Dog attack or a lack of training? See what a Shih Zhu did to Auntie Ming

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_406376.html

July 22, 2009

Newborn dragged by dog

LEXINGTON (Kentucky) - A FATHER was frantically calling police to report his missing newborn when he spotted the baby, bleeding from the mouth and clutched in the mouth of a family dog who had carried him from his crib to the heavily wooded backyard.

Four-day-old Alexander James Smith was rushed to the emergency room at University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington, where he was listed in critical condition Tuesday with two collapsed lungs, a skull fracture, broken ribs and various cuts and bruises.

His father, Mr Michael Smith, said doctors were optimistic the boy would survive, but a day earlier they braced the family for the worst and had to use resuscitation paddles to get a heartbeat.

'They took us straight to a consulting room with a pastor and gave us pretty much what was the last visitation,' Mr Smith said in an interview with The Associated Press from a hospital waiting room.

Mr Smith said he and his wife, Chrissie, had just put Alexander James (or A J) in his crib Monday afternoon in their Nicholasville, Kentucky, home and were preparing for a baby shower. When Chrissie returned to the bedroom minutes later, one of the doors was ajar and both the baby and their Native American Indian dog - a breed that looks similar to a husky - were gone.

Mr Michael Smith initially headed to the backyard, knowing that Dakota, a mixed breed with wolves in its ancestry, had a reputation for stealing household items like cups and wallets and depositing them there. He spent 10 minutes looking among the trees and bushes in the two-acre fenced backyard before finding the dog and child about 200 yards (metres) behind the house.

'When you're running through the backyard and you can't find him, every worst fear comes through your head,' Mr Smith said. 'We had to try to stay positive, try and find him. My guess is five more minutes and he wouldn't be here.' Jessamine County chief deputy sheriff Allen Peel said no charges had been filed, but the case remains under investigation.

Mr Smith, who is the owner of a security company where his wife also works, said the dog was treating the baby as a puppy and wasn't being vicious.

But he expects that Dakota, who was taken into custody by animal control, will be destroyed. The 4-year-old was one of three dogs the family had owned since they were puppies and had no history of aggression, even when playing with Smith's two other children from a previous marriage, he said.

'It wasn't a vicious dog attack,' Mr Smith said. 'She had A J for 10 minutes on her own, and if you look at A J's belly, there's about 100 little marks. All the dog had to do was one bite and A J wouldn't be here.' -- AP

Everytime I see the words "no history of aggression" I see a little red.

it is because of this statement that many people think us dogs as unpredictable. That at any point of time we will go mad and bite someone.
This is simply untrue. Even Bruno and myself, we have been trained to tolerate and not retaliate... but we still have a limit to our temper. Like any living thing... there is a limit to anyone and everyone's tolerance.
Lets take the article at face value... No dog should ever be left unsupervised with a baby. Simply because it doesn't matter whether we had any intentions of harming the child... its just simply unwise.
Some dogs are just born stupid like Bruno. This dog in the article wasn't trained well. The dog did not return to the owner when called. The explanation that the dog was treating the baby as a pup is also unacceptable.
Like some female dogs or animals, like cheetahs, lions etc... pups are a sacred thing and they are fiercely protected even from the same tribe or pride. Humans should do well to remember that.
Meet Serjay, Pa's little nephew... How fast he grows. He is very unafraid of big dogs and unafraid of us. Even then, we are never left unsupervised with him...And sometimes... its not from us that you have to be wary about.These are Auntie Ming's fingers after it was gnawed on by a small tiny Shih Tzu. Can you see the cracked nails? I cannot imagine just how much it hurts. Imagine these wounds on a child.

This is what you get when you do not train your dogs well... Dogs bite ONLY for two reasons.

Fear.
Trained to do so.

-*Please take note that Bruno and Bear are both trained dogs*
-*Do not allow your child such close proximity unless the dog's owner is very sure*
-*Even then, the risk you take is your own*
-*Train your dog that any child afraid is out-of-bounds*
-*Train your dog that any child unsupervised is out-of bounds*
-*Bruno and Bear are both trained to also detect anxiety and would ignore or stay still until the person is comfortable again*