Baby & dog video...thoughts?

I just thought it would be interesting to have open discussions on "interesting" child/canine pictures and videos.

This video popped up on my facebook news feed with the caption "How cute! That dog and little girl are obviously best friends!":

http://youtu.be/Nyk1HXvCNks

[YOUTUBE]http://youtu.be/Nyk1HXvCNks [/YOUTUBE]

Feel free to share all thoughts, concerns, or praise.

I mean the dog looks mildly stressed but baby is not touching the dog and the dog could easily remove himself from the situation (I didn't have volume on so not sure if the parents were saying anything to the dog).

I probably wouldn't let it continue for that long, simply because the dog started looking like she was getting a bit stressed, but it's not the sort of video where I start worrying that the dog is going to bite or anything. Most "OMG so CUTE!!!" videos involve children getting all up in the dog's personal space and using them as a toy. So this one is pretty mild IMO.

My thoughts? Is that some people are ignorant idiots who torture their pets, then wonder why they retaliate & blame them when they do :/

Agree.

From THIS video I agree with this:


I do NOT see this in this particular video however

I agree with Maxy. At first I thought that it seemed harmless, but a few seconds into the video the dog begins lip licking, putting his ears back, glancing sideways at the child, and it's tail looks kind of stiff. It doesn't appear that the baby is any immediate danger (the dog doesn't look like it's about to get aggressive), again the baby isn't touching the dog, and it appears that the dog has some space to move away from the baby.

That said...I'm assuming the parents who posted this, that their dog and baby are just BEST FRIENDS, are completely oblivious to dog body language and assume the husky is actually enjoying "singing" along or talking to the baby. My impression is that he's howling at the adults in the situation to shut the kid up.

Again, it's way less worrisome than many dog/baby videos on the internet.

ETA: I do agree with DogDragoness. I think her statement is worded a bit strongly....but if the parents let this continue, or as the baby gets older she begins to chase after the dog...the dog WILL bite. Then the parents will be like "oh my god, she just snapped out of nowhere, the dog is mentally unstable, she's dangerous", the dog will get put down, (and no one will ever hear about it via media because the dog isn't a pit bull or rottie)

Huh, see it's interesting, because I don't see a particularly irritated or stressed dog. I couldn't tell you if the dog was singing along with the baby "talking" or if he was just trying to get the kid to be quiet, but I don't think that any animals were being "tortured" nor do I see an issue with the parents filming the situation. Normally, I see a video like this posted and it does aggravate me, but this one actually made me chuckle.

"Best friends?" Doubtful. But I only saw about three lip licks and a few head tilts that made me think the dog was maybe telling the baby to shut up ir wishing that the parents would make the baby be quiet. The baby wasn't climbing all over the dog, the dog wasn't stuck in the situation, and the dog looked at most just a bit exasperated... I don't see this as any worse than when we put our dogs in silly costumes or make them balance objects on their heads or noses. It might not be their favorite thing in the world, but it's not torture.

I also wanted to comment on this:

Let what continue? The baby sitting next to the dog making baby noises? Call me crazy, but if the dog can't handle a baby sitting calmly next to it making baby noises, that dog shouldn't be in a household with a baby. Because you are right. Babies turn into toddlers who turn into kids who run around and make even louder noises. But I don't equate a parent who lets their kid sit next to a dog and make noise as anywhere near the same as a parent who lets their kid climb all over the dog, chase the dog, or pull on the dog.

Yeah, the dog may or may not have been stressed about the baby. It some stress signs but we cant assume the dog was stressed BECAUSE of the baby or towards the baby.

This was a video I felt fine with. There are a TON of horrible examples out there but I am sorry, if this is torturing a dog, well, my dogs are tortured animals.

Well okay I don't see anything wrong after only watching it once. Now that I've read your comments I feel like I need to rewatch.

But hey, I am just like these casual dog owners! I don't see a problem and IMO if the dog is upset by something he could just... walk away? I certainly don't see a tortured dog or a dog that is going to wind up biting.

As a matter of fact I have a video of Juno and Lucy that is probably similar. A kids piano is being played and my nieces are around screeching and banging toys. Juno and Lucy are in the middle of it all howling along with the piano. Yeah, we think it's cute and hilarious. I'm sure someone would say they are showing stress signals. They do this EVERY time the piano is played and will stop whatever they were doing and come running over. If I can get it uploaded maybe I'll post that.

ETA

lol I don't know maybe they're just tortured.

Southpaw, there is a video of a dog who plays the piano and howls while he's doing it. Maybe yours like it too.

I see nothing wrong. I was actually impressed by the restraint the baby hand.

The "torture" will come later when the baby starts crawling & walking & chasing the dog & the parents will be all "aww look at that, that are best friends!" Then the child gets bitten, dog gets dumped at a shelter, now with a bite history or worse, PTS.

Just because a dog is not good with children doesn't mean it is a bad dog. Josefina, Bear, & Buddy are all "ok" with kids as in they will tolerate in public if a child gets passed me & grabs them or pats them of something.

But in the home? I don't know. I will not allow children under the age of 10 to visit my home, because I can't guarantee that when / if harassed on "their turf" that they wouldnt retaliate. Because, they were raised with respect & kind handling, they are not used to having their hair, ears or tail pulled, someone invading their personal space, or taking their chews or toys from them.

I did have one dog that wouldn't hesitate to bite if someone touched her in a way she found to be ... Uh ... "Accosting" I guess is the best way I can put it. She was well socialized & very comfortable in public places (she had been everywhere with me since she was a puppy) it wasn't a comfort issue, it was a "don't ****ing touch me" issue ... Lol.

I agree completely!!!

Fozzie acts a little bit like this with Malakai... he'll woo-woo at him, play bow, then just sit near him and "talk". Fozzie is very vocal. Huskies are super, duper talkative dogs. A Husky who is good with kids isn't going to act the same as a Lab or Pit Bull who is good with kids, but that doesn't make them any less friendly and trustworthy. That baby is being really good with the dog! Only barely reaching for her when she sniffs the baby's face.

I do notice some stress signals, but that could be due to the parent videotaping, or encouraging the howling, or any number of things. I notice the sneezing and ears going back a bit, but Fozzie acts THE SAME WAY when he's talking to me, and I know I definitely don't stress him in any way. Her tail is loose and wagging, not stiff. The dog could run away and chooses not to. The baby crawls past the dog and she doesn't even flinch. It seems like a perfectly fine video to me.

A lot of people think that only dogs who are overjoyed, licky and in your face are being friendly. Many breeds consider such behavior rude and don't express affection in that manner.

I make a point to grab Penn's ears& generally annoy her from time to time so she knows that being an ass isn't appropriate. Meh. I'll never have babies but we have nephews around& sometimes they do strange things so I figure better safe than sorry! So far, Penn has been a champion of patience and tolerance LOL!

And the amazing part about dogs is they can handle some stress and survive. I know it's impossible for humans but... no... wait... :rofl1:

And this particular video leads you to that conclusion how????

Wow... cynical much? Lol. Plenty of dogs are raised with kids. In fact, I'd say MOST dogs are. I don't see anything negligent in this video, nothing I wouldn't do, and I guarantee my son will never be bitten by a dog.

The key is in desensitizing the dog to being handled everywhere, and counter conditioning them to anyting that scares them, including babies. I wouldn't say a dog who bites a toddler without warning is a "bad dog", but it's definitely a dog who lacks bite inhibition and isn't very safe with people in general.

Wesley pulls the lip licking if I have a toy he wants, not really an indicator of overly stressed dog. Looked fine to me. Personally, Wesley was trained from an early age to accept hands in his food bowl, raw meaty bones and toys being take , etc. little Cleo is resource guardy and it is a pain in the butt. Wesley's tolerance with kids is great, and if he gets overwhelmed he gets to escape. For the most part he loves them though. I think being trained to put up with rough handling has actually helped him a ton.

Actually, it's abusive to do anything to your dog that they don't particularly love! You're going to get locked up for bathing your puppy and clipping his nails. And my dogs should be taken from me before my horrible baby grabs their tails!!!