Kids and Biting Puppies....SAD UPDATE

So sad all around, but more for that poor dog. Please don't let them get another dog, if there's anyway to talk them out of it, please do.

I'm so sorry Sally.  Run Free young pup.  You'll meet someone at the bridge who'll treat you right.

Run free Scooby!  You didn't deserve this ending.  I'm sure that Lucy greeted you @ the Bridge.

wouldnt it be a neat world if we treated hit and run animals the same way we treat hit and run people?

maybe they do already in some places.... if your kid darts out into traffic because you werent holding his hand you would probably get in trouble.. big trouble. should be the same punishment for animals. my husband once totaled a car trying NOT to run over someone's dog, but ended up hitting it anyway. so the dog still died, the car was beyond repair and needed to be towed out of a ditch, and he injured his knee in the accident.
where was the owner? watching the whole thing happen, leash in hand..
oops?

I only read a couple of posts here because it's so upsetting to me that people are just so ignorant when it comes to animals. Sorry Sally, really, no offense - obviously you are bothered by this as well. Honestly, I do not believe small children should have pets. They can't take care of themselves , how on earth are they supposed to know how to properly care for and treat an animal. Small children have no concept of animals or others feeling pain and yeah, a dog being taunted and slapped is going to act out. Then it's BAD DOG for responding to bad treatment or pain infliction! Just stupidity! If it were me, I would go get the dog and at the very least take it to a no kill shelter if finding a good home is not an option. Make like the dog escaped - which is what it probably wants to do!!!! This just makes me so angry!

What a sad update []
Play hard at the bridge Scooby!

I shouldn't have opened up this thread when I saw the 'sad update' part ... but foolish me ... I did
 
I'm in tears.    Please try and convince them that if they're probably better off not having a dog.   An invisible fence isn't enough - one squirrel and the next dog could meet the same fate.

OMG sooo sorry how devastating[]I agree if you can, get through to them about not owning a dog.Why do they even want one if it's just going to be outside?

 be sure to tell them that the inground fence requires TRAINING. you dont just put the collar on the dog and let him figure it out himself. i have an inground fence (or invisible fence if you prefer) and it works great for my two dogs, but it required work and consistancy and with this kind of heat i cant picture them outside sweating to death to show a dog the boundaries. and when we rerouted the fence last month to keep the dogs from going under the house it was a heavy stress on Ben who refused to budge from one spot. Ben is easily stressed anyway, but i still felt bad for him. he took about three days to adjust - we took the collar off and walked him to show him the new boundaries - ok.. walking isnt the right word.... coaxed him ... carried him... bribed him...

SO - if they dont have the want-to to train a puppy not to bite or play rough then theyre going to spend a good $300 for nothing. you can get a real fence built for roughly the same price as an inground fence. the inground fence isnt a cheap quick fix. i hope they know that.

Sally explain to your family IF POSSIBLE that an invisible fence is ONLY an option with **heavy** *****CONTINUOUS**** training.
 
Otherwise all they learn is thta if they run hard and fast enough they will get BEYOND the zap and then wild horses can't bring them home.  (who wants to get zapped again??)  They don't learn *by themselves* to stay in the yard.  They learn to roam and NOT come home.
 
People that want an 'outside dog' are just plain wired differently than most of us.  I never encountered this until I moved South -- and this isn't a southern=bashing thing because I know ****LOTS AND LOTS**** of responsible pet owners down here. 
 
BUT ... there is a certain mindset (and it's not ethnic) that feels that dogs are JUST *animals* therefore they BELONG outside.  Literally -- they can't conceive of a dog inside.  To them dogs = filth, dirt, unclean and *must* be outside.  They're convinced you can't have a clean house with a dog inside. (my heart weeps just to type that ignorant trash)
 
I worked with a gal like this a few years ago -- loved dogs she *said* but the very idea of a dog IN the house made her nauseus -- she had been so brainwashed from the cradle up by family telling her dogs were dirty that she literally couldn't get beyond it and got real defensive with ME "Your house must be a PIG STY -- no intelligent person would truly consent to live with any animal IN the house!! Animals belong outside - ALL of them!"
 
That may be extreme -- but wow ... she was sooooooooo adamant.  Raised in the "deep south" with family all over the South. 
 
I've since learned that there are actually folks up north who believe this too -- it boggles MY mind.  But my little Kee Shu (little 10 pound peke 'old lady') grew up with her sibling (a brother) in CHICAGO.  And these two tiny little dogs were kept *outside* 24/7 all year round in Chicago winters with only an enclosed doghouse.  Dogs on farms?  That's kinda different because usually the barn is pretty cozy, or at least tolerable, particularly if a dog is a working dog.  But once I started thinking about it, my own grandmother never let the dog LIVE in the house.  She eventually had one that was allowed inside for short periods, but even Lady had to sleep in the barn.  *sigh*
 
I honestly think your only recourse here is to convince them dogs are too expensive and too much work.  AND a liability without training.  For a family who doesn't want the dog to be 'part of the family' it IS expensive and more work than they want usually.
 
 

Oh gosh, kids and pets go beautifully together, IF the parents are good people that understand that pets are a part of the family that deserve all that other family deserve. I had pets from day one growing up with great parents and my grown son was also raised with pets. What a wonderful way to teach a child to love animals and be a good, caring person. It all rests with the parents.
 
Why don't they just build a pretty fence? Good for the kids also.
 
Poor little dog had to live with all that and get killed. Rediculous.

Some books/VHS for the folks with kids and dogs: 
 
Dunbar, Ian, Dog Training for Children, 3/2004, VHS
http://tinyurl.com/9tdmb 

Hartmann-Kent, Silvia, Your Dog and Your Baby: A Practical Guide, 5/1999
http://tinyurl.com/3rrzm 

Kilcommons, Brian, Childproofing Your Dog: A Complete Guide to Preparing Your Dog…, 4/1994
http://tinyurl.com/6hkj3
(Has a chapter on dogproofing your child.) 

Pelar, Colleen, Living with Kids and Dogs...Without Losing Your Mind, 8/2005
http://tinyurl.com/2bb7mv 

Silvani, Pia & Eckhardt, Lynn, Raising Puppies and Kids Together, 2005
http://tinyurl.com/alrj9 

Wombacher, Mike, There's A Baby in the House: Preparing your Dog for the Arrival of Your Child, 9/2001
http://tinyurl.com/3vc3q

Good Grief! People never cease to amaze me! There is no such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners!

Christine where are they going to get the next dog from?If from a shelter,i would ring everyone in their area and forewarn them not to adopt a dog out to them,although i doubt any would if they do home checks and see there's no fence and pick up on their attitude.If they get another dog from elsewhere i would rcall the aspca.
But hopefully in the meantime you can talk them out of it.I would be brutally honest,do NOT hold back,for the sake of the next possible poor soul that will be unlucky enough to be in their "care". This would be a disownable offence if they were my relatives!!

They actually tried to get a dog from a rescue before getting Scooby, but no rescues/shelters would adopt to them because the dog was going to be a strictly outside dog.  They got Scooby from someone who had an "oops" litter, and I'm pretty sure that's the route they are going to go again.

What is very frustrating is that I doubt that trying to talk them out of a dog would do any good.  My stepdad has tried many times to talk them out of getting a dog (he doesn't see the point in having an outdoor dog, nor does he think it is good to have a dog with two kids that small).  I will try though.  I'll mention how much work it is going to be for the invisible fence-that might make a difference.

I'm not sure why they don't just put up a regualar fence--I think they just don't like how it looks.  Scooby was staying around the house well for a while, but he was at that age where they start to wander a bit.  I guess there is a daycare across the street from their yard and they kids at the daycare were trying to lore Scooby over, and when he crossed the street to see the kids is when he got hit.