And another toddler mauled to death by a dog?

[i-need-a-martini]

2 years old and killed by a mastiff cross.

The grandmother managed to free the boy from the dogs jaws and rushed him inside. The dog followed her in and grabbed the baby right out of her arms because he wasn't finished.

By all accounts a well cared for dog with no history so we can't blame the owners here.

Why do we continue to allow these dogs to be kept in homes??

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/town-unites-behind-family-of-mauled-toddler-20130806-2rc22.html

[azureline**]

My niece was attacked by their own 6 yo german shepherd, her mum managed to get her away and inside, slamming the door after the dog almost severed her (the mum's) hand........ The dog then proceeded to try to smash the door down to get in.

They called a neighbour who brought a gun, he said he thought if the dog had gotten in, it would have killed them.

He shot it.

That dog never gave any indication prior, that it might do that. He was obedience trained, perfect family pet.

[chinchuckchick]

You were lucky, leaving a 2 year old to "put his fingers in the dog's eyes and mouth, tried to ride him" is just asking for trouble.

[***super_nova***]

The fact is that a dog is an animal, it does not reason the way we do, and anybody who says that they trust their dog 100% is a fool.  I do trust my dogs as much as it is possible to predict animals' behaviour.  I have had in the past situation that normally very friendly dog became quite hesitant with somebody (friend of a friend) who came to our house; it was not particularly noticeable, but he just did not act the way he normally would and I put him in my bedroom, out of the way.  Too many people just do not pick up on a subtle change in their dogs' behaviour.

Staffies are generally very good with kids, they are tough and so take easily some rough & tumble, and they are not usually people aggressive, but they do have the dog fighting instinct and can become dog aggressive without any notice.  I know a lot of people who have lovely Staffies, but I am not interested having them as my dogs' playmates.  

Some years ago I have witnessed a fight   between 2 Staffies who lived their whole lives together, they were best mates, and when they were about 5, one day they just looked at each other from 10 paces, and rushed at each other, and to cut a long horrible story short, one ended dead, the other only just survived, despite that there were 3 adults very experienced in dealing with dogs.  We could not get them apart; in the end one lost consciousness, and we just threw them in the back of a station waggon and went to the vet.  The surviving dog only let go when the vet put him under anesthetic.

I have seen other dog fight, luckily never between my own dogs, but once I tried to help break up fight between a Dane and Dobe belonging to a friend, and I ended up with over an hour operation having  my leg stitched back together.  The dog that bit me did not attack me, he thought he is biting the other dog, the moment he bit my leg and realised his mistake he actually stopped fighting.  And that is the worst danger of dogs that might fight and kids, because if the child tried to stop them they might get badly hurt.

[rabbitearbandicoot]

I used to sell door-to-door many years ago. The ONLY dog I ever had a problem with in 8 years was a rat-on-a-string silkey - charged at me, jumped up and bit my leg right through my trousers - intended to attack me - and then kept coming back for another bite.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@rabbitearbandicoot wrote:

I used to sell door-to-door many years ago. The ONLY dog I ever had a problem with in 8 years was a rat-on-a-string silkey - charged at me, jumped up and bit my leg right through my trousers - intended to attack me - and then kept coming back for another bite.

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Yeah but that is exactly the point isn't it?

A silky may bite and break skin but it's never going to have a jaw powerful enough to cause tremendous damage. Nor is it going to have the instinct of locking down whatever is in it's mouth until death.

[mugssy65]

I get what you are saying Martini BUT yes they do sometimes bite to kill, a baby was killed in the UK last year by a very small dog, baby was in its bouncy. Neither side of this debate will ever agree and both will site cases to prove their point.

[j*oono]

I recently had my dog sterilised.  He is lovely but was being driven crazy by a nearby dog on heat.

This was the information I was given with his medical record.

90% of dog attacks on people and other dogs involve un-sterilised male dogs.

All fatal attacks on humans have been by un-sterilised males.  

There is lots of other information that makes you think very carefully about having a large dog with a young family.

There are around 2,000 unwanted dogs euthanised each week in pounds and vet clinics.  My dog is so much happier now and he has stopped trying to have sex with Fishbait.

[2106greencat]

I am with rabbit - all dogs need socialising and IMO to have a dog to keep it chained up or fenced in a yard with little or no contact with people, apart from being incredibly stupid, isjust plain  cruel and really negates the reason for having a pet surely?

I have a humungous labrador pup (3 years old now, and still a pup I'm afraid). Charlie would not hurt a fly, however, I would not leave a young child unattended in the yard with him for obvious reasons.

What if the child hurt Charlie by accident and he spun round in defence of himsself (have seen this happen to another family)

and hurt the child ?

As a mother, pet owner and responsible person who cares about animals and children I do think granny had a bad lapse of judgement in this case, and sadly she will live with that knowledge for the rest of her life.

RIP little man - so sad

[cherry*135]

Some people just never learn.

Warrawong man fined $5k over dangerous dog

A Warrawong man was fined $5000 yesterday for not complying with regulations for his pet German shepherd, which had been declared a dangerous dog.

Handing down the fine in Wollongong Local Court, Magistrate Michael Stoddart said Ozturk Demirci's failure to comply with dangerous dog control requirements was a serious matter.

"This might be a family pet but we are seeing dreadful things in the news this week about pets," he said.

Last Sunday, Deeon Higgins, 2, from the Riverina town of Deniliquin, was fatally mauled by his cousin's mastiff cross. The toddler was at his grandmother's house when the attack began.

Yesterday, Demirci, a bus driver, pleaded guilty to one count of not complying with dangerous dog control requirements.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1693619/warrawong-man-fined-5k-over-dangerous-dog/?cs=300

[***super_nova***]

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A silky may bite and break skin but it's never going to have a jaw powerful enough to cause tremendous damage. Nor is it going to have the instinct of locking down whatever is in it's mouth until death.

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Of-course, small  dog can never inflict as much damage as a large dog, but that does not mean that a small dog cannot do a considerable damage.  It all depends who it bites.  Many years ago I was in a hospital, and was sharing a room with a lovely old lady.  She was in her early nineties, but up til she got nipped on her ankle by a Silkie she was very active and had a great life.  She was a wealthy woman and just before this incident bought herself brand new BMW and could not wait to get home to drive it.   However, the small wound was not healing, she was in the hospital already few weeks before I arrived, I stayed  2 weeks, and she was not going anywhere when I was discharged.  They had to graft new skin, and there was a danger they may have to amputate above the ankle.  That would mean not only she would never get to drive her new car, but she would be basically bedridden, so this little nip by a small dog has totally destroyed her quality of life.