Juast a little life fortunate story - very lucky.

I had an older 110 lb. GSD male, Muskie, who was getting on in age, and his hips were tender. He was powerful, attentive, well trained, and not easily intimidated. He was always good around children, not so great with adults he didn't know. Had a self-initiated habit of getting between children and adults he had not been introduced to. Didn't threaten or growl, just stood and watched - got a lot of people's attention - and I never had a complaint.

Daughter number two, about 4 years old, and Muskie were in the family room. The bride and I went into the kitchen for just a moment, leaving them alone.

Suddenly the dog lets out an awful, loud, painful cry, followed by a serious, vicious sounding growl. In real fear, the bride and I rush back into the room. Kari is sitting on the hips of Muskie and he is licking her face.

The poor dog was in pain, my daughter is sitting on his hips, and he is licking her face.

I have often thought of how wrong that scene could have gone.

Not a good idea to presume a dog - even if it is a long time member of the family with a good history - can be 'trusted' around a young child.

I've long thought how lucky we were, Kari was. Muskie was a good dog.

Just a story, for what its worth.

I guess it really depends on you, the trust and relationship you have between you and your dog, and how comfortable you feel.

I completely feel comfortable leaving my 6 yr old daughter with my dogs. I currently hvae 2 dogs, a 15 lbs JRT and a 110 lbs. Dogo. Back then I would never leave them alone, but now that she is the alpha we feel comfortable and we know the dogs wont do anything to her.

Its just really up to you and how your dogs are and what kind of a relationship they have.

I think you have to know the dog and the kid and make a decision on an individual basis. 2 good rules to remember...

1. All dogs bite.
2. All kids make mistakes.

There are NO exceptions. I don't care how great your dog is, or how great your kid is with dogs. You have to know whether your dog is tolerant of children. And you have to know if the child is mature enough to handle the dog appropriately. It's a judgement call, but it's probably always best err on the side of caution. But a 2 year old? No way... I don't care how wonderful your dog is with kids. The chances are too high that the kid could do something to trigger the dog's defense or prey drive.

I can you see your point too, and it really depends on the individual.

but why would you ever leave a 2 year old alone anyway? Dog or no dog I would never leave a 2 year old alone even if its to go answer the door or even to just get a drink.

 Quote:

I completely feel comfortable leaving my 6 yr old daughter with my dogs. I currently hvae 2 dogs, a 15 lbs JRT and a 110 lbs. Dogo.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Lara, you might not want to hear this and I am not saying it to lash out at you, but seriously, you have ALOT of learning to do about dogs. Just from reading your many posts in the few days you've been on. Under NO circumstances do you leave a six year old alone with a 110lbs dog. Let alone one bred for hunting big game. I'm sorry but that is just nuts!!
Will knows and sees my male Malinois every week at training, he will tell you, He is the most clear headed, stable temperment mal and dog for that matter you will find, and ask me if I would ever think it would be ok to leave my 7yr old daughter alone with him, not no but hell no. If he decided for whatever reason to attack my kids, there is no way in hell she can fight off his 60Lbs butt, much less your 110lbs dog on your 6yr old. He would never in a thousand years hurt my kids, BUT he is an animal that has been domesticated. He is an animal, with animal instincts. One only has to read the papers from dog bite stories and read the repetitive quotes from parents saying, "he loved my kids, he never would have hurt my kids, this wasn't like him, he never was aggressive to any of us". Meanwhile their child is laying in a freezer on a gurny all chewed up because they failed to realize one major realization, he's an animal <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

If a dog can't hide behinde a A4 paper whilst standing he is big enough to cause major damage. I speak from experience i've been put in hospital by a "kaninchen daxhund". A child can always do something to the dog that infuriates it. Why do you think that there are so many accidents with Cockers, labs and Goldens and so fuw with Malinois? Not because the latter bite les but because the owners tend to prevent unsupervised interaction with thier dogs.

Greetings

Johan

I totally agree with Chris. I think you should listen to his advice.

I could never leave my 6 years old alone with another dog, (especially a 110lb dog and Dogo), no matter how much I would trust him.

agree with Chris but also disagree with Chris. (Sorry Buddy) I have a 3 year old female Mal that loves my 1 year old son to death. She follows him everywhere he goes. When she is laying in the living room or Kitchen he will get on her like a horse and she just lays there. He uses her to climb in the couch if he needs a boost up. Every where he is, she is. Now being that she is trained in protection and has spent time in Iraq, I questioned this relationship when I first brought her back into the house. But she has proved my wrong time and time again. EVEN with all this trust in her I still keep a very close eye on the both of them when they are "playing". So not to be a statistic. He loves her to death when he takes a nap she has to be in his room or he will scream until she comes in. It is to cool.

As a trainer I love the role she plays in his young life and as a father I make sure nothing bad happens with between the two of them. Like I said as much as I doubt any thing happening I still keep a very watchful eye.

I think a dog and a child can grow up together just fine 90% of all PSD that go into the field go into homes with kids so they have to be stable enough to make the transition the ones that can't live in a kennel. Like with all dogs trained in protection the chance of a bite is always there more so then a family pet in my mind but it is us as trainers and parents to take that chance out of the equation. Just my .02 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Matt,
I'm going to throw a good beer on you when I see you next month <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> I don't see where in your post you disagree with me. My kids interact with my dogs all the time. My daughter is 7 and I also have a very serious PP pitbull who is 7. He was raised in the house with us. He endured everything from bones and baseballs to the face at point blank range. All he would do is lick em. He stayed where my daughter was at, but if they were together we were right there in the vicinity somewhere. At night he slept on the floor in my bedroom on my side of the bed. But I would never leave him alone with my kids. Which in other words is exactly what you just said. I swear damn MP's and you'd think yall would know how to read <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /><img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

sorry I went to public skool