Staffyluv Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 So incredibly sad - my heart goes out to the family of the little man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bindo Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Dogs that don't have rock solid temperaments, great bite inhibition and great socialization should be physically separated from kids when they visit (locked room or crate where a child can't accidentally open it) is the only safe option. Dogs that don't have all of these characteristics shouldn't live with children at all (dons flame suit here). Totally agree with this. We have international friends visiting at Christmas time, very dog savvy, and for part of this time they were going to stay at our place while we did the interstate Christmas visit. Worked both ways - they get accommodation and we get dog minders. However, they are now bringing relatives with a small child (1 yr), which totally changes the situation, as one of mine is fearful of children. Even if I thought both of them were great with kids, there is no way that I would have left them together, with me not around to supervise (as per Megan's options above). By the way, they are both small dogs - mini schnauzers. My heart goes out to the mother and grandmother in this tragic event, and the poor little boy who lost his life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Just heard an update. Apparently dog has been around child a lot and everyone is saying this was very out of character, they dont know what upset the dog. They also said that normally the dog was chained when the child was there but not this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Chaining is not a very safe way to contain a dog - child can still approach and the dog can't get away. If that report is correct it would seem that the dog WASN'T used to the child being around while the dog was free to roam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Dogs that don't have rock solid temperaments, great bite inhibition and great socialization should be physically separated from kids when they visit (locked room or crate where a child can't accidentally open it) is the only safe option. Dogs that don't have all of these characteristics shouldn't live with children at all (dons flame suit here). No matter how rock solid your dog is there can never be a 100% guarantee regardless. I would say my basset hound was rock solid but I still have a little bit of fencing that I slide across in front of their beds when they are sleeping so they don't get a fright if a child was to trip and fall next to them or whatever. I would have said in the past that my kelpie was also rock solid but as she gets older she is getting less tolerant and while I trust my kids to behave appropriately around her I am less certain of other peoples kids. I honestly don't think she would ever bite someone(she just gets an unimpressed look on her face and looks at me as if to say it's time to go) but at times I can see when she has had enough and I like to be able to remove her before she ever considered snapping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Dogs that don't have rock solid temperaments, great bite inhibition and great socialization should be physically separated from kids when they visit (locked room or crate where a child can't accidentally open it) is the only safe option. Dogs that don't have all of these characteristics shouldn't live with children at all (dons flame suit here). No matter how rock solid your dog is there can never be a 100% guarantee regardless. I would say my basset hound was rock solid but I still have a little bit of fencing that I slide across in front of their beds when they are sleeping so they don't get a fright if a child was to trip and fall next to them or whatever. I would have said in the past that my kelpie was also rock solid but as she gets older she is getting less tolerant and while I trust my kids to behave appropriately around her I am less certain of other peoples kids. I honestly don't think she would ever bite someone(she just gets an unimpressed look on her face and looks at me as if to say it's time to go) but at times I can see when she has had enough and I like to be able to remove her before she ever considered snapping. Great work as a level headed dog owning mum that knows her dogs & takes the time to observe them & watch over her children at the same time. It can be done. Love your common sense approach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I'm not saying don't supervise around "rock solid" dogs. I am saying that you can't have a dog with weak temperament and assume that by being present nothing will happen. Everyone always says "supervision is the key" - it isn't. It needs to be combined with the right temperament, training, socialising etc. All of those things are required to reduce risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Yes, I agree. I guess the thing that makes it hard is that a lot of people don't have the skills to understand their dogs temperament and truly assess it's behaviour. That said I used to have a rock solid dog who's best friend was a cat. One day the neighbours cat fell off the fence in to our yard and he snapped and attacked it. Thankfully I rushed the cat to the vet and it was OK but prior to that I would NEVER have thought him capable of that sort of behaviour, he was well trained, very well socialised and had never shown agression of any kind before. It is possible that this dog did just snap for some reason and hadn't shown any signs to suggest this might happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 (edited) A dog of a certain size and strength always has the potential to kill a small child...whether the owner or a parent is present or not. Previous history, behaviour, training etc is all secondary. The owner and the parent have made a tragic mistake, one that will be repeated again and again and again. We have had situations where people with big dogs brought them near my young kids, If those factors were 'secondary', then every big dog would 'kill' or seriously attack. The evidence is that most don't. Go look at the scientific studies. Studies looking into aggressive behaviours in dogs of all sizes & breeds & mixed breeds at the University of Cordoba found that human factors in what people did or did not do, in managing and training their dogs, was the key factor. Their conclusion was that people need to socialize & train their dogs. But they acknowledged some could have issues like neurological problems. One factor that came out as more linked with development of aggression... was small size. Yes, small size. Because owners didn't see the necessity to train them & also because they are more likely to be pampered & spoiled. Yet small size dogs can do serious harm to the statistically most vulnerable age bracket.... babies, toddlers & young children. Because the child's face is on a level with the dog & their finer skin is very easily injured. Anyone watching Bondi Vet last Saturday, saw a small chihuahua do over Dr Chris & draw blood. Everyone in the segment thought it was funny. But it wasn't. If that'd been a toddler's face... rather than a male adult hand.... If you have young children in that vulnerable age bracket, then you're rightly cautious in taking care when unleashed dogs are around Except it should be all dogs. Especially if there's no history of their being well socialised with children. The latest report seems to say that was the case with this dog. It was not used to being free around a child. It had always been contained on a chain. So what's possible when left off the chain around a child? Edited August 5, 2013 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 BTW. As evidence that most dogs of all sizes are pretty peaceful living next to humans. Brisbane medical researchers give these figures: The annual incidence of dog bites requiring emergency department treatment is 12.9 per 10 000 persons, with rate rising to children aged 5-9 (particularly boys) having an incidence of 60.7 per 10 000 persons aged 5-9 years. Face, neck and head bites are more frequent in children.1 If 12.9 per 10,000 persons was the annual rate for human-aggression caused injuries turning up at hospital emergencies, we'd be living in an amazingly peaceful society. Even the highest rate with children is still relatively low. But it's still a serious problem to address.... & try to prevent. Especially with children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mita Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 (edited) Double post. Edited August 5, 2013 by mita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 Because Deniliquin is local to me the news reports more locally are providing a little more information. The recent update at 3.30pm said that the attack on the child went on for approximately 15 minutes. If that is even half true the poor little mite never stood a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Earlier on the radio here they were reporting ten minutes. As i understood it the grandmother tried her best for that time(hence why she ended up with exhaustion) and then the mother turned up and between them they were able to pull the dog off. I can't see many 70 year olds being able to pull a dog of that size off, I probably would have grabbed a rake and just beat the hell out of it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Gawd. The one I heard said ten minutes, but ten or fifteen, even five, would be enough so sad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Earlier on the radio here they were reporting ten minutes. As i understood it the grandmother tried her best for that time(hence why she ended up with exhaustion) and then the mother turned up and between them they were able to pull the dog off. I can't see many 70 year olds being able to pull a dog of that size off, I probably would have grabbed a rake and just beat the hell out of it... That would be my first move. To grab anything to hit the dog with. Or just kick it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Gawd. The one I heard said ten minutes, but ten or fifteen, even five, would be enough so sad yes - and that is one determined dog. If a dog has a snap it doesn't normally take much to stop them. 10 minutes is sustained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Yeah. It wasn't just a bite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9angel Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 They were saying on the channel 7 news that the dog weighed 57kgs and was used for pigging. They also mentioned that it was usually kept on a chain. That poor little boy stood no chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Omg, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. That poor little child. The horror that mum and grandma will carry with them. How does anyone ever move on from this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascalmyshadow Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 When will people learn poor little kid and poor dog, both been put into a situation that should have never happened. Sounds like there is more to the story, dogs that live on chains and are used for piggin IMO are in no way suitable to be anywhere near children. Maybe the poor kid squealed and moved too suddenly which set the dog off. Either way the adults are at fault they have learnt a very hard lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now