Dog kills newborn in Alberta community, that was the headline I was reading while I drank my coffee. As a father of 3 my reaction was sadness, as a dog behaviourist my reaction was frustration.
As I read the scant details provided by the news article, I can see it playing out in my head. The dog, a husky is this case, probably not very well socialized or trained and in obviously unsupervised contact with a baby. The baby probably cried or made a noise, then dog reacts. What I find strange here is that while most dogs would have simply nipped at the baby, this one seemed to have bitten repeatedly, or at least gripped and shook. I am taking educated guesses here, so please bear with me.
In all of the ‘dog kills child’ cases I have read over the years one thing that remains constant is: It was preventable!
Without a doubt the animal will most likely be euthanized, but does it have to be? no. You will hear from various ‘experts’ that the dog has been blooded and will therefore do it again, can’t be trusted etc. etc. This is utter nonsense.
Without having all of the facts, and drawing only from my professional experience, this dog has been failed by lazy humans. That laziness will likely cost it its life. Simple guidance, socialisation and training at critical junctures would have not only avoided this needless death, but have resulted in a much happier dog.
These cases will continue to happen as long as very busy people with very little dog experience continue to bring them into their lives. Dogs, are not another thing for you ‘to have’, they are living breathing organisms that need very specific things to function optimally. In lieu of this training and guidance, their default position is to be a dog, that means thinking and acting instinctively, and making decisions that sometimes (usually) bring them into conflict with humans.
So please, get help for your dog if you see problems developing. If you are not sure, or have just gotten a puppy and need a good start call a professional.