Jack Russell has killed a baby ! OMG

Such a tragic thing to happen.Poor baby and I can't imagine how the family are suffering.

My dogs have always been far too interested in the sound of a babies cry - the old terrier used to immediately go into the hunting 'pose'. You know the one where the head, ears and tail go up?

I don't have kids but my dogs spend a lot of time with other peoples. I always watch them closely and tbh do trust them to a certain extent but still watch! It can go wrong so quickly.

cruzing said:
I ask for the dogs to be moved or if at the yard tell the dog owners to put them in the car. Both my sons have been brought up with dogs and have been taught to respect them and that not all dogs are like the one they play with at home. Also they were told never to approach strange dogs.
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I really don't mean to be rude but is it your yard? If not, what do other liveries say?
 
cbmcts said:
Such a tragic thing to happen.Poor baby and I can't imagine how the family are suffering.

My dogs have always been far too interested in the sound of a babies cry - the old terrier used to immediately go into the hunting 'pose'. You know the one where the head, ears and tail go up?

I don't have kids but my dogs spend a lot of time with other peoples. I always watch them closely and tbh do trust them to a certain extent but still watch! It can go wrong so quickly.



I really don't mean to be rude but is it your yard? If not, what do other liveries say?
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No not my yard and there are only a few dogs. one is a Japannese Akita which they used to tie up, but after a couple of incidents with other dogs I spoke to YO and they were told to either muzzle it when on yard or not bring it up.
My son very rarely comes to the yard so the liveries are fine with it:)
 
Its reported now the baby died from a 'serious head injury' and that investigations are ongoing.......the dog bit the baby...once....how did the dog therefore kill the poor child from a 'serious head injury'? More to this story than meets the eye
 
A newborn baby's head/skull is very fragile, almost egg-like, sorry to be so graphic (I was vacuum extracted and my family laugh that I had a cone-head for a few weeks) so if the dog had enough poundage in it's bite it would still be possible to cause a serious head injury.

Having said that it's one of the things we'll not know until the inquest :(

Remember the Sun reporting that a woman was killed and eaten by her own dogs, she ended up having died of natural causes and two of the dogs had been shut in the room with her, one had worried at her clothes to try and rouse her....
 
It's so sad and who could have foreseen it? :'(

But it is a valuable lesson. I know for sure I wouldnt leave my JRT alone with a child,heck I wouldnt leave a child alone with my 15week old Cocker puppy.

Thoughts with parents+grandparents,poor poor family. x
 
I cant imagine a jack getting a decent enough bite in on a skull, their mouths are too small, unless it was an overgrown mongrel bearing vague resemblance to a very large JRT, which is entirely possible. Tragic whatever the circumstance.
 
As above, we may never know but considering that the bones of a baby's skull aren't fused and there is an actual open area at the back I can see even small dog doing serious damage. Anyway, considering the sorts of animals terriers take on, they do have the equipment. Jacks aren't much different in size than dachshunds and they are bred to kill badgers.
 
I doubt most livery yards will be covered by their insurance to have any other than their own dogs loose, it's a grey area.... So if you run a livery yard check with your insurers.... or be sure visiting dogs carry appropriate cover.
 
Come to that loose children are a menace too. As are those in puschairs. Anywhere where there are large animals cannot afford to let their guard down, be careful
 
Spook said:
Come to that loose children are a menace too. As are those in puschairs. Anywhere where there are large animals cannot afford to let their guard down, be careful
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A friend of mine actually lost her job over something like this. She was bringing her baby to work and leaving him in a pushchair in the barn aisle, so out of the area she was usually working in but basically in the path of any horse that got loose or barged down the aisle. The owner, her boss, asked her repeatedly not to do this as it gave him heart palpitations to see in. Sure enough, a horse got loose one day and knocked the chair over. Luckily the child was not injured but that was the end for her employer. She lost a great job, with an apartment, permission to keep her dogs and own horse there, good money and an understanding employer. She felt she had been treated very unfairly but I would have to side with the employer - too big a risk to his business, his other liveries and his own peace of mind, let alone the child.
 
TarrSteps said:
A friend of mine actually lost her job over something like this. She was bringing her baby to work and leaving him in a pushchair in the barn aisle, so out of the area she was usually working in but basically in the path of any horse that got loose or barged down the aisle. The owner, her boss, asked her repeatedly not to do this as it gave him heart palpitations to see in. Sure enough, a horse got loose one day and knocked the chair over. Luckily the child was not injured but that was the end for her employer. She lost a great job, with an apartment, permission to keep her dogs and own horse there, good money and an understanding employer. She felt she had been treated very unfairly but I would have to side with the employer - too big a risk to his business, his other liveries and his own peace of mind, let alone the child.
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And had the child suffered serious injury you can bet your life one of those no win no fee scams would extract enough money to cripple the business.People are just so dumb.
 
Can I ask some questions without getting shot down?

I know people are saying dont leave dogs with children which is sooo true but surely these attacks can happen with or without the presence of a parent/adult supervising? How should a child be able to interact with dogs? Whats acceptable? Surely if we make too much out of our dog being near our child then we make the dog worse?

I am lucky that my rottie has no interest in my kids, well some interest in my 4yr old now he can play with her.

Its all very well laying down the rules but at some point the child and the dog must be trusted together?

x
 
How very sad for both the baby and dog. I am totally with East Kent on this. People these days are completely ignorant when it comes to dogs (and many other things). I was walking Brochan a few months ago, when all of a sudden, this little girl came running up from behind, and grabbed his tail. :eek: He was more interested in sniffing a bush and didn't react. I looked round and the mother was standing just a couple of metres away watching! I said to her that is how some dogs bite, but all I got was a cold stare followed by a reply saying the girl was only two. Fair enough, the child was probably too young to know better (mind you psychologists are saying that six month old babies have a sense of what is right and what is wrong), but the mother should have had more bloody sense! However, that girl will no doubt grow up thinking it's okay to do that to dogs and might do it to a dog who isn't as good natured as Brochan.

Anyway, going back to the topic. I would like to know what steps the parents took (if any) to prepare the dog for the baby. It has been said the dog was behind a baby gate (how, I HATE those things for separating dogs - they are meant for babies!), and if that was the case, then how tall was it and was it properly secured? Was the baby being held by somebody? Why wasn't anyone aware of the dog getting loose? Was the baby making a noise? I guess we'll never know as the dog is always to blame and the actions of the parents, etc are never taken into account. Getting information like that out might help to prevent another tragedy like this. But, lessons NEVER seem to be learned.

Brochan has been absolutely brilliant with children and just loves my five year old cousin. But, if that wasn't the case, and I were to become pregnant (there is a 99.9% chance of that not happening), I would NEVER even consider rehoming him. He is very much part of the family and is loved as if he were a human child. I would do everything I could to ensure he and the child could live under the same roof without incident.
 
I think the message is to never make assumptions about very small children and dogs. A small baby is a new addition to a household, it makes odd noises and smells! Small children seem to gravitate towards dogs and need to be taught how to handle them. Of course children and dogs can get on famously and have a lot of fun together but a bit of thought before hand can prevent so many accidents. My friend recently had a baby and set up her house and her dogs expectations before the baby arrived. There were no go areas set up and the dog became used to this. Baby arriving was not such a big deal as the dogs routine was not upset.
 
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