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The Danger of dogs with an unkown history when there are children around


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[:)] I don't think you were being asked CA.

I know in England that I have seen animals in dog refuges being offered with avertissements, ie suitable for an older person. Unsuitable to be around children. Nervous dog etc etc.

People who are used to working with dogs can usually assess a dog's character  quickly and efficiently and should try and fit an animal to a family or person. Is this the case in France?

 This is unlike some 'owners' who are clueless and will always 'jure' that their petit toutou wouldn't hurt a fly.

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I will always take a re-home in future having got such a gorgeous dog via that route a few years ago but (and this does not

apply to our dog's past) I would never blind myself to the fact that

one cannot know what irresponsible or plain bad owners a dog has

previously had and how those bad experiences will manifest.

I don't think it is unreasonable for new owners to be made very

aware that things can go wrong. I remember a very sad posting - I think

on here - by a devastated owner who adopted a dog and who, some weeks later,

attacked and killed one of their cats. They'd thought everyone had

settled well; unfortunately that proved not to be the case.

If I had young children, I know would not risk a re-home unless I knew its background and owners well. I realise that is not necessarily what people who're doing superb work rehoming dogs would like to hear but it seems a no-brainer to me.

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Thank you for putting me in my place as usual Idun.   [:)]    I was only joking to Norman who is often trying to provoke and was just provoking back.  Nothing bad meant Norman.

Last night when this was on the news they said the dog was on the settee and the little girl went to see him.  I said how awful for that poor little girl who just probably went to give him a cuddle.  I am relieved to see that she is out of danger.  They said the family were going to have the dog put down.

I don't know if you have read Norman's link which says the dog (who shouldn't have been on the settee in the first place) had been previously teased by a boy and that he had growled.  When the little girl went to see him she lifted her hand.  If he had growled to the little boy, it was already a warning the family should have seriously taken note of.

Before going to the SPA the dog had been found by his owner's body where he had been for fifteen days and had started to feed from it to survive.  But they say he showed no nastiness towards people.  Who knows how he was treated by his previous owner, that is true and a fact.  It now says in the article that he is going to have a study of his character before deciding whether or not to put him down.  This was a "fete" with family and friends, where there were probably a lot of people, noise and maybe drink.

Never forget that a dog is a dog, not a fluffy toy to be pulled about.  This very same thing can happen with a dog purchased as a puppy from a breeder, depending on his character and on the way he is treated.  They are often spoilt by people who think they are their baby and don't know the rules.  It can happen to any dog.

I can't say for others, but personally if a dog can be snappy it stays with us, or at the least would not be rehomed with children.  There again, it could be fine with us then snappy with someone else if they are not treated/dominated as a dog should be.

 

 

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Christine, you talk a lot of sense.

Our dog was also meant to be growly and snappy with children and that's how we ended up with her as there were 3 children in her previous owner's family.

If you have any sense at all, you will never ever leave any dog (perhaps cats too) with any children when you yourself are not near them.  To me, that's the only possible thing to do, in fairness to both the animal and to the children.

Children, in their incomprehension, can be rowdy and boisterous.  I have seen children pull animals' tails, poke at their eyes, pick them up in a way that feels precarious to the poor animal.

If someone did that to you or indeed if you feel threatened in some way, you might react angrily too.  I don't know why we should expect animals to behave better than children, although they often do!

I know that if I have to choose between looking after someone's dog or their grandchildren, I know where my choice would lie!

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What kind of parent would leave a child in a room on there own with a dog ? weather its one you have know from a puppy or one you have just taken in. Any dog can change in a split second for any reason

My dog is very soft but I always make sure she is at my heel if I leave a room to make drinks ect for guest with children, more for her sake some times !!
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My earlier post was not meant to be facetious.  I am surprised so many people have even thought the original worthy of a response.  Now I feel I have to, as well!!  CA has put most of it well. 

As I see it, the dog was:

1) recently adopted into a new environment

2) allowed on a sofa

3) surrounded by strange people making drinking/party noises

4) had been teased by one child - and had growled in warning - and was then allowed to be approached by another child

Not exactly rocket science to predict the next event......[:(]

The only people to blame are the adults of the adoptive family.

Chrissie (81)

 

 

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[quote user="Chrissie"]

My earlier post was not meant to be facetious.  I am surprised so many people have even thought the original worthy of a response.  Now I feel I have to, as well!!  CA has put most of it well. 

Chrissie (81)

 

 

[/quote]

It seems to me a real concern, which has been intelligently addressed by several posters

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I have adopted a number of rescue dogs of all ages.  I also have fostered on behalf of the Labrador Rescue Association in order to check that the dogs were family friendly and could be adopted by a family.

It is the way that you integrate dogs that is important.  When they arrive, they are naturally nervous and you should not mix children with them.  During the first week, I would do all sorts of things like taking away their food while they were eating, gently pulling their tails, taking away a bone etc.  All things that children do.  You then praise them when they do not over-react.  They soon get used to the idea.

You have to do this to puppies as well.  So just because a dog has come from the SPA has nothing to do with it.

An important thing is also to NEVER allow any child to tease any dog (or any other living thing, for that matter).  I am always correcting children on this, even those whom I do not know very well.

It's just common sense.

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Agree totally with the above, how stupid of the adoptees to take the poor dog into that environment so soon after adoption and to allow the young child to approach when he had already warned off another.

My rescue was a nightmare the first few weeks and had to be watched constantly and she was possessive and snappy around what she considered her possessions.  It takes a while for them to get used to being in a loving environment and to drop the feeling of threat from all angles.  She's now a totally different dog and loves attention but I still wouldnt leave her with small children, as others say for her sake as much as theirs.

It's funny as I've always felt that dogs in kennels in the France have a much higher chance of adoption since they dont go to the lengths that the UK charities do to vet and sometimes over-vet homes but then again things like this can happen.

I want another dog and have been scouring the local dog homes web site for dogs than can be homed with another dog and with a 12 year old child but they are few and far between, only yesterday though one came up so I'll be hot footing over there to check it out, these kind of stories will never put me off, if common sense had been added to this mix if woud not have happened IMO.

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I just received this:

VU SUR FACEBOOK A MEDITER ............................

En France, 28 personnes sont mortes tuées par un chien EN 20 ANS.
En France, 300 femmes meurent CHAQUE ANNÉE, tuées par leur conjoint. Et c'est aux chiens que l'on fait passer une évaluation comportementale......??? A méditer...

In France 28 people have been killed by dogs in 20 years.

In France 300 women die each year, killed by their partner.  And it's the dogs who have to pass a behaviour test!  Think about it.

 

 
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Without wishing to get into the "dangerous dog" argument (negligent owners might often be a better description)...

having thought about it as instructed, I see that most of the 28 people killed by dogs were children, all bar 1 of the rest were people killed by dogs that were not their own.

The number of women who are killed by their partners is appalling, but is actually around 160, according to the figures that I can find online.

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I find it amazing how parents do not teach them about animals.

We have a Dobermann who is very docile, a rescue dog who cries when she sees children and other dogs (we assume she once lived in a house with another dog and children). The number of parents who do not check their children and let them run up to her and throw their arms around her.

Fortunately, she is fine but another dog could well think it is being attacked and act accordingly.

If someone started pulling us about we would 'complain'. The dog that Norman featured has complained but nothing was done about it.

Not the dogs fault but the parents but which one will pay for it - and it will not be the parents.

Paul
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