Baby swing may trigger dog attacks....

[Zeke123]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7018452/

Baby swings may trigger dog attack, expert says
Medical examiner urges parents to take precautions with petsThe Associated Press
Updated: 3:30 p.m. ET Feb. 23, 2005NEW ORLEANS - Rocking your baby to sleep in a mechanical swing may trigger a deadly attack on the child by the family dog, a coroner warns.

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At least two such deaths have been documented in Maryland over a four-year period, Dr. Albert Y. Chu of the state’s medical examiner’s office said Wednesday at a meeting in New Orleans of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

The back-and-forth motion may activate the dog’s instinct to chase prey, he said.

'They can't control their behavior'
“Think about dogs chasing cars or tennis balls. They can’t control their behavior — they just go,” he said.

In 2003, a 2-week-old boy was dragged from his swing and killed by the family’s pit bull in Baltimore after the baby’s mother left him to answer the front door. In Edgemere, Md., in 1999, a 3-month-old boy was mauled to death as his parents slept in another room.

An Associated Press check of online news archives found at least one more death — that of an 18-day-old girl in Tampa, Fla., in 2000 after her mother left the room to warm a bottle for her — and at least two non-fatal attacks around the country in the past few years.

In one of those cases, in Summerville, S.C., in 2003, the dog lunged for the baby and bit her in front of the child’s mother.

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In 2000, Sabrina Williamson of Peru, Ind., had gone to the store while her husband napped in another room, about six feet away from 9-week-old Alex. She walked back in and found her husband wrestling their pit bull off the baby. They had had the dog eight years, since Alex’s brother was 4.

“I think it could be a key factor. Our dog had never been mean towards a child before,” she said in a telephone interview.

The baby’s face was bitten and bloody, and his collarbone was broken and protruding from his shoulder, police said.

Dr. Marianne DiPadua of University Foggia in Italy said she is not convinced that the rocking movement sets off the dog. “It’s true movement can trigger an attack,” she said. But she noted that dogs have also attacked babies in cribs or beds.

Desensitization may help
Dr. Jane Sanders, a radiologist and a board member of the humane society in Jackson, Miss., said she planned to pass on the information to the shelter’s director. Most dog attacks are by pets that have never been aggressive, she said.

Catherine Mills, a Marshall, N.C., dog trainer with 25 years’ experience, and John C. Wright, an animal behaviorist at Mercer University, said pets should be conditioned to ignore baby swings before a baby is put into one.

“Put the swing up, leave it on without a baby in it until the dog or cat totally ignores it,” Mills said.

Wright suggested even more extensive “desensitization”: Get the dog used to a lifelike crying doll — with a real diaper, if one is available — then the swing, then the two together.

Everyone interviewed agreed on one thing: Do not leave even the most trusted pet alone with a baby

[rsjenni]

I saw a brief bit about this on TV too...

[boxer5.0]

notice how the only breed they mentioned was "pit bull" but when it wasn't a pit bull they left the name of the breed out of it. That kind of gets my blood flowin a little faster. They wonder how these dogs get such bad publicity

[JacobsMom]

That was the first thing I noticed - one breed mentioned = had to be a pittbull! Enough already!!!
I can't imagine what it must feel like to be a responsible pittbull owner. The scrutiny they must go through.

[Darien'sDad]

I noticed that most of the negative opinions were from "medical examiners" rather than animal behavioral experts/therapists. I have several close friends and family members that are doctors/nurses. They all know that you should restrict your official "professional" opinions on matters to the subject you have been trained in. It seems that we have a case of human medical doctors trying to operate outside their field of study. Very irresponsible. I'm willing to bet those incidents were probably just isolated events brought about by a lack of proper training and attention. Breed probably had nothing to do with it.

[alohaboxer!]

My heart aches for those families, and of course for those innocent little babies who had to endure that......

[Zeke123]

Just for future reference, I just posted that article because I thought it was interesting. I am not saying it is right.

I agree about the pit bull thing. The dogs in question most likely weren't pits, and the press just likes to blame the breed. Any breed can be dangerous around children....A pomeranian mauled a baby to death once (I can't find the article).