There are a lot of stories about perfectly friendly family dogs attacking infants. I think in some of the cases, the dog isn't a mean-killer type of dog, but just a confused dog. Maybe they think the baby is a toy. I'm sure there are cases of total neglect where the humans are lazy or stupid and leave a watch dog or dog who has had issues in the past with a baby. If a dog is trained to attack, it has NO business being alone with a baby. Linda was even super careful with me and Chim around Noah. When he was 3 months old, I wasn't allowed around him unless Linda was right next to him. At 4 months, I was allowed to be on the floor with him if Linda was in the room. At 5-6 months when he was sitting up, she might leave the room for 30 seconds to get his bottle. Chim was still outside on the deck because he has sharp claws and might have stepped on him by accident. Once Noah started crawling, I followed him around everywhere to keep him safe. Finally, when he was walking, Chim was allowed to be inside too. Never once did we scratch him, knock him over or scare him by barking loud. Remember I'm a 6 pound dog who has never shown 1 second of aggression, but Linda was still super careful. PLEASE, if you have a dog and a new baby, don't assume your dog will be fine with it. Take your time, months if needed, to be sure all is well.
 | |
| Linda saying goodbye to Snickers on the day he went to Dog Heaven | . |
This story warmed my tiny heart. It's not a bad story about an attacking dog, it's a story about a rescue dog who saved an infants life. Duke was adopted into a loving family 6 years ago. For non-dog owners who have never adopted a pet, you might think this quote is weird. Not Linda. The Mom always tells the dog: "You were born in my heart, just because you were meant to be ours." One night, Duke.. who is an obedient dog at all times, jumped on the Big Bed shaking and crying. He's trained not to do this, so the Portland family knew something was wrong. They ran into their 9-week old infant daughters room and found her not breathing in her crib! Paramedics came, the baby was revived and is doing fine. Yay Duke! If I had your address I would send you the biggest bag of dog treats ever. If Duke's family reads this, please email me your address at chalupa@live.com. P.S. The picture of Duke was copyrighted so Linda was afraid to use it. (On another blog Linda reads, the girl has legal action against her because she used a photo of a dogs butt without permission!) Just magine a Snickers dog who was brown, but had the same face mask. That's Duke.
