Girl killed: Alaskan Malamute

[Jadapit]

I was looking at one of our newspapers and a 7 year old girl was killed Saturday night by her dog. I feel so bad for everyone involved. Here is the link to the story.

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content...dog_death.html

[lute]

that's terrible!

someone posted something the other day about 2 siberians attacking and killing a little girl, and i was watching the news this morning and saw a pit bull attack 2 girls. i hate hearing all this attacking!

[senorita02]

Thats horrible. There has got to be a reason these dogs are attacking, im not defending the dogs killing, but i wouldnt leave my child with a large dog with the capability to kill them, even if it never had a history of being aggresive, but thats just me i am overprotective, but i guess u have to be.

[gemini9961]

Sad story. IMO they shouldn't have let the little girl be alone with the dogs since they had just gotten them and didn't really know their temperment.

[petslover]

Oh no. That is a really sad situation. God Bless everyone involved.

[luvofallhorses]

That is so sad How horrible for everyone involved

[ramanth]

Jadapit, a similar incident recently happened here in MI. Except it was two pet Siberians that killed a little girl. I posted my news story link in the dog house.

But basically while the mother slept, the little girl crawled thru the doggie door into the backyard. The dogs had no history of violence, so I wonder if they thought she was an animal and attacked and the damage was done before they realized their error.

So tragic.

[finn's mom]

I didn't read the story, but, my brother was talking about two rotties killing a girl somewhere in this area. It's always sad.

[LauraT7]

I feel very sorry for the little girl, and for her mother and family, who must be in a great deal of pain right now.

However, I can't help but point out that even in the limited article - there were some STUPID, OBVIOUS mistakes....

The roomate said that the 7 yr old girl used to RIDE the other dog.
no DOG should be 'ridden' by anyone, even the weight of a child is too much for a dog.

They had only had these ADULT dogs for 3 weeks - whether the DOGS were 'good with kids' has nothing to do with the fact that the CHILD had not been raised with them. Children, no matter how much they 'love' dogs, will often do things that to the dogs, appear to be agressive or hurtful. Dogs tend to see children as other dogs in their 'pack' and most often as 'lower' in the pack hierarchy. If a puppy gets out of line, a nip and shake teaches it manners - in a fragile human child, it can mean severe injury or death.

I love my dogs, I treat them like children, pamper them, care for them and spoil them. I also have a child who was raised with the dogs all his life and BOTH child and dogs were taught TOGETHER to respect each other. I have goldens, too - which are a particularly gentle and friendly, non-agressive breed. However, I would NEVER leave Jon alone with the dogs when he was young, Even when Jon was older - say 10 or 12, and I could leave him alone with our dogs, who had been with him since babyhood, I would never allow his friends to be left unsupervised with my dogs. At best, kids are always unpredictable and at worst they can be cruel.

Even though our Tristan was the BEST dog in the world, and excellent with kids, he was still a rescue that came to us as an adult dog and there is always that 'unknown' factor. Kids that aren't used to dogs often get hurt, or mis-interpret dog behavior, and that's just asking for trouble on both sides. I did, and do, take my dogs with me almost everywhere - including camping with our boy scout troop - but I always am WITH them, and in control of them. I love my dogs so much, that I would never want to risk Tristans ( or now, Fizzy's) life with us by putting them in a situation that could trigger unknowns.

the bottom line is that PEOPLE have to take responsibility for their pets, and remember that as much as we love and 'humanize' them, they are still ANIMALS, with animal instincts. And since we chose to 'domesticate' them, we have to work on THEIR level, and not have 'human' expectations of them.

i feel very sorry for this child and her family - but if they had used some sense, they might ALL be playing in the backyard right now! WITH their dogs, too!

laura

[cyber-sibes]

WOW, I can't even imagine how awful that little girl's parents must feel. I agree, having large dogs for only a few weeks is certainly not enough time to trust their behavior yet. You have no idea what's happened to them in the past - and as others say, no one knows what provoked the attack.

Except it was two pet Siberians that killed a little girl.

Ramanth, didn't it just identify the dogs as huskies, not specifically siberians? I ask because the story indicated these were very large dogs (according to the neighbor) and in the picture, they sure looked like malmutes. Non-dog people use the term "huskies" rather generically. Sibes were bred as pets and only weigh between 35 - 55 lbs, where a mal can be twice that size. Sibes are much more people-friendly dogs, too, whereas mals tend to be less tolerant, often they are "one person" dogs. The attack just sounded so out-of-character for sibes, it left me wondering about the identity of these "huskies".

[lute]

Originally posted by cyber-sibes
Ramanth, didn't it just identify the dogs as huskies, not specifically siberians? I ask because the story indicated these were very large dogs (according to the neighbor) and in the picture, they sure looked like malmutes. Non-dog people use the term "huskies" rather generically. Sibes were bred as pets and only weigh between 35 - 55 lbs, where a mal can be twice that size. Sibes are much more people-friendly dogs, too, whereas mals tend to be less tolerant, often they are "one person" dogs. The attack just sounded so out-of-character for sibes, it left me wondering about the identity of these "huskies".

there were pics/video of the dogs. they were sibes.

[cyber-sibes]