Newfies attack and kill labrador at Dog park

[Lora]

http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-nati...alerts_article

Sad stuff.

[Itsapyr]

Wow I don't think I have ever heard of Newfie's attacking anything

[Hounds_N_Leo]

I have. How sad. Again...I really don't get dog parks. Playgroups where you know folks are still risky but so much safer!

[Hounds_N_Leo]

huh found the breeder's website...or a cached copy anyways...interesting.

[Truman's Mom]

Very sad indeed.

Hmmm - just looked at the website too - the right words and pictures.....

in the FAQ
3. THEY MUST BE TRAINED< YOU WILL NEED TAKE YOUR DOG TO OBEDIENCE OR YOU WILL BE BRINGING IT BACK TO ME.

[moondog]

how sad

[kasmith]

That is really sad. We had a newfie/lab mix (go figure) and he was so incredibly gentle, even to a fault. Our 3 pound chihuahua would beat him up!

[Delynnr]

It doesn't sound like it WAS a dog park to me. All of the dogs were originally on leashes, the 4 newfies broke free from 'adolescent' handlers. I looked at the park's website and don't see a dog park in that particular park.

To me it sounds more like the owners of the newfies were irresponsible for letting big dogs like that be handled by kids. I would have trouble handling a Newfie that wanted to go somewhere I didn't, I can't imagine a kid handling one or more of them w/o adult supervision. Also in the original article it says that the city has had issues on and off with this breeder.

For you guys with kids and big dogs - would you let your kids take multiple dogs for a walk with out supervision? I don't know if I would, at least until the kids are bigger than the dogs. I have personal experience here - when I was about 9 I was walking a friends dogs with her. One was small, about 30 lbs and the other was about 60lbs. We traded the dogs back an forth and I had the unfortunate 'luck' of having the bigger dog when a tiny dog that had gotten out of its yard and ran down the street to attack us. I STILL remember the horror of not being able to drag the bigger dog off the smaller dog. The yelps, blood, the poor dog being torn apart. The bigger dog was only defending us because the little dog had been trying to attack my friend and I, but in the end the little dog barely survived. I would NEVER put kids in that situation. I had nightmares for weeks.

I have never been around a newfie that was in any way aggressive and love the breed, I can't imagine what the owners of both dogs are going through.

[Lora]

I wont let my 17 year old son take one of the saints for a walk by his self let along multiple big dogs. Not setting the boys up for failure (dog or child) if something happens, it will be my fault and my fault alone.

Newfies like any breed can be stinky at times. The ones at the walk last year that did the demonstration weren't friendly when approached by other dogs. Some times $hit happens and I dont want my son being any part of it.

[Itsapyr]

I don't walk two pyrs by myself...ever. I can't imagine letting a kid do it. I don't even like it when Verne does it. Way to much strength in these animals if they really want to get away or go after something.

[kasmith]

It's interesting that you bring up that point, because my mother's cousin got so angry with me on Facebook because I had a similar status about that. Abby and I were out one night and there was a large German Shepherd that was being walked by (or was walking) a young kid - maybe 10 or 12 tops? But after the kid didn't pick up after the dog when we passed by it, we were coming back from our walk and I saw them approaching in the distance coming back from their walk. At the start of my street are large bushes on each corner, and I could no longer see this kid and dog behind the bushes but knew they were fairly close. As Abby and I turned I heard the sound of panting, and feet struggling to keep up hitting the pavement. I looked and saw the Shepherd charging us. Although I've seen the dog in the neighborhood, I have no idea if they're friendly. But what I did know in that instance is that the child was clearly incapable of physically restraining their dog if it came down to it, and instantly I put myself between Abby and this dog because Abby does not love getting charged by even the friendliest of dogs. Inevitably the kid was able to catch up, reign the dog in, and inevitably pull him back before he caught up to us, but I was worried. So my status on FB was something about how parents should walk with their children if the child is improperly matched up against the size of the dog. Instantly my mother's cousin was angry about this and telling me that she wasn't taking parenting advice from a non-parent (me). Inevitably it got ugly, and although we're still FB "Friends" she has blocked me in such a way that I can't see her wall any more... I suspect because she posted a status about me.

But thank you for confirming my suspicions about what reasonable parents who care about the physical and emotional safety of their children should do. You're absolutely right - I would never allow my children (real or figurative) to walk a dog that they cannot handle based on size. Abby is 40 pounds and there have been times she has nearly pulled me over based on her leverage and strength and I only have 100 pounds on her.

[Lora]

Even if a child is matched to walk their dog say mini, small and even some medium dogs or puppies they should not alone! They are incapable of fending off an attack to themselves of the dog by another one. And having a dog makes them even more of a target to an offending pooch.

Having your child walk the family dog does not "build character" or "teach responsibility" it put them in harms way. Plain and simple.

[sam.i.am]

so true, Lora!!
I'd never let a kid walk a dog.

When I was in grad school, my lab-mate let his 5 year old walk their aging mix-breed ~50 lb dog and the dog snapped at a kid and they put him to sleep (no broken skin - it was a warning snap -- he was a chow mix and he was fiercely protective and the people must've known that...). He was obviously protecting his boy in that situation and his boy was devastated for years (probably still is). There was no damage to the other kid, but my lab-mate and his wife took the dog straight to the vet....that thought sickens me to this day and that was 10 years ago.

I think letting a kid walk a dog is setting both up for failure. With Oliver -- he was 150 to 160 (actually, he got up to 168, but he was too heavy then) in his largest prime and there is no way I would have let anyone else (let alone a child!) walk him just due to the 'what if' factor.

[bren]

What a sad story.

I don't even like to take Tek and Morgan by myself. I only go with one at a time, unless Orion goes and then we each have one dog.

[Delynnr]

I walk Boku and Caza together, but they only add up to 110 lbs (unfortunately I outweigh them by quite a bit) and they can still catch me unawares and they pull me a few steps. We walk with sturdy martingale collars and 6ft leashes. NO flexi leads for normal walks (only near lakes so they can get wet) I would NEVER let kids walk them unsupervised. I let my little cousins lead them around but I am ALWAYS there to supervise. To me it is just not worth the risk, either to the kids, my dogs, or others.

[Truman's Mom]

I'm the only one that'll walk my 2. Truman is on a 2 ft leash and I'm using the pinch collar for Kennedy with a 6ft leash that is always short. (she is damn strong) Truman lets me control him, I can have both leashes in one hand and in his kookier moments he'll only pull enough to jerk my arm once. I am thankful they are all bark but I'd never let anyone walk them without me, even though they are pushovers they still top the charts at 300+ lbs together.

[Cole's Mom]

Wow this is a sad and awful story. I often see children walking bigger dogs and it frightens me because not only is size an issue but like others have said it is a child's inability to stop something from happening....they should not even have to be resposible for that. It puts both the dog and child in a bad position. I used to walk Cole and Job and although they outweigh me by a lot I always felt incontrol. If there was even one instance I didn't I would not have done that. These types of situations really scare me....especially since Cole has been attacked.

I was running yesterday at the resevoir and a lady was walking two big dogs and I was on the complete other side of her and we were going in opposite directions of the path and one of her dogs lunged at me and then did a crazy circle. I really thought she was going to loose control. Maybe because I was running the dog got scared...not sure but it was scarey because I really thought the women would loose control and the one dog clearly was not happy about me being on the path. The weird thing was I never made eye contact with the dogs and I was not even close to them....thank god. Cole has taught me a lot because I would often smile at dogs or go right over to them and since he is so scared I have learned to respect everyone's space So I know dogs react differently to situations but the lady didnt even apologize. I know we can't live in a bubble but I try to avoid any situation that can put Cole or myself in danger.