close to any animal.
 
Perspicacity said:
Compare/contrast the comments of "He was so quiet, never bothered anyone" when people talk about their co-workers who murder their children or "He was family, how could we not trust him?" in incest/rape cases.

Why trust your kid with anyone if you're so paranoid?
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My comment may have been too much of a blanket statement, but I would still put more trust in an intelligent, human member of my family than my dog.

My level caution regarding a child interacting with a dog would vary depending on the situation. I would be less cautious of the dog depending on the breed, size, and amount of training it had received. I just think it's unwise to assume your dog would never hurt anybody simply because it's a friendly dog. Dogs never hurt people, until they do.
 
I also don't know that I would leave my baby so close to a big dog, but then I've never owned a dog. And man, the sheer joy of that baby at that moment is just magical.
 
ButtSmasher said:
Does he have a fear of dogs now?
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nope. We had an old dog at the time that was awesome, and another dog later that we didn't give enough attention to so we gave her to a family with a whole bunch of space (owned an island) and she had lots of puppies.

Him and I were more cat people, I suppose.
 
Madrin said:
My comment may have been too much of a blanket statement, but I would still put more trust in an intelligent, human member of my family than my dog.

My level caution regarding a child interacting with a dog would vary depending on the situation. I would be less cautious of the dog depending on the breed, size, and amount of training it had received. I just think it's unwise to assume your dog would never hurt anybody simply because it's a friendly dog. Dogs never hurt people, until they do.
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1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse;
Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident;

According to a 2003 National Institute of Justice report, 3 out of 4 adolescents who have been sexually assaulted were victimized by someone they knew well (page 5). (ie family member)

Death by dog last year: 37

The numbers are against you, man.
 
Tenks said:
Because people know exactly how their dog will react.
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Some people don't know. They think they know, but then it bites the kid's face off when the owner's back is turned.

Saying that, I would be fine with my dog interacting with a small child of mine, but I'd have to be supervising.
 
NoctisVsStar said:
Thanks for insight fellow gaffer a pic would be awesome! Quick Q potty training did you do the crate training or the lillypad way?
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The Beagle I have now I crate trained and it is just so much easier in my opinion.

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Also they are notorious diggers as can be seen with his dirty nose.
 
It depends on the dog. I had a border collie and she loved children. Once during an extended family gathering one of my cousin's kids was pulling on her tail and all she did was turn around and his lick his face. On the other hand, we also had a chihuahua who loved nothing more than to attack children, and so he generally had to get put up.
 
Kwixotik said:
1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse;
Self-report studies show that 20% of adult females and 5-10% of adult males recall a childhood sexual assault or sexual abuse incident;

According to a 2003 National Institute of Justice report, 3 out of 4 adolescents who have been sexually assaulted were victimized by someone they knew well (page 5). (ie family member)

Death by dog last year: 37

The numbers are against you, man.
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This seems like a reason to trust people less rather than a reason to trust dogs more.

Also, if we're using statistics, the ratio of motor vehicle accidents to registered vehicles in the US is lower than the ratio of dog bites to owned dogs. Does that mean I'm being overly cautious by wearing a seat belt when I drive? I'm not saying that dogs are killing machines, just that it's wise to take precautions when it comes to letting children and dogs interact.
 
Madrin said:
This seems like a reason to trust people less rather than a reason to trust dogs more.

Also, if we're using statistics, the ratio of motor vehicle accidents to registered vehicles in the US is lower than the ratio of dog bites to owned dogs. Does that mean I'm being overly cautious by wearing a seat belt when I drive? I'm not saying that dogs are killing machines, just that it's wise to take precautions when it comes to letting children and dogs interact.
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I don't think anyone's saying to take zero precautions and just throw caution to the wind. Obviously, having a child and a dog interact in a controlled interaction is wiser.

I don't understand the "it's just an animal" or "animals are animals" argument, though. What does that even mean? Humans are animals. Does being an animal make something completely untrustworthy? It's not very specific or meaningful.
 
I got bit in the arm by a dog "that would never do such a thing" once. Don't own dogs now, but even if I did it ain't getting near my kid until she's 4-5yrs old.
 
Because some dogs are truly harmless. Like my little friend who died last July at 15 years old, with a total of 0 bites to anyone. I wasn't wrong when I told people that he was harmless, he was.
 
Madrin said:
This seems like a reason to trust people less rather than a reason to trust dogs more.

Also, if we're using statistics, the ratio of motor vehicle accidents to registered vehicles in the US is lower than the ratio of dog bites to owned dogs. Does that mean I'm being overly cautious by wearing a seat belt when I drive? I'm not saying that dogs are killing machines, just that it's wise to take precautions when it comes to letting children and dogs interact.
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I was just responding to your statement that you'd be more willing to trust a family member than a dog.

DiscoJer said:
Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive list of dog fatalities in the US

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States

I think the big danger, aside from certain breeds, is owning multiple dogs. When that happens, the dogs often bond more with each other than their owner/kids.
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I don't think the stigma against certain dog breeds is justified. It's just that certain types of dogs appeal to bad dog owners. It's like saying black men aren't to be trusted because one in three black men go to prison. It's not that there's some sort of aggression or criminal attitude inherent to black men, it's that they are more likely to be put in shitty situations.
 
teruterubozu said:
Yes they are hounds. That's what I'm saying. You don't want to mess around w/potty training with beagles - they are sniffers, which means they like to tag, even when they are babies. Pads confuse many dogs - inside/outside gets nebulous.

You should be fine with a beagle, just make sure you have enough time - they demand attention.
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I would add that you really shouldn't get a beagle if you don't either have a pretty big yard or plan to take him or her out for a a walk at least twice a day. Also you should either get 2 or take your dog with you to work, leaving one alone all day will break his heart (and yours when you hear him howl the second you leave) plus it will drive your neighbors insane.
 
The OP's video, I feel, is fine. The adult is probably right behind the camera with direct supervision of the whole situation. They are not leaving the baby and the dog alone so if something happens, they can react as soon as possible.
 
NetMapel said:
The OP's video, I feel, is fine. The adult is probably right behind the camera with direct supervision of the whole situation. They are not leaving the baby and the dog alone so if something happens, they can react as soon as possible.
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One bite and it's over. "As soon as possible" would be too late.
 
We cannot claim the parents in the video are irresponsible because we do not know the nature of the relationship. My parents let me play with their husky mix and he was incredibly docile and would nap with me. For all we know the dog has already adjusted to having the child around and this may be one of many interactions.
 
My 2 Huskies love being with children.

But even as a dog lover, I wouldn't let a large breed like a pitbull or rotweiller near a child.
 
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