Child & Dog Safety: Don't Leave Them Alone! EVER!

"Mommy and Daddy like to keep playing safe and fun for Sydney and me!" - Sydney & Me on leaving small children and dogs alone together.

Three years ago I was watching the news.  I learned of a heartbreaking story of a young mother losing her 2-day-old baby after her husky had attacked her baby.  The baby was asleep, and the mother left the room to use the bathroom for just a couple of minutes.  When she came back downstairs, she found the most traumatizing scenario that parents of a human and pet child could ever imagine.

Her baby's head was bleeding, and her husky was standing over the baby.  Apparently, the husky attacked the sleeping baby boy.

It's unclear what led to the attack.  The husky was partially disabled and was a rescue. No one really knows what trauma this dog may have endured prior to adoption to suddenly attack a baby out of no where.  Also, this baby could have looked like prey to this dog.  We don't know.

It's a situation that I cannot fathom happening in my home. I felt horrible for the mom discovering that her husky had killed her new baby.  If it ever happened to Taylor and Sydney, I don't know what I'd do.  I really don't.  I don't know what my husband would do.  It would tear our family apart.

For this reason alone, it should be clear that you should NEVER leave your dog and small infant/child alone together. A lot can happen in a short amount of time.

When my husband and I took the Baby-Ready Pets class at Animal Friends before our daughter was born, the instructors of the class said that animals have natural instincts.  They also may not see the new baby/child as dominant over them in the "pack" (family). Bringing a new baby into the pack is a big change for them, just as it would be for an only human child who now has a new sibling.

With that in mind, don't take any unnecessary chances on leaving a child and dog alone together.  It only takes SECONDS for something tragic to happen.

The best advice that we received in our class was this: take one or the other with you.

If you have to leave the room, take either the baby or the dog with you.  Sometimes it's easier to take the baby, and sometimes it's easier to take the dog.  Use your judgment on which to take with you.

Baby carriers make this easier for taking a baby with you.  I had a baby sling, and Taylor loved to be in it!  She'd sometimes feel so relaxed being close to me that she'd fall asleep in there!  So, I didn't have to choose which one to take with me to put away dishes or something like that.

Sometimes if Taylor fell asleep in the bassinet, it was easier to bribe Sydney with a doggy treat and have her come with me to the kitchen or where ever I had to go.

Just don't take the chance on a tragedy happening.  What you may be doing may only take a minute or two, but what can happen in the room you just left a child and dog alone in can take only seconds to occur.