Question:
http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews...7_20040404.htm
Baby dies after being mauled by grandma's dog
Sunday, April 4, 2004
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A 16-month-old boy died Saturday after being mauled by his grandmother's pit bull while visiting her home on Detroit's west side, police said.
The boy's mother brought the boy to the home for a visit with her 54-year-old mother, Detroit Police Officer Glen Woods said.
The grandmother was washing dishes and apparently placed the child on the floor to play with the dog, Woods said. The dog mauled the child, Woods said, and bit off one of the grandmother's fingers as she tried to stop the attack.
The grandmother was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Woods said the case would be turned over to prosecutors to determine whether charges will be brought.
The dog was taken to animal control.


Answer:
Poor family ... that is so sad to hear ... my teacher is going through a situation ... which can potentionally turn out like this ...
She is expecting a child soon ... by June ... and she has a Bull Dog. She's becoming very worried since the bull dog is extremely attached to her, and he is over 5 years old.
The other day Tuppins (the bull dog) snarled and snapped at my teacher, not really biting her because she moved out of the way, but aiming to bite. My teacher loves her dog, but figures if Tuppins will snap out at her, the one whom he's most affectionate too ... then he could very well snap at the baby. She could attempt to keep the two seperated, but there's always the chance ... that something as mentionned could happen ...
The snarling and the snapping part of Tuppins on my teacher is unordinary in his nature ... however he does snap and snarl at other people who come in the house. Plus he is a relatively old for a bull dog ... she is considering putting him down, but it would break her heart so much to do so ... and selling him would be difficult because of the snapping and snarling towards strangers ... ashame they can't all live peacefully ...


Answer:
Rob,,alot of dogs will do this and this is one of the reasons alot of people get rid of their dogs during pregnancy,,,,,your smell changes ALOT when your pregnant,,,,and dogs go by smells, when your body smell changes and going through so many changes ,,,the dogs know that and your no longer the person he once trusted,,,
Lynne had a rottie who did this exact same thing when she got pregnant,,she had to put her down ,,,,and this is what she told me, I dont know how true it is but I do know your smell changes,,,I have Never been bitten by a dog, never even growled at,,,when I was pregnant I was growled at constantly ,,.still never bitten but I got growled at,,


Answer:
This is why even if you do not plan on having children for a while... if you get a dog or puppy, it is a GREAT idea to socialize them with kids ahead of time.
Don't know the whole story with the grandma and the pitbull but I know it is ALWAYS advised that you NEVER leave your young children alone with ANY dog, no matter what the breed.


Answer:
That's really sad


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I know it is ALWAYS advised that you NEVER leave your young children alone with ANY dog, no matter what the breed.
Yes totally! We never plan on having kids, but I still try to get Dante exposure with them. You never know when he may be in a situation were a kid grabs him unexpectedly and he reacts negetively. Luckily through the dog park and Guy's large family, he gets to meet alot of people. But I never leave him unsurpervised.


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It saddens me when people get rid of their pets when they think they may act in a negative way..... Getting your pet socialzed with kids is a good idea BUT at the same time....kids have to be taught how to treat animals...


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Omg...thats aweful!!! Dogs like that should just be put down. Did the baby provoke the PB some how or did the dog just attack the baby for no reason?


Answer:
Originally Posted by mewster
It saddens me when people get rid of their pets when they think they may act in a negative way..... Getting your pet socialzed with kids is a good idea BUT at the same time....kids have to be taught how to treat animals...
very very true, but when you're talking about a 16 month old baby, well, it leaves it pretty much the animal owner/parent's fault...as much as i hate to say it..i have a beautiful, sweetheart of a basset hound, i trust her more than any dog i've ever owned..but when my daughter (20 months old) is playing with her, i watch...even though lucy has never so much as growled..she has whimpered and hid under the desk, where the baby can't get her...with the older kids, she is a little less tolerant, growls a little bit as a "hey, you're not being nice..mom, she's not being nice" with the 4 year old, and the 7 year old who knows better, she has very little tolerance and has even snapped (not to bite at all, just a snarl to say "listen, you are big enough to know better, and i am still a dog and i CAN bite if i want to")..when she does that, i get onto the 7 year old, because i can bet dollars to doughnuts she was doing something she knows better than to do! lol
it really is amazing how she has the different tolerance levels for the different kids...but she was raised in a family with kids, she was gotten as a puppy for the kids (and then left outside on a chain in the mud and weather for 5 years once the kids got tired of her *grumble*)
but some dogs are just not baby dogs...and we have to remember that they are STILL animals..no matter what. predatory animals.
i think, a lot of times, it is best to rehome the dog with a childless family, if the dog is one of those that doesnt' do well with children, before having children, just because they are hard to make accustomed to those kinds of changes once they reach a certain age...
we had a dog we had to return to the pound because he bit a little boy..i felt terrible, he was just doing what he thought was his job...and the little boy didn't know how to approach a dog..my daughter was walking liberty, and the little boy came running up..liberty growled and snarled a warning...he was protecting his girl..and the little boy ran away..liberty lunged and snapped, one bite on the boy's calf...i think it surprised liberty that he actually made contact more than it surprised the boy...but after that i knew he wasn't good to keep in a neighborhood where the kids didn't know how to act around him..and since we got him from the pound they had the clause that if we ever got rid of him, we were to return him to the pound...soooo...it breaks my heart to think of it..but he just wasn't the kind of dog to have in a family type neighborhood where we are, he would have been great out in the country on a farm where he could play protector all day long and not have to worry about neighborhood kids running around...


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With a child that young, the adults should have been more responsible!