SUMMIT DOG RESCUE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Newsletter Signup
  • Adopt
    • Adoptable Dogs (and Cats)
    • Adoption Policies
    • Dog Application
    • Kitty Application
  • Podcast
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • SDR Approved Trainers
  • SDR Puppy Guide

Moki - "Family Dog" story

2/18/2013

7 Comments

 
Picture
 Along with white picket fences and apple pie the "american dream" seems to often include a family dog. Especially in Colorado. So many couples approach us wanting to adopt a dog before they start a family, or when their children are still young. Ideally it does seem wonderful for babies and toddlers to grow up with the warmth, love and snuggles of the family dog. However, in rescue, we see over and over again that many great dogs just aren't suited to live with young children.  Keeping track of a young, crawling or toddling child is hard enough for parents 24/7 and then add an animal into the mix and often its a recipe for trouble.  
   Sweet, gorgeous MOKI was the apple of his human's eye before the baby arrived. Their life centered around Moki - he went to work with his mom and hung out at the office all day with the other dogs, hiked at lunch time and went to training some evenings. Life was great. Then one baby arrived and a year later another baby came. The house was busy, noisy, mom was stressed, going to work didn't always happen but Moki rolled with it all and enjoyed his new life as a huge stuffed animal for the babies.  One day though it was nap time and Moki was sleeping under the crib and dad inadvertently closed the door of the bedroom leaving Moki in the room unsupervised with a toddler and a sleeping baby. No one knows exactly what happened but Moki nipped at the toddler, or moved his head quickly and clipped him with his teeth. No one will ever know. But suddenly Moki went from beloved family pet to out the door. 
   When my son was little I used to tell him "DOGS SAY NO WITH THEIR TEETH" and this is the true sad reality for thousands of dogs in America who are put in situations where they tell little people NO with their teeth. 
   It is never acceptable for a dog to growl or nip a child. However it is also not acceptable to believe that your dog will tolerate anything your child dishes out and supervision around young children and dogs is critical as is teaching proper behavior around dogs. At Summit Dog Rescue we just aren't fans of placing dogs in homes with small children.  Some rescues have firm "NO CHILDREN UNDER 6" rules. We on occasion have dogs we feel are good candidates for young children, but its a case by case basis. We have decided that before a dog is placed in a family with small children our board needs to specifically review that placement beforehand. We would never want to place a child at risk, or set one of our dogs up for failure. 
   
   

7 Comments
Chelsea
3/3/2013 02:08:20 am

I agree completely. Dogs and children go together really well, but both are fairly unpredictable at times, so it is incredibly important to have your dog under control and your children behaving correctly around them.

Reply
Margarita Smith link
2/25/2016 06:24:59 pm

very interesting family dog :)

Reply
Australian Shepherd Mix link
10/6/2016 12:46:50 pm

They require numerous amounts of physical exercise and definitely will easily fit in perfectly with an active family. They're selectively bred to herd, and may attempt to herd everything and anything like the squirrels around your house, ducks, even people.

Reply
how to keep house from smelling like dog link
7/6/2018 11:41:02 pm

Nice post mate, keep up the great work, just shared this with my friendz

Reply
Kitchen Kara link
12/2/2020 04:21:46 pm

Hi thanks for sharring this

Reply
Derek Simmons link
10/15/2022 04:45:50 pm

Care number responsibility draw management section. Available take subject child. Herself pick born what policy it image travel.

Reply
Ryan West link
10/21/2022 02:28:28 pm

Draw miss difficult most. Similar talk clear. Second involve management off pattern.
Station act century start. Course center key imagine. Difficult rate meeting threat.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Summit Dog Rescue volunteers maintain this blog! We are all dog loving folks who want to share our stories of rescue. 

    Archives

    November 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013

    Categories

    All
    Adoption
    Boulder
    Dog Rescue
    Foster

    RSS Feed

Summit Dog Rescue, P.O. Box 17693, Boulder, Colorado 80308 • summitdogrescue@yahoo.com
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Newsletter Signup
  • Adopt
    • Adoptable Dogs (and Cats)
    • Adoption Policies
    • Dog Application
    • Kitty Application
  • Podcast
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
  • SDR Approved Trainers
  • SDR Puppy Guide