Heartbreaking
Tragic Death of Newborn Is a Reminder Not to Leave Babies Alone With Dogs
A 2-day old infant was killed in Pennsylvania after being bitten by the family's 80-pound husky. Doesn't that just absolutely make your heart sink? And if being attacked by the dog wasn't bad enough -- it happened after the baby's mother left him alone so that she could go to the bathroom.
She heard the poor little boy crying while she was in there, and then came out to see blood on her dog's muzzle. Can you imagine a more horrific sight than that? It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
And although this was a tragic accident and the mother did not intentionally put the baby in harm's way, it should still serve as an important reminder that babies should not be left alone with dogs -- even if the pet normally seems good natured.
A few months after I had my son, family friends of ours asked if I would mind dog-sitting for them while they went on vacation. I had watched their adorable little Shih-Tzu a number of times before, so I happily agreed. But then I started thinking about the fact that I had a new baby in the house -- and I suddenly became nervous about having the dog around. Don't get me wrong, he was a totally sweet, tiny 8-pound ball of fur that I'd always loved taking care of -- but he'd never been around babies before. And I decided I wasn't willing to take the risk of something going wrong, so I called our friends back and told them I'd changed my mind about watching him.
I consider myself to be an animal lover, but dogs being left alone with babies just makes me incredibly nervous. Regardless of how gentle they might seem, it's important to remember that dogs are in fact, animals, and they can sometimes react to new things in a manner that is totally out of character for them.
I'm not saying that people should get rid of their pets when their babies arrive, but it's very important to gradually introduce a pet to a new member of the family instead of assuming that it will automatically accept the baby into the house without flinching. On top of that, a dog is not a babysitter, and it should never be left alone with an infant, period. Erring on the side of caution with animals is the only way to prevent tragedies like what happened to that poor baby boy from occurring again and breaking the hearts of another family.
What steps did you take to introduce your pet to your new baby?
Image via ertdredge/Flickr
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ArmyGal
She took in dogs she felt was being mistreated. So pretty much those were not family dogs but random dogs. Seriously bad laspe in judgement.
Mama2MonkeyBoys
I read this the other day. What a heartbreaking story. Even moreso because it was totally preventable. Why would you leave your newborn alone with any animal - especially where the animal could get to them? Just...heartbreaking.
Tonya
Tracey Plummer
I feel so incredibly bad for her! That is just devastating!!
When my daughter was born I had an eight year old chow mix. A very sweet dog, who had never been aggressive. Even so, no way was I letting him around my baby. He was inside while I was at work. I would come home and immediately let him out. When my baby went to bed at night he could come back in and hang with us until bed, when I would kennel him. This was our life for three years until I felt comfortable introducing them and he still bit her in the face once when she was four, and I was RIGHT THERE when it happened! It was a small bite, thank God not very bad, and it was because he was asleep and she startled him, but it was still the last time the two of them ever saw each other. No way am I risking my daughter for any animal.
ashjo85
I wasn't sure how my dog would react to my daughter, and so we never left her alone with him. I had laid her on our bed once and was standing next to her when she started to cry, and the noise seemed to upset him, so I picked her up. As I was picking her up, he lunged for her legs, and to this day I have no idea if he was attacking or trying to protect her, but my husband smacked him so hard he rolled off the other side of the bed. Took him months to ever get that close to her again. They are friends now, she's almost 3. I'm always nervous with babies though. You never know how they will react. Best to just kept them out of reach while they're so little and vulnerable.
Maevelyn
You never really know. I've seen dogs you would never think about allowing near a child turn into the kids over protective shadow and I've seen the sweetest dog on earth snap at a baby bc she just didn't understand what the hell this tiny semi- human smelling thing was. In the first instance it was a Collie and a show dog. The owners were pretty sure they were going to have to get rid of her once the baby came bc she really didn't care for most people and didn't seem to like children (she avoided them but you can't avoid a baby you live with) Their son was born with down syndrom and he is the love of that dogs life. She would bother them if he made a noise bc clearly he should not be distressed at all ever! It was beautiful. On the other had we almost had to get rid of our 120Ibs Great Dane bc she was scared of the baby. Luckly we never left them alone and were were able to all get along
MaiasMommy619
Emily Ann Marguerite Richardson
Zva
TorranceMom