Breastfed dog may turn savage, say experts

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3100202a10,00.html

Breastfed dog may turn savage, say experts
18 November 2004
By KAREN HODGE

A Hawke's Bay woman who is breastfeeding a puppy so it will protect her baby could end up with a savage dog on her hands, animal behaviour experts fear.


Hastings mother Kura Tumanako revealed this week that she breastfed her Staffordshire bull terrier puppy twice a day in the belief that it would grow up to protect her three-month-old baby.

Ms Tumanako said she started breastfeeding the puppy when her baby stopped taking her milk, and she did not want the milk to go to waste.

But dog behaviour experts are alarmed over the unusual case and say the puppy could end up an aggressive dog with behavioural problems.

Napier dog trainer John Lane said there could be long-term behavioural defects in the animal and he feared the woman could end up with a savage dog if it was trained as a protector.

"You have a potential danger here," he said. "We should not be training dogs for protection – the only people that should be doing that are the police. I really can't see any advantage in doing it."

Mr Lane, who has extensively studied dog behaviour, said the average dog would protect its family in a serious situation anyway. Dogs should be trained to alert owners to people coming on to the property only by barking.

Massey University animal psychologist Vicki Erceg said a dog should be treated as a dog, not as a human being.

"It is hard to tell what this (breastfeeding) would do – a dog is not a mini human," Ms Erceg said.

"We are trying so hard not to have aggressive dogs. It's not appropriate to have a dog purely for protection."

Auckland Unitec animal behaviour and welfare lecturer Nancy Clarke said a puppy's socialisation stage was crucial for its continuing development.

"By breastfeeding, the dog will develop a very strong bond to the mother rather than the baby and potentially look at the baby as a subordinate member of the family," Ms Clarke said.

"You could be looking at a dog potentially seeing itself as a higher-ranking member of the pack than the baby – the dog could become protective of the mother."

Original story was posted by PJ'S Mom
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthre...threadid=64223

People are so dumb sometimes!:rolleyes:

Does this mean that you have to protect your chest, since the dog probably won't stick his nose into your lap anymore???

why would the dog protect her child if she breast fed it????? :confused: :rolleyes:

I see a whole lot of problems going on in this household!!

What is wrong with people sometimes?

This whole case is actually rather sad, it appears the mother was feeding the pup and neglecting her baby, as you know the baby has been taken into care and the mother is now in a mental health place, also did you know that she got pregnant again two weeks after the birth of her first child, she has been let down miserably by our services, a very sad case all round.

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Originally posted by carole
This whole case is actually rather sad, it appears the mother was feeding the pup and neglecting her baby, as you know the baby has been taken into care and the mother is now in a mental health place, also did you know that she got pregnant again two weeks after the birth of her first child, she has been let down miserably by our services, a very sad case all round.

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Thanks for the update here. It seems to me also that the woman has to be a little 'off upstairs' to even contemplate breastfeeding anything but her baby. :rolleyes: I wonder what happened with the puppy....hope it wasn't destroyed because of these latest revelations by experts. :(

Nope you can be assured the pup is fine, actually there were two puppies, the SPCA found them to be in good health apart from not having their vaccinations, I am not sure where they are now , or who is taking care of them, as they were not removed from their home unlike the baby.