21/04/2025
An ounce of prevention...
I recently read an article about a tragic situation. A 7 month old baby, who lived with her family’s 3 dogs, was attacked and killed by one of them.
An interview with the mother had her reiterating that she didn’t know what happened, as her baby had been around the dogs with no problems since they brought her home.
Sadly, as someone knowledgeable about dog behavior and dog bite prevention, I immediately knew exactly what happened, why it happened, and that this death was sadly very preventable.
1) (and most extremely important) The mother stated they didn’t even know which of the dogs was responsible, which means THE DOGS AND BABY WERE TOGETHER, UNSUPERVISED. When I say never, ever leave a baby and dog(s) unsupervised, I mean this: do you need to p*e, run out and grab the mail, go move the laundry to the dryer? ALWAYS separate the dog and baby. Put the dog into the backyard, have baby gates ready to separate, or bring one of them with you. It’s like leaving a mobile baby alone next to a pool. Not for 2 seconds. Not ever. And I really don’t recommend leaving any child under the age of 8 unsupervised for a minute, even with a single, trusted dog. Not even YOUR dog (who is the most likely dog to bite your child). Not even your gentle, dog-saavy kid.
2) The mother stated these dogs were “always with” the baby from the time she came home. In animal behavior/dog bite prevention, we call this “magnetizing” the dog and baby to one another. Kids should not be petting and interacting with dogs until they can follow simple directions - not for worry they’ll hurt or bother the dog, but because it is teaching them that dogs are for touching. A toddler who sees a dog and automatically moves to pet it is a danger to themself, and that behavior comes from parents acting excited whenever a dog approaches.
Letting a dog sniff, lick, cuddle up to your baby the minute you bring them home is teaching the dog that they’re entitled to the baby’s space. They learn they get praise, attention, etc from interacting with the baby in that way…which becomes a problem if the dog is later made uncomfortable and struggles to put space between themselves and the baby because they are “magnetized”. A dog that rushes to be with/near a baby the minute they’re set down is not cute, or their first “bestie”, they’re a liability.
3) 7 months old is an age where baby becomes more mobile, more vocal, and more aware of their surroundings. A newborn can’t pull fur or ears or use the dog to stand and cruise. They can’t squeal like a prey animal in a dog’s ear. They can’t come rapidly crawling, face level, towards a relaxing dog. That is why a vast majority of bites from familt dogs occur shortly after a baby becomes mobile - either learning to crawl, learning to walk, or starting to run and climb. Many dogs are fine with a newborn or infant…until that infant can approach the dog, touch them, or move suddenly, startling the dog. These times in a baby’s development require extra close supervision - I’d argue an adult should be in arms length.
4) The mother stated this attack came out of nowhere. Sadly, I’d be willing to bet everything I have that someone educated in canine body language and behavior would have seen this coming. Unfortunately, there are an excessive amount of myths and urban legends regarding dog training and behavior, and many dog owners have very little education or exposure to current, science-backed information on the subjects. “It came out of nowhere” is translated by dog trainers as “I wasn’t aware of what the warning signs looked like.”
~~~ so what could have prevented this tragic death? A combination of proper supervision (and making it known to parents to NEVER leave a baby and dog alone together), a more appropriate standard approwxh to introducing dogs and young children, combined with education for dog owners and young children on canine body language and stress signals.
