[fburke]

I have kids and I have Labs. I am a responsible dog owner and safety of my children always come first.

However I do not think it is wrong to let my child interact with my dogs. I know my dogs and one of the reason I have Labs is because of there nature with children.

I do not think it is wrong for my Labs to sniff out the baby or even giver her lick or 2. The baby actually smiles when the Labby licks her feet and by interacting with each other they are both getting introduced to each other and will not fear each other.

I’m sure someone will come up with some scientific study about some 1 in a million diseases or germ transfer that you can catch from a dog but you could also get something by breathing our toxic air or drinking from our public water supply.

I know enough not to leave the baby and dogs alone, I always take into consideration the size and weight of a lab vs baby But taking her bare feet and rubbing the doggie with them she giggles and the doggie loves it. I don’t see what the problem is…

I have had a few non dog owner friends and family members say to me that I need to keep them apart. I disagree with them. If I didn’t want them to interact I wouldn’t have gotten a dog when I was planning on having kids.

And if I see one more listing on Craig’s List or in the paper on how someone has a new baby and the doggy must go… they should take a look at these pictures.

 

[Tucker]

AWWWW...cute pictures!!

I agree with you 100%...I don't have kids, but I agree that nobody knows their dog/kids better than the owner/parent.

 

[Neska74]

Aaaah... those pics made my afternoon better!! I agree, being a responsible dog owner only adds to the growing love and bonds between dogs and kids.

 

[PhoebeJeebies]

Awww! I agree with you - we feel the same way in this house and people can be so stupid!!!

 

[jzgrlduff]

Your kids are gorgeous! Look at the lips on that baby!

 

[BauersMom]

Awww . . . so sweet! In my opinion, there is nothing better than dogs and kids together.

 

[Lexis Mom]

Adorable kids & pup!!!

I don't have kids, but you are right. They are your kids & your dog, you know best.

 

[MidwestGirl]

Yeah the world is full of uneducated people.

 

[bacatherine]

I totally agree. As I'm sure you have read my posts about Mocha it's not always easy and I'm not sure what the right thing to do about her is but we will do EVERY thing possible to keep her with us or within our family while making sure she doesn't hurt Aubrey. Zeus LOVES her and she loves him he is so great with her. He gives her kisses occasionally but not all the time. Mocha is a kisser though I try to curb that because she will soak her. As long as your diligant with them they need to be able to interact.

 

[kaznalf]

I know exactly what you mean!

 

[vickig]

I grew up with a lab, she was a little older than me, so I must have been a baby in the same house with a lab (not to mention my sisters, who are 2years and 6 years older). Like you, my folks got her because they knew how good labs were with kids. We always included her in our games, often as the "black mountain" when we played with dolls or little horses.
Naturally you wouldn't leave the dog to babsit your baby, but when you are there with them I think it's great

 

[Shane23]

sweet pictures.

 

[TobysTrix]

Hell with the 1 in a million disease thing - it has been suggested that the overuse of antibiotics and unwillingness of parents to allow their kids to be exposed to plain old dirt has contributed to increases in allergies and asthma in kids. I'd think that dog-slobber is probably a great innoculation! And labby kisses are some of the best medicine anyone can get.

I don't have kids. But if I did, they'd sure as hell be out playing in the dirt. With the dogs.

 

[myfavoritedog]

Hell with the 1 in a million disease thing - it has been suggested that the overuse of antibiotics and unwillingness of parents to allow their kids to be exposed to plain old dirt has contributed to increases in allergies and asthma in kids. I'd think that dog-slobber is probably a great innoculation! And labby kisses are some of the best medicine anyone can get.

I don't have kids. But if I did, they'd sure as hell be out playing in the dirt. With the dogs.

I couldn't have said it better myself. If I had kids, I would let them play with Tal and Barney, supervised especially when very young. BTW, I saw a study a few months back (in the magazine Family Dog published by AKC, I think) that talked about dogs and kids. One of the points of the article was that boys especially have very few outlets that teach them how to nurture. But having a dog, and learning to care for it and all helps boys learn that skill. Can't help but believe they will one day be better fathers because of it.

IMHO, not allowing children and dogs interact and let the kids know the dogs are part of the family sends the message the animal is expendable and does not deserve to be properly cared for. To say nothing of removing the possibility of having a 4 legged friend for life.

Sorry, I am on a tangent now. People are so afraid of anything these days. When I was a kid, we played in mud, dirt, and God knows what else. Even drank out of the garden hose Caution and being careful is one thing. But I refuse to bury my head in the sand and never live because of fear. Tal and Barney would never have the possibility of injury or sickness if I just kept them at home all the time. But that really is no life for them or me. Ok, rant's over.

 

[Di]

Awww sweet pictures!

 

[georgie]

I agree with you. JMO, but I think it is good for kids to grow up with dogs. We always had dogs when our boys were growing up, along with rabbiuts & even a few chickens. (that's another story).
My cousin was never allowed to "get dirty" or have animals. He was the sickest kid in our family.
Now we have grandkids & from when they were little babies they have interacted with our labs. Of course we would never leave them alone with them, not because I worry my girls would do something but because the kids may inadvertently do something to the dogs.
This is my favorite picture of our old girl Shadow. We put Adam in his walker because he kept poking at her face & we didn't want him to poke her eye or something. Well you can see what happened when we did that. Shadow just went over to him for more loving & playing.

 

[lubmylabs]

Yup, when I was pregnant I lost count of how many people asked me "but what are you going to do about the dogs?" Um... nothing. They still sleep in our bedroom (when our daughter was born up to 3 months old, she slept in our room too - all 5 of us in the one room and it was wonderful and nobody got eaten). They still have the run of the house, still get taken to the park, still get fed (too much actually, because DD tosses them food from her high chair now) and now that DD is old enough they get extra pats kisses and told they're "good girls" - even poor Finley who's probably getting a gender complex.

Our only real issue now is that she has no fear of dogs whatsoever, so we need to teach that not all dogs are like our dogs and we need to ask before we pat. My SIL has a very nervous dog who snapped at her once and it does scare me what less reliable dogs than ours can do.

 

[justine]

Awww