Dogs and kids

[akitavet]

Okay so I know a lot of parents think that a dog is a good idea for their kids and that it helps them learn responsibility, and blah blah blah. Most of us probably grew up with pets in our houses (or on our property, etc.) or else we wouldnt be where we are today. Well Monday we had a client come in with her 5 small children and brand new puppy. They have had him for less than 2 weeks. Her kids were WILD! They were yelling, screaming, running around, and generally aweful. The Dr. says to me "What breeder in their right mind would sell a puppy to these people!?" Well we all know that its the breeders out there with $$$ in their eyes. Guess what....yesterday the puppy comes back. One of the kids pushed/threw the puppy to the ground several times and when we do xrays, we see 3 fractures in the left hind leg. A 12 week old puppy with 3 fractures because the poor thing was placed in an out of control house with parents who make no rules. Good kids can be great for dogs, but these were not anywhere near what I would call good kids. And I guess really the parents dont realize that their kids are out of control. Maybe the bill from the orthopedic surgeon today will be a bit of a wake-up call. I doubt it.

My kids will be so unlucky. I train obedience with my dogs and that will be hard to shut off! LOL

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[primadonna22274]

Oh that makes me sick. Poor puppy.
So, as a person who treats people, I'm curius: what's in place for animal welfare? Like if I had a kid who was thrown and had 3 fractures in his leg you can bet I'm calling DHS and the kid doesn't go home with parents until somebody makes sure it's safe. Are you obligated to send the puppy home with this crazy family?

 

[RaptorRehaber]

Oh that makes me sick. Poor puppy.
So, as a person who treats people, I'm curius: what's in place for animal welfare? Like if I had a kid who was thrown and had 3 fractures in his leg you can bet I'm calling DHS and the kid doesn't go home with parents until somebody makes sure it's safe. Are you obligated to send the puppy home with this crazy family?

Sadly, in most cases, there isn't much we can do. If the owners make an attempt to bring the animal in for treatment, we don't have much ground to stand on legally to cry abuse. At least that's what I've found from my experience.

 

[pupsforseeing]

At the guide dog school that I raise/teach classes for, we are always concerned with placing puppies in houses with small children. It's a double-edged sword though, because generally they end up being our best or worst raisers and not usually anywhere inbetween. I started raising when I was 12 and it was sooo great for my puppies to learn to be mellow in the midst of the chaos that was my house (with all the kids/animal that were constantly coming in and out). But, generally people who can't raise well behaved children also can't raise well-behaved dogs (or, in my case, if the kid is the one doing the raising, if they haven't been disciplined as children, they won't be able to discipline a puppy). So, when we do home interviews and see wild kids, they get a big NO next to their name. If, though, the kids are well behaved, ask questions, seem genuinely interested, it is usually a win-win situation for everyone (the family, the puppy, and the organization).

 

[lailanni]

But, generally people who can't raise well behaved children also can't raise well-behaved dogs (or, in my case, if the kid is the one doing the raising, if they haven't been disciplined as children, they won't be able to discipline a puppy). So, when we do home interviews and see wild kids, they get a big NO next to their name. If, though, the kids are well behaved, ask questions, seem genuinely interested, it is usually a win-win situation for everyone (the family, the puppy, and the organization).

Couldn't agree more!! I'd say you just pinned down my pet peeve. If someone doesn't have well behaved children, adding an animal in the mix is a bad, bad idea. It's a disaster waiting to happen -- as the OP so very well pointed out. Unfortunately, responsibility is too hard a concept for some people.

At the rabbit shelter I'm at, we never adopt out to families with wild kids. Rabbits are especially fragile. We under no circumstances adopt out during easter. If a family does have young children, we see how the kids react. Some are alright, some are absolutely not. And if they're not, there is no way they're getting a rabbit.

More than once at the clinic I've seen people come in with several wild, crazy children and a dog that you know isn't going to tolerate it. It's a bite waiting to happen.... but they always say "oh, he wouldn't do that - he's a nice dog" Not so nice when he bites your 3 year old.

 

[destiny1325]

I have a cousin with 2 very undisciplined children. She got them a puppy and about six months later the dog couldn't tolerate some of the treatment and ended up biting one of the kids. It didn't break the skin or anything, but my cousin decided to put him down that day. If she had asked, there were many people in the family who would have gladly given the dog a home. I don't understand what people are thinking sometimes.

On a slightly unrelated note, I had a friend in high school whose mom euthanised her dog because it scratched her during a nail trim. Anybody else think people like this shouldn't be allowed to have pets?

 

[nyanko]

When I worked at Petland (yeah I know, spare me, I was a kennel technician there and that's how I learned about puppy mills and all that stuff), TWO times we had puppies out in the visitation booths with people whose little kids threw them on the ground when they stupidly let the kids hold the puppies. One of them had to be euthanized because its back was broken and the other had a broken leg that healed abnormally and will be pretty much gimped for life. Both were small dogs (chihuahua and dachshund) and I remember being so upset and angry at those parents and their kids.

 

[primadonna22274]

This is why I could never be a vet.
I could never succumb to the vain, irrational, selfish "owner" who demands I put down Fluffy because she scratched me or nipped at my child who was pulling her tail. I would literally have a dog farm and a cattery because I would be taking them all home, and then I might not have a husband and would have to take out a second job to keep them all fed & immunized & all that business!
You guys have my respect and appreciation.

 

[bunnygirl]

Ugh this is definately a pet peeve of mine as well. It is amazing to me how many children "rule" over their parents.
One of the vets I work for..when a family with young children come in with a rabbit she always makes sure it is understood that the rabbit is not a toy for the children. She explainss to both the children and parents (emphasis on the parents) that the children are NOT to pick up the rabbit, explaning that this can result in a broke back, leg, etc. Also when parents say "it is my son/daughters rabbit" she interrupts them and says no he/she is your rabbit...
I love her for her speeches she has a great way of getting through to people.

Education is the key. I believe that most people don't realize the horrors of what could happen until they actually occur.

It is so frustrating when people put animals to sleep because they bit their child. I feel like screaming at them:" Did you ever think it's because your child is a pain in the ass and probably pushed the animal to its limit?"

..Ahhh End Rant

 

[fargeese]

I agree with all ya'll of course, at the horrible banfield we had a lab puppy come in who was aggressive and biting when you tried to handle it's face and paws, and after some pressing the parents admitted that their 4 children were always "messing with it". An aggressive, mean LABRADOR puppy, I didn't know that was possible.

As a teacher for many years I have many opinions on wild kids too. I find it ironic that you have to pass a test to drive, or even fill out an application to get a dog from a shelter but anyone can have a child. And the lack of screening is obvious. One of the reasons I am getting out of teaching is that I am tired of raising other people's kids, because their parents certainly aren't teaching them correct behavior or even basic manners.

Ouch sorry I am grouchy tonight!

 

[athenaparthenos]

It is so frustrating when people put animals to sleep because they bit their child. I feel like screaming at them:" Did you ever think it's because your child is a pain in the ass and probably pushed the animal to its limit?"

In my house growing up the rule was: "If you did something to make the kitty bite or scratch you, DON'T DO THAT THING ANYMORE. Kitty doesn't like it." I can't even imagine thinking "Well, time to put the cat/dog/whatever down!" if my kid was a jerk to my pet when I wasn't looking, and the pet responded in defense. Separate the two and talk to the kid about handling and don't let them handle the pet unsupervised again until you're confident they have the skills/empathy to handle the pet, but euthanize the pet? Not an option (unless perhaps my kid got actually eaten, I'd probably feel a bit peeved at the pet then).

 

[Pandacinny]

Oh that makes me sick. Poor puppy.
So, as a person who treats people, I'm curius: what's in place for animal welfare? Like if I had a kid who was thrown and had 3 fractures in his leg you can bet I'm calling DHS and the kid doesn't go home with parents until somebody makes sure it's safe. Are you obligated to send the puppy home with this crazy family?

There's a great book on this. It's called Forensic Investigation of Animal Cruelty and is by Drs Leslie Sinclair, Melinda Merck, and Randall Lockwood. you might check it out!

http://www.amazon.com/Forensic-Inve...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201173845&sr=8-1

 

[Truth74]

I go by my dog's cues, myself. My kids aren't wild but they can get a bit loud. If he's done playing. He's done playing, and I make sure they stop whatever's going on. If he feels he's had enough of the kids, he'll let me know.
I have him trained to point at the door if he wants to go to his quiet place (the garage). If he doesn't want to go there, he sticks with me or my dh. And he knows I have his back. There is no messing with him, period.
In my house, there is no mistake, he is my dog.

Unfortunately, parents will say that a dog is the kids. I've seen that turn into a horrible mess many times.

 

[Kara31191]

I keep seeing this same issue. I think I see it like every week! it's absolutely ludicrous! =(

Last month, there was a lady who had three wild children. They could carely speak English. Well, the kids broke the leg playing with the bird in the other room. They "didn't have enough money". Then, the vet suggested the bird be relinquished because she could fix it and adopt the bird out for the cost to fix the leg even. They didn't want their kids to live without the bird. What ended up happening is Dr. M pretty much threatened them with calling the local humanesociety for these people saying they would let their bird live in a box for the remainder of its life!

I wouldn't mind, but it was 150 dollars. I'm sure they could've found a way...

 

[ratbandit]

I work at the front desk on emergency hours at the teaching hospital and the other day this lady brought in her dog that got hit by a car the night before and had an obviously broken leg. Her kid was absolutely NUTS!! He had a hold of the leash and was running around the lobby with this poor dog with a busted leg!! The worst part was that while they were treating the dog they had to wait in the lobby and the women kept going outside for smoke breaks and left the kid going ape all over the place banging on stuff and screaming at people and irritating their animals as well. What a freakin' nightmare.

 

[VAgirl]

I wouldn't mind, but it was 150 dollars. I'm sure they could've found a way...

For some people $150 is a lot of money. Not that I'm saying these people were responsible pet owners or should even be pet owners, necessarily. I'm just saying people's financial situations can vary dramatically.

 

[athenaparthenos]

For some people $150 is a lot of money. Not that I'm saying these people were responsible pet owners or should even be pet owners, necessarily. I'm just saying people's financial situations can vary dramatically.

This is very true, but in our area at least, we have a place called Animal Aid that will cover, conveniently in this case, up to $150 for vet bills if the vet calls them and faxes over a case history... we also take Care Credit and as long as SOMEONE with a decentish credit history can cosign, people usually get accepted for it. There are options that people can try before just giving up, definitely.

 

[wivet2011]

There are options that people can try before just giving up, definitely.

yup...like preventing such things from even happening in the 1st place by teaching your kids how to properly handle animals! Sure, accidents happen to everyone, regardless of how much animal experience you have but then you do what you can.

 

[akitavet]

For some people $150 is a lot of money. Not that I'm saying these people were responsible pet owners or should even be pet owners, necessarily. I'm just saying people's financial situations can vary dramatically.

I hate that though, because if you cant afford to have a sick pet, then you cant afford to have a pet. Simple as that. That's why so many breeders' questionairres ask about profession because it somewhat predicts income. As a breeder, I will have a hard time placing a dog with someone who wants to haggle over the purchase price. If the purchasing cost is something they want to cheap out on, how are they going to be about year round flea & tick prevention or obedience training.

 

[athenaparthenos]

yup...like preventing such things from even happening in the 1st place by teaching your kids how to properly handle animals! Sure, accidents happen to everyone, regardless of how much animal experience you have but then you do what you can.

Well, this money can be applied to injuries/illnesses that had nothing to do with children, as well -- my point was that even people with very little money can still often find a way to cover at least basic treatment, *if* they look at all available options.