Do Not Take Chances with children

I came across a post on the forum the other day that was pretty concerning but I'd like to use it as a learning experience for everyone who would be reading this.

The post was written by a well meaning owner of a large 90 pound dog. She explained that her dog has a history of stranger aggression with reactivity to people and dogs. Long story short, she was asking for advice on how to introduce her dog to her friends one year old son. There were photos of the one year old on his moms lap and the dog, with a muzzle on, leaning in to smell the baby. The dog owner explained the dog lunged, growled and attempted to bite the child shortly after the photo was taken. She could not get the dog to calm down so she put her outside behind a glass door and the dog proceeded to scratch and lunge at the glass in an attempt to get to the child. Her main question was what can she do to acclimate her dog to the child because she wants them to co-exist. 

Let me preface this by saying I am not here to shame anyone. I truly believe people are doing there best with the knowledge they have. However, let's learn from this.

Those caretakers took a MASSIVE risk for literally no gain. I cannot imagine putting anything ahead of the safety of a child in any circumstance. Why does that dog need to be with the child at all? Why can't the dog just go into a crate in a back room? When you weigh the risk verse reward, the entire situation seems outrageous... because it is. Even with a muzzle on, a dog can break facial bones with ease. I am all for training and behavior modification but not when it is at the risk of a child safety. 

The risk - the child gets seriously hurt or killed.
The reward - the child and dog walk around each other for a few hours, I guess.
​IT IS NOT WORTH IT. 

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Do not take chances with children. Even a small dog can bite, seriously injure and even kill a young child. Children and dogs DO NOT need to interact with one another. People seem to have this vision of children and dogs living in perfect harmony with one another and unnecessary risks are taken.

It is not necessary or worth it to put dogs with children who have a history of aggression. It is not worth it to put your child with a dog that is unknown to them. If you go to a friends house, and you do not know how the dog and children will interact, request the dog be put away.

Especially at gatherings, large or small. Stress layering or trigger stacking is a big deal with dogs. Little stressors overtime back to back will cause their tolerance level to dramatically decrease in a short amount of time. While that is happening, the party continues on. People become relaxed lost in conversation or the festivities. Children and dogs are not closely supervised in the setting and it is a recipe for disaster. 

Just three weeks ago a two year old child was killed by a family dog at the end of a gathering. It is horrific and tragic; it is also avoidable. Having three young children myself, my heart goes out to this poor family. I cannot imagine the pain. As a dog trainer I also feel a massive weight of responsibility to spread awareness about dog body language and help people truly understand the dog in front of them so these tragedies do not continue to happen. 

Children do things that naturally make dogs uncomfortable. Tolerance does NOT equal acceptance. 77% of dog bites to children happen from the family dog. The dogs within this 77% grouping are dogs that are known to the family as to be friendly dogs without histories of aggression yet they are possible for a huge portion of dog bites towards children. 

Please, please do not take chances with children. The risk is just too high and they are too precious.