I don't ever leave my 1 year old son a long with my dog. For one, he will try and pull his tail. My dog is an American Chow and can easily get mad. So I definitely supervise my son when he is around him. My cat loves to play with my son though.

That's the problem isn't it, you don't know what the child will try to do to the dog and you don't know how the dog will react. I babysat a little boy once who pulled on the cats fur and got a nasty scratch for it.

Although I love my dogs and trust them, I don't think I would leave my younger siblings alone with them. I don't think they would ever hurt them on purpose, but my little sister likes to tug on ears at the moment. I could see the dogs fighting and one of the children accidentally getting in the middle of things. My little brother could probably manage to be with the dogs by himself without any issues because he knows what not to do around them. My little sister wouldn't understand and would probably accidentally provoke them.

We have several dogs in the house and we don't ever leave my son alone with them. One of our dogs is quite snobbish and would bite anyone who touches her. The other one is quite playful and might hurt my son once she suddenly runs or jumps. The others are more well-behaved but they have histories of biting as well. So no, we most certainly cannot leave them alone with our son.

No matter how well-trained dogs are, we never know what just might happen. What if our son pinches them or slaps them? They might react instinctively and bite him. That is really my fear. I know they are good dogs but they still have certain instincts that are innate to them. My son is very young and he doesn't understand well enough that he cannot slap or pinch them or else they'll get angry.

I've never left my dog alone with my son. We got her when he was 2 and now he's 4 and she's 2 (she's a boxer). She's very sweet and loving to him. They cuddle on the couch together and when he decides he wants to play with something she'll lay next to him as he does so. However, with all that said, I still wouldn't leave them alone together. You just never know what could happen, he might accidentally step on her tail or a paw and she'd just instinctively snap.

I'm glad everyone seems to have same thoughts on this, I think it's irresponsible to assume that it's completely safe to leave a child with a dog, no matter how trustworthy the dog or sensible the child. Unfortunately not everyone agrees and accidents happen and that's when the poor dog is in trouble.

I don't think dogs should be left alone with children until the children are old enough to prove themselves reliable at correct handling of the dog. I didn't let my daughter alone with a dog until she was 7 and had completed an obedience class with my dog with her as the handler. I have had a dog her entire life but before that time, if I left line-of-sight, either she came with me, the dog came with me, or the dog was separated from her by a barrier (like a crate or baby gate). Until she was 3-ish, I only allowed her to interact with the dog when I was right there beside her to make sure she was being nice - never hurting or teasing.

Keeping them separated when not supervised protects both the dog (who could get injured or develop bad habits or start to be afraid of the child, causing a problem) and the child (who could get bitten, knocked over, or have her food/toys stolen by the dog).

I agree, it's as much about the safety and wellbeing of the dog as it is the child. Animals can be so easily stressed by children and if that happens it's not a safe environment for anyone.

I think that any of my dogs haven't been around little children, and I think that's better than if they were around them. Children are usually scared of my biggest dog since he's a boxer and he might seem kind of scary, and in the other hand children are attracted to my chihuahua since he looks really cute and small but he's stressed almost all the time, and he barks a lot... I guess that I'm fine with the idea of not having little children around them, I also would be really paranoic with the children hurting my dogs, I guess.

Unless the baby and dog grew up together, I would not leave a dog alone with a baby. However, I've purchased a Peekapoo and he is great with children from the age of 2 years old and up. It extremely important that you research particular information about a dog before leaving any dog around children, no matter what age. You have to make sure that the dog is child friendly.

Sincerely,
Esquire25

You can't leave your young children with a dog breed that is not very tolerant to be annoyed regardless if is young children or tiny dog breeds and puppies. There are other breeds that are very playful, but given their big sizes is rough play for your young child, is not a smart idea to leave it alone with them.

Although lazy and couch potato breeds really don't mind the child, thus it is safe to leave the children with them.

Even though my dogs are well trained and they wouldn't hurt a baby I wouldn't leave a little child alone in every situation, let alone dogs. You don't know what goes through a baby's head and what it can do when a dog barks or wants to play for example, they can get scared or react weirdly.

I think it depends on the dog and the age of the child. Some dogs are complete sweethearts that the child is more likely the cause of injury instead the dog. Other dogs, will only take so much abuse before they defend themselves. Dogs exist and an hierarchy and babies are like pups, tolerated but on the bottom. So while your dog might love the new member of the family and protect the baby, they shouldn't be left alone with a child they will treat like a pup.

Toddlers are different. For me, some dogs get along really well with two to three year olds. So as long as you know that they have a good relationship where the dog won't bite or the kid won't pull the tail. You can leave them in a room and go grab a drink from the refrigerator. Not for long spurts of time but really quick one, toddlers can be okay with a dog. Any kid over four and know s how to be around dogs is fine though for short periods, like doing the laundry or cooking.

If a dog is gentle or small, it's safe to leave it with a baby, but be sure to supervise the dog the first few times to see how it interacts with the baby. Make sure the dog sees you spending time with the baby and understands the baby is "friendly" and not a stranger. If the dog is big or very active, it may be dangerous to leave a baby or young child with it.