Combat Dogs & Children?

I know most people think pit bulls should have "great temperaments," I certainly do, but how does this apply with children?

I personally have never felt it is an entirely good idea to have any bulldog alone with children, no matter how seemingly-sweet the dog is, especially with very small children. The fact is, all dogs are predators, and a pit bull is nothing but a highly-specialized predator designed to dispatch smaller animals and even be able to attack and control very large animals. And, while I do believe that the breed should be (and most often is) "people friendly" ... I am not sure this always spills over to children.

From a dog's point of view, children are small, squeaky, erratic creatures compared to adults. Where a bulldog looks "up" to an adult man or woman, it looks "down" on a very small, squeaky child. I believe sometimes it is very dangerous to leave any baby or toddler alone with a bulldog, especially if the bulldog was not used to a baby in the house ... and suddenly one day a new child is brought into the house. Lots of utterly clueless new parents have discovered to their horror what can happen in these instances.

And, even in a case where a seemingly sweet dog that's "good with kids" is enjoyed by a family ... what if one day A CAT is at the window, and the dog goes apeshit after the cat, and a little boy or girl tries to grab the now-geeked-up bulldog? What happens then? :shock:

Hell, I have been bit by my own dogs in the corner a time or two, dogs that were normally friendly, but who (now that they're geeked-up and wanting to scratch back) will do "whatever it takes" to be released and go back into an opponent. Red Sonja in particular comes to mind. Here was a bitch who was as sweet as a dog could be to people. Loved children and would snuggle up to them. But, if Red Sonja ever made contact with another animal, or got geeked-up over a flirt pole or hide, "the whole moving world" became fair game: your hands, your legs, a rake, whatever was a'movin' she was a'grabbin' :twisted: Red Sonja would even grab the pit wall or carpet when she was geeked-up in the corner and would have to be pried-off with a stick. Her eyes would get big and round, like she was in some kind of euphoric trance once she was "on," and I sure as hell would hate to see what she might do to a little boy or girl who tried to "play ball" with her :shock: And yet there was not a drop of "meanness" in what she was doing: she was happy as hell.

So, as an offshoot of the "human aggressive" pit bull, the man-killer, what about the normally-sweet dog that loses all ability to reason once it's "on"? I know A LOT of pit dogs are like this, sweet under every "normal" instance, and yet wildly-intense once they're "on," so is it really such a good idea to leave these dogs alone with kids? Because, again, I can think of a lot of dogs, that aren't true man-killers ... that even LOVE children under controlled conditions ... that I would still never leave alone with any child, never in a million years, because IF they get "geeked-up" ... then they are as dangerous to a child as any mankiller, without actually being a mean dog.

How do you judge a dog like that, whose natural temperament is to be sweet and calm, but whose "combat intensity" is so great, that once triggered it doesn't come with an "off switch", and so they will indiscriminately grab "whatever's moving" once they get in that zone???

Should dogs like this be culled too ... or should they be treasured (and just kept away from kids)?

Jack

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Good thread,

In my opinion children shouldn't let be alone with any breed!! And if you look into the details of biting incidents, that's all you're going to learn from it.

http://caveat.blogware.com/blog/_archiv ... 05154.html

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Originally Posted by R2L

Good thread,

In my opinion children shouldn't let be alone with any breed!! And if you look into the details of biting incidents, that's all you're going to learn from it.

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Beat me to it. I will not leave the room if a dog is out with my kids. Not because my dogs are mean to kids or evil but becuase kids are kids and cannot control a adult dog that kicks into drive over a toy or another animal. The was a baby killed in Maryland a few years ago by the family dashund.

Exactly, all dogs are predators, not just pit bulls.

And the size of the dog in relation to the child has to be considered. A dachshund is a plucky little dog, and an infant is easy game for one, so who in their right mind would leave a predator alone with a squeaky little baby? People just don't think :shock:

Yet, to me, as much as I love the breed, the truth is that the level of their intensity is so much greater than another dog that (to my way of thinking) it is criminally-negligent to leave any pit dog alone with a child, until the child becomes a teenager.

Jack

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Not to sound like i'm stuck in the old days. But i was always taught from a young age that these
Dogs were not womans or childrens dogs. Once again not to be sexist.

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Originally Posted by scary

Not to sound like i'm stuck in the old days. But i was always taught from a young age that these
Dogs were not womans or childrens dogs. Once again not to be sexist.

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I know a lot of little girls, who handle pit bulls and other dangerous breeds, with much more talent and precision than 98% of the so-called "dogmen" I've witnessed. Just sayin'.

I wouldn't trust a child ALONE with any breed of dog, either. My house dog is fantastic with children, honestly, she loves them -- because she's a fatkid at heart, and babies always have food, and they always share ;) She'll crawl around on the floor with them, she'll cuddle with them, she'll lay her head in their lap and wait ohhh-soooo patiently for them to hand her a piece of food (or drop it), they can crawl on her, pull her ears and tail, stick their little fingers in her eyes, mouth, nose, whatever, and you just couldn't ASK for a BETTER dog with a baby or child.

And still, I would NEVER leave one alone with her.

Not that I think she would ever do anything intentionally to hurt a child, but there is just too much left up to chance. If she sees a cat or squirrel in the window, all of her common sense goes right through it, and she could easily run one over, get to barking and carrying on, upset the baby who could then start crying, and in that excited state, there's just no telling what could happen.

There's just no point.

I understand that as well. But you said it best when you said SO CALLED DOG MAN. With all do respect i think you have a house dog. Now i have no ideal how it's breed. I'm not downing you dog at all i wish there was more like that. But i think there's a big difference in a battle dog abd a house dog or a battle dog that was turned into a per from the beginning. That's jmo. But what i am talking bout is ACTUALLY HANDLING A DOG IN THE HEAT OF... :?:

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Originally Posted by scary

I understand that as well. But you said it best when you said SO CALLED DOG MAN. With all do respect i think you have a house dog. Now i have no ideal how it's breed. I'm not downing you dog at all i wish there was more like that. But i think there's a big difference in a battle dog abd a house dog or a battle dog that was turned into a per from the beginning. That's jmo. But what i am talking bout is ACTUALLY HANDLING A DOG IN THE HEAT OF... :?:

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Or tending to them not saying they can't but my hounds are rough.
I don't want my wjfe or daughter to tend tk them. I don't know about you alk but i like nt o lady soft :mrgreen:

http://www.apbt.online-pedigrees.com...res/367003.jpg

I think a lot of it is how they get raised. I mean "having a dog in the house" and having a dog exclusively as a house dog are two different things. I have never had a house dog I wouldnt trust around children. Even the geekd up ones seem to know that a kid is different. The dog above will go crazy when I flirt pole her, but:

http://www.apbt.online-pedigrees.com...res/404641.jpg

My daughter can take the hide right out of her mouth, all she has to do is ask. Good luck for me or you to get that hide from her! LOL

As you can tell, that dog is much older than my son, and I was quite worried about how she would act when he was born. Yet, she completely changed the day he came home from the hospital. she used to run around the house, would jump on you while you were on the couch. I mean she was a nut. now she tip toes around whenever the baby is out.

I wouldnt leave her ALONE with my son, but I dont leave my 2 pound poodle alone with him either. dogs will always be "dogs"...