A week old baby killed by a Jack Russel

[LeeLouClare]

Hate to say it and of course I am making an assumption about the parents of this baby but in nearly all these types of cases, the dog is not trained nor reared properly when they do something like this.

For every Doberman, Jack Russell and Pitbull that is aggressive, there is another that wouldnt harm a fly...so who is to blame here?

I respect animals and I understand that even the kindest ones such as my dogs can do unpredicatble things. I mean, my one lab's tail has a life of its own and my 2yr old nephew got whipped over and fell just by his tail wagging as he passed him, bless him. so its about kids and nice dogs not knowing their own strength a lot of the time as to why you should, at a basic level, keep them apart. No-one deserves this to happen to them at all and like I said, I am making a bit of a sweeping statement but did this dog just suddenly decide to bite the baby and he has been the most wonderful dog up till then? I find that really hard to believe being a dog owner of different breeds all my life.

People need to be extremely cautious if they know they have a dog (or even a cat for that matter) that is not of a wonderfully placid nature and /or may be prone to being a bit aggressive in general. In that kind of instance, vigilance when a baby is around is paramount because then you know are dealing with an animal that can be unpredicatable in behaviour. Like I mentioned previously, and in support of another poster who lets her dogs close to her kids, the majority of pets who ARE family members are actually the opposite and are wonderful, protective, kind creatures. I would hate anyone to be put off buying any dog that they can bring up in a loving environment just because of sad stories like this.

My grandma has two small dogs that she has spoilt and they get agressive on occasions. Totally my grandmas fault and I agree that it's an owners fault entirely. My MIL has a lovely dog called Dougal - lab crossed with poodle - and he doesn't know his own strength but wouldn't hurt my LO intensionly and her other smaller dog can be nice one second then snap the next but she's spoilt too, poor Dougal isn't. I can't see myself getting a dog for the moment. Not because of these stories but because of the fact I need to concentrate completely on intergrating a dog into our family and I can't do that at the moment. My DH is really annoyed with me about it.
But something needs to be done about bad owners, if they got some of the responsibility and maybe got sent to jail or something they'd have an incentive to be good owners? Just a thought.

 

[Nat0619]

Such a sad story .

My brother and SIL have a jack russell. LO has never yet met the dog as he is a pretty boisterous dog who can snap. My mom and dad looked after the dog for a week recently whilst brother and SIL were away. I went over with LO and was prepared for LO to see the dog (would have stood up holding LO) but my dad had put the dog out in their extension as he didn't want to risk it. I was relieved really. I admit to not being a dog person at all (doesn't help that I'm allergic to a lot of them). OH's mum also has a dog, a lurcher so pretty big, who has also not yet met LO. That dog is soft as a brush but jumps up a lot x

 

[MommaAlexis]

Jacks are very hyperactive generally, more often then not. So when you get one you need to give it more attention and exercise then you would another dog it's size. They also need a "purpose" so they don't get bored. Bored, hyperactive dogs turn aggressive, fast. So tbh, if you get one you need to be prepared for that. This dog was already showing clear signs of aggression, I wouldn't "show" my LO to an aggressive dog, ever. I absolutely let my retriever see her. He gets a goofy grin on his face, gets all shy and the first day he met her would smell my stomach, smell her then grin and snort. He definitely knew she was my baby. I don't leave them alone in case he tries to lick her a bunch. But this dog is 8, I can tackle him to the ground, pull his cheeks, sit on him and he just grins. (he bares his teeth in a smile, it's veryyy cute..)

Dog breeds have temperaments that need to be taken into consideration. You may have had fifty amazing JRs, and that's probably because you're meeting all of that breed's needs, as well as the individual dog's needs.

 

[Bevziibubble]

Such a tragic story, rip baby

 

[LilOopsy]

In the grand scheme of things though... These incidents are actually quite rare if you look at the statistics. Yeah we see one in the news every few months... But then think about how many dogs in the country are owned. And then how many of those families have baby's and toddlers.


If you go through the average news report for these incidents most of them were dogs that were deemed dangerous, even banned in the country. Very few of them were other breeds.


What the news reports don't tell you is how the dog was trained, what it's temperament was before the bub come along, where the baby was at the time, where the parents were at the time etc.


For all we know they could have left the baby on the floor with the dog roaming...


My dog got rehomed because she showed signs of behavioural issues during my pregnancy that potentially posed a risk.... If she hadn't she would still be in this house. I certainly wouldn't avoid dogs because of these reports... I would just use some common sense

 

[c1403]

Such a sad story and I feel for all involved as they would never have expected this to happen, the poor baby.

I do believe that babies and animals can live togehter....its up to owners and/or parents to be responsible.

I have a cat and although he is a real softy and shown no interest in my LO, I will never ever leave them in a room alone together and even when they are with me I watch his actions cosntantly....my cat is fast.

If other people are holding my LO and they aren't used to my cat, he gets put in the kitchen or outside....my cat loves a cuddle and he could be climbing on them in a flash and his claws are sharp.

So far fortuantly the cat has ignored the baby and not shown any interest, my LO on the other hand can see the cat sometimes and will babble to him but he ignores her lol.

x

 

[Jennifurball]

I cried my eyes out when I read that story yesterday. But they knew it was vicious, she posted on Twitter when she was pregnant that it savaged a teddy bear. I don't particularly like JR's, I've never met one that hasn't snapped at me or at least tried.

I would have loved Victor to have been here when Scarlett was born, I would have trusted him 100%. We live on a street with lots of kids and he was always being chased and pulled and never once reacted in the 9 years I had him.

I feel so bad for the family, that is something you will never get over.

 

[RKW]

I have a pug (little cute dogs, squashed faces) and he is 5. He had never shown a hint of aggression until new years eve last year when we had a party, I picked him up from behind, and he snapped and bit me on the face. Looking back now I an see we had too many people in the house, and he was not happy, an people kept touching him as he is cute and little.
My point is a guess, he is a small lap dog, cute and cuddly, not a hunter/fighter, and he still bit me, and drew blood and bruised. He had a smack and has never done it since.
When my baby is born she will not be alone with the dog, and we will be incredibly careful with them when we are in the room. I am planning on buying a playpen for the baby when she is sleeping which the rocker/Moses basket can go into, which converts into a room separator.
Dogs are stupid animals (we love them very much) but they don't know the results of their actions when they snap, so should not be given the opportunity to harm a baby.

 

[stephanie1990]

This is such a sad horrible story.

I once owned a jack russell and unfortunately had to take it to be re-homed as it was too aggressive. someone said on here that jack russells had to be exercised a lot etc and that's so true, my old dog was hyper. I still loved it to bits but i knew that i couldn't cope, she was re homed a month later to a family on a farm so i knew i did the right thing.

Atm me and lo are living with my parents and they have a cross breed of a shit tuz and a westie, its very spoilt and can be aggressive, i never leave lo anywhere near it.

Its such a sad story. Rest in peace little one xxx

 

[CoffeePuffin]

I totally trust my dog when I'm in the room, I won't shoo her away from Amelia unless she is showing signs of being agitated or she's getting over excited. But if I have to leave the room, I take the dog with me.

 

[cmarie33]

What a terrible tragedy.

I am probably the odd one out in this thread as I am happy to leave the dogs near my LO when he is on the floor. They are very interested in him but they obey voice commands to step away from him, and I 100 percent believe they would never harm him (they mostly just want to get a good lick in). On the contrary, I would be more concerned that they would be defensive of him towards others.

My dogs are very small (my baby outweighs both of them put together!) and extremely good-natured. I don't doubt I would behave differently if my dogs were known for being vicious (like the dog in the story) or were larger.

My dogs are also allowed near lo, are very small and extremely good natured

 

[Jennifurball]

I have a pug (little cute dogs, squashed faces) and he is 5. He had never shown a hint of aggression until new years eve last year when we had a party, I picked him up from behind, and he snapped and bit me on the face. Looking back now I an see we had too many people in the house, and he was not happy, an people kept touching him as he is cute and little.
My point is a guess, he is a small lap dog, cute and cuddly, not a hunter/fighter, and he still bit me, and drew blood and bruised. He had a smack and has never done it since.
When my baby is born she will not be alone with the dog, and we will be incredibly careful with them when we are in the room. I am planning on buying a playpen for the baby when she is sleeping which the rocker/Moses basket can go into, which converts into a room separator.
Dogs are stupid animals (we love them very much) but they don't know the results of their actions when they snap, so should not be given the opportunity to harm a baby.

Victor was a Pug too, shocked that yours would do that but they don't understand, like you say.

 

[Irish Eyes]

What a terrible tragedy.

I am probably the odd one out in this thread as I am happy to leave the dogs near my LO when he is on the floor. They are very interested in him but they obey voice commands to step away from him, and I 100 percent believe they would never harm him (they mostly just want to get a good lick in). On the contrary, I would be more concerned that they would be defensive of him towards others.

My dogs are very small (my baby outweighs both of them put together!) and extremely good-natured. I don't doubt I would behave differently if my dogs were known for being vicious (like the dog in the story) or were larger.

My dogs are also allowed near lo, are very small and extremely good natured

Mine are allowed near LO as well and I've got 2 Jack Russells. I believe a lot of it is down to the owner and how the dogs are brought up. You can't overlook aggressive behaviour and then suddenly expect it to change when the baby comes along. The worst my dogs have ever done is to lick his hand occasionally.

Whenever I have any friends over with babies, they are kept away. I know not everyone feels comfortable with them!

 

[Mrs_T]

So sad. I hope others learnt from this tragic accident. Poor, poor family. Even our soppy dog was a bit nervous around Lily for the first couple of days - we had to introduce them very carefully. People don't realise that dogs can be frightened of babies until they work them out - it's sad the dog had to loose its life too imo.

 

[leahtaba]

i hate reading comments on stories such as this were people say 'i trust my dog hes fine around my baby' when will people start paying attention! a dog is an aninal and can snap unexpectedly. i was bitten by my nans 'soft as a brush' boxer when i was a kid. dogs and babies should be kept apart period!

 

[Bumblebee117]

 

[cmarie33]

To each their own...

 

[brokenbits]

Dogs are, at the end of the day, descendents of wild animals. Wolves.
A high pitched squeal or prolonged eye contact are naturally taken as a threat. To the PP who have said they're happy to leave their dog around their baby, I truly hope nothing ever happens. Voice commands absolutely will not stop a determined dog who is protecting themselves or their territory. If you've ever seen a dog fight, you'll know this.

I have a 'big bad staffy', who is, as most staffys are, a big wet fart. He is the softest piece of dog meat you'll ever meet. I akso have a year old spaniel. I trust both with my son, to sit with him, to lick him, to play with him BUT I would NEVER under any circumstances leave them alone together. Dogs and children don't understand each other, if that dog feels threatened without top dog (you) to reassure it or remove it from the situation, it will do the obvious.

I've never liked Jack Russells, they're horrible little dogs (my opinion, i'm aware 80% of people hate staffs), one had my staffy by the throat once and he didn't know what to do with himself!

Feel deeply for the family, can't imagine what they're going through

 

[sandilion]

Oh my goodness, I am in tears after reading that. That poor little baby ... And it appears that dog was known as being vicious, so how bloody stupid are these people for having a dog like that around a child!

This angers me. It happens too often. I am so sorry for their loss, but this really could have been prevented. My dogs are very well trained and very lovely natured dogs, but still i never ever leave them alone with my LO and i always enforce the boundaries when they are around LO (with me right there at all times)

I cant even begin to imagine what the family is going through. This is one mistake that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

 

[Dezireey]

i hate reading comments on stories such as this were people say 'i trust my dog hes fine around my baby' when will people start paying attention! a dog is an aninal and can snap unexpectedly. i was bitten by my nans 'soft as a brush' boxer when i was a kid. dogs and babies should be kept apart period!

I hate reading ignorant comments like yours aswell. I take it you are not a dog owner?

Did you not read a post earlier by someone who said that the mother of the baby in the topic of this thread in question actually knew her dog was aggressive?

So...owners at fault yet again as I predicted, NOT the animals.

An animal owner and breeder such as myself knows that ANY dog and I mean ANY dog (whether you think its daft as a brush or not) that bites a human has not been trained or reared properly and its owner is not doing a good job. If your statement were true, no-one in this world would own animals / pets and every single household with kids and babies would have dangerous animals biting everyone. Its just scaremongering. Places like the RSPCA are flooded with unwanted animals because people read stories like this and posts like yours and freak out and get rid of much loved and harmless pets.

Irresponsible owners should get penalised, not the dogs. I know its the best thing that this Jack Russell was euthanised after what it did but how unessecary is all this. A baby is dead and a dog has been put down because of irresponsible human owners who shouldn't have owned a dog in the first place.

Sorry but posts like yours really get my back up, my dogs have actually protected my child and before he was born they actually assisted my Mother who is Diabetic when she had a hypo and she could have gone into a coma if it wasnt for my dogs, as they are trained for that.

Oh and P.s just scour the internet for info on dogs that have put their lives on the line for soldiers, sniffer dogs in airports, dogs for the disabled and blind, hero dogs who actually save people from housefires and alert them to danger, dogs like greyfrairs bobby, loyal to the very end..........I could go on.