Post Your Baby Picture and Lets See How Cute You Are
Offset things first. I didn't write this with you in mind. Let's not make this near your dog or your parental decisions.
But in that location's a trouble with sharing that "cute" dog and baby motion-picture show. The problem is bigger than your private situation, your family.
The trouble is that posting a picture such as the one above sets an example and feeds a unsafe myth. A myth so dangerous that people dice because of information technology. Children, especially, are hurt, and sometimes dice because of information technology.
The myth is that good dogs, family dogs, your dogs–don't bite. The myth says that dogs who live with usa, dogs who like our kids, dogs who have always been "tolerant"–will stay that way, no matter what we or the kids do to them. The myth likewise says that dogs are supposed to have whatever kids dish out.
OK–recall–we don't have to exist talking about your dog. Simply when yous mail a pic of anybody'south canis familiaris with a very young child draped over him, hugging him, riding him, pulling his tongue, tail, or whiskers, or just obviously sitting too close to him, and yous "Like" it or include an approving comment, you feed the myth. The myth that gets some people'southward kids terribly hurt or killed, and dogs euthanized.
Dogs are animals. They can motion with lightning speed if they feel the need to. If you are six anxiety abroad taking the picture and the dog has his face up correct upwardly next to your baby…y'all tin't get there almost fast enough. Even if you are sitting right adjacent to your child, the dog tin yet move faster than you.
A dog doesn't have to be "fell" or "mean" to bite. Sometimes all it takes is for him to be startled. Very young children, with their erratic movements, lack of fine motor skills, and exploratory natures, can stress out the most tolerant of dogs. It'south not fair to subject dogs to that. It's not wise, either. Having a domestic dog's face, with that mouthful of teeth, upward shut to an infant's caput is an enormous risk. Information technology'south non something to show off on social media.
Real Life Examples
A lot of people out at that place believed the myth until they learned otherwise. The hard manner. The tragic way. Hither are some existent quotes from real people–mostly parents–from real news stories about dogs seriously biting children. The quotes took virtually 15 minutes of spider web searching to find. I hope–they are real.
"Fido" was super cuddly, the nicest canis familiaris you would ever imagine, and never once snapped … never growled, zippo. He never, never, never went afterward a person. I'grand simply in disbelief. –2015
In an apparently unprovoked attack, a 3-year-old kid was bitten by a pet dog on Saturday… The girl was playing with the 2-year-old dog just before noon when she was bitten on the pinnacle and back of the caput.–2015
She said the bite was out of the blue. "Mary" has known and played with the dog for years.–2014
I stood in the kitchen with my friend and her dog and my trivial girl. It was completely out of the blue, he jumped at my girl and tried to headbutt her to put her to the floor.–2015
I don't really know what happened. It was right behind me. My dog just went for her. They are like best buddies. I don't know what happened.–2014
He said the domestic dog had no previous biting incidents, which is why he didn't think anything of turning his back while his daughter went to play with the dog.–2014
The dogs had given no prior indication of behaving in this manner, information technology was an assault out of the blue.–2015
What I didn't include in the to a higher place quotes are the clues that were often just a few sentences away in the news story. The bites don't unremarkably come up without warning, if ane only knows how to read the signs. Mayhap the domestic dog just got dorsum from the vet after getting some shots. Maybe there'due south a brand new dog in the household. Perchance it is mentioned in passing that the domestic dog doesn't actually similar his tail pulled (but the child was allowed to do it anyway). Maybe the domestic dog has growled in the by, and the owners duly punished him for it. (That'south a bad thought, past the way.)
Shooting Down the Myth
Perhaps I tin't persuade y'all that your dog has the potential to do animal things. Maybe you merely tin't believe that your dog could go fed up one day and seize with teeth (probably after several warning signs that you might miss). Perhaps you lot've got the single nigh tolerant dog in the earth. Can I persuade you not to share those pictures anyway? Your own or everyone else's? Sharing them feeds the myth. If yous share, you lot are implicitly condoning dangerous practices. You are encouraging others to let their kids become likewise close to their dogs and let them practice uncomfortable things to the dogs for the sake of the myth, the romantic noble dog meme, that 15 minutes of Facebook fame.
There'due south nothing new in what I've written here. (For case, check out the second and third manufactures listed below.) Trainers and behaviorists cringe whenever they see photos similar the one going around right at present because probably this very week they have seen several very prissy family dogs who chip a child "out of the blue." The parents were loving and well intentioned, but they grew up with the myth, and they still see social media saturated with information technology.
Permit's stop it at present. Please don't mail or repost that picture show. Please don't accept that film. Please don't let your child and canis familiaris interact that manner.
Do acquire virtually dog body language. Practise keep your children and dog safe. Do bank check out the resources below on how to do that. Most of them have multiple, first-class articles on the discipline.
Aid educate people well-nigh condom practices with dogs and children. Y'all can share the materials below instead of sharing that photo. Thank you!
Resources
- Learn to Speak Dog and Teach Your Kids–Doggone Safe
- Should You Share That Cute Canis familiaris and Baby Photo?–Dogs and Babies Learning
- Beyond the "Awww" of Viral Media–Family Paws
- Children and Dogs –Your Dog's Friend
- Why Supervising Dogs and Kids Doesn't Work–Robin Bennett
iv/viii/xv Annex: Some people have been concerned about sharing **this** post considering of the photo. Not bad point! I really debated whether to include one, but finally did because I felt I needed an case of what I'm talking about. I hope the narrative I have written sheds a different light on this type of photo. Delight do share the blog post if you are moved to do so.
© Copyright Eileen Anderson 2015
Source: https://eileenanddogs.com/blog/2015/04/07/posting-dog-and-baby-pictures/
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