Every Pet owner should read this, especially those with large breed dogs

[KristyHall]

http://www.indianz.com/News/2013/010443.asp

Why Some Pet Photos Make Me Nervous

Call me an uptight veterinarian or an overanxious mom if you like, but I get a deep-in-the-gut unsettled feeling every time I view a particular type of pet photo that has become all the rage these days, particularly on Facebook. I’ll bet you’ve seen these photos- the ones in which pets and young children are posed together. Have you seen the one of the newborn baby practically buried under the massive head of the family dog? How about the image of a young child carrying (dangling) a kitty by one leg? And then there is the photo that frightens me the most- the one in which a youngster is face-to-face with the muzzle of a dog, and the expression on that dog’s face is usually one of confusion or subjugation. When I view these images I cringe, wondering if and when that animal is going to lash out at that young child. I have the desire to shake the photographer while screaming, “Danger, danger!” These “kids and pets” photos are as anxiety producing for me as a high budget suspense movie.
Big Ben
I’d like to tell you about Ben, a patient of mine many years ago who helped set the stage for my “nervous condition”. One or two adults along with two young children typically accompanied this lovely Saint Bernard to his appointments with me. The children were always busy interacting with their dog. At any given moment one might be dragging Ben around the room by his collar. Whenever Ben did manage to lie down, he was treated him like a beanbag chair, the two children leaping and falling onto his soft belly. Ben always remained the gentle giant, ridiculously tolerant of the children’s disrespectful behavior. My attempts to tactfully educate the parents about setting limits for their kids failed miserably. They reassured me that their children were simply demonstrating love for Ben who, in return, would never dole out anything but affection.
I was saddened but not surprised to receive a phone call from the children’s mother asking if I knew of anyone who might be willing to adopt Ben right away, and it needed to be a home without children. It seems that Ben finally snapped, both literally and figuratively. He bit the youngest child in the face prompting an emergency room visit and extensive reconstructive surgery. The child would be permanently scarred (likely emotionally as well as physically) and the family needed to rehome Ben or have him put to sleep. Given the bite history, a suitable home for Ben could not be found. I remember crying as I set about the task of euthanizing my beautiful and dignified patient.
Respect and safety
When it comes to teaching young children about interacting with animals, I am all about two things: respect and safety. The respect part of the equation translates into a child behaving gently and kindly towards animals- no tugging on ears or tails, placing fingers inside mouths, pulling on collars, using the animal as a body pillow, lifting the animal without help from a grownup, or interrupting sleep or meals. Such respect is not intuitive for most youngsters. It is something that must be taught and carefully supervised- no different than when teaching other important life lessons such as the danger of running into the street.
The safety piece is simple. Neither the child nor the animal should sustain injury as a result of their interactions. I would need dozens more fingers and toes to count the number of animals I have treated who have been unintentionally injured, often seriously, by the actions of a young child. Flip the coin and ask seasoned emergency room physicians how many young children they have treated who were injured by the family pet. They too would need more fingers and toes. Be it the child or the animal who is injured, in most cases they are victims of adults not paying attention.
What you can do
Here are some things you can do to enhance safe and respectful interactions between young children and animals. Feel free to add to the list:

• Actively teach young children how to interact with animals in a gentle, respectful fashion. Role model this behavior every chance you get.
• Be reminded that every animal is capable of unpredictable behavior. Never leave a young child unsupervised with an animal, even if that animal happens to be the beloved family pet.
• An eating or sleeping animal is wearing a “do not disturb” sign which should be respected.
• If your pet enjoys spending time in a crate or other small, enclosed shelter, consider this to be their sacred space and bar young children from entering.
• Avoid subjecting your pet to unnatural, uncomfortable poses for the sake of a photo!

Do you have young children and pets? How closely do you supervise their interactions?
Best wishes,
Nancy Kay, DVM
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Author of Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life
Author of Your Dog’s Best Health: A Dozen Reasonable Things to Expect From Your Vet
Recipient, Leo K. Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year Award
Recipient, American Animal Hospital Association Animal Welfare and Humane Ethics Award
Recipient, Dog Writers Association of America Award for Best Blog
Recipient, Eukanuba Canine Health Award
Recipient, AKC Club Publication Excellence Award
Become a Fan of Speaking for Spot on Facebook
Please visit http://www.speakingforspot.com to read excerpts fromSpeaking for Spot and Your Dog’s Best Health. There you will also find “Advocacy Aids”- helpful health forms you can download and use for your own dog, and a collection of published articles on advocating for your pet’s health. Speaking for Spot and Your Dog’s Best Health are available at www.speakingforspot.com, Amazon.com, local bookstores, and your favorite online book seller.

 

[Shellz]

Well said! I agree wholeheartedly. Too many folks buy puppies & dogs for all the wrong reasons. That's where the trouble starts. Lots of people buying on a whim or not even bothering to educate themselves on proper care & TRAINING! Training of both dog & children old enough to understand directions. And still, there needs to be supervision. My dad had a black lab that my siblings used to mistreat (6 kids - I wasn't born yet when incident occurred) & when my dad chastised the dog for getting into the garbage, the dog snapped & bit him. So yeah, mistreating of any pet by any child should not be tolerated. We need to teach our children to be more respectful of living things. If too young to understand, then we need to guide them by example.

It always used to irk me watching my in-laws with their dogs. One would die of old age, then on to the next, but it never surprised me when one day, the dog lashed out & bit someone. I think the last dog never bit anyone, but I could tell he was always on the verge. The dogs never got trained & they never knew what was expected of them. So many people with dogs that just don't understand canine behaviour.

There's my rant for today! Lol!

 

[redsoxs]

Very interesting!! Thanks for posting this! Those dopey photos are all over the internet.

 

[Peaches Lee]

I wish this could be handed out at vet clinics nationwide. I can't stand the "cutesy" photos that are just wrong. The one I remember hating was of a baby and a Neopolitan mastiff, with the dog smothering the kid and was seen as "adorable" and the dog was "hugging" the kid. No way, totally bad.

 

[donrae]

My mom's mantra was "don't get in a dog's face". I grew up with that drilled into me. I had a younger (adopted) brother who just couldn't get it and got snapped at a few times--don't ever remember broken skin. My mom would just say "if you weren't in his face he couldn't bite yours, right?". I hate those photos.

 

[KristyHall]

Something else that bothers me is people taking up the mantra of dogs that are bred for aggression as being harmless. They "prove" this by putting their children with these dogs. Here is the problem. Yes training can keep a dog from hurting someone and a child, but you must take into consideration dogs are bred for certain instincts. If you have a border collie and you're shocked the dog tries to herd the neighbor's horses, then you got the wrong dog. I grew up around German shepherds, wolves, and wolf hybrids. My mother raised and trained German shepherds and dobermans. I am under no illusion that those dogs are all safe because of proper training. There will always be a risk.

A biggie is pit bulls. People say aggressive dogs are made not born. ummm.. No. I have seen plenty of dogs with proper training be very aggressive. It is part of what makes breeds distinct. Genetics. I am not saying all pit bulls are dangerous and can not be control through proper training, but they do have a high prey drive. It may be fine every day for 100 days but the risk of a dog bred with a high prey drive snapping and biting a toddler or killing the pet cat is far higher than a golden retriever which is traditionally bred for a gentle temperament. It does not matter if small dogs like chihuahuas are more likely to bite, the larger breeds with high prey drives are more dangerous because of the damage that can be done. My horses have never kicked me or bucked me off, but I am still cautious when approaching them from behind or when riding around something that bothers them. I would never bring a pit bull around a child unattended nor my mother's traditionally gentle German shepherd. Even a breed thet is traditionally gentle can snap when put in a bad situation.

The dog may be fine with you, but if you have a breed that is traditionally bred for a certain task such as protection, fighting, or hunting, do not be surprised if it tries to "protect" you, fight the neighbor's dog/shouting neighbor, or hunt your sister's cat/small dog. Part of good training also means good training of the handler as well which means not putting the dog in a situation where it's instinct can be triggered and someone can get hurt. In the end, it is the poor pet that looses.

Ok i'm off my soap box

 

[KristyHall]

My mom's mantra was "don't get in a dog's face". I grew up with that drilled into me. I had a younger (adopted) brother who just couldn't get it and got snapped at a few times--don't ever remember broken skin. My mom would just say "if you weren't in his face he couldn't bite yours, right?". I hate those photos.

Same here. As a kid I had no sense of personal space with animals. I was always being bit, stung, and chewed on. My mother did her best to keep an eye on me and to teach me that I needed to respect an animals space and to learn their subtle non verbal cues but in the end she couldn't protect me from being bit many times. In the end I learned, but mom would never knowingly leave me alone with a potentially dangerous pet.

 

[Shellz]

Something else that bothers me is people taking up the mantra of dogs that are bred for aggression as being harmless. They "prove" this by putting their children with these dogs. Here is the problem. Yes training can keep a dog from hurting someone and a child, but you must take into consideration dogs are bred for certain instincts. If you have a border collie and you're shocked the dog tries to herd the neighbor's horses, then you got the wrong dog. I grew up around German shepherds, wolves, and wolf hybrids. My mother raised and trained German shepherds and dobermans. I am under no illusion that those dogs are all safe because of proper training. There will always be a risk. 

A biggie is pit bulls. People say aggressive dogs are made not born. ummm.. No. I have seen plenty of dogs with proper training be very aggressive. It is part of what makes breeds distinct. Genetics. I am not saying all pit bulls are dangerous and can not be control through proper training, but they  do have a high prey drive. It  may be fine every day for 100 days but the risk of a dog bred with a high prey drive snapping and biting a toddler or killing the pet cat is far higher than a golden retriever which is traditionally bred for a gentle temperament. It does not matter if small dogs like chihuahuas are more likely to bite, the larger breeds with high prey drives are more dangerous because of the damage that can be done. My horses have never kicked me or bucked me off, but I am still cautious when approaching them from behind or when riding around something that bothers them. I would never bring a pit bull around a child unattended nor my mother's traditionally gentle German shepherd. Even a breed thet is traditionally gentle can snap when put in a bad situation.

The dog may be fine with you, but if you have a breed that is traditionally bred for a certain task such as protection, fighting, or hunting, do not be surprised if it tries to "protect" you, fight the neighbor's dog/shouting neighbor, or hunt your sister's cat/small dog. Part of  good training also means good training of the handler as well which means not putting the dog in a situation where it's instinct can be triggered and someone can get hurt. In the end, it is the poor pet that looses.

Ok i'm off my soap box

Well said!

 

[bakerjw]

Ok i'm off my soap box

You're not on a soap box. You're speaking common sense.

Another thing to add is to listen to the owner especially if they urge caution. My dad got Rio, a golden lab, second hand. He was picked up as a pup by my nephew's friend and was part of the family for a year until a newborn came along. After that he was an outside dog, tied up away from the family. If everyone was inside and he was put outside for being too seeking of attention, he'd get unpredictable. He was out once and my niece felt sorry for him, so she went out to keep him company, he snapped hard at her and luckily didn't break any skin. We all knew to be cautious with him if he was feeling left out.

After my dad died, a neighbor lady came over to see my mom who was outside. Mom tied him up several yards away from where she was sitting because you couldn't carry on a conversation with him leaning all over you. The neighbor lady thought that she'd go pet him to let him know that she wasn't going to hurt my mom. She thought his agitation was being protective of my mom. My mom warned her but the neighbor lady knew better. Her "knowing better" got her a trip to the E.R. and several stitches.

Since it was a dog bite, he had to be quarantined for a week and then cleared by a vet. I took him to the vet and the vet, who knew him his entire life, came out and said, "Let's see that vicious dog" in a little kids way. It all could have been avoided if someone had listened to the owner. The neighbor lady's son scolded her for not listening.

And genetics does have something to do with it. It's not all nurture.

 

[uwdawgbone]

Excellent feedback, and I agree wholeheartedly. We have the sweetest Boxer in the entire world - our vet even comments that she is exceptionally loving of people for a boxer. However, we have always instructed our children to treat her with respect - no getting in her face, no hitting, no kicking, no hanging on her whether she's standing or laying on the floor. And, if she has a rawhide or other tasty treat, give her space. This ensures safety between our pets and children, and teaches them respect for other animals that may not be as understanding as ours.

I've also taught our two kids to ask other pet owners if their dog is friendly...don't just put your hand out to a dog to let them smell you, but ask the owner first if it's OK to pet their dog. This has paid off many times, since some owners say "no" since they know their dogs don't like children.

-Ginna